THE WORLD

BETWEEN THE
WARS

The Rise of Fascism

Italy suffers from food
shortages and
unemployment.
Peasant farmers revolt.
Businessmen create
fascism.
Belief that the interests of

the state were above the

individual.
Power must rest with a
single-strong leader and
devoted party members.
Believed that political
differences weakened a
nation.

Benito Mussolini
1919- organizes the Fascist
Party.
Supported by businessmen
who wanted a stop to the
peasant revolts.
1922- Fascist Party had
300,000 members.
October, 1922- leads a
march on Rome
King Victor Emmanuel III

makes Mussolini head of the

government.

Declares himself, Il Duce or

the Leader.

Fascist Reforms
1.
2.
3.
4.

Creates a dictatorship with

Mussolini as head of govt.
Creates a secret police to spy
on enemies.
Takes over the press.
To ensure a steady supply of
soldiers encourages families
to have many children with
tax breaks.

5.

Taxes single men.

Divided areas of production

into 22 corporate syndicates.

Controlled wages and

pricing.

The Weimar Republic

Kaiser William II abdicates the
throne at the end of WW I.
February, 1919- German republic
created in the town of Weimar.
Adopt a new constitution.
Eager for democracy.

German people dislike.

Too weak.

Communists attempt a takeover

fails.
German nationalists fear a govt.
takeover of private business.
Angry over treatment after the
Treaty of Versailles.
Want to break the treaty and
rebuild the German military.

Adolph Hitler
Highly critical of Weimar
Republic.
Joins Nazi Party during
WWI.
Quickly rises up in the

ranks of the party due to

incredible speaking ability.

1923- attempts an
overthrow of Bavaria.
Fails Hitler is jailed and

writes Mein Kampf.

Mein Kampf

My Struggle
2 themes
1.

The Germans were the

master race descendants
from the Aryan people.

2.

Blond-haired, blue eyed.

The Jews were the inferior

race who weakened
Germany and caused the
defeat in the war, high
unemployment, and the
spread of Communism.

Creates incredible
nationalistic feelings in
Germany.
Calls on Germany to
rebuild its strength, take
back lost lands, and create
a German Empire.

German Economy
1923- German money
considered worthless.
Fall, 1929- banks
collapsed, and factories
closed.
Stock prices fall.
Leads to a world-wide

Depression.

1932- 6 million Germans

(1/2 the labor force) are
unemployed.

The Rise of Nazism

Hitler gives German people
an enemy to hate (Jews) and
a cause to fight for (rebuild
Germany).
Creates the Brown Shirts
Hitlers private army.

1932- becomes the strongest

political party in Germany.
1933- seizes power of the
Reichstag (German
Parliament) and becomes
chancellor.

Nazi Germany
1933- Hitler seized
totalitarian control of
the govt. and creates the
Third Reich.

Reforms

1. All political
2.
3.

4.
5.

parties outlawed
except Nazi Party.
Creates the
Gestapo- secret
police.
Jews lose
citizenship and
are ordered to
leave the country.
Takes control of
the press.
Creates jobs for
the unemployed.

Spanish Civil War

Depression of the 1930s
hits hard in Spain.
King abdicates and a
republic is formed.
Fascists emerge
Led by Francisco Franco.
Rebel against the Republic.

Hitler and Mussolini send

support to Franco.
Communist Russia sends
support to the Republic.
1939- Fascists take over.
Franco named dictator.

The United States

Warren Harding electedreturns U.S. to isolationist
status.
Dies in office
Replaced by Calvin

Coolidge.

The Roaring Twenties

America goes through a

cultural revolution.
Cars become affordable.
Movies gain sound.
Stock prices rise and rise
and rise.

October, 1929- Stock

market crashes.
Stocks sell for less than

original purchase value.

The Great Depression

Banks demand payments
on loans.
People have no money.
People withdraw what little

money is left from the

banks.
Banks close.

1933- Franklin D.
Roosevelt elected
President.
New Deal policies turn

economy around.
Government sponsored
programs create jobs.

Great Britain
Great Depression hits
hard.
No trading vessels and a

coal industry in shambles.

Imperial Territories
Creates a Commonwealth

of Nations w/- Australia,

New Zealand, Canada, and
South Africa.
Each nation was fully
independent, but still
recognized the King as
their sovereign leader.

Divides Ireland
Northern IrelandAnglican
Ireland- Catholic

France
France attempts to rebuild
based on German war
reparations.
Germany too broke to repay.
French seize German coal
mines and steel mills along
the Ruhr.

Political parties form coalitions

called the Popular Front.
Temporary alliances to defend
against the nobles, military
and clergy.
Led by Leon Blum.

