The Rise of Totalitarian States 1919 - 1939

1
Chapters 27-28
The Rise of Totalitarian States 1919 1939 and
World War II 1939 - 1945
2
Common Themes

• 3 States Russia, Italy, Germany
• Unhappy with the results of WWI
• Growing populations led to social unrest in
  overcrowded cities
• Popular socialist parties

3
Revolution in Russia

• Fall of the Monarchy Romanov Dynasty
• Tsar Nicholas II was an autocrat ruled without
  consent of parliament
• Tsar Nicholas IIs only son Alexis suffered from
  hemophilia
• doctors had difficulty controlling Alexis
  bleeding.
• Siberian Monk named Rasputin had mysterious
  powers enabling him to control Alexis bleeding.

4
Revolution in Russia

• Gregory Rasputin 1869-1916
• Became close to the Tsarina Alexandra
• Influenced public policy during WWI while
  Nicholas II was at the front and Alexandra ruled
  at home
• Was despised by the Russian people
• Was always intoxicated and had numerous sexual
  affairs with women
• Rumors spread in St. Petersburg that he was
  involved with Alexandra

5
The Murder of Rasputin 1916
Rasputin wrote this prophecy the day
before he died on Dec.30, 1916. He predicted that
if Nicholas' relatives were responsible for his
death, then the Tsar and his children would all
die "within two years." Prince Yussoupov, a
Romanov relative, murdered Rasputin a year and a
half later Bolsheviks killed the Tsar's family.
If I am killed by common assassins and
especially by my brothers the Russian peasants,
you, Tsar of Russia, have nothing to fear for
your children, they will reign for hundreds of
years in Russia. ...if it was your
relations who have wrought my death, then no one
in your family, that is to say, none of your
children or relations will remain alive for two
years. They will be killed by the Russian
people... I shall be killed. I am no
longer among the living. Pray, pray, be strong,
think of your blessed family. Grigory
Prince Yussopov
6
1st Russian Revolution March 1917

• Democratic Revolution led by Alexander Kerensky
  forced the Tsar to abdicate.
• Called for new elections and a constitution
• Continued to fight in WWI on the Allied side
  big mistake
• Russian troops began to mutiny creating soldiers
  soviets

7
2nd Russian Revolution Nov. 1917

• Bolshevik Revolution
• Vladimir Lenin led cupp against the Kerensky
  government
• Lenin installs a communist regime
• Gets Russia out of the war by surrendering to
  Germany and signing the Treaty of Brest-Litvosk
  (1918)?
• Russia loses the Baltic States and Ukraine to
  Germany

8
Russian Civil War 1917 - 1921

• White Forces anti-communists those loyal to the
  Tsar or the Kerensky government
• Red Forces communists
• Allies Britain, France and US were upset Russia
  dropped out of the war. Allies aid the White
  Forces with guns and troops.
• Red Army was successful in defeating the White
  Army
• Nicholas Family are executed by the communists
  in 1918

9
Lenins Soviet Union

• Lenin creates a Soviet Socialist Republic
• Encourages the spread of Revolution throughout
  Europe
• Plan to convert the Russian economy to a
  communist system is a compromise for Lenin allows
  some private ownership called the New Economic
  Policy or NEP
• Assassination attempt on Lenin in 1918 fails.
• Died in 1924. Warned comrades against Josef
  Stalin.

10
Stalins Soviet Union

• Josef Stalin is communist party secretary
• Uses position to consolidate power
• Executes anyone who challenges his authority
• Killed an estimated 20 million Russians including
  80 of the Red Armys Officers above the rank of
  captain in 1930s Purges.
• Ruthlessly converts Russian to communism and
  makes it an industrial power in a series of 5
  Year Plans

11
Rise of Mussolini

• Benito Mussolini 1883 1945
• Fear of socialist revolution in Italy led to the
  popularity of Mussolinis Fascist party.
• 1922 Mussolini threatened to March on Rome if the
  Fascists were not allowed to govern.
• King Vittorio Emanuele III gave in and made
  Mussolini Prime Minister
• Mussolini eventually made Italy a Fascist
  Dictatorship allowing him to rule by decree,
  although he was still subordinate to the King

12
Italian Fascism

• Accomplishments
• Pact with Catholic Church.
• Expanded Italys territorial ambitions by taking
  Ethiopia and Albania
• Increased Italys population by encouraging women
  to have babies. Working women having children
  were given job promotions, while bachelors were
  taxed heavily.
• Propaganda fed Italian children with slogans such
  as Mussolini is always right and believe,
  obey, fight.

• Failures
• Attempts to indoctrinate Italians in fascist
  ideology fell short. Propaganda fed Italian
  children with slogans such as Mussolini is
  always right and believe, obey, fight was
  often laughed at.
• Police state was no where as thorough and brutal
  as in Germany or Russia
• Never eliminated or controlled old power
  structures Monarchy and army King Emanuelle
  would eventually remove Mussolini from power in
  1943.

