World History 9
Chapter 31, Section 3 “Fascism Rises in Europe”
1. What is fascism? What were some ideas shared by most Fascists?
· Political movement emphasizing loyalty to the state and obedience to its leader
· Extreme nationalism, action oriented (peaceful states doomed to being conquered), loyalty to an authoritarian leader who brought order to state, denied individual rights, economy controlled by state, state more important than individuals (see chart pg 911)
2. What is the main difference between fascism and communism?
· Communists want a classless society; fascists do not. Fascists believe each class has its place and function. Fascists made up of aristocrats, industrialists, war veterans, and lower middle class.
3. Use the chart of top of page 911 to answer the following questions.
a. Which political, cultural, and economic characteristics helped make fascism an authoritarian system?
One party rule, censorship, indoctrination, secret police, state control economy
b. What characteristics of fascism might make it attractive to people during times of crisis such as the Great Depression?
Strong charismatic leader to solve problems during a crisis
4. What were the problems in Italy that caused its citizens to turn to Mussolini?
Unhappy they didn’t get more land after WWI, inflation and unemployment, democratic leadership seemed weak
5. Who was Benito Mussolini, what did he promise, what party did he found, what groups were they opposed to, and how did take power “legally”, and what name was he given?
· Newspaper editor and politician who became totalitarian ruler of Italy
· Promised to rescue Italy by reviving its economy and rebuilding its army; give Italy strong leadership
· Fascist Party
· Opposed to Communists and Socialists
· King Victor Emmanuel III put him in charge as last hope for saving his dynasty
· Il Duce (“the leader”)
6. Describe Mussolini’s rule in Italy.
Abolished democracy, outlawed all political parties other than Fascists, secret police jailed opponents, censors – only Fascist doctrines, outlawed strikes, controlled economy by allying with industrialists and large landowners
Mussolini never had the total control that Stalin and Hitler had
7. What did the group Hitler join in 1919 believe, what group did they oppose, what did they name themselves, what was their private militia (citizen soldiers) called?
· Right-wing group that believed Germany had to overturn Treaty of Versailles and combat communism
· Opposed communism
· Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party – Nazis
· Storm troopers – Brown Shirts
8. What is Nazism?
German brand of Fascism, believed in racial superiority and state-control of industry
9. What name did Hitler take?
Der Fuhrer (“the leader”)
10. What is Mein Kampf? What did Hitler assert in it?
· Book Hitler wrote with his beliefs and goals for Germany
· Asserted that Germans (“Aryans”) were a master race and all other races were inferior (Jews, Gypsies, Slavs), claimed Versailles Treaty was an outrage and vowed to regain lost lands
11. What was lebensraum and how did Hitler plan to get it?
· “living space”; Hitler thought Germany too crowded and needed more space
· Planned to get it by conquering eastern Europe and Russia
12. Why did Germans turn to Hitler for leadership?
The German economy had collapsed, there was civil unrest, German were frightened and confused and hoped for security and firm leadership
13. How did Hitler turn Germany into a totalitarian state? How did the Nazis control the economy and all aspects of German life?
· Banned all other parties and had opponents arrested
· Formed SS (protection squad) and Gestapo(secret police) used murder and terror
· Took command of economy - banned strikes, dissolved labor unions, gave gov’t authority over business and labor
· Put millions to work constructing factories and highways, manufacturing weapons and serving in military
· Used propaganda, censorship, church not allowed to criticize Nazis, children joined Hitler Youth
14. What is anti-Semitism? How was it a key part of Nazi ideology?
Hatred of Jews
Jews were less than 1% of the population, but used as scapegoats for all Germany’s problems
15. What other European countries fell to dictators? Which countries maintained democracies?
Hungary, Poland, Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, and Romania – turned to dictators
Britain, France, and Scandinavian countries remained democracies