TOTALITARIANISM between the wars: Communist Russia, Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany

TOTALITARIANISM FASCISM GERMANY (NAZI) ITALY (FASCISTS) COMMUNISM USSR, etc.

Between the two world wars TOTALITARIANISM in

Totalitarianism was NOT forced on Russia, Italy or Germany by any one person. It was the product of those societies at that time. It CAN happen again. The best way to prevent it is to understand how it happened.

WHY DID PEOPLE LET THIS HAPPEN? WWI connection? WWI caused people to lose faith in reason & humanity; it made people scared and confused WWI caused economic & political crisis in Europe GANG-LIKE PARTIES took advantage of the crisis The VERSAILLES TREATY made Germans angry and humiliated The GREAT DEPRESSION made people hungry & insecure, willing to follow any promise CONFORMITY - Many people remained passive and went along with this instead of fighting it.

World War I created the conditions for World War II by making Germans poor, bitter and insecure.

WWI ended with the Treaty of Versailles, which placed all the burden on Germany. How? Germany lost important territories: Alsace/Lorraine & Polish corridor Colonies: Germany lost all its colonies German Army: restricted to a minimum, NO tanks, air-force or submarines allowed. REPARATIONS: Germany had to pay a lot of $ - an enormous burden on German economy “War-guilt” clause humiliated Germany.

GERMANY AFTER WWI – textbook p.471 National humiliation (war-guilt clause) Political instability – weak governments - Germany had no democratic traditions. It became a republic for the first time after WWI – known as the Weimar Republic. The Weimar Republic was very weak and unstable and Germans felt the need for a stronger government. German economy in ruins: unemployment, food shortages; huge inflation: money had become worthless

To pay the expenses of the war, Germans simply printed more money. German children used money as building blocks to play during the German hyper-inflation in the 1920s.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Bread Line 1932 By 1933, 25% of Americans were unemployed.

Jobless on Edge of Pea Field Farmers went bankrupt and lost their land.

Breadline in NY

Unemployed men vying for jobs at the Employment Bureau in LA during the Great Depression.

Children playing in gutter

During and after WWI, throughout the “roaring 20s”, the US economy was booming. So – how did it end up suddenly with a long and catastrophic GREAT DEPRESSION? Textbook p

PEOPLE HAVE $ TO BUY GOODS PRODUCTION GROWS PRICES ARE STABLE DEMAND FOR GOODS (masses of people with enough $) EMPLOYMENT STABLE WAGES STABLE BANKS & STOCK MARKET

10,000,000 $10 $12 12,000,000 $50 Caused by “double-fake” investing:  Buying stocks “on margin”: with money borrowed from a bank  Buying at prices much higher than the real value THE STOCK MARKET “BUBBLE”

The collapse of the US economy sent shockwaves around the world p. 473 and graphic on p. 486 American investors withdrew their $ from Europe. US banks demanded repayment of their overseas loans. European businesses started going bankrupt. Unemployment skyrocketed. The weak German government did nothing to improve the situation.

HITLER & his NAZI PARTY came to power in Germany in 1933 legally – elected. How come? Weak and unstable government (first steps of democracy) – couldn’t deal with the crisis The Great Depression, poverty, unemployment German people’s bitterness after the Versailles Treaty German people were afraid that Russian-style communism may happen in Germany German people were desperate for strong leadership to take them out of the depression The Nazi Party used people’s fears and anger; manipulated Germans to vote for them.

“... Tired of unemployment and insecurity, of seeing their children hungry while they sat helpless in the face of government weakness, in desperation people chose to sacrifice liberty in the hope of getting something to eat.” US President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Stronger democracies found a better way p. 474 Britain, France, Scandinavian countries USA – The New Deal