Fascism April 28, 2011

Transcription

1 Fascism on the rise Benito Mussolini Born became a left-wing revolutionary journalist during the Great War. During the war he took a nationalist turn He was outraged at how Italy was treated at Versailles Postwar feelings of unrest and dissatisfaction helped to set the stage for Mussolini Cities experienced economic depression Political polarization plagued the postwar Italian state. Italian socialists followed a Bolshevik course, attacking the war effort 1920, Socialists supported nationwide strikes Black Shirts, or fascists fought with workers and socialist in the streets of cities and the countryside The liberal government seemed unable to deal with this polarization

2 Fascists Seizure of Power The appeal of fascism had its roots in Italy's postwar disorder. Mussolini promised a restoration of law and order. He condemned the socialist unrest in the cities. He positioned himself against Bolshevism and posed as defender of the nation He fought the communists in the streets and The Black Shirts broke up strikes and attacked union halls. He called on Italians of all classes to join with him in a nationalist crusade to restore Italian grandeur. "solidarity of the trenches"

3 March on Rome October 1922, Mussolini's Black Shirts marched on Rome (symbolic of...) "I believe in Rome, the Eternal, the mother of my country I believe in the genius of Mussolini and in the resurrection of the Empire." The Italian cabinet resigned and to Mussolini's surprise, appointed him premier and granted him emergency powers for one year Mussolini proceeded to consolidate his power and proclaimed himself Leader or Duce. Mussolini dismissed both liberal capitalism and Marxist socialism and called for a "third path" He established a corporatist economic structure in which all professions or economic sectors were divided into twenty-two "corporations" The view was to make Italy self sufficient.

4 So how did it work??? No real advances were made in the Italian economy under Fascism Nonetheless, Mussolini enjoyed good international press and created a system in which "the trains ran on time." He called for a total state, but recognized the monarchy He made a concordant with the Vatican, which pleased the peasants. His apparently orderly system was in contrast to the situations of Western democracies during the 1920's and 30's

5 Problems in Germany The constitution of the Weimar Republic was written by the Social Democratic-liberal-Catholic coalition that had supported the peace terms in The new government was burdened with a crisis of legitimacy The republic was associated with defeat and surrender The "stab in the back" legend haunted the republic from the beginning The republican government was forced to accept the hated Treaty of Versailles.

6 Economic woes in the postwar period exacerbated this crisis From 1919 to 1924 a wave of political murders by right-wing terrorists, coup d'etat from left and right and separatist movements in the Rhineland and Bavaria. All of these problems culminated in 1923 The Franco-Belgian invasion of the Ruhr set off hyperinflation in Germany The Mark simply collapsed in 1923 The government ruled by emergency decree In October, Communists attempted a coup in Hamburg In November, Hitler's NSDAP attempted to overthrow the Bavarian government in the so-called Beer Hall Putsch Foreign intervention ended the economic and political crisis in late Nov and prepared the way for stabilization o the Weimar Republic

7 During the "Golden Twenties" it appeared that democracy would take root in Germany The mark was stabilized in 1924 The Reichstag was elected In 1928 elections, the radical parties - the Nazis and Communists were roundly defeated and the Republic seemed solid at last. But trouble was around the corner... Economic recovery based on foreign capital The Great Depression hit Germany hard This led to the radicalization and polarization of German politics The crisis in German democracy was reflected most ominously in the sudden and spectacular rise of Hitler's NSDAP.