Reforms
40-hour week for workers.
Govt. control of banks and
military.

Great Depression hurts reforms

and Blum is removed from
office.
Popular Front breaks up.

Japan
1920s- Democracy takes root.
Industry and trade with
Europe grows.
Voting allowed.

Great Depression hurts trade

business.
Silk market falls 70%.

Military takes control of the

govt.
Demands invasion of China

for necessary raw materials.

September, 1931- Japan

invades Manchuria.

WORLD WAR II

The Path to War

German
rearmament

1935- 550,000 man

army created.

Italian expansion
1935- invades

Ethiopia

Spanish Civil War

Franco establishes a

Fascist govt.

League of Nations
condemns, but
takes no action.

Lacked United States

support and
membership.

Appeasement
March, 1936- Hitler
invades the Rhineland
and takes from
France.
March, 1938- Hitler
invades Austria.
Britain and France
allow to happen in
hopes of appeasing
Germany.
Prime Minister Neville

Chamberlains Piece
of Paper.

Invasion of Czechoslovakia
September, 1938
Munich Conference
Britain
Neville Chamberlain

France
Edouard Daladier

Italy
Benito Mussolini

Germany
Adolph Hitler

Agreed to allow Hitler to

take the Sudentenland with

the promise of leaving
Czechoslovakia.

March, 1939- Germany

invades Czechoslovakia.

Invasion of Poland
March, 1939- Hitler
demands parts of Poland
be returned to Germany.
France and Britain
threaten war.
September 1, 1939Germany invades Poland
September 3, 1939Britain and France
declare war on Germany.

Nazi-Soviet Pact
Joseph Stalin- leader
of the Soviet Union.
Hitler signs an
agreement promising
not to invade the
Soviet Union.

Allies
Britain
Winston Churchill

United States
Franklin Roosevelt

Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin

The Axis Powers

Created in 1936.
Germany
Adolph Hitler

Italy
Benito Mussolini

Japan
Hideki Tojo

Blitzkrieg
Lightning war
Use of tanks, bombers,

and paratroopers to
open up the lines.

Used by Germany to
defeat Poland.
April, 1940- Germany
invades Denmark.
May, 1940- Germany
invades Belgium and
the Netherlands.

Invasion of France
June, 1940- Germany
invades via Belgium.
Allied troops along the
French border w/
Germany.
June, 1940- Mussolini
invades from the south.
June 14, 1940- France is
defeated.
Henri-Philippe Petain

establishes the Vichy govt.

for Germany.

Battle of Britain
August 8, 1940
Every day, 100s of
German planes bomb
Britain.
Britain air force fights
back and creates German
losses.
Used RADAR

Lasts until Spring, 1941.

Invasion of the Soviet Union

June, 1941- Germany
invades.
September, 1941German troops lay siege
on Leningrad.
Lasts for 2 years.

Soviets burn everything

as they retreat.
Russian winter of -30
degrees slows German
advances.

Invasion of Stalingrad
August, 1942
Germans attack city.
600 German planes

bomb the city.

40,000 civilians killed.

People fight back.

February, 1943German troops retreat.

Japanese Aggression
1937- invades all of
China.
Early, 1940sinvades Thailand,
Malaysia, and the
Philippines.
United States limits
trade relations.

Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941
Japan bombs
American naval
bases in Hawaii.

Majority of United
States Pacific Fleet
is destroyed.

America Enters the War

December 8, 1941
Franklin Roosevelt
asks Congress to
declare war on the
Empire of Japan.
Germany then
declares war on
America.

War in the Pacific

Battle of Coral Sea
May, 1942
Japan attempts to

invade Australia.
United States stops.

Battle of Midway
June 4-7, 1942
America destroys

nearly all Japans

aircraft carriers

Invasion of Italy
Allies take back North
Africa.
July, 1943- Allies
invade Italy.
Mussolini attempts to

flee the country, but is

captured and executed.

June, 1944- Allies

take Rome.

Invasion of France
Led by General Dwight
D. Eisenhower.
June 6, 1944- D-Day
120,000 Allied troops

invade France on the

beaches of Normandy.
Fierce German
resistance.

July, 1944- 1 million

Allied troops in France.
August, 1944- Paris
liberated.

Invasion of Germany
Fall, 1944- Soviet troops
invade from the East.
Battle of the Bulge
December, 1944
Germans make last attempt

to defeat the Allies.

Germany makes gains, but
supplies run short.

January, 1945- Allies

invade Germany.
April, 1945- American
and Soviet troops meet in
Berlin.
Hitler commits suicide

V-E Day
May 8, 1945
Germany
unconditionally
surrenders to the
Allies.

