Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

UCAS condensed > Italy/Germany > Flashcards

Italy/Germany Flashcards

1
Q

Bessel - can the two be meaningfully compared?

A

Terrible violence unleashed by National Socialism had no parallel in the history of Fascism

Centrality of race to Nazis in their monstrous attempt to racially restructure Europe

Although Germany unparalleled in analogous situation, still comparison needed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

MacGregor Knox - difference in overall war effort

A

Italy’s effort collapsed within six months of June 1940 beginning; staggering defeats from Brits and Greeks; dissolved mutely in 1943; Salo republic restoration rested on Germans

Germany 1938-42 subjugated much of Europe; then resisted over 3 years of concentric ground and air attack from 3 world powers’ only disintegrated after Hitler’s suicide

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

MacGregor Knox - indirect road to power

A

Led to war, not merely because both movements celebrated the right of the stronger

War was an instrument as well as a goal - to tame or destroy remaining institutions that blocked their paths at home

Rather than avert revolution, the dictators wanted to make it

Explains thirst for high-risk policy gambles and dialectical interaction of foreign and domestic policy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

MacGregor Knox - three categories for factors explaining difference in power

A

Determined by:

Underlying or inherited structures and forces

Structures and forces connected with the regimes themselves

Events and their sequence

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

MacGregor Knox - Italy time behind and literacy

A

Italy was 30-50 years behind Germany in becoming an industrialised society

Italy 1/3 industrial workers compared to 42% in Germany

Literacy 90% in north in 1931, 79% in centre and 61% in south and islands

Illiteracy vanished in Germany by 1900

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

MacGregor Knox - differing effects of the war

A

Paralysed and destroyed parliamentary institutions in both, but Italian military corps survived the wat

Social conservatism of Vatican and deep Italian Church roots tenacious forces against change

Meanwhile, in Germany war intensified the polycratic nature of the state and left a vacuum at the top of the Weimar from Nov 1918

Italy therefore faced far more tenacious establishment opposition

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

MacGregor Knox - military-economic potential difference

A

In 1938, Germany’s was over 4 times that of Italy

Abundance of coal while 85% of Italy’s imported, 10 times steel production by 1939

Also far stronger military tradition - military positions honoured and generals given far greater autonomy within orders

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

MacGregor Knox - myth of the war’s end

A

German Dolchstosslegende emerged effortlessly and commanded widespread assent

Italian ‘mutilated victory’ failed to command the same audience

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

MacGregor Knox - factors affecting expansionist zeal in the countries

A

Depth of ideological conviction

Scope given to individual initiative

Ability and willingness to use terror

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

MacGregor Knox - impotence of Fascist ideology

A

Celebrated force, but lacked a teleological mechanism that rooted the dictator’s geopolitical and internal goals in the historical process

Mussolini regarded Hitler as a doctrinaire - testimony to his own nature

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

MacGregor Knox - strength of German ideology

A

Hitler had a strong force of conviction and comparative clarity and consistency in his ideology

Resonated with older nationalist-racist movements

Promise to reverse 1918 verdict evoked enthusiasm, and decapitated state and mutual church rivalry removed competition for popular loyalties

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

MacGregor Knox - lack of Italian terror

A

Clumsy murder of Giacomo Matteotti weakened regime

From 1926, ‘Special Tribunal for the Defence of the State’ put to death only 9 men in peace and 22 at war

Italian army condemned to death only 92

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

MacGregor Knox - German extent of terror

A

SA and SS and Gestapo created outside or above the law from the beginning, judiciary followed suit

By 1944, civilian courts condemned 12,000 to death

By 1945, Wehrmacht courts condemned 35,000 military personnel to death

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

MacGregor Knox - Italian and German sequence of events

A

Italian war began 1940-3 with a string of catastrophic failures - defeats by despised Greeks destroyed all prestige of regime

Hitler truly became Fuhrer for all with 1940 defeat of France (Wilhelm had failed), also seized goods insulated population until 1944

