Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany

Chapter 29-2

Causes for the rise of fascism in Italy

In the early 20th century Italy was a liberal state with civil rights and a liberal constitution

Then: Italia Irrendenta: Orlando left the Paris

Peace Conference early and angry because Italy did not get the territory promised to her after the war

1919 depression in Italy = many strikes and class tension

Fascism in Italy

Causes continued: Wealthy classes wanted a strong anti-

communist leader By 1921 socialists, conservatives and

property owners were opposed to a parliamentary government

In Italy, Fascism was a combination of authoritarian conservatism & nationalism (but never as extreme as Russia or Germany)

Benito Mussolini (Il Duce)

Originally a nationalist and newspaper editor

Organized the Fascist party in Italy Combined socialism and nationalism Promoted

territorial expansion Benefits for workers Land reform for peasants

Fascism

Party was named after Fasces: rods carried by Imperial Roman officials as symbols of power

By 1920 Mussolini gained the support of the conservative classes and frightened middle class using anti-socialist rhetoric

He had abandoned his socialist programs

The Black Shirts (Squadristi)

Paramilitary forces that attacked Communists, Socialists, and other enemies of the fascists.

Hitler will later have his own Brown Shirts

March on Rome

October 1922 Mussolini led a large group of

fascists who marched on Rome to threaten the king

The Government collapsed and Mussolini was given the right to organize a new government

King Victor Emmanuel III gave Mussolini dictatorial powers for one year to solve Italy’s social unrest

The Corporate State

Aka the syndicalist-corporate system The economic basis for Mussolini’s

fascism By 1928 all independent labor

unions were organized into government-controlled syndicates

Organizations of workers and employers were created

Strikes and walkouts were banned

The Corporate State

Corporations were created to coordinate activities between the worker-employer syndicates

Authority came from the top

NOT like socialist corporate states where workers made decisions

Mussolini’s dictatorship

The right to vote was big-time limited

All candidates for the Italian parliament were chosen by the fascist party

Government ruled by decree Dedicated fascists were put in

charge of the schools

Government tried to control leisure time of the people

(not successfully) Balilla Fascist youth movement

Labor unions

The Dopolavoro (After Work) social activities for the working class

Italy never a true totalitarian regime

Mussolini never became all-powerful Failed to control citizens’ leisure

time The old power structure

(conservatives, military, Church) remained

Mussolini never tried to purge the conservative classes

He controlled labor but business was self-regulating

Mussolini’s Italy

No land reform No ruthless police state (only 23

political prisoners were executed 1926-1944)

Racial laws not passed until 1938 Jews not persecuted until Italy was

occupied by Nazis

Women

Traditional role was emphasized Divorce was abolished Women told to stay home and

procreate By 1938 women were limited by law

to a maximum of 10% of better-paying jobs in industry and government

Mussolini’s accomplishments

Many internal improvements: road-building and electrification

More efficient government (mostly at municipal level)

Suppression of the Mafia (was especially strong in southern Italy and Sicily)

Improvements in the justice system (except for “enemies of the state”

The Church

The Lateran Pact 1929 reconciled the state with the papacy

The Vatican received $92 million for Church lands and was reduced to a tiny independent state

In return the Pope recognized the legitimacy of the Italian state.

Results

Italian democracy was destroyed Terrorism was a state policy Poor industrial growth due partly to

militarism and colonialism Disastrous wars resulted from the

attempt to recapture the glory of ancient Rome

Nazi Germany

Extreme nationalism and racism is Nazism

Hyper-nationalism fed the impulse to conquer other nations

The Diktat caused massive frustration

Racial beliefs: in the superiority of the Aryan race (Germanic peoples)

Belief in the inferiority of the Jews and Slavs

Hitler

Became the leader of a very small (7-member) National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZI) after WWI

Grew dramatically and quickly The S.A. (Brown Shirts) were a Nazi

paramilitary group that terrorized political opponents on the streets

Became the private army of the Nazis and were very loyal to Hitler

The Beer Hall Putsch 1923

Hitler and his companions failed to overthrow the government of Bavaria and was sentenced to only 1 year in jail

