Communism, Fascism, and the Start of WWII

WWI Bitterness-Italy

• Broken promises by the Allies angered Italians

• Peasants seize land, workers go on strike

• Unemployment

WWI Bitterness-Germany

• Germany is on the brink of chaos after WWI

• Falls behind on reparation payments– Inflation makes the German mark

almost worthless

Rise of Fascism

• Fascism- centralized, authoritarian government– Glorifies the state over the individual – Destructive to basic human rights

Communism vs. Fascism

• Similarities– One leader or one party holds all the

power– Leader has unlimited power– Individual rights disappear – Propaganda – Government controls everything–Use of secret police– Imprisonment or death for all who oppose

them

Differences

Communism Fascism

Means of production owned by the state

Private ownership controlled by the state

World Revolution Aggressive nationalism

Eventually state will wither away

Glorification of the state

Steps to War

• Mussolini, Hitler, and leaders of Japan viewed peace as weakness– Responded with new acts of aggression

• Japan wants an empire equal to those of Western powers– Seizes Manchuria in 1931

Steps to War

• Italy invades Ethiopia in 1935

• King of Ethiopia appeals to League of Nations for help– League votes to inflict penalties on Italy

for violating international law, but had no power to enforce them

• Italy conquers Ethiopia by 1936

Steps to War

• Hitler builds up German military in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles

• Sends troops into the “demilitarized” Rhineland in 1936

• Western democracies adopt policy of appeasement – Giving in to the demands of an aggressor

in order to keep the peace

Steps to War

• Germany, Italy, and Japan form the Rome-Tokyo-Berlin Axis in 1940

• Known as the Axis Powers

• Agree to fight Soviet communism

• Agree not to interfere with plans for territorial expansion