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

MacGregor Knox - differences in ideology in action

A

Patriotism and monarchical loyalty of the Italian officer corps and resignation of their peasant soldiers were no substitutes for fanaticism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

MacGregor Knox - differences in home fronts

A

Lack of hatred of the enemy, lack of conviction and steady decline in living standards meant the Italian home front soon collapsed

German regime irreversible after 1938 - home front held onto memory of thee benefits the regime had brought and conviction of racial superiority

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Economic ‘battles’

A

Mussolini believed more in will power than economic theory - ‘battles’ against intractable problems

Battle of the lira attempted to solve inflation with ‘90 liras to the pound’, when it should have been 120

Battle for grain raised tariffs on wheat imports

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Great depression in Italy

A

Struck in the early 1930s, making nonsense of the ‘third way’ claim

Official unemployment figures rose to over 1 million

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Italian educational reform

A

From 1923 with Giovani Gentile - piecemeal and narrow class basis of ‘fewer but better’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

‘Battle of the births’

A

Showed preoccupation with boosting population figures

OMNI set up in 1925 for welfare of unmarried mothers

Tax on celibacy, crack down on prostitution and abortion, also health and welfare units set up

Accepted by the Pope, allowing the Union of Catholic Women to be tolerated

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Dopolovaro

A

Set up in 1925, failed to integrate classes and did not get fanatical response, only passive acceptance

4.6 million members, but only due to unfascist nature

Lacked a sense of dynamism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

1929 Lateran Pacts

A

Signed by the Duce and Cardinal Gasparri - secured the Catholic Church as the sole state religion, legal validity of marriages and freedom to pursue spiritual duties

Mussolini had sanctioned the Vatican, creating a state within a state which made totalitarian power impossible

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

1931 Catholic Church issues

A

Major conflict, as Catholic Action members were accused of forming secret political groups

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Catholic Church relations deterioration

A

After the introduction of racial laws in 1938 and the even close links to Nazi Germany, which led the pope to voice his public disquiet

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Fascist propaganda

A

Took while to establish apparatus remotely like the Naziis

Ministry for Press and Prop only from 1935

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Italian racial discrimination

A

Manifesto of Racist Scientists appeared, followed by a series of racial laws in 1938

Jewish children excluded, mixed marriages banned and purge from party and cultural establishments

Less than 50,000 Jews in Italy anyway, well-integrated and many of them patriotic members of the PNF

When the Germans took over, extreme persecution began, with 9,000 Italian Jews transported to extermination camps

27
Q

Prevalence of the police and OVRA

A

Police were always present and had greatly increased numbers under fascism

20,000 police operations against opponents of the regime in later 1930s, showing a high degree of sensitivity towards opposition

OVRA also penetrated opposition networks and investigated through totalitarian banks of data, torture and threats to family

Also eggiest of inculcating fear in those who felt they may be the targets of repressive action

28
Q

Italian judicial system

A

Oppressive, giving heavy prison sentences if not death sentences to many of the 13,00 who passed through the system 1927-40

29
Q

Italy appearance vs reality of repression

A

Beneath an apparent laxity and overt paternal benevolence, fascism had constructed both the mechanisms of the police state and the judicial system to go with it

30
Q

Italian - those who didn’t qualify for services

A

Ethnic discrimination excluded from 1938

Landless agricultural labourers (40% of agricultural population) excluded from participation and benefits, and also more susceptible to heavy unemployment and exempt from unemployment pay

Also people had to present themselves regularly and be subjected to reports

31
Q

Real economic impact of fascism

A

Growth of the Italian economy under fascism was one of the slowest in C20

Index of real wages fell 11% 1925-1938

32
Q

Italian specific welfare organisation examples

A

PNF took over and delivered social welfare thorugh the Enti Opere Assistenziali from 1931

National Institute of Social Insurance provided insurance against accidents, sickness, old age, and unemployment

33
Q

Corner - Pre-fascist relationship between central government and local administration

A

Government respected local autonomies, blunting centralisation and setting up tension between the two

Central government was sufficiently weak to have to rely on the collaboration of local government

Needed continuous mediation through prefects, etc.

