Authoritarian Regimes and Mass Mobilisation Flashcards
1
Q
Why has historiographical analysis pre-1980s been characterised as overly simplistic? (3)
A
- Denied masses much agency
- Presented them predominantly as victims
- Tried to atribute almost entirely to terror and fear
2
Q
Why has the post-1980s turn challenged these prior conventional narratives? (2)
A
- Democratisation of history
- Emphasis on paying attention to popular opinion/focus on ‘from below’ history
3
Q
What have post-1980s historians suggested is a reason for the over-simplistic analysis of early historians and culture?
A
Uncomfortable for people to admit that the masses actually did support these regimes
4
Q
What does Fitzpatrick’s Everyday Stalinism challenge by focusing on how those living in the USSR adapted/tried to lead a normal life?
A
The idea that the notion of consent in these situations is even relevant to historians
5
Q
What does Hannah Arendt argue totalitarian movements are in her 1951 Origins of Totalitarianism?
A
mass organisations of atomised, isolated individuals
6
Q
What does Hannah Arendt argue totalitarian movements demand in her 1951 Origins of Totalitarianism?
A
Total, unrestricted, unconditional, and unalterable loyalty
7
Q
Who does Hannah Arendt argue can be attracted by the momentum of totalitarianism itself in her 1951 Origins of Totalitarianism?
A
Only the mob and the elite
8
Q
How does Hannah Arendt argue the masses have to be won by totalitarian movements in her 1951 Origins of Totalitarianism?
A
By propaganda
9
Q
Why does Hannah Arendt argue modern dictatorships differ from past tyrannies in her 1951 Origins of Totalitarianism?
A
Because they use terror to rule masses rather than just to get rid of/frighten opponents
10
Q
When can social consent be said to be present?
A
if most of the society/popular opinion considered the regime to be acceptable
11
Q
Why do we need to dismantle unhelpful/oversimplified binary pairings when discussing authoritarian regimes?
A
- No regime could ever command complete/total consent
- Variation within consent
- Most relatively ambivalent/fell somewhere between the two
12
Q
Why does support for figureheads count as social consent?
A
They encapsulated the vision of the regimes/movements and their most important policies
13
Q
Why should we as historians not completely discount social consent completely in our study of authoritarian regimes and mass mobilisation as Fitzpatrick suggests?
A
Regimes themselves cared about state of popular opinion and responded carefully to moods/beliefs
14
Q
During the Cold War, what did totalitarianism come to be designated as a political system characterised by? (5)
A
One-party rule
Monolithic ideology
Centralised control of means of communication
High degrees of state intervention in the economy
Reliance on coercion and terror
15
Q
Why is totalitarianism purely a political concept making it unhelpful?
A
It autonomises political power rather than seeing it in its articulation w the economic and social structure
16
Q
What has totalitarianism often been defined in opposition to?
A
What liberal values are
17
Q
Why is it problematic that totalitarianism has often been defined in opposition to what liberal values are?
A
Doesn’t account for:
- idea that seeds of fascism may have been sown in the preceding liberal era
- idea of structural similarities bw liberal-democratic/fascist systems in their economic basis
18
Q
Why is totalitarianism as a concept not nuanced enough so as to be artificially anachronistic?
A
- Reality from bottom down so different from regime to regime
- Lived experience doesn’t quite fit - were not totalising completely
19
Q
Why is it important not to overstate the role of terror?
A
Because the balance of terror and coercion was important and varied between groups
Propaganda very important
20
Q
What is Weber’s charismatic authority characterised by? (2)
A
- Centred around a leader or person as having extraordinary qualities that elevates them over others
- Often they declare a mission or vision to overcome supradimensional crises/emergencies
21
Q
Why is Weber’s idea of charismatic authority almost by definition temporary authority?
A
Either completion/failure to complete the projected task/vision undermines the figure’s authority
22
Q
What sort of legitimacy did regimes need to generate mass support?
A
Both domestic and international as the two reinforced each other
23
Q
What form of legitimacy was more important to regimes: domestic or international?
A
Domestic legitimacy > international UNTIL the point where lack of international legtimacy causes intervention in domestic affairs
24
Q
What turned out to be one of the fatal flaws of both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy?
A
charismatic authority
25
According to Gellately's Backing Hitler (2001), when was consent for Hitler/Nazi's not in doubt from?
1933
26
What is the historical significance of Gelatelly's claim that consent for Hitler/Nazis not in doubt from 1933?
It followed two elections in 1932 where the Nazis were massively popular and Hitler's appointment as Chancellor but also the beginning of terror and removal of alternatives
27
What did Eric Johnson's 1993 survey of the elderly population living in Cologne show?
