After the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the peace agreement between the allies and central powers of the Great War, new republics and Constitutional Monarchies arose from the ashes of the empires of Europe. Within a few years, some governments of Europe stood on the verge of collapse based on unfair treaties, weak governmental institutions, poor economic conditions, and despair of its citizens. Amidst the situation, began the rise of Ultra-Nationalist political movements in many European countries, but only in Italy and Germany would the power of governments have radical transformations. Based on similar ideology, the political parties are known in Italy as the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento (later to be transformed to the Partito Nazionale Fascista), or the Fascists under the leadership of Benito Mussolini ,and in Germany, the National Socialist German Workers Party, commonly referred to as the Nazis under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Throughout their growth, both parties would attain great successes in the political systems of their countries, economic achievements, and military conquests; the latter would be the fatal demise of both countries.
Both the Fascist and Nazi parties conducted comparative growths in strength and power during the 1920’s. Starting with Italy, the Fascist Party formed in 1919 by former Socialist Benito Mussolini, expounded strong nationalistic sentiment, believed in the suppression of left-wing socialist movements, and the philosophy of a politically resilient Head of State. The Fascist party would appeal to people of the middle class backgrounds, which feared the rise in Socialist and Communist parties, who were pressing for equality among social and economic classes. With the convictions of e...
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...any would ultimately control most of Europe. Their invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 would be the turning point of the war in Europe and lead to the subsequent downfall of the Third Reich.
What would eventually lead to the fall of the Axis powers would be the entrance of the United States and the Soviet Union into war. In 1943, the United States invaded and controlled Italy. Mussolini would be caught and executed by Italian Partisans while trying to escape into Switzerland. The Germans would retreat as they began to lose territory to the Soviets. The Soviets would eventually control most of Eastern Europe including East Germany by the spring of 1945. After the Allied invasion of France on June 6th, 1944, Germany would fight an impossible to win, two-front war leading to the suicide of Adolf Hitler on April 30th and the surrender of Germany on May 8th, 1945.
These were pivotal times in the annals of world history in the 20th century. Mussolini and Hitler’s rise to power was clearly a threat to the freedoms of the United States and its Allies. Through God’s grace and omnipotence, the US alliance, industrialization and intellectual might, we had the resources required to overcome the fierce and mighty threat of Fascism in the Free World.
The main political changes that the Nazi Party or the NSDAP endured during the period of November, 1923 until January 1933 was its rise from a small extreme right party to a major political force. It is vitally important that the reasons behind this rise to power also be examined, to explain why the NSDAP was able to rise to the top. However first a perspective on the Nazi party itself is necessary to account for the changing political fortunes of the Nazi Party.
How did the Cold War affect the politics of Germany and Italy? The Cold War was the most important historic event in the 20th century after the Second World War, from 1945 till 1991 between two most powerful countries in that period – Soviet Union and USA. The Cold War invested a lot in world politics. What is the Cold War? This was a war for dominance in the world.
Multiple historians have touched on the change in government during Fascist Italy’s reign in World War II. In Italian Fascism: Its Origins and Development, Alexander De Grand clarifies the many promises Benito Mussolini fabricated for the Italian people in order to get them to join his cause such as the improvement on poverty with the rise of a new Roman Empire. De Grand also gives an opposite view, with some citizens seeing Fascism as a “model of efficiency.” In Melton S. Davis’ Who Defends Rome?, t...
Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany as Totalitarian Atates A totalitarian state refers to a country in which the central government exercises total control over all aspects of people's life. Main features include an infallible leader, one-party rule, strict party discipline, elitism, planned economy, an official doctrine, absolute obedience of individuals to the State, nationalism and usually an expansionist foreign policy. Up to these criteria, both Fascist Italy (1922-43) and Nazi Germany (1933-45) could be deemed totalitarian states to a large extent.
Fascism is defined as, “an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.” Peter Hyland reports that throughout the 1920s and the 1930s, an economic depression was growing and becoming widespread throughout the world. People were losing faith in their democracies and in capitalism. Leaders who gained power supported powerful militarism, nationalism, and initiated the return of an authoritarian rule. J.R. Oppenheimer says that the rise of fascism and totalitarianism in Europe and Russia instigated a “critical step on the path to war.” In 1922, Benito Mussolini held leadership in Italy, promising a proficient and militaristic nationalistic state. During his control as prime minister, he gained a large group of followers, banned the disparagement of government, and used extreme violence against his enemies within the parliament.
After the Allies triumphant victory and Hitler's suicide Germany is split into two sections: a communist Russian ruled E...