13
Adolf Hitler

• Adolf Hitler 1889 1945
• Born in Austria, did not become a German Citizen
  until shortly before becoming Chancellor
• Served in a Bavarian regiment of the German army
  during WWI. Earned 2 iron cross medals.
• Personality
• Man of contrast
• Consistent views
• Infantile
• Mesmerizing and persuasive speaker
• Able to remember minute details

14
Weimar Germany Government

• Socialist Party assumed power after the Kaiser
  abdicated in 1918.
• Socialist Party signed the Treaty of Versailles.
• Too many political parties created chaos in
  government and violence on the streets.
• Hitler blamed the socialists and Jews for the
  defeat in WWI Stab in the Back Theory and for
  the humiliation of Versailles.
• Hitler looked to recruit members of the
  Freikorps, WWI vets who fought communists in the
  streets, for his new party.

15
Weimar Germany Culture

• Culture
• Counter Culture, Decadence, and Cultural Zenith?
• Bauhaus architecture Walter Gropius
• Existential Philosophy Heidegger
• Film Marlene Dietrich
• Literature Erich Maria Remarque Erich Paul
  Remark All Quiet on the Western Front
• Cabaret
• Avant-garde modern art
• Jazz
• Changing mores
• Womens dress and behavior
• Homosexuality became more open
• Alcohol and drug addictions morphine
• Some conservative elements in society saw Weimar
  culture as decadent

16
Weimar Germany Economy

• Hyperinflation 1923
• 1924-29 economic stability provided by American
  bankers
• Great Depression 1930-1932
• Increasing unemployment led to dissatisfaction
  with the Weimar government
• Communists and Nazis were the biggest gainers in
  terms of competing for votes.

• Unemployment numbers
• 1929 1.25 million
• 1930 3 million
• 1931 4.5 million
• 1932 6 million
• Nazi Party seats in the Reichstag Parliament
• 1928 12 2
• 1930 107 18
• 1932 230 38 July election
• 1932 196 33 November election

17
Nazi Rise to Power

• Beer Hall Putsch 1923
• Hitler and the Nazis try to take over the state
  government of Bavaria. Their March on the city
  hall in Munich ends with Hitlers arrest.
• Sentenced to 5 years in prison but serves only 9
  months
• Writes Mein Kampf My struggle in prison.
• Great Depression
• Increasing unemployment and communist unrest
  leads many Germans to view the Nazis as the
  lesser of two evils.
• Chancellor
• 1932 elections Hitlers loses his bid to win the
  Presidency but is eventually named Chancellor on
  January 30, 1933 by President Hindenburg.

18
Nazi Consolidation of Power

• Factors Making Hitler a Dictator
• Reichstag Fire February 1933
• Hitler abolishes Communist Party, Nazis get
  communist seats
• Calls for new Reichstag elections, Nazis fail to
  get majority
• Enabling Act March 1933
• Reichstag grants Hitler dictorial power to meet
  communist threat
• Hitler abolished all political parties except the
  Nazis
• Death of President Hindenburg 1934
• Reichstag abolished post of President, makes
  Hitler Fuehrer or Leader.

19
Hitlers Domestic Program

• Coordination Control
• Concentration Camps Political prisoners and
  asocial elements
• Dachau near Munich 1st camp
• All unions were abolished and reformed into one
  Nazi Union
• Hitler Youth Organizations
• Ministry of Propaganda Enlightenment
• Headed by Dr. Joseph Goebbels
• Films, radios, news papers indoctrinated Germans
  in the Nazi viewpoints.

20
Hitlers Domestic Program

• Rearmament
• Rebuilding German war machine put people back to
  work
• Public Works Projects
• Autobahn
• Re-forestation
• Volkswagen Project Peoples Car
• Persecution of Jews
• Laws eliminating Jews from Public life in Germany

21
Hitlers Foreign Policy

• Primary Goals
• Destroy Treaty of Versailles
• Withdrew from League of Nations in 1933
• Creation of German Air-force and Navy.
• Greater Germany union of all German speaking
  peoples
• Saar Plebicite 1935
• Annexed Austria 1938
• Annexed Sudetenland 1938
• Lebensraum Living Space
• Space for the German empire to grow

22
Europe Heads Toward the Abyss

• The Spanish Civil War 1936-39
• Coalition of Leftists, Communists, and Liberals
  won elections in 1936.
• Group of conservatives, led General Francisco
  Franco staged an uprising. Franco called for the
  creation of a Fascist state.
• International Intervention
• Germany Italy support Franco diplomatically,
  militarily and financially.
• Russia supports the Republican Government.
• Britain, France, US did not take sides.
• By 1939, Franco and the Fascists won.

• Pablo Picassos depiction of the horror of modern
  warfare. German air attacks on April 26, 1937
  killed 1,500 people in Guernica.

