Hitler and Mussolini

1
Hitler and Mussolini

• Fascist Dictatorships
• In
• Germany and Italy

2
Types of Government

• Monarchy
• Dictatorship
• Democracy
• Socialist/Communist
• Fascist
• Colonial

3
Fascism

• From Latin fasces
• In ancient Rome, this was a bundle of rods bound
  tightly around an ax, symbolizing government
  authority.
• Brought to power by Benito Mussolini in Italy
  during 1920s.

4
Benito Mussolini

• Early writings brought jail time and a period in
  exile.
• Considered an extreme nationalist.
• Expelled by the Italian Socialist Party.
• After Italy joined Allies in WWI, he enlisted in
  the army and was wounded in battle.

5
Benito Mussolini

• Robert Leckies book Delivered from Evil,
  described Mussolini as having a surprisingly weak
  appearance, but However, like Napoleon, he could
  strike fear into men twice his size with a direct
  glance from those astonishing eyes.

6
Mussolini Fascism

• Fascism is similar to communism in that it relies
  on dictatorial rule and a totalitarian regime.
• All authority belonged to the state.
• However, there are major differences in Fascism
  and Communism.

7
Fascism vs. Communism

• Fascism appeals to Middle Class.
• Relies on nationalistic goals and the
  perseverance of the existing social status.
• Defends ownership of private property.
• Whereas Communism seeks a socialist economy and
  international revolution.
• Both systems violently oppose one another.

8
Mussolinis Rise to Power

• First followers were demobilized soldiers and
  discontented nationalists.
• Gained respect of professionals, wealthy
  landowners, and large manufacturers who sought to
  block communist gains among workers.
• Also attracted lower class who were unemployed or
  hurt by inflation.

9
Mussolini and Anticommunism

• Mussolini promised to prevent a revolution.
• Fascism stood for protection of private property
  and middle class.
• Promised to return Italy to the glory of ancient
  Rome.
• Sought to strengthen the military.

10
Fascists Elected

• Fascists won election of 1924.
• Took power in 1925.
• Il Duce (doo-chay) Italian for the Leader.
• Mussolini was made head of the government and
  was accountable to no one.

11
Italian Police State

• Opposition parties disbanded.
• Freedom of speech, press, assembly, and trial by
  jury were suspended.
• Labor unions outlawed.
• Secret Police spied on everyone.
• Dictatorship emerged.

12
The Corporatist State

• Mussolini introduced corporatism as the new
  system of governance.
• Agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, and
  commerce were formed into syndicates resembling
  corporations.
• By 1930s, 22 corporations existed.
• All parts of society forced to cooperate.

13
Fascists
14
The Nazis and Hitler

• Nazis, or National Socialist Workers Party
  formed in Germany during 1920s.
• Extremely nationalistic and violently
  anti-communist.
• Promised to protect Germany from communism.
• Attracted support of wealthy and laborers.

15
Adolf Hitler

• Born in Austria 1889.
• Failed as an artist in Vienna.
• Resentful of Jews. (Anti-Semitic)
• Fought World War One in German army.
• Head of Nazis in 1921.
• Failed uprising in 1923 landed Hitler in jail.

16
Mein Kampf

• Written by Adolf Hitler during imprisonment in
  1923.
• Means My Struggle.
• Hitler produced goals for Germany.
• Ignited nationalist feelings about the failure of
  the Treaty of Versailles.

17
Hitlers Rise to Power

• Nazis had few followers until Great Depression
  in 1930s.
• Election of 1930, middle class turned to Nazi
  Party.
• Hitler appointed Chancellor in 1933.
• Used political savvy to become dictator.

18
Hitler in Action

• Took title der Fuhrer meaning the leader.
• Turned Germany into a police state.
• Banned opposition parties, labor unions, and
  opposition newspapers.

19
Hitlers Police State

• Gestapo was the German secret police agency.
• Many executions and anti-Semitic violence.
• Liberals, socialists, and communists often killed
  or interned.

20
The Jewish Question

• Hitler sought to remove Jews from all positions
  in society and in private.
• Concentration camps built to exterminate Jews on
  a wide scale.
• Forced Jews to extreme measures of racism.
• Many millions of Jews died under Hitler.

21
The Third Reich

• Hitler promised his regime would last 1,000
  years.
• Reich is German for empire.
• First Empire in Germany was Holy Roman Empire,
  Second was the Empire of the Hohenzollerns.

22
Lebensraum

• Hitler sought living room for its population.
• Germany not a world colonial power.
• Sought to expand internally into Slavic
  countries.
• Hitler preached German superiority over Slavs in
  Eastern Europe.

23
Rome-Berlin Axis

• Hitlers Germany and Mussolinis Italy became
  quick allies.
• 1936 both leaders signed the Rome-Berlin Axis
  treaty.
• After Hitlers invasion of the Rhineland and
  Mussolins invasion of Abyssinia.
• France and Great Britain too weak to act.

24
The Coming of War

• Expansion of Italy and Germany threatened
  interests of many nations.
• France, Great Britain, U.S.S.R., and the United
  States in particular.
• Italy and Germany soon faced another war.