Rise of Fascism and the Early Stages of World War II 🕊️

Opening

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  • Mention of Skillshare's extensive online classes
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Benito Mussolini

• Early Life: 1902

  • Moved to Switzerland to avoid military service
  • Involved in socialism
  • Arrested multiple times by Swiss police
  • Returned to Italy, completed military service, briefly a school teacher

• Socialist Activities

  • Became notable among Italian socialists due to his speeches and journalistic skills
  • Anti-war stance in early 1910s
  • Protested Italy's colonization of Libya
  • Arrested for anti-war activism during WWI

• Shift to Pro-War

  • Believed WWI could lead to social revolution
  • Broke with socialist friends; expelled from the party
  • Formed new ideology based on nationalism, called "Fascismo"

• Rise to Power

  • Promised to fix Italy's problems post-WWI
  • 1922: March on Rome, became Prime Minister
  • Established a dictatorship in Italy

Adolf Hitler

• Post-WWI Germany

  • Devastation from Treaty of Versailles
  • Economic turmoil, military restrictions, loss of territory

• Rise to Power

  • Joined and established National Socialist German Workers' Party
  • Early failed coup attempt in Munich (1923)
  • Gained popularity; became Chancellor in 1933
  • Established a dictatorial regime

• Vision and Alliances

  • Wanted to reverse Treaty of Versailles
  • Built and militarized the German army
  • Formed alliances with Italy and Japan

Japan's Militarization

• Background

  • Isolationist before American intervention
  • Imposed "Unequal Treaties" limiting Japan's economy
  • Lacked natural resources; sought expansion

• Conflicts and Expansion

  • Russo-Japanese War: surprising victory
  • Annexation of Korea
  • WWI: took German colonies in Asia

• Invasion of China

  • Used Mukden Incident as pretext for invading Manchuria
  • Full-scale invasion of China, including atrocities in Nanking

Axis Powers: Common Goals

• Ideologies

  • Belief in racial superiority and militarization
  • Hostility towards Allies

• Expansionist Plans

  • Germany: Blitzkrieg strategies
  • Italy: Expansion into Africa
  • Japan: Further invasions into Asia

Early WWII Conflicts

• Germany's Aggression

  • Conscription and remilitarization of the Rhineland (ignored by Allies)
  • Annexation of Austria (1938)
  • Demand and takeover of Sudetenland, then the rest of Czechoslovakia

• Response from Allies

  • Appeasement policies (Munich Agreement)
  • Failure of diplomacy
  • Shift in British leadership, Chamberlain replaced by Churchill

• Invasion of Poland

  • Germany invades Poland (Sept 1939), triggering British and French declarations of war
  • Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact

Scandinavia and France

• Scandinavia

  • Germany invades Denmark and Norway to secure iron supplies
  • Allied attempts to intervene fail
  • Churchill becomes British Prime Minister

• Fall of France

  • Blitzkrieg tactics bypassed French defenses
  • Mass evacuation at Dunkirk
  • Fall of Paris and French surrender

Battle of Britain

• German Air Assault

  • Luftwaffe targets British ports, bases, and civilians
  • Refocus on London after British bombing of Berlin

• RAF Resilience

  • Royal Air Force's successful defense
  • Hitler's forced postponement of invasion plans