PDF The Rise of Totalitarianism and the World's Response to Aggression (p.29 32-33 40-42 45-47)

The Rise of Totalitarianism and the World's Response to Aggression (p.29, 32-33, 40- 42, 45-47) Class history Class Date @December 10, 2024 Some Common Problems Faced by the European Counties...

The Rise of Totalitarianism and the World's Response to Aggression (p.29, 32-33, 40- 42, 45-47) Class history Class Date @December 10, 2024 Some Common Problems Faced by the European Counties after the First World War Political polarisation - The rise of communism and totalitarianism The success of October Revolution in Russia in 1917 triggered the rise of communism in the world, it was often seen as an alternative of the existing conservatism and liberalism. Socialists and communists in the world were encouraged by the success of October Revolution and founded their own political groups, some believed that the world revolution was imminent. As nationalism remained influential in the world, the nationalists often saw the rise of socialism and communism as a threat to national unity. In some cases, nationalists became radical and upheld national unity and a total control over the country to maintain stability, resulting in the rise of totalitarianism. Postwar recession - Postwar economic hardships and trade competitions When the veterans were demobilised and returned to their home countries, they often found themselves unemployed as the community lacked job vacancies to absorb them immediately after the war. Those who suffered from permanent injuries found themselves neglected by the governments as the social welfare system was unprepared to take care of them. The Rise of Totalitarianism and the World's Response to Aggression (p.29, 32-33, 40-42, 45-47) 1  The countries that had participated in the First World War faced fierce competition in global trade as the global market were dominated by Japan and the US during the war. Social instability - The rise of socialism and feminism Encouraged by the rise of socialism and communism, workers’ unions were formed. They organized protests and strikes to call for better wages, improving working and living conditions, and legal protection of their rights. Women’s organizations were formed in some Western countries to call for women suffrage. The Rise of Totalitarianism in Germany - What is totalitarianism? Totalitarianism assumed that through maximizing the control over politics, economy, natural and human resources, and public and private life, the stability of a country could be restored with its strengthened unity, and thus gave a better chance for surviving the “next” total war. The state are supposed to be ruled by a strong government, led by one single leader and one single party, and its legitimacy is justified through propaganda promoted by the state-controlled mass media. Personal cult is common in a totalitarian state, in which the leader is often portrayed as a great leader with a far-vision. Personal freedom is restricted in the names of common good, and communication is controlled by massive censorship. All sources of information are controlled by the state and the censored information can distort the people’s understanding of reality. All kinds of opposition are suppressed, persecuted and prohibited through the use of mass surveillance and state terrorism. Government’s intervention in economy and collaboration between the government and the enterprises are common. Radicalization of politics is common as government officials seek to win the leader’s favour. Germany in the early 1920s The Rise of Totalitarianism and the World's Response to Aggression (p.29, 32-33, 40-42, 45-47) 2  The new-born Weimar Republic was troubled by the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the nationalist and communist movement, and the fiscal crisis in the early 1920s. The Weimar government was forced to accept the Treaty of Versailles in the Paris Peace Conference. The nationalists were dissatisfied with the Treaty and they transferred their hatred for the Allied peacemakers to the Weimar government. Some extreme nationalists turned against the Weimar government in the early 1920s. Communists in Germany were also dissatisfied with moderate policies of the Weimar government. Demonstrations, protests, strikes and uprisings broke out time and again between 1918 and 1923. The loss of raw materials and population resources, and the additional expenditure (e.g. war pensions, extended welfare and reparations) led to a fiscal crisis in 1919-1923. Since the government needed money to compensate the war victims, to pay wages to civil servants, welfare benefits and subsidies, and to provide cheap credit to help industry readjustment and maintain full employment by printing more money. The reduction of government revenue and the sudden increase of expenditure on welfare led to hyperinflation in 1923. The Weimar Republic became stabilised and repaired its international relationship with other European countries in the late 1920s. After 1923, politics became more peaceful. There were no attempted coups, from right or left, between 1924 and 1929. However, political violence did not completely disappeared. Although extremist parties (e.g. Nazis on the right and Communist Party of Germany on the left) did not gain mass support, they still made an impact on the streets. At the same time, as political ideas remained diversified, it was very difficult for political parties to gain majority in the Reichstag. There were 6 governments between 1924 and 1929, each one a short-lived coalition. As a result, no Chancellor was able to hold a government together for more than 2 years. The support for republicanism gradually subsided and some politicians turned to favour a more authoritarian system instead. The territorial disputes between Germany, France and Belgium was resolved in 1925, and Germany became one of the permanent members in the Council of the League of Nations in 1926. The Rise of