21. Depression, Dictators, and World War II Flashcards
How did Great Depression affect the spirit of Europe from 1920s -> 30s
replaced the optimistic spirit of late 1920s with growing sense of doubt and fear
Causes of GDepression
American stock market crash
Many European banks failed
Financial crisis –> sharp decline in global trade
Rise of Totalitarianism:
the 2 forms?
- Fascism and Communism
What is the common characteristic of Totalitarianism?
Total control over citizens and use of technology to manipulate and censor information
What kind of state was Russia in after the civil war?
What did Lenin do in response?
- widespread famine, deteriorating economy, and unrest
- Lenin launched New Economic Policy
Describe Lenin’s New Economic Policy
was it successful?
- called for a temporary compromise w/ capitalism to kick start the economy
- yes, successfully revived economy
Stalin vs Trotsky after death of Lenin: who won? how?
Stalin, he expelled Trotsky from the Communist party
Stalin in 1928 launched ____________ designed to transform the Soviet Union’s economic and social structure
first Five-Year Plan
Was Stalin’s commitments successful?
What results did Russia gain?
- Yes
- by 1940, Soviet Union was a major industrial power, trailing only the US and Germany
What one aspect of Stalin’s goals in the 5-year plan was less successful? Why?
- the Collectivizion of agriculture
- b/c Conservative Russian peasants opposed surrendering their land and joining a collective farm
Explain the Great Terror
-Which groups did Stalin kill?
Stalin launched a program of state-sponsored terror beginning w/ show trial to eliminate Old Bolsheviks.
- the Terror expanded to include Intellectuals, Army Officers, Party Members, and Ordinary citizens
What are gulags?
Forced-labor camps where millions of innocent Russians died
Postwar Italy
Italian nationalists were embittered when they gained nothing from Treaty of Versailles
As Italians demanded action and waited impatiently for a strong leader, who emerged to seize power? What party?
Mussolini, as leader of the Fascist party, promised to revive economy and rebuild army. King Victor Emmanuel III named Mussolini prime minister
Mussolini’s economic policy:_____________
what was unique about it?
the Corporate Economy
- Mussolini’s corporate state combined 1)Private ownership with 2) State control over economic decisions
Lateran Accord
Btwn Mussolini and Pope Pius XII where they successfully negotiated an end to the long dispute of papacy and the Italian state.
Legitimacy of the Italian State was recognized while Mussolini recognized Vatican City as independent state
Why did Hitler rise to power?
weakness of Weimar Republic helped prepare the public for a bold leader who would restore German pride
Hitler’s Nazi program’s key points:
- Nationalism
- Anti-Semitism
- Anticommunism
- The Fuhrer
How did Hitler go against the Versailles Treaty
Germany withdrew from League of Nations in 1933,
Rearmed and marched into the demilitarized zone of Rhineland
In 1935, Mussolini attacked ___________.
How did League of Nations react?
Ethiopia
- Appeasement. basically did nothing
Describe the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939
Led by Franco, Nationalist forces favoring the fascist-style gov’t rebelled against the Republic.
Hitler and Mussolini sent men to support Nationalists while the Russians supported the Republican side.
Franco established an authoritarian regime in 1939.
Which side was Spain favoring in WWII?
Neutral
What did the Munich Conference negotiate about?
What did it do?
Sudetenland and Hitler’s demand to take it from Czechoslovakia.
- Appeased Hitler in hopes of preserving peace
What is the Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 1939?
10-year nonaggression pact btwn Germany and Soviet Union
Outbreak of WWII (month and year), events
German forces attacked Poland on September 1939, so Great Britain and France declared war on Germany
What is Germany’s blitzkrieg
“lightning war”: fast-moving armor and air power