Gave Hitler national attention

Taught Hitler that he would have to take control legally

Mein Kampf 1923

Written while Hitler was in jail Became the blueprint for Hitler’s

future plans Lebensraum (living space):

Germans should expand east, remove the Jews, and turn the Slavs into slave labor

Anti-Semitism: Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany’s political and economic problems

Fuhrer (leader-dictator) would have unlimited power

The Fall of the Weimar Republic

Was the result of the Great Depression

By 1932 unemployment was 43% Discontent played into Hitler’s hands Hitler promised voters economic,

political and military salvation Promised Big Business that he would

restore the economy by breaking the unions and reducing wages

Hitler’s promises

Assured top military officials that the Nazis would reject the Versailles Treaty and rearm Germany

Appealed to the German youth: 40% of the party was under age 30 in

1931 67% under the age of 40

By 1930 Power struggle

The struggle for power by the communists and social democrats led to a breakdown in the government

1933 Reichstag elections gave the Nazis the largest percentage of votes (though not a majority)

1933 elections

The Nazis demanded that Hitler be given a leadership role in the government

Hitler became Chancellor January 1933

Was appointed by President Paul von Hindenburg

The Third Reich 1933-1945

The Reichstag Fire occurred during the violent electoral campaign of 1933

The incident was used by the Nazis to crack down on the communists

The S.A. increased the terrorizing of political opponents

The Enabling Act March 1933

Passed by the Reichstag Gave Hitler absolute dictatorial

power for 4 years Only the Nazi party was legal Hitler outlawed strikes and

abolished labor unions Publishers, universities, and writers

were watched closely

Hitler

Blacklisted: Jewish, Socialist, Democratic literature

Students and professors “encouraged” to burn forbidden books in public squares

Modern art and architecture (degenerate art) was prohibited

Propaganda

Joseph Goebbels: minister of propaganda

Glorified the Nazi state and Hitler

Leni Riefenstal and Triumph of the Will did the same thing

June 1934 Knight of the Long Knives

Hitler was warned that the army and big business were suspicious of the S.A.

In order to please these conservatives, Hitler had his elite personal guard, the SS, arrest and kill the S.A. (about 1,000)

The SS grew dramatically in influence as Hitler’s private army and secret police

The SS were led by Himmler

The Gestapo

The Gestapo were the political police

They joined with the SS to expand its network of special courts and concentration camps

The Hitler Youth

At first; voluntary Soon membership was mandatory

Children were encouraged to turn in their teachers or even their parents if they seemed disloyal to the state

This was true totalitarianism

Persecution of the Jews

By the end of 1934 most Jewish Lawyers, Doctors, professors, civil servants, and musicians had lost their jobs and the right to practice their professions

1935 Nuremburg Laws deprived Jews of all rights of citizenship

Kristallnacht 1938

Knight of the broken glass After the assassination of a minor

German diplomat in Paris by a Polish student who was upset about the “resettlement” of his family

Hitler ordered an attack on Jewish communities

A well-organized wave of violence destroyed Jewish homes, businesses, synagogues

Jews were arrested and made to pay for repairs

Holocaust

6 million European Jews were eventually killed during WWII

The “Final Solution”

Other victims: Gypsies, Slavs, Jehovah’s Witnesses, communists, homosexuals, mentally handicapped and political opponents…by 1945 totaled an additional 6 million

Results of Nazi economic policies

Unemployment dropped from 6 million in 1933 to 1 million in 1936

By 1938 a shortage of workers By 1938 a modest improvement in

the standard of living Business profits rose sharply

Hitler’s popularity

Largely due to economic recovery He delivered on his promise of work

and bread Large public works program helped

to get Germany out of the depression: roads, offices, huge sports stadiums (Berlin Olympics) and public housing

1936 Began to rearm in a big way Government spending focused on

the military

Society in Nazi Germany

Most of those who were in good shape before Hitler rose to power were still in good shape (educated classes)

Very little social leveling occurred Women encouraged to maintain

traditional roles like in Italy Went into the factories during

wartime