1. Postwar Italy Italians frustrated over rejection of territorial claims by Versailles Peace Conference. Serious economic and social problems. Huge national debt, runaway inflation, mass unemployment. Fear of a social revolution. 2 parliamentary elections and 4 premiers in 3 years.

2. Benito Mussolini (1883- 1945) Socialist journalist--editor of Avanti. Expelled from the socialist party for advocating Italian entry into WWI. Founded Il Popolo d’Italia, official newspaper of the Fascist movement. Enlisted in the army in 1915, seriously wounded while serving at the front.

3. The Fascist Movement in Italy Mussolini: power over principle. Fascism: extreme nationalism, extreme militarism, anti-Marxist, anti-liberal democracy. Vague promises of economic and social reform. Emphasis on the leader cult. Mussolini: Il Duce (the leader). The Black Shirts (fascist party militia). The March on Rome, 10/28/22. 10/30/22: Mussolini appointed premier of Italy.

4. The Fascist Movement in Italy Press censorship. Local government officials replaced by podestas appointed by the central government. Parliament granted Mussolini the right to rule by decree. Black Shirt militia incorporated into the regular army. OVRA: the fascist secret police of Italy. Italy became a 1-party state. Fell short of true totalitarianism. Army, Church, wealthy upper classes avoided dominance.

5. Germany, Hitler, and Nazism Late 1920s: German economic recovery. 1925: Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, WWI hero, elected president at 78. 1930: world depression struck Germany. 1930 Reichstag election.

6. Germany, Hitler, and Nazism Emergence of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945): Austrian Racial superiority of the Germanic peoples (Aryan race). Inferiority of Jews, Slavs, and Blacks. “Pan-Germanism”. Hostile to Marxism. Western Front in WWI.

7. Development of the Nazi Party Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi). Fuhrer (absolute leader). Party militia, the storm troopers, aka, the SA or Brown Shirts. Ernst Roehm, Rudolf Hess, and Hermann Goering. The Beer Hall Putsch (Nov. 1923) and imprisonment. Mein Kampf Dr. Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler.

8. Hitler’s Rise to Power March 1932: over 6 million Germans unemployed. July 1932: Nazis earn 37% of vote and 230 Reichstag seats. Hitler schemed for chancellorship. Jan. 30, 1933: Hitler named chancellor by Hindenburg.

9. Creation of the Nazi Dictatorship The Reichstag Fire. March 1933 elections. March 23, 1933: the Enabling Act--dictatorial authority for Hitler for 4 years. Consolidation of Nazi power. Gestapo. Death of Hindenburg.

10. Nazi Anti-Semitism Jews = about 1% of German ‘33 population. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935. Definition of a Jew. Citizens? Kristallnacht 1938, a German diplomat in Paris. Nazi response--mob violence. Yellow star of David.

11. The Manchurian Crisis Sept. 1931: Japan invaded Manchuria in NE China. Failure of the League of Nations in its first real test. Opening round of WWII. 1937: Japan invaded China.

12. German Rearmament March 1935: Hitler reintroduced military conscription and proclaimed the existence of a German air force. Direct violations of Versailles Treaty. Remilitarization of the Rhineland March 1936: Hitler reposted troops in the Rhineland. Direct violation of Versailles Treaty.

13. Italian Aggression in Ethiopia Oct. 1935: Italians embark on war of aggression vs Ethiopia. Emperor Haile Selassie appealed to League of Nations. Ineffective response by the League caused its demise. May, 1936: Italians completed the conquest of Ethiopia.

14. The Spanish Civil War Liberals and radicals supported republic established in 1931. Conservatives (landowners, industrialists, army, Catholic Church) opposed it. Nationalist Revolt: July, 1936, Army rebels (Nationalists) led by Gen. Francisco Franco revolted against the government. Franco’s win a victory for fascism???

15. The Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Italian & German support for Nationalist cause in Spain drew the 2 closer. Oct. 1936, Germany and Italy formed the Rome-Berlin Axis. Nov. 1936, Germany and Japan signed the Anti- Comintern Pact. Nov. 1937, Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact, creating the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis. Powerful bloc opposed to maintenance of international status quo.

16. The Czechoslovak Crisis Autonomy for Sudeten Germans. Sept. 12, 1938, Hitler threatened intervention. Chamberlain and the policy of appeasement. Sept. 29, 1938: The Munich Conference. GB & France: Sacrifice Czech. Or risk war? Hitler’s destruction of Czechoslovakia.

17. Mussolini’s Conquest of Albania Jealous of Hitler’s gains. Apr. 7, 1939: invasion of Albania. May, 1939: the Pact of Steel.

18. The Polish Crisis April, 1939: Hitler orders preparations for attack on Poland. Hitler makes a series of impossible demands on Poland. GB & France make a half-hearted try to form an alliance with Soviet Union. Wanted Soviet assistance in case of war with Germany and feared expansion of Soviet power and Communism in Eastern Europe. Soviets suspicious of Western intentions.

19. German-Soviet Nonagression Pact Germans & Soviets talk as Soviet - Western talks lag. Aug. 23, 1939: Hitler-Stalin Nonagression Pact. Secret agreement: in event of war between Germany and Poland, Soviets would get eastern Poland in return for neutrality. Hitler relieved of the potential for a 2 front war.

20. Declarations of War Sept. 1, 1939: Germany invaded Poland. Sept. 3, 1939: GB & France fulfilled their guarantees of Poland and declared war on Germany. WWII had officially begun.