Rise of Dictators Notes
Basma Rasheed May 24th, 2012
Rise of Dictators
For many nations, WWI peace had brought not prosperity but revolution fueled by economic depression and struggle. The postwar years brought the rise of powerful dictators driven by the belief in nationalism.
Germany:
* Germans saw the fact that the Treaty of Versailles blamed them for the starting of the war to be unfair. They did not find security in a settlement that stripped them of their overseas colonies and border territories. * Germany was expected to pay off huge war debts and reparations while dealing with widespread poverty. * By 1923, an inflating economy made a five-million German mark worth less than a penny. * In Germany, Adolf Hitler had followed a path to power similar to Mussolini’s. * At the end of WWI, Hitler had been a jobless soldier drifting around Germany. * In 1919, he joined a struggling group called the National Socialist German Worker’s Party, aka the NAZI party. * Hitler proved to be a powerful speaker and organizer and quickly became the party’s leader. * Calling himself Der Fuehrer, the leader, he promised to bring Germany out of chaos. * In Hitler’s book Mein Kampf (My Struggle), Hitler set forth the basic beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party. * Nazism is the German brand of fascism, based on extreme nationalism. * Hitler, who had been born in Austria, dreamed of uniting all German speaking people in a great German empire. * Hitler wanted to enforce racial “purification” at home. In his view, Germans, especially blue-eyed, blonde-haired “Aryans” formed a master race that was destined to rule the world. * “Inferior races,” such as Jews, Slavs, and all nonwhites were deemed fit only to serve the Aryans. * A third element of Nazism was national explosion. * Hitler believed that for Germany to thrive, it needed more lebensraum, or living space. * One of Hitler’s aims in
Rise of Dictators
For many nations, WWI peace had brought not prosperity but revolution fueled by economic depression and struggle. The postwar years brought the rise of powerful dictators driven by the belief in nationalism.
Germany:
* Germans saw the fact that the Treaty of Versailles blamed them for the starting of the war to be unfair. They did not find security in a settlement that stripped them of their overseas colonies and border territories. * Germany was expected to pay off huge war debts and reparations while dealing with widespread poverty. * By 1923, an inflating economy made a five-million German mark worth less than a penny. * In Germany, Adolf Hitler had followed a path to power similar to Mussolini’s. * At the end of WWI, Hitler had been a jobless soldier drifting around Germany. * In 1919, he joined a struggling group called the National Socialist German Worker’s Party, aka the NAZI party. * Hitler proved to be a powerful speaker and organizer and quickly became the party’s leader. * Calling himself Der Fuehrer, the leader, he promised to bring Germany out of chaos. * In Hitler’s book Mein Kampf (My Struggle), Hitler set forth the basic beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party. * Nazism is the German brand of fascism, based on extreme nationalism. * Hitler, who had been born in Austria, dreamed of uniting all German speaking people in a great German empire. * Hitler wanted to enforce racial “purification” at home. In his view, Germans, especially blue-eyed, blonde-haired “Aryans” formed a master race that was destined to rule the world. * “Inferior races,” such as Jews, Slavs, and all nonwhites were deemed fit only to serve the Aryans. * A third element of Nazism was national explosion. * Hitler believed that for Germany to thrive, it needed more lebensraum, or living space. * One of Hitler’s aims in