Totalitarianism and the World's Response to Aggression (p.29, 32-33, 40-42, 45-47) 3  The Rise of Totalitarianism in Germany - The rise of Nazi Party Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889. He developed his anti-semitic, anti-communist, anti-democratic feelings, and his supports for Pan- Germanism and racism, in his drifting years in Vienna. Adolf Hitler was born to an ordinary Austrian family, who left the school and moved to Vienna after the death of his father. He was influenced by the ideas of pan-Germanism, and despised the declining Austro- Hungarian monarchy and its rule over a multi-ethnical empire. He applied for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 1907 but was rejected twice. He was suggested to apply to the School of Architecture instead, but he lacked the qualifications as he had never finished secondary school. He later moved to Munich to avoid being drafted into the Austro- Hungarian army, but when the First World War broke out in 1914, he joined the German army instead. He was awarded for his services and injuries during the war, and was gassed and hospitalized in October 1918, a month before the end of the First World War. He was employed by the army in 1919 to investigate the German Workers’ Party in 1920. The German Workers’ Party was a small political group upholding nationalism, anti-capitalism, anti-communism and anti-semitism. Adolf Hitler controlled the party eventually, and reorganised it as the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Adolf Hitler tried to seize power by launching the Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923, but ended in failure, Adolf Hitler was arrested and the Nazi Party was banned. However, the trial of Adolf Hitler and other leaders unintentionally became an opportunity to expound his views, some Germans became sympathetic to Adolf Hitler instead. When he was imprisoned in the Landsberg Prison in 1924, he dictated his autobiography Mein Kampf and outlined his political ideas. Adolf Hitler reorganized the Nazi Party in 1925 which gave him supreme power over policy and strategy. The Rise of Totalitarianism and the World's Response to Aggression (p.29, 32-33, 40-42, 45-47) 4  The Rise of Totalitarianism in Germany - What Nazism was about? The effectiveness of the Nazi propaganda hinged upon the message they tried to convey - the vision of a national community or the Volksgemeinschaft. The Nazis promised to restore hope and create a new national community for all Germans. Economic problems would be solved and the people provided with work and bread. The interests of all Germans would be looked after, but special attention would be given to the needs of the true German peasant and small trader who would be saved from “the clutch of Jewish moneylenders”. The feeble Weimar democratic system would be replaced with strong leadership, which would smash communism, end Jewish influence, destroy the Versailles settlement and end reparations. The new German military might would allow it to secure vital living space or Lebensraum and Germany would be a great nation once more. Nationalism was crucial to the Nazi appeal, providing a form of ideological cement to hold together potentially diverse and conflicting interest groups. However, anti-semitism was not a major reason for the mass support in the 1930s. Together with Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler used propaganda and targeted it to many Germans’ specific grievances. He tailored his message to his audience, and was able to appeal both to those living in poverty and to the landowners and industrialists. The Nazis built up a number of associated organisations for young people, women, students, lawyers, factory workers etc, and put great effort into training local speakers to spread their messages to the local community. Apart from the traditional forms of propaganda, such as mass rallies and marches in uniform, the Nazis also used the latest technology, including loudspeakers, slide shows, films and even planes to promote their ideas. The Rise of Totalitarianism and the World's Response to Aggression (p.29, 32-33, 40-42, 45-47) 5  Music, lighting and the display of disciplined enthusiasm were used to impress audiences. The Rise of Totalitarianism in Germany - Why did the Weimar Republic fail? Democracy practised in the Weimar Republic was gradually undermined by political differences. When the Great Depression heated up the debate between the parties, President Paul von Hindenburg took an authoritarian approach to overcome political deadlock. As the meetings in the Reichstag became more chaotic after the Great Depression, he increasingly issued presidential decree to enforce the legislation without going through it, making democracy even less effective before the rise of Adolf Hitler. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate surged after the Great Depression, the Nazi Party and the Communist Party of Germany gained more and more seats in the Reichstag between 1930 and 1932. The political polarisation made governing difficult as no one could get a majority in the Reichstag. Although Paul von Hindenburg personally opposed to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, some industrialists, landowners and politicians believed that they could use the Nazis’ popular support to turn the political system to a more authoritarian direction, to overcome political deadlocks, and to minimize the communists’ influence. Many ordinary Germans were also disillusioned with democracy, they saw authoritarian rule as a way to stablise Germany. To prevent another failure of the government, Paul von Hindenburg took the advice and appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933, in the hope of using Adolf Hitler to enhance his own power. However, no matter how understandable it may seem, it turned out to be a fatal miscalculation. The Rise of Totalitarianism and the World's Response to Aggression (p.29, 32-33, 40-42, 45-47) 6