World War Looms

1. World War Looms

2. Failures of WWI Peace Settlement • Treaty of Versailles caused anger and resentment • Germans saw nothing fair • Did not lead to a “world safe for democracy” as Wilson had hoped

3. Stalin Transforms Soviet Union • 1922 hopes for democracy gave way to civil war which resulted in the rise of the Soviet Union • Stalin wanted to create a model communist state • Abolished all privately owned farms and replaced them with collectives (large government-owned farms each worked by hundreds of families)

4. Stalin’s goal was to transform the USSR into a great industrial power • All economic activity was controlled by the gov’t • By 1937, The Soviet Union was the second largest industrial power

5. Stalin lets nothing stand in his way of complete power • The total will never be known it is estimated that Stalin was responsible for more than 8 million deaths • By 1939 Stalin had firmly established a totalitarian government

6. Rise of Fascism in Italy • Benito Mussolini established a totalitarian regime in Italy • A powerful speaker Mussolini appealed to the Italians national pride • By 1921, Mussolini established the Fascist party • Fascism stressed nationalism and placed the interests of the “state” over the individual

7. Calling himself Il Duce “the leader” Mussolini achieved total control by crushing all opposition

8. Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany • In 1919, Hitler was jobless, drifting around Germany • He joined the National Socialist German Workers Party

9. Beer Hall Putsch • Hitler and 600 members of the Stormtroopers or (SA) meet in a Beer Hall in Munich • Hitler claimed that "The national revolution has broken out. The hall is surrounded.“ • Hitler captured two high ranking military officials and made them claim support for his new regime

10. Hitler then left the Beer Hall and marched on Berlin, claiming to be the rightful new ruler of Germany • Hitler made one fatal flaw however, he released the officials who then warned Berlin and squashed the Nazi’s first attempt to overtake power

11. Hitler in Jail • During Hitler’s time in jail he wrote a book known as “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle) • In his book he set forth the beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party • Hitler called for lebensraum (Living Space) • “to secure for the German people the land and soil to which they are entitled on this earth”

12. Der Fuhrer • The Great Depression helped the Nazi’s come to power • By 1932 some 6 million Germans were unemployed • German people were desperate and turned to Hitler as their last hope

13. In 1933 Hitler was appointed Chancellor • Once in power Hitler quickly got rid of the Weimer Republic • In its place he established the “Third Reich” or Third German Empire which would last for 1,000 years

14. Japan • Militarists launch a surprise attack and seize control of Manchuria in 1931 • The League of Nations was sent out to try and bring peace • Condemned the act so Japan just quit the league

15. League of Nations falls apart • Germany pulls out of the League of nations in 1933 • In 1935 Der Fuhrer begins to build up a military in violation of the Treaty of Versailles • Hitler then sent troops into the Rhineland, a region bordering Germany in France and Belgium • The League did nothing to stop Hitler

17. Mussolini began building his “new Roman Empire” • His first target was Ethiopia • When the raid started the Leagues response was ineffective • A slap on Italy’s wrist through boycott

18. Spanish Civil War • In 1936, Francisco Franco rebelled against the Spanish republic • 3,000 Americans formed the “Abraham Lincoln Battalion” and traveled to Spain to fight against Franco • Italy and Germany back Franco and the spread of Fascism • This formed a formal alliance between the two known as the “Rome-Berlin Axis”