Local votes in Rome dependent on exchange of favours

34
Q

Corner - Limit of fascist bureaucratisation

A

Did create many large government organisations that restricted local issues,

However, decisions taken at the centre were implemented on the ground by provincial party officials and local state administrators

At this point, centralised mechanisms were exposed to obstruction, deviation or abuse

Local contrasts and rivalries came to the fore again

35
Q

Corner - Lack of discussion of party ideology

A

Examination of party documents in the 1930s and 40s shows little discussion of fascist ideology other than reference to the ‘fascist faith’

Discussion of policy is absent - provincial politics is conducted entirely at the level of personalities and reputations, of local intrigues and vendettas

36
Q

Corner - Complaints about local officials

A

Letters to party HQ are filled with suggestions that local officials interpreted the ‘fascist sacrifice’ uniquely

Men like Feltri, the Federale of Modena, gave building contracts to his brother in law and illegally sold petrol reserved for agriculture

37
Q

Corner - Failure of demonstrations by late 1930s

A

1937 march in Padua for troops returning from Africa was virtually empty - more like a funeral

Fascism seemed to have exhausted its energies, and disaffection even involved the young (supposed to be the most indoctrinated)

38
Q

Corner - Mental distinction between leader and reality

A

Phrase ‘if the Duce only knew’ shows this distinction, separating Mussolini from his self-interested and overbearing followers

However, it does condemn what everyday Fascism represented for many people

39
Q

Corner - Parallel processes in fascism

A

On one hand, its formal structures were being extended and reinforced

On the other, the actual impact of fascism on a day-to-day basis was pushing people away from any commitment to the regime

40
Q

Corner - Failure of fascism to overcome origins

A

For all its modernising and centralising efforts, it never really outgrew its origins, dominated by local consideration

Local and personal issues could never be prevented from coming to the fore

Manifested the issues it had condemned liberal Italy for (parochialism corruption, etc.

41
Q

Steber & Gotto - centrality of the VM

A

Central social concept - it was within it, and via it, that visions of community were expressed, negotiated and put into practice

42
Q

Steber & Gotto - Nazi view of pre-1933 ‘volk’

A

Had become debased and deprived of its vigour - they were determined to fix this through social engineering

Any belief that private lives would not be affected and distance could be kept from politics was illusory

43
Q

Steber & Gotto - VM pre-war

A

The priorities of the VM had been the affective integration of its members, and the implementation of racist segregation

Mechanisms of selection based on racial biology put in place

44
Q

Steber & Gotto - VM post-war

A

VM utopia was now projected as a valiant ‘community of struggle’ in a transformation of its image the regime had engineered as it prepared for hostilities

While Germans on the home from profited from plundering of occupied areas and Jewish property, ‘solidarity’ was also expected

Final increasingly fragmented ‘community of fate’ at the end of the war

45
Q

Kershaw - impact of studies of everyday lives

A

Have shifted the perspective away from opposition and dissent of the regime towards conformity, even active complicity and willing consent

Regime and society thereby seem more in unison, as research from below has showed myriad supportive actions from below

46
Q

Kershaw - VM as a vehicle

A

With its integration of people and exclusion of minorities, the VM is increasingly seen as the conceptual vehicle for the complicit society

This is also added to by the cultural turn, which takes Nazi ideology seriously rather than dismissing it

Willing cooperation and complicity seem in need of a concept to embrace the success of Nazism in winning over much of Germany to a genocidal project - VM now seen as real success story in this way

47
Q

Kershaw - origin of the political force of the VM

A

Arose from its ‘promise and the potential for mobilisation, not as a gauge of society’

