Fascism's Rise and WWII's Beginnings

May 14, 2024

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

Opening

  • Introduction sponsored by Skillshare
    • Mention of Skillshare's extensive online classes
    • Various example courses
    • Encouragement to use Skillshare
    • Special offer for OverSimplified viewers

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