Dictators and WarGoals:

To understand the actions of countries leading up to WWII

To understand how fascism and dictatorships arose in Europe

Depression in the Soviet Union After Vladimir Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph

Stalin took his place in the Communist Party Stalin means “man of steel” He did not think twice about killing rivals or

sentencing innocent people to death He issued in the Great Terror, in which he

attempted to make the Soviet Union an industrial power (he killed over 10 million Russians to do it)

A combination of fear and massive propaganda kept Stalin in power

Depression in Italy After WWI, Italy’s economy plummeted and

the government became weak Benito Mussolini founded the Fascist Party

promoting nationalism In 1922, Italian King Victor Emmanuel III

asked Mussolini to form a government to avoid revolution

Mussolini outlawed political parties, took over the press, created a secret police, organized youth groups to indoctrinate the young, and suppressed strikes

Rise of Hitler After WWI, Germany became a democracy

known as the Weimar Republic Anger over the Treaty of Versailles and

disunity plagued the young government Opposition to the democracy was the National

Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazi Party), preaching the importance of German ethnic solidarity

Adolf Hitler joined the Nazi Party after WWI and wrote Mein Kampf while in prison for an attempted rebellion

Origin of the Swastika Used as a symbol of the sun since

antiquity Some cultures used it as the “wheel of

life” Architects in India used it in their

architecture Swastikas have even been used for a few

boy scout troops until the 1930s when the symbol began to be associated with the Nazi party

Rise of Hitler Hitler’s sharpest assaults were against the

communists and the Jews The shattered German economy played right

into the Nazi Party’s hands Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in

1933 Hitler established a secret police, a state-

controlled press, and a state-controlled education system

His rearmament of Germany and massive public works brought Germany out of depression

Aggressive Leaders of Japan

The Japanese government underwent a period of increased democracy and peace in the 1920s, but the Depression ended all of that

Military leaders argued that expansion throughout Asia would solve Japan’s economic troubles

Japan continued as a constitutional monarchy headed by an emperor

In 1931, Japan attacked Manchuria and established a puppet state

In 1937, Japan moved against China and captured the then-capital city of Nanjing