Interwar Dictatorships Overview

Interwar Dictatorships - Key Features

• Ideology: Dictatorships varied greatly in their guiding principles. Examples include Marxism (Russia), fascism (Italy), and militarism (Japan), each with unique goals and methods.

Interwar Dictatorships - Consolidation of Power

• Russia (Bolsheviks): The Bolsheviks seized power through force, alliances (with worker councils), and the Cheka (secret police). The violent Russian Civil War solidified their control. Key figures like Lenin & Stalin consolidated power in their own right.
• Italy (Mussolini): The March on Rome used Fascist force, coupled with intimidation and assassination, leading King Victor Emmanuel III to appoint Mussolini as Prime Minister. Laws like the Acerbo Law were used to consolidate his party's control. D'Annunzio and Fiume episode demonstrated nationalist tendencies.
• Japan (Emperor Hirohito): Military influence grew through assassinations of political leaders, effectively seizing control, and through a coup attempt in 1936. The invasion of Manchuria and China further solidified military control.
• Germany (Hitler): The Nazis took advantage of the Reichstag Fire to suspend civil rights and implement the Enabling Act. The Night of the Long Knives eliminated potential rivals, helping Hitler consolidate power.

Interwar Dictatorships - Maintenance of Power

• Russia (Stalin): Used the Red Terror, the Kronstadt Rebellion suppression, and later the Great Purge to maintain control, with propaganda playing a major role. The NEP was introduced as a way to stabilize the economy but was later abandoned.
• Italy (Mussolini): Deployed propaganda, a cult of personality, and the Lateran Accords (peace with the Catholic Church) to solidify support. The OVRA (secret police) also played a key role in maintaining power.
• Japan (Emperor Hirohito): Martial law, strict media censorship, and propaganda portraying Japan as a liberator maintained control. Propaganda emphasized nationalism and militarism. The Kempeitai (military police) actively suppressed dissent.
• Germany (Hitler): Used propaganda to project strength and leadership, and maintained control through the Gestapo (secret police). Public works projects like the Autobahn decreased unemployment and boosted the government's image.

Interwar Dictatorships - Impact on Society

• Russia (Stalin): Extensive economic restructuring resulted in initial collapse, later revived (partially) by the NEP. Stalin's focus on industrialization through the Five-Year Plans, however, led to famine and suffering. Significant suppression of religion, with reduced Orthodox Church parishes. Women achieved professional success, contrary to later traditional roles.
• Italy (Mussolini): Limited economic effectiveness of initiatives like the Battle for Grain. Women's roles were strongly tied to traditional gender roles, emphasizing motherhood and reducing female employment. Limited religious influence (Lateran Accords). Youth indoctrinated by the Opera Nazionale Balilla.
• Japan (Emperor Hirohito): General Mobilisation Law centralizing the economy and significantly increasing industrial output. Women increasingly worked in factories as the war intensified. State Shintoism was used to promote Emperor worship, and youth were indoctrinated through education.
• Germany (Hitler): Large-scale public works programs lowered unemployment drastically. Women primarily were seen as mothers, although some female labour was encouraged in specific sectors. Hitler Youth indoctrinated youth with Nazi ideals.

Interwar Dictatorships - Change Over Time

• Russia (Stalin): Lenin's death marked a shift to Stalin's personal dictatorship. Increased repression, focus on industrialization, and intensive use of terror characterized his rule. A centralized power structure emerged under Stalin.
• Italy (Mussolini): Mussolini's regime became more dependent on Hitler during WWII, and ultimate leadership was lost due to military failures.
• Japan (Emperor Hirohito): Military regime's harshness intensified as WWII progressed. Japan's defeat led to the collapse of the military regime, and the restructuring of Japan’s government through an Allied Occupation.
• Germany (Hitler): As WWII progressed, the regime became increasingly militarised. Hitler's expansionist policies became increasingly aggressive, leading to the Holocaust. Germany's defeat led to its division and the rise of a democratic government under Allied occupation.