The Rise of Fascism and The Second World War

Introduction:
In 1923 Italy became, under Benito Mussolini (1883 - 1945), a fully fascist country.
In Germany the dictatorial movement was led by Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945).
Nazi came to power in 1933.
Fascism:
The word Fascism is derived from the term fasces which in Italian language means a
bundle of rods.
Unlike a democratic state, the Fascist regime tolerates no opposition.
Their concept of State is all-embracing.
No individual or group of individuals is allowed to function in an independent manner.
It is a one party system controlled by a personal dictator, having total power and not
allowing any opposition or any personal freedom.
Causes for the Rise of Fascism and Nazism:
1. Dissatisfaction with the Peace Treaties:
Among Italians the feeling was that they had won the War but lost the Peace.
The Treaty of Versailles, made Germans feel ashamed and helpless.
Germans was forced to cede large chunks of her territory to France,
Belgium, Poland and Denmark.
Her overseas possessions and colonies were divided among themselves
by the Allies (Britain, France, Belgium, and South Africa).
The total strength of the army was fixed at one lakh, which caused a
sense of great insecurity among the Germans.
2. Economic Factors:
Economic conditions in Italy after the War were very bad.
War debts and budget deficits caused lots of difficulty.
The salaried employees, the farmers and the industrial workers felt the
pinch of post-war inflation.
The youngmen found all channels of employment closed to them.
There were agrarian riots and strikes in the factories.
Germany had to pay a huge sum as War Indemnity.
The financial crises forced Germany to borrow recklessly.
German economy combined a high rate of inflation with a high level of
unemployment.

3. Inefficient and Corrupt Democratic Governments:

The governments under Nitti and Giolitti in Italy were unable to control
industrial and agrarian disorders.
In Germany the Constituent Assembly, which met at Weimer in 1919,
established a liberal democratic government.
Between 1919 and 1933, there were as many as 21 Ministers headed by
12 Chancellors (Prime Ministers).
The people, therefore, were looking for a strong government, with a
firmer economic programme.
4. Rise of Totalitarian Ideologies:
The philosophy of Hegel, a German philosopher, had flourished in Italy for years
before Fascism was thought of.
Irrational and anti-intellectual thoughts of Alfred Rocco, an Italian nationalist,
had got the upper hand now.
It appealed to the masses because it glorified power or even sheer force.
In Russia, after the Revolution of 1917, the government had been using terror to
enforce obedience.
Dictatorial ideas or principles appealed to the masses in Italy and Germany also.
5. Class Conflicts:
Many writers are of the opinion that the Fascist and the Nazi parties were being
supported mainly by industrialists, big businessmen and the landlords.
Italy seemed to be heading towards a communist revolution.
It is said that financial support for Fascism came largely from the monied classes
who wished to suppress the workers.
6. Charismatic Leaders:
In Italy Mussolini was called Duce, which means the Leader.
The Germans adored Hitler as their Saviour.
He adopted the designation of Feuhrer, i.e. the Leader.
Mussolini Formed the Government in October, 1922:
In March 1919 Mussolini formed the Fascist Party, which attracted people from all the
sections of society ex-soldiers, salaried persons, farmers, workers and the youths.
They wore a Black uniform and, therefore, came to be known as the Black-Shirts.
They adopted the fasces as their symbol.
Violence was the creed of these volunteers.
The Black-Shirts took over factories, municipalities and police stations wherever
they could.
On 28 October 1922, the Fascist bands marched on Rome.

 The very next day the King invited Mussolini to form the government, which he did on
30th October.
Victor Emmanuel was still the King, but Mussolini became the real ruler of Italy.
By 1924 the Opposition had withdrawn from the Assembly.
Mussolini could govern by just plain orders or decrees.
Hitler Formed his Nazi Government in January 1933:
The party was formed in 1919.
Its members wore Brown Shirts.
In the elections of July 1932, the Nazis polled more than 13 million votes.
The party captured 35.5 per cent of the total seats in the Reichstag (national
legislature).
A coalition government, headed by Von Pappen, could not continue in power for long.
President Hindenburg then offered Chancellorship to Hitler, who formed his first Nazi
government on 30 January, 1933.
The Nazis were still not in majority in the Legislature.
General Election was ordered for 5th March.
It resulted in the victory for the Nazi party.
Thereafter, the Nazi became the One man Rule.
President Hindenburg died on 2nd August, 1934.
That very day Hitler combined in his person the two offices of President and Chancellor.
From that time onward, the adopted the designation of Feuhrer (the Leader).
Similarity of Aims and Policies (Main Features of Fascism and Nazism):
1. Anti-Intellectualism of Fascism:
Fascists sought to create society based on Myth.
The motto given by Mussolini to his countrymen was to believe, to obey, to fight.
Some of the myths popularized by Fascists and the Nazis were as under:
a. The Leader is ever right
b. International peace is a cowards dream, and
c. Imperialism is the eternal law of life.
Hitler believed that the German race in whose veins runs the Nordic, Aryan blood
is the noblest in the world.
2. Negation of Democracy:
Fascism is a sworn enemy of liberisation, democracy and personal liberty.
Hitler asserted that masses should be governed by those whom Nature has
endowd with special gifts.

