Dictators Threaten World Peace
Failures of the World War I Peace Settlement
• Treaty of Versailles did not create a “just and secure peace”
• Germans didn’t think it was fair-blamed them for 100% of war
Failures of the World War I Peace Settlement
• Soviets lose some territories to create Poland, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia
Failures of the World War I Peace Settlement
• Did not make world safe for democracy
• Democracies in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece were weak
• No democratic tradition
Failures of the World War I Peace Settlement
• Some democracies collapsed and dictators seized power
Joseph Stalin Transforms the Soviet Union
• Takes power in Soviet Union in 1924
• Iron willed-nothing would stand in his way
Joseph Stalin Transforms the Soviet Union
• Began industrial and agricultural restructuring
Joseph Stalin Transforms the Soviet Union
• Began reforming Russia in 1927
• Stamped out private enterprise
Joseph Stalin Transforms the Soviet Union
• Human cost to plan amazing
• Soviet Union turned into a massive police state
• Anyone who criticized was arrested/sent to a forced labor camp/killed
Now You See Him…
Joseph Stalin Transforms the Soviet Union
• 1930’s-Stalin purged his own party
• Labeled “enemies of the state” and executed
• Stalin responsible for the deaths of approximately 8 to 13 million people
Rise of Fascism in Italy
• Benito Mussolini establishing a totalitarian regime in Italy
• Wanted to make Italy a great power in the world
Rise of Fascism in Italy
• Unlike Stalin– Did not try to control
farms and factories
Many in Italy feared Communism
So they supported Fascism instead
Rise of Fascism in Italy
• 1921-Mussolini created Fascist party
• 1922- Mussolini stages march on Rome with many of his Blackshirt followers
Rise of Fascism in Italy
• Called himself Il Duce or The Chief
• Extended Fascist control over every aspect of Italian life
The Nazis Take Over Germany
• Adolf Hitler-rise to power similar to Mussolini
The Nazis Take Over Germany
• Hitler soon became the party’s leader…or fuhrer
• Laid out beliefs of Nazism in Mein Kampf
The Nazis Take Over Germany
• Born in Austria-dreamed of uniting all German speaking people
The Nazis Take Over Germany
• Inferior races-Jews, Slavs, and nonwhites, were fit only to serve the Aryans
The Nazis Take Over Germany
• Nazis sought national expansion
• Hitler believed Germany needed more lebensraum
The Nazis Take Over Germany
• Great Depression helped Nazis come to power
• 1932-6 million Germans unemployed
• Many saw Hitler as their last hope
The Nazis Take Over Germany
• Quickly dismantled Germany’s democratic Weimar Republic
Militarists Gain Control in Japan
• Military leaders attempting to gain control of Japan
Militarists Gain Control in Japan
• Japanese controlled Manchuria within months– Resource rich area– Size of Alaska
Militarists Gain Control in Japan
• League of Nations investigated the situation
• Report condemned Japan
Aggression in Europe
• European Dictators noticed League of Nation’s failure to act
Aggression in Europe
• 1936-Hitler re-militarizes Rhineland
• Signs Rome-Berlin Pact- creates formal alliance between Germany and Italy
Aggression in Europe
• Mussolini begins building new Roman Empire
• 1935-Italy conquers Ethiopia
Aggression in Europe
• Haile Selassie-ousted Ethiopian Emperor– Appealed to League
for help– Nothing was done– He tells League “It is
us today, it will be you tomorrow.”
U.S. Clings to Isolationism
• America determined to avoid war
U.S. Clings to Isolationism
• 1935- Congress passes Neutrality Act- to keep U.S. out of wars
Neutrality Breaks Down
• Spanish Civil War• Fascists led by
Francisco Franco vs. elected govmt.
Neutrality Breaks Down
• Hitler and Mussolini saw Spanish Civil War as practice for their military
Neutrality Breaks Down
• Japan launches new attacks against China in 1937
• Japan had never declared war on China
• FDR refused to enforce neutrality legislation
• U.S. sent aid to China• FDR against
isolationism