[Tamilnadu Board]*Class 12 History Notes | Chapter 30. RISE OF FASCISM AND NAZISM

 

LESSON 30.

RISE OF FASCISM AND NAZISM

Learning Objectives

Students will acquire knowledge about

1. The rise of Fascism in Italy and its causes.

2. Mussolini’s foreign policy.

3. The rise of Nazism in Germany and the factors contributed to it.

4. Hitler’s foreign policy and its effects.

 

Mussolini and the Fascist Italy

Causes for the Growth of Fascism in Italy

              Italy attended the Paris Peace Conference with great expectations. The secret Treaty of London which was signed in 1915 with the Allies gave Italy great hope. At Paris, Orlando presented the demands of Italy. But the US President Woodrow Wilson rejected the Treaty of London. Italian claims over territories on the Adriatic Sea, some Turkish provinces and Albania in the Balkan were all turned down. Thus Italy gained nothing in the Paris Peace Conference. “Italy had won the war but had lost peace”.

             Italy was disappointed. The representatives of Italy were forced to boycott the conference. They felt that the Allies had purposely deceived Italy. This discontentment created a feeling of revolt among the middle class youth. They decided to form an organization and unite in order to avenge their national humiliation and treachery.

Economic Condition

            During the war, Italy was forced to spend huge amount more than her national income. Unemployment prevailed. People believed that government was responsible for such a situation. They wanted n alternative government. The rise of the Fascist Party was also a result of above dissatisfaction.

Spread of Socialism

            The unemployment problem, poverty and inflation helped the spread of Socialism. The believers in Marxism had a political party called Social Democrats of Italy. In the 1919 election they gained 156 seats out of 574. This party helped a lot for the rise and development of Fascism in Italy.

 

Rise of Mussolini

              Benito Mussolini was the originator of the idea of Fascism. He was born in 1883. Mussolini’s father an ironsmith, was a follower of Socialism. Hence, Mussolini was influenced by the socialistic ideology. He was a school teacher a trade unionist and a journalist. He was imprisoned in 1908 for revolutionary ideas. In 1912 he started the editing of Avanthi, a socialist journal. He was a bitter opponent of the Church.

              When the First World War broke out, the Italian Government decided not to take part in the War. But Mussolini propagated that the Italian Government should immediately join the war in favour of the Allies. For that Mussolini was punished. But later Italy was forced to join the war on the side of the Allies. As a result Mussolini became popular. He also participated in the war as a soldier.

             The Bolshevik Revolution took place in Russia in 1917. The people of Italy also were influenced by the revolution. The communists of Italy also were planning for a massive revolution. Mussolini, who was a staunch opponent of Bolshevism, decided to start a new party to fight Communism. In march 1919 the Fascist Party was established under his leadership. The members wore black shirts and were equipped with arms. The party had its own flag. The members were well disciplined and Mussolini was their chief commander.

              In the first party convention of Milan, Mussolini announced the programmes and Charter of demands of the party. They were:

·Nationalisation of factories

 ·Confiscation of surplus money from the capitalists

 ·Universal Franchise

 ·Forfeiture of the Church property

·Eight hours work in factories

 ·Framing of a new constitution.

               These demands of the Fascist Party soon achieved popularity in Italy. The number of members increased very rapidly. In 1919 there were only seventeen thousand members in the party. The number increased to 3 lakhs in 1922. The Fascists captured the offices of the Socialist and the Communist parties by force.

                In October 1922, the Fascist Party had its party convention at Naples. A Charter of Demands was passed at the convention. They include induction of Fascist members in the Cabinet, new election to the Legislatures and the adoption of a vigorous foreign policy. But the government refused to concede. The Fascists therefore marched on to Rome, under the leadership of Mussolini. They captured all the government officers. The government asked the king Victor Immanuel III to promulgate martial law. Mussolini was invited to form the ministry.

Mussolini as the Prime Minster of Italy

                Mussolini was an action oriented Prime Minister. He took the following steps for the reorganization of administration.

·         The dacoits living in the interiors of Naples and Sicily were crushed.

·         The economic and social conditions of the labourers were improved.

·         Trade Unions were abolished.

·         The entire powers of the Parliament were snatched.

·         Members faithful to the leader alone were appointed as ministers and officers.

               Elections were conducted under the basis of the changed law. The Fascist Party got a complete majority in the National Parliament. After elections, Mussolini adopted some measures to crush opponents. 

Ø  All local bodies were suspended.

Ø  Only Fascist lawyers were allowed to practice. 

Ø  In 1926, all political parties were banned.

Ø  The cabinet system of government came to an end.

Ø  Freedom of the Press was curtailed.

Ø  Unlimited powers were given to the police department. 

Ø  Members of the opposition parties were imprisoned.

Mussolini as the Dictator

             Rule of one leader and one party was the ideology of Fascism. He had no faith in democracy and hated the majority. He believed in the supremacy of the state. The individual had no right. The individual was merely a means to recognise the existence of the state.

NAZISM IN GERMANY

            After the First World War, harsh peace was imposed on Germany and other defeated countries. This had created intense nationalist upsurge in Germany. The economic breakdown and the rise of socialist parties paved the way for the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany. Similarly such situation arose in Italy and Japan. This resulted in the Axis formation. The aggressive foreign policy of Hitler led to the Second World War.

Germany at the End of World War I

             At the end of the World War I, the German King William was forced to abdicate A republic was proclaimed in Germany. Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the Social - Democratic Party formed a temporary government. This was followed by an election to the Constituent Assembly. The Social Democratic Party emerged as the largest party. The session of the Constituent Assembly was held in the city of Weimar. A new constitution was drafted. This is known as Weimar Constitution.

The Revolt of the Royalists

           The Treaty of Versailles was very harsh and humiliating to Germany. It suffered territorial loss. The policy of disarmament was imposed. The war reparation was enormous. Germany was held responsible for the World War. This affected the sentiments of the Germans. A group of people opposed the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

           In March 1920, the royalists under the leadership of Dr. Kapp revolted. But he failed and surrendered before the republican government. The second such revolt was led by Ludendorff. He was assisted by Hitler. Ludendorff and Hitler were arrested and imprisoned for 5 years. It was during this jail life, Hitler wrote the famous book Mein Kampf which later became the Bible of the Nazi party.

Economic Crisis

              The post war Germany posed a disastrous financial crisis. For the payment of reparation, the government was forced to take loans. Factories were closed. Trade and commerce were deteriorating. Heavy taxes were imposed. To meat the financial crisis the government had no other option but to issue more and more paper currencies. This resulted into inflation. Unemployment was rampant.

Reparation

             According to the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany, which was held responsible for the First World War, had to pay a heavy amount of compensation. The Reparation Commission fixed the amount as 660 million pounds. There was opposition against these provisions. Most of them argued that, since Germany was not responsible for World War I, there was no need to pay the heavy amount of war indemnity.

Dawes Plan

             The financial crisis in Germany forced the Weimar Republic to make an appeal to the allies for the reduction of the amount of reparation. As a result a committee consisting of ten members was formed under the chairmanship of Dawes, an eminent finance specialist of U.S.A. The committee made some amendments to the provision of the Treaty of Versailles. This known as Dawes Plan The financial burden of Germany was reduced to certain level. When the problem of reparation again appeared in 1929 the Young Committee made a plan to solve it.

Hitler and the Nazi Germany

             Adolph Hitler was born in April 1889 in a very humble family in an Austrian village. On account of poverty he could not get proper education. His father wanted to make his son a government employee. But Hitler was very fond of art from his early days. So he went to Vienna at the age of 18 to learn the art of painting and architecture. While he was in Vienna, he happened to witness the behavior of the Jews. He felt that the Jews were the moral enemies of individualism, nationalism and racialism. Further he felt that the Jews were the supporters of the Marxian ideology. Thus his anti- Jews ideas developed at very early age. Hitler was opposed to democracy and believed in the supremacy of the German race.

              During the First World War Hitler joined the army and participated in the war. In recognition of his service and bravery shown during the war, he was honoured with the award of the ‘Iron Cross’. He believed that the Jews and the communists were responsible for the defeat of Germany. He therefore undertook a programme to avenge the defeat. He began to work as a spy in Munich. He also started a new party with the cooperation of his friends. National Socialist German Labour Party was launched.

Nazi Party

             To carryout his programmes, Hitler started the National Socialist Party or Nazi Party. ‘Swastika’ was made the symbol of Nazi Party. By the year 1932, the membership of the Nazi Party increased to 70 lakhs. To attract the young people to his party, Hitler started ‘Hitler Young Society.’ Also he formed two military bodies. The members were wearing brown shirts with a red armband carrying a black Swastika. Another division was called as the ‘Black Shirts’. They were the body guards of the Nazi party leaders.

             In 1932, Hitler contested for the post of President. But he was defeated with a few votes against Hindenburg. But in the general election conducted in the same year, his party became the largest party in the parliament. According to the provisions of the constitution as a leader of the majority party in the Reichstag, Hitler was made the Chancellor. Thus he formed the Nazi Government.

             He established the dictatorship of the Nazi Party. Communist party was banned and its leaders were arrested. The civil rights of the people were suspended. The Weimar Republic came to an end. Hitler declared the establishment of the Third Reich. The flag of the Nazi Party became the National flag. The Parliament was dissolved. The powers of the parliament were transferred to Hitler.

 Anti- Jew Policy

             In Germany, the Jews enjoyed a privileged position due to their wealth and education. He believed that they were anti- nationals. Hitler now made several efforts to crush the Jews. Anti- Jew Laws were passed. They were denied German citizenship. He adopted very harsh and repressive measures for the economic and cultural boycott of the Jews.

Military Reforms

             Hitler reorganised his military on the basis of German nationality. Germans alone were admitted into the military service. He established a totalitarian type of government so that he could follow an aggressive foreign policy.

Foreign Policy of Hitler

            Hitler did not approve the Treaty of Versailles. It was a dictated peace. Hence it was a humiliating one. The German people accepted the policy of Hitler and accepted him as their leader. The important aspects of his foreign policy are given below.

 

 

German came out of the League of Nations

           Following the League of Nations Disarmament Conference on February 3, 1932 Hitler announced the withdrawal from the League. He started the process of rearming Germany.

Rearmament

            As mentioned above, after the Geneva Disarmament Conference, Hitler withdrew from the League of Nations. Now he was free to rearm Germany. On March 16, 1935, Hitler announced compulsory military training for all German people. He also aimed to have the air force equal to that of England and France. He announced that the reason for the increase in the strength of the army was selfdefence. But France and England had natural suspicion over these actions of Hitler. Therefore they convened a meeting at Stressa in Switzerland and condemned the behaviour of Hitler. But their condemnation did not affect Hitler from rearmament.

Militarization of Rhineland

           Rhineland was to be demilitarised, according to the Treaty of Versailles. On March 7, 1936, Hitler sent his army into the heart of Rhineland and started the construction of fortifications. France opposed this move of Germany. But England was a silent spectator to this action of Hitler. Thus a golden opportunity to stop the aggressive behaviour of Hitler was lost by both England and France.

The Spanish Civil War

          A Republic had been proclaimed in Spain in 1931. In 1936 the conservatives under General Franco started a Civil War against the Republic. Now Germany and Italy supported Franco whereas Russia supported the Republicans. The Republicans were defeated and the dictatorship of Franco was established. The net result of the Spanish Civil War was that it helped Italy and Germany to come closer and later their friendship was converted into a treaty.

Rome- Berlin -Tokyo Axis

           In October 1936, On the basis of an agreement Germany approved Italian control over Abyssinia and Italy granted permission to Hitler to annex Austria with Germany. Hitler was antagonistic towards Russian Communism. Therefore Hitler in November 1936, signed an Anti- Commintern Pact with Japan, another enemy of Russia. In November 1937, Italy was admitted into the alliance. This Anti Commintern pact was otherwise called as Rome –BerlinTokyo Axis. This Axis was formed against England, France and Russia. This was the beginning of Second World War.

          Nazism grew in Germany under Hitler. It stood for aggressive nationalism, authoritarianism and the leadership principle. On becoming Germany’s Chancellor in 1933, Hitler undertook a rearmament programme. His aggressive foreign policy led to the Second World War. Similarly, Mussolini organized the Fascist movement in Italy. He believed in dictatorship, aggressive foreign policy and colonial policy. Thus, he emerged as the Il Duce or supreme commander. The emergence of dictatorship in Europe paved the way for Second World War.

 

Learning Outcome

 After learning this lesson the students will be to explain

1. The factors led to the rise of Fascism in Italy.

2. The principles of Fascism and Mussolini’s aggressive foreign policy.

3. Growth of Nazism in Germany and its principles.

4. Hitler’s foreign policy and the formation of Rome-BerlinTokyo Axis.

 5. The impact of the rise of Fascism and Nazism.