The Fascist and the Nazi rulers did not allow other than their own party to operate
in the country.
Their order was that life should be made impossible for their opponents.
3. Aggressive Nationalism and Imperialistic Policies:
Both Hitler and Mussolini pursued an expansionist policy abroad.
In March 1936, the Italian troops reached near the Ethiopian Capital, Addis
Ababa.
Hitler also knocked down one country after another Austria, Denmark,
Czechoslovakia, Norway, Luxemburg, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Even Paris fell to the Nazis.
4. Anti-Communism:
Fascism claimed to be neither capitalistic nor socialistic.
The Communists, however, never trusted the Fascists.
Strikes and lockouts were forbidden and the country had been placed under a
perpetual war economy.
Political necessities, such as rapid rearmament and industrial growth, placed the
initiative more and more in the hands of the government.
5. Racialist Policies:
The Nazi Party professed the myth of the Nordic or Aryan race.
In the name of the Aryan principle, lakhs of Jews were mercilessly killed by the
Nazis.
In Italy the Jews held important posts in the Fascist Party from the beginning.
In 1938 Mussolini also adopted an anti-Jewish policy under Nazi
influence.
Thereafter, the Jews were expelled from the party and denied government jobs.
Mussolinis Domestic and Foreign Policies:
Fascist Economy:
In Italy the workers and employers had their separate Syndicates.
These were linked together by 22 National Corporations in which both
workers and employers had equal representation.
Each Corporation had its managing body the Council.
The Central Committee of the National Council included all the Fascist
Ministers.
Mussolini himself was the head of the Ministry of Corporations.
The National Corporations were supposed to make rules regarding
wages, hours and conditions of work.

 War and Imperialistic Expansion:

Mussolini preached that the Nation has a will and a personality of its own.
In order to justify his policy of imperialism, Mussolini said, We are forty
millions squeezed into our narrow but adorable peninsula. Italy must expand or
perish.
In fact, War was used by Mussolini to divert peoples attention from internal
problems and economic insecurity.
Hitlers Domestic and Foreign Policies:
Hitlers Ideas and Programme:
Land reforms
The abolition of unearned incomes
Social Security for the workers
Nationalisation of Trusts or Groups of Companies
Racial superiority of Germans, whom he held as Aryans or the Master Race
Elimination of Jews
A Greater Germany
Rejection of the Peace Treaties
Germany Rearmament
Domestic Policies:
1. Civil Order; National Cohesion and Solution of Many other Problems:
Strikes and lockouts are forbidden.
The problem of foreign debts was over, because no money was allowed to be
taken out of Germany.
Wages and prices of all commodities were fixed.
The Germans were taught to make great sacrifices for a great purpose, i.e., a
Greater Germany.
In order to conserve their food resources for war purposes, butter and most
articles of food were rationed.
2. Violence and Reign of Terror:
They
Crushed all political opposition
Nazi Party was left as the only legitimate party in the country
freedom of the press had gone
The German woman was valuable only as breeder of children
The School, the radio, the cinema and literature they all served nothing
but the Nazi cause
Germany became totally a Police State.

 Government controlled all aspects of mans life of the secret police.

3. Anti-Semitism or Hatred for the Jews:
The Jews seeking admission to the Nazi Party had to prove that there were
no Jews among their ancestors back to the year 1800 A.D.
In 1935 the Jews were deprived of German citizenship.
They were forced out of jobs and their business firms were
confiscated.
In 1937 the Ghetto Laws were implemented.
Under these laws no Jew could marry a German.
All Jews were forced to live in Ghettos, in isolation from the other
people in the towns.
In November 1938 the Nazis attacked Jewish homes, shops and synagogues.
That infamous night came to be known as Kristallnacht.

The attempt to find a Final Solution to the German question meant the
large scale murder of the Jews.
It was put into effect from 1942 onwards.
Concentration camps had been specially built in Germany and in
those parts of Europe which come under German occupation.
Many camps had Gas Chambers, so that they could be filled with
poisonous gases killing hundreds of Jews in no time.
All people were shocked by such barbarous and inhuman atrocities.
Foreign Policies:
1. Gospel of the Victorious Sword:
Hitler said, he who does not wish to fight has not the right to exist in the
world.
He broke the bonds of the Treaty of Versailles and began to build up
Germanys armed forces.
2. Concept of Pan-German Unity:
Hitlers concept of Pan-German Unity meant that Germany, Austria, Poland,
Czechoslovakia and a few other territories in Eastern Europe should be
consolidated into a unified state.
3. Imperialism and Acts of Aggression:
Germany joined Italy and Japan in an alliance known as Berlin-Rome-Tokyo
Axis.
The Union of these two countries was proclaimed on 13th March,
1938.

