Aftermath of WWI and Rise of Totalitarianism

What economic condition in Germany contributed significantly to the rise of Hitler?

Which strategy did Mussolini employ to gain support for his regime?

What response did the League of Nations have to Japan's invasion of Manchuria?

How did Francisco Franco establish his power in Spain?

What approach did the United States take initially toward the growing threats in Europe and Asia?

What event significantly shifted American public opinion toward involvement in World War II?

Which characteristic defined Stalin's rise to power in Russia?

What was a result of the Treaty of Versailles for Germany?

What motivated Japan's aggressive territorial expansion during the pre-WWII period?

How did the experience of WWI affect American sentiment towards foreign conflicts in the 1930s?

Conditions Following WWI

Treaty of Versailles imposed harsh reparations, territorial losses, and military restrictions on Germany.
Economic depression and hyperinflation destabilized German society.
Political instability in the Weimar Republic, created fertile ground for extremism.

Strategy/Rise of Leader

Germany exploited resentment of the Treaty of Versailles and fear of communism to gain support.
Hitler consolidated power through the Enabling Act and propaganda.
Italy's Mussolini promised to restore Roman greatness.
Mussolini used propaganda, Blackshirts, and violence to suppress opposition.
Japan's Hirohito aligned with Hitler, and pushed for expansion to secure resources.
Hirohito leveraged military power for imperial expansion.
Franco used military force and alliances in Spain's civil war to consolidate power, established a dictatorship.
Stalin rose through the Communist Party and purges. This controlled the Soviet Union through NKVD.
Stalin promoted one-country socialism and expansive Soviet influence.

America/World's Reactions

Initial appeasement by Western democracies (e.g. Munich Agreement).
Limited action due to U.S. isolationist policies.
League of Nations failed to check German aggression.
Western democracies largely ignored Mussolini's early conquests, like Ethiopia.
U.S. condemned Japan's invasion but did not directly intervene.
League of Nations imposed weak sanctions, Japan left in 1933.
Western democracies remained neutral during the Spanish Civil War.
Roosevelt's U.S. maintained a policy of non-intervention in other conflicts.

This quiz covers the conditions following WWI, including the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany and the resulting social and political instability. It also explores the strategies and rise of totalitarian leaders like Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito, and Stalin in the context of this tumultuous period.