Majority had supported the regime (55%) at the time
28
What is the historical significance of Johnson's conclusion that the majority of Cologne had supported the regime at the time?
Of major cities, Cologne had given Nazis lowest amount of electoral support, lower than national percentage too - suggests mass support and consent for Nazis
29
What was the gender split in Eric Johnson's 1993 survey of elderly pop living in Cologne?
71% men vs 47% women said had supported
30
What is the historical significance of the 71% men vs 47% women gender split in Johnson's 1993 Cologne survey?
The typical denouncer was male, middle-aged and middle-class - comparatively low rate of female denunications
31
In Owing's study what did a middle-class woman, the wife of a prominent German historian recall about popular opinion during the Nazi era?
“on the whole, everyone felt well” and that “Wanted only to see the good” and “simply shoved aside” the rest
32
What did the middle-class woman in Owing's study suggest most Germans tried to do?
tried at the very least, even when they didn’t agree 100% with the Third Reich or with National Socialism, to adapt themselves’
33
Did ordinary people often act as denouncers during the Nazi years?
Not really - only c. 1-2% of people in Krefeld during Nazi years acted as denouncers
34
Who was the most emotionally invested group in the Nazi era and why?
Youth as they were subject to indoctrination from an impressionable age
35
What is an example of a non-conformist youth group that formed during the Nazi era suggesting variation within consent even in this most impressionable group?
The Edelweisspiraten
36
What did the diary of Victor Klemper, a Lutheran of Jewish descent, describe many middle-class Germans in Dresden doing?
How they would express their disdain at the mistreatment of the Jews but be supportive of other policies such as 1936 remilitarisation of the Rhineland
37
What did the diary of Victor Klemper, a Lutheran of Jewish descent, describe two students who were in his opinion "completely anti-Nazi" doing?
Describing secret trial/execution of 2 young aristocratic women in Berlin they were not troubled/alarmed that had been denied essential legal rights
38
What did Bishop von Galen of Muenster speak out against in 1941?
The murder of the disabled
39
Despite speaking out against the murder of the disabled, what did Bishop von Galen of Muenster do?
He still proclaimed his belief in the Fuhrer/war vs Soviet Union
40
What did the opposition from ordinary people and the Church to the T4 programme result in?
It stopped being public and killings took place in secret
41
What is the historical significance of the period 1939-41 being characterised by German success?
This bolstered Hitler's popularity and thus also the regimes
42
In internal reports from the Government, what does the President of Swabia note that German victories in the early war years do?
Put most Germans in a "jubilant, victory mood" which fostered a hostile environment for criticism
43
When did many German actually criticise Hitler for taking them to war, his failure to make a peace treaty by 1943, and his extermination of Jews?
Retrospectively
44
What had even Nazi party members begun to avoid by the end of the war?
The 'Heil Hitler' greeting
45
What were people doing at the beginning of the war that they had move away from by the end?
Giving their children Germanic names
46
What does Stargardt argue caused those in Germany to continue to accept the Nazis?
Because they feared retaliation for the Holocaust if the war came to an end and Germany lost
47
What does Stargardt say the German people viewed the Holocaust in relation to?
Themselves
48
At the peak of his popularity, how many Germans were Hitler supporters?
Kershaw notes there are suggestions 9 out of 10 Germans were Hitler supporters at its peak
49
Why does Kershaw argue the Nazi party consciously devised the Hitler myth as an integrating force?
Because Hitler enjoyed much more personal popularity than the Nazi party
50
How did the Nazi party devise this myth according to Kershaw?
attention paid to his style/posture in speeches, manipulated his celibacy, refused to be seen wearing glasses
51
Why does Kershaw argue that the construction of the Hitler myth was a symbiotic process?
Goebbels was dependent on responding to the masses and building on already held beliefs
52
What is the name of the ministry headed by Goebbels?
The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
53
What did Goebbels/Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda produce?
Several propaganda films to promote key ideas like antisemitism, the Fuhrerprinzip and to bolster support for war effort
54
How did Goebbels/Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda use the Strength through Joy Programme to further Hitler's image?
Enabled people to buy radios to listen to his speeches
55
What is evidence of Goebbels/Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda being dependent on responding to the masses and caring about their support?
Germany continued making beer during WWII despite wheat shortages
56
Why did mass rallies of support like at Nuremberg work as a two-fold indoctrination propaganda tool?
Both those there, and those who viewed visual images of the support, and also filmed and showed to cinemas of people
57
What caused businessmen to support the nazis in 1932?
