Rise of Dictatorships and
Beginnings of WWII
Chapter 4
Mr. R. Smith
Causes: Why Did
Dictatorships Rise?
Extreme situations call for extreme
governments
People are afraid of disorder
Sometimes, people will trade ‘order’ for
‘personal freedom’
Sometimes, people are taught to
believe that their ‘ethnicity’ is superior
to other ethnicities in the world.
Three Dictators
What is a dictator?
- An absolute ruler
- A tyrant; a despot.
Examples:
> Stalin – Russia
Communist
> Mussolini – Italy
Fascist
> Hitler – Germany
Fascist
Stalin
Took control after the death of Lenin
A cruel leader
Drastic agricultural and economic reforms were
imposed to ready Russia for the fight against
Capitalism
Totalitarian state: A form of government in which
the political authority exercises absolute and
centralized control over all aspects of life. The
individual is subordinated to the state, and
opposing political and cultural expression is
suppressed.
Mussolini
Came to power
in Italy in 1922
Called: Il Duce
Opposed to
democracy and
communism
Blackshirts
Dreamed of a new
Italian (Roman)
Empire
Fascist Governments
Control the media
Use propaganda to control people
Present an ‘infallible leader’ image,
i.e., the leader is someone who never
makes mistakes
Myth-building an essential part of the
government process, e.g., Jews are
evil
Germany After WWI
Treaty of Versailles
established peace
terms after WWI
Article 238: War Guilt
Clause, i.e., Germany
started WWI
Reparations ($$$$$$$)
Hyper-inflation
Stock market crash
hurt Germany badly
Rise of Hitler
Hitler claimed that he
had all the answers
Provided make work
projects: Autobahn
Abolished all other
political parties
Found scapegoats –
the Jews
Used paramilitary
groups - Brownshirts
Took advantage of the
failure of the
democratic Weimar
Government
Article 48
Art. 48. If a state fails to perform the duties
imposed upon it by the federal constitution or
by federal law, the President . . . may enforce
performance with the aid of the armed forces.
If public order and security are seriously
disturbed or endangered within the Federation,
the President . . . may take all necessary steps
for their restoration, intervening, if need be,
with the aid of the armed forces. For the said
purpose he may suspend for the time being,
either wholly or in part, the fundamental rights
Nuremburg Laws
ARTICLE 3. Only citizens of the Reich, as
bearers of full political rights, can exercise
the right of voting in political matters, and
have the right to hold public office.
ARTICLE 4. (1) A Jew cannot be a citizen of
the Reich. He cannot exercise the right to
vote; he cannot hold public office. (2)
Jewish officials will be retired as of
December 31, 1935.
Kristallnacht/Crystal
Night
November 9, 1938 -
German mobs attack
businesses and Jewish
synagogues
The night of breaking
glass = Crystal Night
Jews were billed for
the damages done to
their property
The Road to War
Japan invades Manchuria
China asks League of Nations for help -
Japan walks away from League of Nations
Italy attacks Abyssinia - France and Britain
reluctant to do anything (wanted Italy for
an ally against Germany)
1936 – Hitler enters the Rhineland
Spanish Civil War – Communism and
Democracy against Fascism
Appeasement
March 1938 – Anschluss (Austria
becomes a part of Germany)
September 1938 – Germany takes
Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia
March 1939 – Germany takes the rest
of Czechoslovakia
August 1939 – Nazi-Soviet Pact signed
September 1939 – Poland falls
Hitler’s View - Democracies
Hitler’s View –
French/British Families
Hitler’s View – Austria
Hitler/Stalin View – Poland
Hitler/Stalin View – Other
Canada’s Response
Canada, like America, remained isolationist.
Why?
Memories of WWI, Great Depression, and
harsh Treaty of Versailles
PM Mackenzie King thought Hitler was
peaceful – good for Germany!
Canada failed to accept Jewish refugees
(the S.S. St. Louis)