Hitler invented such phrases as Lebensraum and Encirclement to cover up

his acts of aggression.
He conquered one country after another Denmark, Norway,
Luxembourg and Belgium.
But the offensive launched against Russia was repulsed with heavy
losses on the Nazis side.

Causes of Second World War:

1. Decline of Democracy and Revival of Aggressive Nationalism:
As a result of the First World War, there was an economic crisis in the various
nations of the world.
Large scale food shortage, inflation and unemployment were the major issues
that were faced by the nations.
Because of widespread corruption and nepotism in the administration, people
had to suffer hardships and they lost faith in the democratically elected
governments.
2. The Treaty of Versailles:
The victorious powers had deprived Germany of huge tracts of its territory and
its colonies in the regions of East Africa and South-West Africa.
Her military strength was completely crushed.
The German army was restricted to a force of 1, 00,000 soldiers and the
navy was limited to 15,000 men.
The Air Force was totally banned.
Germany was neither to make nor to purchase from outside tanks and
armoured cars.
Germany was burdened with an immense War Indemnity.
She had to pay a heavy sum estimated at 33 billion dollars to the Allies.
Germany had to give up to the Allies her merchant ships as compensation.
She had to supply huge quantities of coals to France, Italy and Belgium
for 10 years.
3. The Fascist Movement in Italy:
After the First World Italian government was faced with the serious problems of
poverty, hunger, disease and unemployment.
Riots and strikes broke out all over the country.
The government was not strong enough to maintain law and order in the
state.
In this situation of general lawlessness, the Fascists seize power in Italy.
They had an imperialist outlook.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Italy turned towards Germany and Japan and concluded a treaty of Friendship
leading to the Franco-British Alliance.
In 1940 Italy entered the World War II.
Hitlers Acts of Aggression:
In March 1936 Hitler made his first move to occupy Rhineland that had been
demilitarised by the Treaty of Versailles.
He then captured Vienna, the capital of Austria.
Soon he turned his attention to the conquest of Sudetanland which was
predominantly inhabited by the Germans.
The Heads of four nations Germany, Italy, Britain and France met at Munich
on 29 September, 1938 and decided to hand over Sundentanland to Germany.
Hitlers troops occupied Sudentanland on 5th October, 1938.
In March 1939 Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia without any
justification.
The Policy of Appeasement:
There were two main reasons why Britain and France followed a policy of
appeasement towards Germany.
First, they believed that the Treaty of Versailles had been too severe to
the defeated powers, especially Germany.
Second, they thought that if genuine grievances of Germany were
removed, she would be satisfied and would do nothing to disturb the
peace of world.
Therefore, they agreed to transfer of Sudentanland to Germany at the
Munich Conference held in 1938.
An Armament Race:
Hitler had begun to rearm his nation in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
Britain and France never bothered to protest.
In fact, the Depression of 1930s had made management of economy a
pressing issue for them.
They were serious about tackling their own problems, rather than looking
at what was occurring in foreign countries.
Failure of the League of Nations:
When weaker nations appealed to the League to take action against the
aggressors, the only weapon that was available with the League was the
economic sanctions.
But it proved ineffective against determined aggressors.

If the member-states had taken collective action against Italys aggression in

Ethiopia or Japans invasion of Manchuria, the world would have been spared
the horrors of the another war.
League failed in taking action against aggressors which encouraged Germany to
occupy Austria and attack Poland, which ultimately led to the Second World
War.
8. Japans Invasion of China:
China appealed to the League of Nations to declare sanctions against Japan.
Britain and France, the leading members of the League did not give any attention
to the appeal.
Thus Japan occupied Manchuria and set up a government there.
In 1933 Japan left the League of Nations and started occupying the British and
American properties in China.
Britain and France followed the policy of appeasement, thinking that Japanese
could be used to weaken China.
9. Ideological Differences:
Countries such as USA, Britain and France are known as solid strongholds of
liberal democracy.
On the other hand, the political system of Italy or Germany was dominated by
one political party.
10. The Immediate Cause:
Hitler was demanding Danzig Corridor for two reasons:
First, the city of Danzig was inhabited mainly by Germans.
Second, by occupying the Danzig Corridor, he could connect East Prussia
with Germany.
Britain and France could realize the danger that lay ahead.
They pledged assistance to Poland against German aggression.

Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

On 6th August, 1945 America dropped the bomb on the city of Hiroshima.
Within a few seconds nearly 80,000 lives were lost another 70,000 were
grievously wounded.
th
On 9 August another bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
With such destructive weapons in the possession of America, the Japanese lost
all hopes of winning the War.
On 14th August Japan accepted the Surrender Terms dictated by Allies.

She officially surrendered on 15th August 1945.

Japan was occupied by the Allied forces under General Mac Arthur.

Consequences of the War:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Death and Devastation on an Unprecedented Scale.

The Overthrow and Destruction of Axis Powers
Trial of the Most Serious Offenders
Rise of Communism
The Cold War
Decolonisation and the Rise of Independent Nations
The Birth of the United Nations
Use of Nuclear Energy for Peaceful Purposes
Disarmament Attempts