The German communists calls for revolution
58
What did the Nazis do faster than any of the Western liberal countries?
Increased employment and overcame the depression
59
What was there already German tradition of?
Rallying around a strong man e.g. Bizmarck/Paul von Hindenburg more recently
60
Why was Hitler and the Nazi party viewed as a saviour restoring the nation's honour?
Because of promises to restore Germany to former glory and rectify WWI humiliation/loss/defeat
61
Why is it historically significant that terror was not used against ordinary Germans?
Because most actually viewed it as a rehabilitative tool/benefical to them
62
Why was terror not used against ordinary Germans?
Because they lacked resources so only used it sparingly
63
What is important to remember despite the fact we now know the Gestapo was more reliant on civilians than previously understood?
The majority of gestapo cases not based on denuniciations
64
What does Johnson note the Germans did for the most part without the need for the Gestapo?
Controlled themselves
65
What does Johnson note the Nazis succeeded in doing?
presenting terror as rehabilitative/beneficial to Germans and not a threat
66
What does Arendt say is an important aspect of Nazi terror and coercion?
The significance of mutual suspicion and the image of the Gestapo as an all powerful force
67
What is the significance of the increased use of terror over time?
The garnering of support through democratic means and then removal of opposition made it difficult for people to prepare or dissent
68
What are the steps in the increased use of terror over time in Nazi Germany? (6)
- Failed coup 1920
- 1932 Nazi Party Biggest in Reichstag
- 1933 becomes Chancellor
- Reichstag Fire Act to remove opponents
- Enabling Act 1933
- Effectively a dictator by 1934 death of von Hindenburg
69
What did the Nazis attempt to remove crucifixes from classrooms in Bavaria lead to?
Unrest and then the withdrawal of the policy by the Nazis
70
What is the significance of the 1933 Concordat between Nazi Germany and the Catholic Church?
Removed a source of opposition
71
What does Crowthamel argue homosexual WWI vets/active soldiers in the Third Reich did?
Deployed hegemonic masculinity as a resource that allowed for agency and defence
72
How did most homosexual men escape persecution?
Only by hiding/suppressing their identity
73
How does Crowthamel argue WWI vets and active servicemen contested the emphasis on homosexuality ad being crucial to homosexuality in Nazi Germany?
by proving homosexuality didn’t undermine martial masculinity
74
What did Rohm and Bran claim homosexual soldiers had done (the model for argument Crowthamel notes)?
Proven their combat value/embodied ideal warrior
75
Why does Crowthamel note the 1934 violent purges/1935 extended criminalisation of homosexuality as significant?
It meant they resorted to a less self-confident tactic
76
What does Crowthamel argue is the less self-confident tactic homosexual WWI vets/active Third Reich soldiers resorted to?
Acknowledging their homsexuality as deviant/executing it w reference to deprivation/traumatic experiences of WWI
77
Why was it possible for WWI Vets/Active soldiers to resort this less self-confident tactic?
Because the Nazis viewed homosexuality as a curable/suppressible disease unlike racial inferiority
78
What does Geheran argue German Jewish WWI vets deployed by standing up against Nazi thugs publicly in front of other men and women?
A "complicit" form of masculinity which displayed core features of martial masculinity
79
What does Geheran argue German Jewish WWI vets gained from their deployment of this "complicit" form of masculinity?
In the process they retained their masculine honour and regained their self=esteem
80
What does Geheran say German Jewish WWI vets did in utilising hegemonic martial masculinity to secure their own status/agency/identity?
They distances themselves from and put themselves above non-military, i.e. "unmanly" Jews
81
What does Geheran say German Jewish WWI vets unwittingly did in utilising hegemonic martial masculinity to secure their identities?
They unwittingly and likely unwillingly confirmed Nazi stereotypes about Jewish men's alleged effeminacy
82
Why does David Foragcs Rethinking Italian Facism (1986) argue ‘Italian Fascism was at best an imperfect or ‘flawed’ totalitarianism’?
In reality it was not a totalising state - didn’t attempt/succeed to exercise complete control over all groups/areas of life
83
What did Mussolini's promises to rectify/restore the country through military prowess mean for Italian public opinion?
It meant that WWII mobilisation and military gains were viewed positively
84
What is evidence that in Mussolini's Italy military gains and WWII mobilisation were viewed positively?