By 1941 The Axis powers, this included Germany and Italy had taken all of Western Europe. Their control had reached as far west as the bay of Biscay on the west coast of France, they reached as far north as Norway and Finland, as far west as the Caspian sea in Russia. The axis also reached as far south as Libya and Egypt in Africa.
When the word “fascism” is mentioned people usually associate the word with German Nazis’. There is more to fascism than just German Nazis.’ Fascism is an interesting topic that should be further examined and explained so it is no longer simply associated with German Nazis’. This essay will explain what fascism is (definition), how fascism groups are run, the ideology of fascism, and some past examples of how fascist governments operated.
Italy and Germany entered World War II and saw the loss of many innocent lives, and saw the downfalls of the Axis powers. Hitler was a man that wanted one superior race, and with that thought in mind, he sent many people to their deaths for not being German. A Bible verse that reminds me of World War II is Matthew 26:52, “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (ESV). The Bible talks of their being a time for a war, but this Bible verse shows us that there are times when people should put down their swords and stop the fighting. Hitler and Mussolini sought to strengthen their government, economy, and people, but in the end WWII claimed the lives of many of their
Exploring the Similarities and Differences Between the Foreign Policies of Mussolini and Hitler Similarities - Both foreign policies geared to achieving great power status o Hitler: lebensraum, wanted to have living space for the expansion of the German race and control over other groups o Mussolini: wanted control over Mara nostrum, Abyssinia, …an empire - fascist states o had anti communist feelings; o both signed anti comintern pact 1937 against USSR o Spanish civil war against communism helping Franco secure power o Signed pact of steel in may 1939, a full military alliance - unhappy with status quo, wanted international prestige o national grievances on Versailles, people wanted to change Versailles o Hitler, product of WW1 who was angry at Versailles and wanted to see Germany achieve great power status o Mussolini; felt that Italy had been treated unfairly at Versailles and also waned to change the status quo o Because of this both built up armies, navies and air forces.. Italian air force to block out the sun + German luftwaffe… - both Hitler and Mussolini, used diplomacy and force as well as aggression to get what they wanted o Mussolini over Greece where it undermined the LofN, used force to take Abyssinia 1935 o Hitler used the threat of force to take Austria and diplomacy as well as force to take Czech and Saarland in 193… - by 1939 both had a common enemy; Britain and France - both were aggressive nationalists and glorified warw - both wanted empires; abysinnia and lebenstraum to distract from problems at home.. Differences - Hitler was more clear in his aims and ideals whereas Mussolini was more vague and opportunistic o Although Hitler did take advantage of opportunities such as Abyssinia crises to remilitarise Rhineland he was more structured in his aims for Lebensraum, unification of all Germans, building up the army and recovering lost territories § Illustrated by Hitler’s success after success ; Rhineland in 36,
Another reason that had a significant impact was the belief of fascists that their nations were superior to all other people. “Fascism was the governing ideology of Ge...
...rounded in Europe with the British and the U.S. pressing in from the west, and the Russians coming in from the east killing about half the German army in the war. Since Hitler committed suicide on April 30th, 1945 Germany was falling apart and didn’t have a powerful leader to guide them. So, Germany decided to invade Russia, and they were horribly equipped for winter warfare, and had summer equipment when they invaded. This was because Hitler anticipated they would have beaten Russia before winter. Russia kept the German army occupies while the other allies liberated France. On January 12th, 1945 the Soviet Union invaded Berlin, Germany at the Battle of Berlin and succeeded. In late April and early May of 1945 Germany surrendered to the Allies and World War Two came to an end. As General Eisenhower said in 1945, “The world must know what happened, and never forget”.
It is true that the Italian dictatorship was more conservative in its application than that of Hitler’s reign of terror. But, both the fascist ideas and rulings of these two leaders proved to have some similarities worth mentioning. Both leaders left their countries with an economic and social debt to the Allies, which is still strong in the minds of many older members of the community.
In the early years of the twentieth century, Italy has created a new system of government, however suffered social and economic conditions. Improvements were made however, poverty and literacy were still problems that have not been solved well. While entering World War I, the nation was neutral up until joining the British and French in exchange for certain advantages. However, it was unsuccessful as Italy failed to take control of the territories that it claimed at the Versailles Peace Conference,and suffered significant losses. The ideology of fascism occurred when the power of Italy was shrinking and the idea of being a pacifist became weak. Benito Mussolini created a group of fascists to represent a means to stop the socialists and the communists coming into his nation.