23
Appeasement

• Appeasement means making concessions to a
  dictator in the hope that he is satiated fully
  satisfied.
• Why appeasement?
• Large scale loss of life in WWI battles made
  Britain and France want to avoid war at all cost.
• Isolationism in the US
• Most Americans preferred to stay clear of
  European conflicts and chose to not take sides in
  European disputes.

Hitler Chamberlain meet to avoid war in 1938.
24
Appeasement

• Appeasement means making concessions to a
  dictator in the hope that he is satiated fully
  satisfied.
• Why appeasement?
• Large scale loss of life in WWI battles made
  Britain and France want to avoid war at all cost.
• Isolationism in the US
• Most Americans preferred to stay clear of
  European conflicts and chose to not take sides in
  European disputes.

Hitler Chamberlain meet to avoid war in 1938.
25
Europe on the Verge of War 1938-1939

• Munich Crisis September 1938
• Hitler Demanded Czechoslovakia cede the
  Sudetenland to Germany, threatened war.
• Mussolini mediates, gets Britain France to meet
  Hitler in Munich
• Appeasement giving dictators what they want
  hoping they are satisfied
• Hitler gets the Sudetenland and promises no more
  demands in europe
• March 1939 Hitler occupies the rest of
  Czechoslovakia. Britain France vow to defend
  Poland
• Polish Corridor Crisis Summer 1939
• Hitler demands Poland return the corridor and
  city of Danzig Gdansk to Germany.
• Poland refuses.
• German Russian Non-Aggression Pact Germany and
  Russia vow to not fight one another and secretly
  agree to carve up Poland.
• September 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland
• September 3, 1939 Britain and France declare war

26
World War II Europe

• Blitzkrieg 1939-1942
• Quick victories by the German Army led the press
  to dub the new method of mechanized warfare by
  the Germans as blitzkrieg lightning war.
• Poland Defeated in 6 weeks Sept Oct 39
• Denmark Norway conquered in April May 40
• Benelux Countries and France were defeated in 6
  weeks in May June 40
• Yugoslavia Greece defeated in Spring 41
• Most of North Africa was in German hands by 1942

27
World War II Europe

• Operation Barbarossa War in Russia 1941- 1945
• 3 million German troops attacked on a 1000 mile
  front
• Hitler anticipated an easy victory
• Initial success was eventually met with
  frustration and inhospitable weather
• War in Russia drained Germanys resources

28
World War II Europe

• The Turning Point 1942
• Battle of Stalingrad Nov 42-Jan 43 Russian
  victory was a turning point in the East.
• El Alamein Nov. 1942 British victory began the
  removal of German troops from North Africa
• Battle of the Atlantic 1942 decoding of German
  enigma machine send orders via codes allowed
  Allies to hunt down German u-boats.
• End of Days 1944-45
• D-Day June 6, 1944 American-British invasion of
  France
• Operation Bagration Russian Offensive that
  destroyed much of the German army in the East
• Battle of Berlin April-May 1945
• Hitler commits suicide in his underground bunker
  on April 30th.
• May 7, 1945 German forces surrender

29
World War II Pacific

• Japanese Aggression
• Manchuria 1933
• China 1937 Japanese Forces committed atrocities
  against the Chinese people
• French Indochina Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia 1941
• US retaliated with economic sanctions determined
  Japans decision to attack the US
• Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
• Japanese sneak attack was intended to cripple to
  US Pacific fleet but not defeat the US
• Failed to get US aircraft carriers which ended up
  being the most important weapons in the Pacific
  War

30
World War II Pacific

• Turning Point
• Battle of Midway 1942
• US sank 4 Japanese aircraft carriers
• Japanese Navy would be on defensive
• Battle of Guadalcanal 1942
• Protected Australia from Japanese attacks
• US Strategy
• Island Hopping emphasis on taking islands that
  offered Naval and Air bases to attack Japan
• Philippines recaptured in 1944
• Iwo Jima Okinawa battles close to Japanese
  Islands were costly and violent

31
The Holocaust 1933 - 1945

• Phase I 1933-1935
• Elimination of Jews from Public Life
• Nurnemberg Laws defined who was Aryan and who
  wasn't
• Phase II 1936-1938
• Lull because of 1936 Olympic games in Garmisch
  and Berlin
• Kristallnacht November 9, 1938
• Phase III 1939-45
• Stage I
• Einsatzgruppen in the East
• Establishment of Ghettos
• Stage II
• Final Solution established at Wansee Conference
  Jan 1942

32
The Holocaust 1933-45

• Phase III 1939-45
• Stage I
• Einsatzgruppen in the East
• Killed about 1 million Jews in Eastern Europe via
  this method.
• Problem...mentally draining on soldiers and time
  consuming
• Establishment of Ghettos
• Stage II
• Final Solution established at Wansee Conference
  Jan 1942
• Adolf Eichmann was man responsible for policy
• Utilization of Death Camps located in Poland.
  Zyklon B used to kill in Auschwitz