Increased popularity and support following Abyssinia intervention
85
Why was the strong military presence in Fascist Italy viewed positively domestically?
as linked with restoration of nation’s position
86
How did Fascist Italy attempt to mobilise Italian women? (2)
- Through propaganda campaigns highlighting the importance of motherhood to the nation
- Through the creation of women-only mass organisations
87
Where did the monolithic stereotype of idealised womanhood created by the Fascist regime appear ad nauseam? (4)
In speeches, propaganda, writings, and visual representations
88
What was the ideal Italian woman? (3)
- Rural
- A mother - job to create new Italians for the Fascist state
- Domestic - angel guarding the hearth
89
Why was Mussolini successful in recruiting middle and upper-class women?
They felt they could further their own brand of 'social feminism', now rebaptised as 'Latin feminism' in the new state
90
What does De Felice note about workers' conditions under the fascist regime in comparison to the biennio Rosso?
Workers conditions didn't deteriorate much in real wage terms
91
How does de Felice argue that workers benefitted during the depression?
From increased security through the creation of the Tribunale del Lavoro, and the fascist trade unions
92
What does de Felice note about unemployed workers relationship to the Fascist state?
They received benefits from fascist organisations
They appreciated the efforts made by the government and Fascist National Party to give assistance in the work situations and to create new jobs
93
According to Togliatti why did fascism grip working-class Italians?
Because it was able to satisfy certain basic needs which had been ignored by the old socialism
94
What basic needs does Togliatti suggest Fascism was able to satisfy? (4)
better material conditions, social assistance, cultural and sports activity
95
How did the Fascist state secure the support of the Catholic Church?
Through the 1926-29 Lateran Treaties
96
What did the 1926-9 Lateran Treaties give the Roman Catholic Church for the Papal States' loss of land in 1870 Italian unification?
£30 million compensation and 109 acres in Rome for the Vatican
97
What did the 1926-29 Lateran Treaties allow the Pope to have?
A small army/police force/post office/rail station
98
What did the Concordat do in Fascist Italy?
It made Roman Catholicism the state religion
99
What is the historical significance of the support of the Catholic Church in Fascist Italy?
Created support for the facsist govt from Catholics who witnessed the Catholic Church working w/tacitly accepting Mussolini’s govt
100
Why was communism unsuccessful in Italy?
Partly because of the Catholic Church who were fiercely anti-communist and held lots of power in Italy and significantly influenced ordinary Italians
101
What is the historical significance of the fierce anti-communism of the Catholic Church in Italy?
Perceived absence of a viable alternative
102
Why was democracy unappealing in Italy and why were the Italian people not keen for a return to democracy? (2)
- Bypassed an agrarian revolution
| - Parliament never functioned effectively as a decision-making body/mediator of interests/opinion
103
Why did the Catholic Church, monarchy, business and financial elites have a significant amount of autonomy from the Italian fascist state?
Until at least the mid-1930s they took a laissez-faire attitude to certain aspects of culture and education
104
Who had a much stronger influence ideologically than the fascist state in many areas?
The Roman Catholic Church
105
What does Foragcs note were some anti-popular policies in Fascist Italy? (5)
- Brokedown power of trade unions
- Drove down wage levels,
- Squeezed consumption,
- created u/e and underemployment,
- Radically curtailed civil and political liberties
106
What are the phases of the increase in terror over time in Fascist Italy? (8 steps)
- Appointed PM by King
- Passes laws using coalition to enable ⅔ seats to party with 25% vote (Acerbo Law)
- Terror/violence by PNF to achieve 25% in 1924 election - Followed by assassination of political opponent Matteotti
- and walk out of rest of his party in protest
- enabled passage of authoritarian laws
- 1926 answerable only to King
- 1928 all other parties banned
107
Cult of Mussolini
Celebrity status
| Comparison to film stars e.g. Maciste
108
What is the historical significance of the time Mussolini came to power?
1920s economy doing well, investment in industry and nationalisation in earlier 1920s
109
Following 1925 what was the only industry that benefitted from economic policies of Fascist Italy?
Heavy industry
110
What did Mussolini and the PNF use the biennio rosso and the workers general strike to do?
stage coup d’etat that ends with him being invited to lead country by King
111
What is some evidence of the strong regionalism, uneven modernity, and social inequality in Fascist Italy? (2)
- 25% of population illiterate
| - Radio not introduced until 1924
112
What is the historical significance of Italy's Strong regionalism/uneven modernity/social inequality? (2)
- Many parts of country untouched by PNF’s influence by 1930s
- Hard to engage parochial towns bc highly regionalistic - different dialects
113
Why did Mussolini and Fascism gain more support from middle-class women than other women?
- Spent longer in school (indoctrination)
- More literate - could read magazines/official pubs propaganda
- Less likely to have a familial socialist upbringing to act as a counterweight to fascism
