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Rise of Dictators Bad Guys in Europe: 1920-1940 Italy s Benito Mussolini & Germany s Adolf Hitler
Review: WWI Ends 1919 After the war ended, the Treaty of Versailles was signed which limited military arms/weapons around the world US President introduced the Fourteen Points and the League of Nations was created to solve problems peacefully Problem: The League of Nations was not enforced (weak) no world police
Italy Benito Mussolini was mad after WWI ended with not being allowed to participate as much with deciding the fate of Europe France, Great Britain and the US controlled the Treaty of Versailles Remember, Italy was in the Triple Alliance when WWI broke out
Fascism Benito practiced fascism (extreme nationalism & racism) in Italy In 1922 his fascist party gained enough support that the King of Italy declared him head of the government By 1927, Mussolini banned all political parties and II Duce became dictator ending civil liberties and free press
Change Society He changed schools and made mandatory military organizations for boys and girls Taught loyalty to country and especially government Promised to bring Italy back to the glory days of the Roman Empire!
Italy on the Offensive 1935: Italy attacked Ethiopia (in Africa near Somalia) and the League of Nations did nothing 1939 Italy annexed (took) Albania By 1941, Italy would assist Germany in attacking southern European countries. Not too strong of an army; Germans had to help many times
Germany was hit hard after WWI. Article 231 of Treaty made Germany take blame for WWI Germany lost 10% of land to France, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland Germany military cut down to 100,000 men and six battleships Germany broke = no money and had to pay $133 Billion in indemnities Germany
Mein Kampf: My Troubles In 1923, Hitler sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in Beer Hall Putsch Hitler wrote a book called Mein Kampf while in prison He blamed the Jewish people for Germanys problems
Dawes Plan of 1925 U.S. loaned money to Germany to help pay their debt to other countries from WWI. Germany ended up only repaying about $20 Billion.
Germany hit hard by Depression 1920s Germany had about six million unemployed by 1932 Germany still owed money to France and Britain and stopped payments by this time People believed in impossible promises by fanatical leader (Hitler) Very Persuasive
NAZI Party Takes Popularity 1920s and early 1930s, when people are desperate, they will believe in anything Hitler s speeches become more popular and Germany becomes nationalistic
Indoctrinate and retrain German people
Jan 30, 1933 - Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany a nation with a Jewish population of 566,000. 1933
1933 Concentration camps open up to start purging the undesirable people in Germany Camps set up to retrain, work and enslave undesirables Hitler wants to rid Germany of those who are not German March 22, 1933 - Nazis open Dachau concentration camp near Munich, to be followed by Buchenwald near Weimar in central Germany, Sachsenhausen near Berlin in northern Germany, and Ravensbrück for women.
1933 May 10, 1933 -Burning of books in Berlin and throughout German. Ban all books that are Jewish or democratic July 14, 1933 -Nazis pass Law to strip Jewish immigrants from Poland of their German citizenship. Sept 29, 1933-Nazis prohibit Jews from owning land.
Hitler Rids Germany of Certain People Nov 24, 1933-Nazis pass a Law against Habitual and Dangerous Criminals, which allows beggars, the homeless, alcoholics and the unemployed to be sent to concentration camps.
1933 March 24, 1933 German Parliament passes Enabling Act giving Hitler dictatorial powers. July 14, 1933 - Nazi Party is declared the only legal party in Germany No one can challenge the Nazi Party or they would be crushed
1934 Hitler in Charge of Germany Aug 2, 1934 - German President von Hindenburg dies. Hitler becomes Führer. Aug 19, 1934 - Hitler receives a 90 percent 'Yes' vote from German voters approving his new powers.
1935 United States and Europe United States signs Neutrality Acts Banned the sale of weapons of war to nations at war America remains in isolationpolicy leave us alone since WWI
1935 Holocaust Begins Sept 15, 1935 - Nuremberg Race Laws against Jews decreed. Jewish race not equal to German race and laws enacted to take away Jewish life Germany begins policies against Jewish people What is the Holocaust?