People thought things were getting better, and that society was egalitarian

Realities were interpreted through the lens of community rather than the lens of class

48
Q

Kershaw - WW1 for VM

A

WW1 gave lasting currency to a sense of national solidarity and unity

As the Nazis gained hold over visions of the war, they emphasised the need to recreate the solidarity of the ‘trench community’

49
Q

Kershaw - VM in understanding dynamism

A

Concept can go some way towards capturing the intangible, immeasurable but nevertheless real and vital psychological mobilisation that gave Nazism its extraordinary dynamism

Embraced millions in the ‘machine of inclusion’

50
Q

DAF origin

A

Replaced all TUs, which were disbanded starting with the Free Trade Unions in 1933

As the only union, there was huge pressure on membership

Concept of Betriebsgemeinschaft under the DAF subordinated further the workers to the plant leader (employer)

51
Q

Effect of Nazi rule on workers

A

They were further atomised, allowing private industry to adjust their pay without protection from an effective union body

Piecework increasingly replaced hourly work structures by the mid-1930s

52
Q

Rearmament creating wage differences

A

Continued economic aim - meant heavy industry wages went up 10-24% 1933-36 while consumer goods went up by max. 6%, even falling

Meanwhile, cost of living went up 9%

Discrepancies symptomatic of an economy sacrificing minimum standards for political aims

53
Q

Nazi unemployment reduction

A

From 1/3 of working age men in 1933 to 74,000 by the summer of 1939

However the average standard of living did not go up - poverty wages paid

54
Q

Strength Through Joy

A

Created in 1933 to organise leisure time

35 million by 1936, 1.7 million of whom took advantage of holidays in 1937

55
Q

Strength Through Joy holiday aims vs reality

A

Excursions aimed to bridge the class divide, however they really accentuated them

Clear from 1935 Norway cruise, in which the 10% of working class passengers were put in the lower decks with no money for entertainment or bar

Meanwhile Nazi officials were given the best suites and drank the ship dry

56
Q

Beauty of Labour

A

Propaganda-based organisation, main action was a series of campaigns to encourage good working conditions

Slogans like ‘fight against noise’ attempted to persuade employers to raise standards, also inspections

‘Warm Meals at Work’ gained for 18,000 - piecemeal

57
Q

Cost of subsidising disadvantaged communities

A

150 mil in 1931
672 mil in 1932
Projected to cost even more in 1933

58
Q

Creation of NSV

A

National Socialist Welfare Organisation endorsed in 1933

Move away from state-funded relief, as the NSV was funded entirely by voluntary donations and dues

Government put burden on the public and concentrated on other things

59
Q

Growth of NSV through WInterhilfe

A

12 mil members by 1939, largest relief vehicle was the Winter Relief

Winterhilife was financed by an ‘onslaught of collections’ October-March which differentiated the generous from the miserly with badges

Later there were automatic wage deductions according to ‘voluntary guidelines’

Included one-dish meal programs - expectation of donating food savings

Institutionalised as the base for economic planning with Winter Relief Law in 1936

60
Q

Economic success of winterhilfe

A

350 mil 1933-34
Over 550 mil 1938-9

Meant extra 40-100 marks given per family per winer (month’s wages)

Sopade reports indicate it was viewed with deep resentment by the working class

61
Q

Importance of marriage and children

A

most glorious duty’ for women was having children

1933 Marriage Loan Scheme gave 1000 marks - 42% of marriages assisted by 1939

1938 divorce law ensured divorce in case of infertility

However, loan-assisted marriages on average only yielded one child

62
Q

Toxic dichotomy of VM

A

Higher wage deductions than under Weimar (18% rather than 15%) along with a welfare system based on voluntarism

63
Q

VM effect on minorities

A

Jews were victimised with legislation including the 1935 Nuremberg Laws

Eventually over 160,000 German Jews were killed in Nazi death camps

UCAS condensed (10 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions