World War Looms

1
World War Looms

• Dictators Threaten World Peace

2
Essential Questions

• How did economic problems lead to the rise of
  totalitarian leaders in Europe?
• What is the most significant cause of WWII?

3
Totalitarian Dictators-

• Fascist Italy Benito Mussolini
• Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler
• Communist Soviet Union Joseph Stalin

4
Treaty of Versailles

• Treaty of Versailles caused anger and resentment,
  especially from Germany
• French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau sought
  to punish Germany so hard that the country would
  never be able to go to war again

5
Growing Problems in Germany

• Weimar Republic, democratic government set up
  after WWI, was blamed for signing the Treaty of
  Versailles.
• Hyper-inflation (money becoming less and less
  valuable) at one point reached 4,200,000,000
  Reichsmark 1 US dollar.
• ..so people decided it was actually better to
  burn the money for warmth then to spend it!

6
Weimar Republic Currency
There is also a story of a German man who had a
wheelbarrow full of cash. He left it outside a
bakery while he tried to buy some bread. When he
came outside, he found the wheelbarrow gone, but
his money piled on the sidewalk.
7
Rise of Fascism in Italy

• Unemployment inflation led to strikes and
  unrest
• 1921, Mussolini established the Fascist Party
  (nationalism militarism)
• Called himself Il Duce (the leader)
• Mussolini achieved efficiency in government by
  creating a totalitarian form of government

8
The Soviet Union

• Joseph Stalin took power in 1924 Man of Steel
• Communist leader of Totalitarian state (one-party
  government state-ownership of property)
• Stalin made agricultural and industrial growth
  projects the main economic goals of the Soviets
• Collectivism Eliminated private ownership of
  farms
• Gulags System of slave labor populated by
  dissidents
• Seeking to create an industrial giant capable of
  expansion.
• Responsible for 13-20 million deaths

9
Joseph Stalin
10
Talk to your neighbor

1. What problems existed in Germany after WWI?
2. What was going on in Italy after WWI?
3. What did the Soviet Union look like under Stalin?

11
Nazis Take Over Germany

• Adolf Hitler joined the National Socialist German
  Workers Party (Nazi) (not socialist)
• Called himself Der Furher (the Leader)
• Promised to bring order and prosperity to Germany
• Wanted lebensraum, or living space (territorial
  expansion)
• Wished to unite all German-speaking people

12
Hitler Nazism continued

• Hitler wanted to enforce racial purification
• Believed in a blond-haired, blue-eyed master
  race (Aryan)

13
Japan

• Militarist leaders took control of Imperial
  government
• Had desire to expand territory for population
• 1931, Militarists attacked Manchuria, China
• League of Nations investigated and condemned
  attackJapan quits League of Nations

14

• Japanese Expansion from 1932-1942

15
League of Nations Fails

• Hitler begins military build-up
• Hitler sends troops into the Rhineland
  (demilitarized German region bordering Belgium
  and France)
• Japan leaves League of Nations
• Mussolini targets Ethiopia
• May 1936, Ethiopia falls to Italy. Emperor Haile
  Selassie appeals to League for help to no avail