U5L8 Aggression Overseas and Isolation at Home Flashcards
How did the government in Italy and Germany look like?
In Italy and Germany, totalitarian leaders exerted complete control over the government and society. These dictators were fascists.
What was fascism? What were fascist leaders aiming for?
Fascism was rooted in militarism, extreme nationalism, and blind loyalty to the state. Fascist dictators vowed to create new empires.
How did community gain support? How did fascists get their support?
While Communists drew much of their support from the working classes, fascists found allies among business leaders and landowners.
In 1922, which fascist party seized control of Italy?
Benito Mussolini and his Fascist party
Why didn’t Mussolini like the Versailles Treaty?
Many Italians felt cheated because the treaty did not grant Italy the territory it wanted.
What did Mussolini use to gain power?
Economic unrest and fears of a communist revolution plagued Italy, and many looked to Mussolini to stabilize the nation.
Once Mussolini was in power in Italy, what happened to the other political parties? What happened to the freedom of speech (if there was any to begin with)?
Once in power, Mussolini outlawed all political parties except his own. He controlled the press and banned criticism of the government. Critics were jailed or simply murdered. In schools, children recited the motto “Mussolini Is Always Right!”
What did Mussolini do to distract Italians from economic problems?
(1930s)
Foreign conquest
What did Mussolini promised to the Italians that caused him to embark on a program of military aggression?
He promised to restore the greatness of Ancient Rome
Which country did Mussolini invade?
1935
Mussolini invaded the African nation of Ethiopia in 1935. The Ethiopians fought bravely. However, their cavalry and outdated rifles were no match for Italy’s modern tanks and airplanes.
While Mussolini attacked Ethiopia, the Ethiopian emperor Haile Salassie asked the League of Nations for help. Why didn’t the help for the League of Nations change the outcome?
The League responded weakly. Britain and France were caught up in their own economic problems and unwilling to risk another war. Without help, Ethiopia fell.
In Germany, what did Adolf Hitler bring to power?
National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazis, to power
Like Mussolini, why did Hitler hate about the Versailles treaty?
Germans bitterly resented the treaty because it blamed their country for World War I and made them pay heavy war costs.
Which group of people did Hitler blame for Germany losing the war?
Hitler assured Germans that they had not lost the war. Rather, he said, Jews and other traitors had “stabbed Germany in the back.”
Why did Germans believe Hitler when he said that the Jews “stabbed Germany in the back”?
The argument was false, but in troubled times people were eager to find a scapegoat—a person or group on whom to blame their problems.
Why did many Germans like Hitler?
Hitler was a powerful speaker and skillful politician. By the time depression struck, many Germans looked to him as a strong leader with answers to their problems.
When did Hitler become the ruler of the German government?
1933
Two years after being in power, what did Hitler do to Democracy?
Within two years, he ended democratic rule and created a militaristic totalitarian state.
In Nazi German, what did the government control?
In Nazi Germany, the government controlled the press, the schools, and religion.
Why did Hitler start the persecution of Jews?
Hitler preached that Germans belonged to a race that was biologically superior to Jews, Gypsies, and other peoples. The Nazi government singled out the Jews for special persecution. Jews were deprived of their citizenship, forbidden to use public facilities, and driven out of almost every type of work. Later, Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps, prison camps for civilians who are considered enemies of the state.
How did Hitler defy the Versailles treaty? What did the League of Nations about this?
Hitler claimed that Germany had a right to expand to the east. In defiance of the Versailles treaty, he began to build up Germany’s armed forces. Although the League of Nations condemned his actions, Hitler predicted that the rest of Europe would “never act. They’ll just protest. And they will always be too late.”
Hitler predicted that the rest of Europe would “never act. They’ll just protest. And they will always be too late.” How did Hitler’s words become true when he moved his troops into the Rhineland, near the border of France and Belgium?
In 1936, German troops moved into the Rhineland, near the border with France and Belgium. The Versailles treaty had banned German troops from this region. France and Britain protested, but they took no other action.
How were the Totalitarian leaders different from fascist leaders?
Unlike Italy and Germany, these leaders were not fascist. They did, however, seek complete control. They were unhappy with the terms of the Versailles Treaty and hoped to bring new glory to their nations. As in western Europe, the political changes underway in these regions drew the world closer to war.
What government did Vladimir Lenin set up in the Soviet Union?
Vladimir Lenin set up a communist government in the Soviet Union.