The Holocaust
German plan to wipe
out the Jews.
The Final Solution
Developed by Heinrich

Himmler.

Over 6 million Jews were

loaded into cattle cars and
shipped to death camps to
be killed by gas.
Auschwitz
Located in Poland
3-4 million killed here.

The Holocaust
in Pictures

Defeat of Japan
August, 1942- America
reclaims Guadalcanal.
October, 1944- America
reclaims the Philippine
Islands.
Japan tries kamikaze raids
by deliberately crashing
planes into American
battleships.
February, 1945- America
claims Iwo Jima
5,000 American dead
15,000 wounded

American casualties
running high.

The Atomic Bomb

August 6, 1945
America drops atomic

bomb on Hiroshima.
60% of city destroyed.
80,000 people killed.

August 9, 1945
America drops 2nd

atomic bomb on
Nagasaki.

V-J Day
August 15, 1945
Emperor Hirohito
surrenders to the
Allies.

The Spread of
Communism

The Yalta Conference

Roosevelt very ill.

Russian troops
occupying all of Eastern
Europe.

Within 100 miles of

Berlin.

The Big Three decide:

1.
2.
3.

Divide Germany into 3

equal zones of
occupation.
Creation of the United
Nations.
Soviet Union demands
right to occupy Eastern
Europe.

Potsdam Conference
Harry S. Truman new
U.S. President.
Very anti-Communist.

Demand that the USSR

allow free elections in
Eastern Europe.
Stalin refuses.

Roots of the Cold War

America does not want a

return of Hitler
Soviet Union wants
payback for what was
done to them in WWII.
An Iron Curtain had
fallen across Europe.
Winston Churchill

The Truman Doctrine

Soviet Union puts
pressure on nations to
turn away from
Capitalism and toward
Communism.
Truman informs Congress
that it is Americas policy
to stop the spread of
Communism by any
means necessary.

Stalins Soviet Union

Returns to rigid
dictatorship after WW
II.
Creates forced-labor
camps to deal with
political opponents.
The Five Year Plan
Economic recovery

plan to rebuild Russia

using raw materials
from Eastern Europe.

Stalins Spread of Communism

One-party systems
established in Eastern
Europe.
Religions attacked.
Civil liberties taken away.
All parts of the economy
became the property of
the state.
Forces satellite
countries of Eastern
Europe to trade only with
the Soviet Union.

Death of Stalin
1953- dies after a long
illness.
Reform-minded
Communists demand
that Stalins
reforms be reversed
and that more positive
reforms be made.
de Stalinization

Nikita Khrushchev
Chief Communist
reformer.
1955- becomes new
Soviet ruler.
Launches de
Stalinization of Russia.
Exposes Stalin for all his

killings.
All reminders of Stalin
removed- statues, pictures,
etc.

Economy improves by
shifting from heavy
industry to agriculture.

Peaceful Coexistence
Khrushchev's policy
toward non-Communist
nations.
Believes that
Communism and
Capitalism can both exist
in the world without war.
Holds summit meetings

with U.S. Presidents.

Sends aid to Third World
nations.

The Fall of Khrushchev

Lessening of restrictions
allows Eastern European
nations to rebel against Soviet
Union.
October, 1962- Cuban Missile
Crisis
Attempt to place missiles in

Cuba.
America demands their
removal.
Nearly come to brink of war.
Khrushchev blinks.

Viewed as weak toward

America.
1964- Removed by Communist
Party and exiled to Siberia.
Dies a few years later.

Leonid Brezhnev
Restricts personal
freedoms and returns to
the build-up of the
military.
A re-Stalinization of

Russia.

Brezhnev Doctrine
Soviet Union and its allies

had the right to intervene

in any Communist country
whenever they saw the
need.

Detente
A relaxation of
tensions.
Soviet policy toward
the United States.

Soviet Power
1968- Czechoslovakia attempts
to allow personal freedoms.
Communism with a human
face.
Inspires Poland and Hungary
to revolt.
August, 1968- 500,000
Russian troops re-occupy.

Attempts made to raise

standard of living.
Families given televisions and
appliances.
Stores stocked with food- no

long lines.

Opponents of the government

were branded as dissidents.
Exiled to Siberia or
blacklisted and unable to get a
job.

The Spread of Communism

1961- Berlin Wall built.
1964- Communist
government established in
Vietnam.
1970- Poland attempts to
revolt.
Continues through the

1980s.

Communism never able

to gain a foothold in a
major country.
1991- Communism and
the Soviet Union fall
apart.