The rise of dictatorships Flashcards
Identify 4 conditions that enabled the rise of dictators
- Pre-war conditions
- The Great War
- Post-war political struggle
- Great Depression
Identify how pre-war conditions contributed to the rise of dictators.
- Division of optimists and pessimists
- Longing for ‘rebirth’ and ‘purifying’ of Europe
- Key ideas (eg. social Darwinism)
Identify how The Great War contributed to the rise of dictators.
- The end of empires (eg. Russia, A-H, Ottoman)
- ‘Brutalisation’ (war, death, disease, struggle)
- Bitter resentments (eg. Germany, Italy, Turkey)
Identify how post-war political struggles contributed to the rise of dictators.
- Bolshevik revolution in Russia (1917)
- Weak state of democracy + new crises
- Rise of new ideologies: eg. Fascism and Nazism
Identify how the Great Depression contributed to the rise of dictators.
- The ‘great accelerator’
- Rapid decline in living standards
- Desperate for alternatives
identify key inter-war conditions that enabled the rise of dictators in Russia-
- Pre-war urban workers’ struggle against Tsarist rule- supported by socialist groups
- Lenin’s “What is to be done” modified Marxism & called for vanguard of elite revolutionaries to lead change.
- WWI led to greater discontent
- Feb 1917- Tsar overthrown- Provisional Government in place
- Bolshevik slogan- peace, bread, land
- Oct 1917- Revolution. Bolsheviks in power- would become Communist Party
- Red Terror- opposition parties banned, opponents imprisoned and rigid censorship imposed.
- Civil War
- 1924 Lenin death- Stalin’s rise to power begins
- Not overly impacted by Great Depression but famines were result of ‘collectivisation’ killing millions
How did Stalin demonstrate power and authority in his rise to power?
- Stalin’s authority- claimed to be Lenin’s chosen successor & CP loyalists
- claimed to be new prophet of Marxist ideology
- Victory in power struggle with Trotsky gave him authority from CP
- Early stages of dictatorship- ‘patronage’ (Fitzpatrick)- rewarded party members with housing and other goods and good positions within the Party
- ‘Cult of personality’- gave him more power and authority as Comrade Stalin
Identify key features of Stalin’s dictatorship- make reference to power, authority, reward, fear
- Rewarded workers for meeting production targets- Alexei Stakhanov- celebrity status
- Fear & punishment- gulags, 1930s, punished opponents of Stalin’s regime. 20 mil sent to camps- estimated 50% died
- Fear & punishment - ‘purges’ – mass purges in 1937 & 1938 removed opponents (included key figures in army, engineers & other educated citizens as well as ‘Old Bolsheviks’ (numbers went from 139 to 41 in Central Committee & Trotsky was assassinated in 1940) Estimated at least 750,000 purged but some think the figure is double this.
- Fear- control- all relied on Stalin and gov’t for food, water & power
- Huge loss of life
- Reward- modernisation of USSR- collectivisation & industrialisation (5 Year Plans)- higher literacy levels, better access to electricity, improved roads & transport
Why was Italy so disappointed in the Treaty of Versailles and what impact did it have?
- In Secret Treaty of London (1915)- ItalywaspromisedTrieste, southern Tyrol, northern Dalmatia, and other territories in return for a pledge to enter the war within a month.
- Italy was only given the two small areas of Istria and the South Tirol. The Adriatic coast was made part of a new country called Yugoslavia, which included Serbia and Bosnia.
- Most Italians believed that Italy had been treated very badly at Versailles.• 460,000 Italians had died in the war, but at Versailles Orlando was almost ignored.• Italy was heavily in debt, mostly to the USA.
- Fascists would refer to the war and subsequent peace as ”vittoria mutilata” (mutilated victory)
Identify the inter-war social, economic and political conditions that allowed a dictatorship to develop in Italy.
Conditions in Italy:
- Politics- universal male suffrage, 1919, coalition government weak. Liberals divided over role of Giolitti (PM 5 5imes!) & the Socialistis & the new Catholic Party had done well. Anger at Treaty
- Economics- Inflation & war debts led to an economic crisis- cost of living very high. Industrial workers lost jobs after collapse of wartime industries, the South in particular experienced poverty and agricultural problems. Unemployment = 2 million men
- Social- class divides, anger, fear, restless for solutions
Explain the rise of Mussolini
- Formed Fascist Party in 1919- had socialist and nationalist aims
- Exploited failures of Italian government and outrage over ‘mutilated victory’
- By 1921 political aims were mostly nationalist.
- 1921 elections Giolitti added Fascists to pro-government parties and they won 35 seats in Chamber of Deputies
- By 1922 Mussolini had emerged as a popular leader and was attracting support from all demographics
- Supported by Church for agreeing to work on the “Roman Question”
- King began to see Fascists as a possible solution also.
Identify the key features of Mussolin’s dictatorshop, focusing on power, authority, reward and punishment
- Slogans and propaganda were linked to nationalism
Authority came when King Victor Emmanuel III asked Mussolini to form a new government in October, 1922 after March on Rome - Power came from cultural sympathy for monarchy, respected history of Imperial Rome- authoritarian values & distrust of democracy
Disappointment of Paris Peace Conference - Fear of communism & class conflict
- Acceptance of Fascism by Catholic Church- religious reward?
- Fear & punishment- 1925-1926 ‘second wave’ of Fascism- executive power increased- critics lost their citizenship & individual freedoms and freedoms of press came under attack
- Focus on “new Italy”- very masculine, youth, sporty, virility,
- Fascist leaders sought to “rescue” women from experiencing emancipation
Identify and explain the key factors that enabled the rise of dictators in Japan.
Great Depression- downturn in global markets, tariffs and trade restrictions hurt Japan’s economy
Growing population impacted on Japan’s limited natural resources
Japan acquired territory in bid to access resources & exploited weaker neighbours (China and Korea) for food supplies
Military expansion saw army’s increasing power in domestic policy (they were answerable to the Emperor not parliament- after constitution explicitly stated this as part of Meiji Restoration 1868)
Military Factions- Koda Ha (Imperial Way- wanted army revolution) & Tosei Ha (Control Faction)- wanted more power but not by challenging Emperor or removing all civilian political influence)
Name 5 factors that enabled the rise of dictators in Japan.
- Great Depression
- Growing population
- Japan acquired territory in bid to access resources & exploited weaker neighbours (China and Korea) for food supplies
- Military expansion
- Military Factions
Describe the impact of the Great Depression and League of Nations on Japan and the rise of militarism
- Western countries placed barriers on Japanese trade to protect their own colonial markers.
- Japan believed that the structure of international peace favoured Western nations through the League of Nations which allowed the West to control the world’s resources.
- Japan resented the West for blocking Japanese emigration in the 1920s through anti-Asian immigration legislation.
- Unemployed Japanese people looked to the strength of the military to deal with the economic problems as the civilian government looked weak.
