After WW1 was over, no body wanted to see the world come to that point ever again. But with the outcome of WW1, it just created more problems. By the 1920s Russia, Italy, Germany, and Spain had began the rise of dictatorship and had a strong build up to WW2.
Russia during the 1920s was controlled by the Bolsheviks, they were a radical communist program that came in suddenly and firmly. The leader of this communist program was Vladimir Lenin and under his wing in second command was Leon Trotsky. Russia than reunited with several neighbouring lands which creates the Union of Soviet Socialists republic (USSR). Russia than allies with Germany as they were rejected from the treaties with France and Britain. Than in 1924 Lenin dies and there is a sudden struggle for control, this is were Joseph Stalin rises.Stalin would conduct discreet activities for their party for 12 years before the Russian revolution of 1917. Stalin was one of the Bolsheviks chief operatives who grew close to Lenin. Stalin ran a totalitarian state, he controlled all soviet life including religion and youth organizations. He ran a five year plan that involved modernizing the economy and strengthening communism. Stalin went through political purges which was getting rid of anyone who disagreed, either by execution or send them to the gulag. He also had huge statues and portraits produced if himself.
Italy during the 1920s had an intense dissatisfaction with the effort in the war and got spoiled from the treaties. They had a Chaotic economy and a corrupt government. In 1919 the National Fascist Party was founded by Benito Mussolini. Fasces meant strength in Latin and they ran in an authoritarian way and put the good of the nation above all. In October of 1922 the blackshirts, which were the fascists, marched on Rome. The king than appointed Mussolini as Prime Minister, thereby transferring political power to the fascist without armed conflict. They marched on Rome because none of the other parties agreed with them, so they took it upon themselves. Mussolini also ran a totalitarian state in where he controlled all Italian life including religion and youth organizations, he also had festivals to glorify Roman heritage. He outlawed all oppositions using threats, violence, and his political skill.
Germany during the 1920s was going through a huge depression as the aftermath of the treatie. They went through soaring inflation as the mark was virtually worthless. A new republican government was in affect called the Weimar Republic which was extremely unpopular. The National Socialists German Workers Party (Nazis) was founded my Adolf Hitler, and they were a nationalist group. Hitler attempted to overthrow the government but failed and this resulted in his imprisonment. In his time in jail he wrote a book called Mein Kampf which meant My Struggle. Once he was out of jail he organized the nazis by military line, giving them uniforms as where the swastika was created and also made a secret police. He than began to intensify the program with a full scale rearmament when he cancels the Treaty of Versailles. He than gains full dictatorial power for four years as a full crowd of Nazis in German parliament passed the act. Hitler ran a totalitarian state where he controlled all German life. He had control over radio, the press, and movies. He began to rebuild the military and improve the economy with strict wage controls and massive spendings.
Spain remained neutral during WW1 but suffered similar post war collapse in the economy. A civil war broke out which than divided the county into republicans and nationalists. This was a very important war as it was dubbed as the first media war. Writers and journalists went to cover the war but were tended to support the republicans. The USSR gave military support to the republicans as Germany and Italy gave military support to the nationalists.
During this time of rising dictators and totalitarian states, the allied countries never bothered to try and stop this. Why you may ask? Well the allies were following a policy called appeasement. This is where the allies felt that war must be avoided at all costs, since WW1 was so brutal.
In our class we had a worksheet we had to fill out that put us in the shoes of the allies. We had to come up with solutions to stop the rising of dictators while also listing the side affects that go along with it. Here is my sheet:
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