Feb 10, 1936 -The German Gestapo or secret police is placed above the law. March 7, 1936 -Nazis occupy the Rhineland (remember Alsace and Lorraine land between France/Germany). 1936
1936 Berlin Olympics Hitler wanted to show the world how the Nazi s were superior to the world. U.S. African American Jesse Owens beat the Nazi s in running Hitler mad and left the stadium
March 12/13, 1938 - Nazi troops enter Austria, which has a population of 200,000 Jews, mainly living in Vienna. Hitler announces Anschluss (union) with Austria 1938
Czechoslovakiaor Sudentenland, the land Germany lost after WWI was annexed back by Germany About 350,000 Jews British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with Hitler. English people mad. Britain and France said okay as the policy of appeasementwas used accepting Germany s demands BIG MISTAKE! 1938
Kristallnacht On the night of November 9, 1938, Hitler's Nazis burned synagogues all over Germany and Austria, smashed shop windows, looted stores, ransacked Jewish homes, and killed dozens of Jews. Twenty thousand Jews were arrested. The event was called Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) because of the piles of broken glass strewn on the sidewalks and streets.
Two days later, the German government imposed an "atonement fine" of a billion marks on the Jews to pay for the property damage and, several weeks after that, announced that Jewish assets would be confiscated. A few days later, the government forbade Jews to drive cars or use public transportation, visit public parks and museums, or attend plays or concerts, curfews and more importantly, took away citizenship. It was a prelude to the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps to be used for Jews shortly Jews pay for Damages
America leaves Germany FDR recalled the American ambassador, Hugh Wilson, in protest, and no American ambassador was ever sent again to Hitler's Germany.
1939 Non Aggression Pact In August 1939, Germany and Soviet Union sign a pact not to attack each other Both agree to attack Poland Soviets will later regret this
1939: Start of WWII in Europe Sept 1, 1939 -Nazis invade Poland Official start of WWII (Jewish pop. 3.35 million, the largest in Europe). Beginning of SS activity in Poland. Sept 3, 1939 -England and France declare war on Germany. FINALLY!
Auschwitz Extermination Camp The main entrance of Auschwitz Extermination Camp, with its infamous motto "Work Makes One Free. Jan 25, 1940 - Nazis choose the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) in Poland near Krakow as site of new concentration camp. Most famous killing center for Jews 1940-1945 over 6 million European Jews would be killed in the Holocaust
Auschwitz
1940 April 9, 1940 - Nazis invade Denmark (Jewish pop. 8,000) and Norway (Jewish pop. 2,000). May 10, 1940 - Nazis invade France (Jewish pop. 350,000), Belgium (Jewish pop. 65,000), Holland (Jewish pop. 140,000), and Luxembourg (Jewish pop. 3,500). June 22, 1940 - France signs an armistice with Hitler. France gave up after six weeks of fighting! Vichy French support Germany French Resistance fight Germans underground
Tripartite Pact (AXIS FORCES) Sept 27, 1940 - Tripartite (Axis) Pact signed by Germany, Japan, and Italy. These are the bad guys of WWII
Poland Ghettos Nov 15, 1940 - The Warsaw Ghetto, containing over 400,000 Jews, is sealed off. The Ghetto was the planned use of a city as a holding cell while Jews around the country of Poland were either executed on the spot or rounded up and removed systematically each day to the camps for extermination.
June 1941 Operation Barbarossa June 22, 1941 -Nazis invade the Soviet Union. Hitler s big mistake starting a two-front (Western & Eastern Front) war! Jewish population of three million inside the USSR.
1941 Southern Europe Germans attack and control Southern and Eastern Europe including Greece Italians and local German supported troops help Germans quickly advance and control Europe
1941: Germans attack North Africa August 1941 Germans leave Italy and attack Libya (North Africa) Led by Field Marshall Erwin Rommel Not much resistance British forces fight but need help.
Europe in 1941