The Common Factors that Led to the Establishment of Totalitarian Regimes in Italy and Germany in the Inter-War Period

Fascism admitted strong totalitarian overtones until it became interested in wars of colonial conquest. It had come to power because of the decaying social, economic and political conditions of post-World War I Italy. It had brought order out of chaos. Indeed, order was its strong selling point when, after a series of crippling strikes sponsored by the socialists, it had managed when the liberal democratic state could not manage.

In the 20th century totalitarian governments had come to power in Italy, Germany, and the Soviet Union. These governments had forced their political authority and centralized control over all aspects of life (Document 3 and 6). The government had imposed public gatherings to invade people’s lives and indoctrination of totalitarian ideas had influenced youth organizations and literature to help the government gain authority over one’s country (Document 2). One method used by totalitarian dictatorship is having mass rallies and speeches. The totalitarian government that used these method leaders was Benito Mussolini of Italy and Adolf Hitler of Germany.

While both Italian and German fascism in the interwar years were very similar, they were ultimately more different due to their political ideologies, foreign policies and the structure of their respective parties. Fascism, while not having a concrete definition can be defined by multiple attributes. Fascism usually consist of a ultra right wing, oppressive and authoritarian government that places a heavy emphasis on national identity. As such, fascist governments promote violence and the expansion through wars with the intent of imperialism.

Hitler and Mussolini looked upon the new form of government, which was Totalitarianism. This form of government means there is only one leader to make decisions and thus they killed or jailed all opponents. Mussolini and Hitler used this form of government after World

Hitler and Mussolini looked upon the new form of government, which was Totalitarianism. This form of government means there is only one leader to make decisions and thus they killed or jailed all opponents. Mussolini and Hitler used this form of government after World War One

The problems in Germany Japan and Italy during the 1920s led many different groups to try to gain political power.  At times there were riots in the streets among the supporters of different political parties.Both Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy believed in the political system called fascism.  In a fascist government system, total power is given to a dictator.  Individual rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press are denied.  The nation and its power are what counts, not the life of the individual.

Along with the Fascist Party, came the idea of a "perfect" race of man, and persecution. Hitler’s idea of a non-Jewish race appealed to Mussolini. Before the war began, Benito Mussolini and his army started their persecution of the Jews in Italy. This did not last long, however, because Mussolini’s popularity began to fall. As his popularity among his people began to decline, so did his relations with many European nations. Much of Italy’s foreign relations depended solely on treaties and pacts. (5) As Germany and Italy moved together towards a uniform society, the strength and honor of the treaties were in jeopardy.

The rise of Fascism in Italy contributed to World War II because of it’s militaristic and nationalistic

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini are two of the most well-known leaders of the totalitarian movement which began in the 20th century. The early 1900’s was a very brutal time in history, as it commenced the beginning of the first world war. As young men, they both served as soldiers in World War One. Their involvement in the war both left them with violent views of socialism and communism. In the summer of 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, marking the end of the war. The treaty forced Germany to accept sole responsibility for the war, resulting in global German humiliation. The consequences left Germany liable for harsh reparations and the reassignment of boundaries. Hitler's

Dictatorship throughout the ages has mainly led to oppression and conflict between people and government. Some of the notoriously bad dictators took office around the 1920’s and 1930’s. There were three main dictators in that time period and they all ran different countries in very different ways. Josef Stalin was known as the dictator of the Soviet Union, he was all about communism and did not care if there was opposition to his ideas. On the other hand, Benito Mussolini was in charge of Italy and all about fascism. Possibly the worst known dictator of all times was Hitler, in charge of, Germany, he was all about Nazism. Each had a different outlook on ruling, but they all did things similarly to lead to nations hatred against them. Basically, their ultimate goal was to do what was best for their countries, however, there want for power tended to get in the way. They all wanted to accomplish many things, they used many different ideas and ways to run their nations. They were all blamed for their nations demise in one way or another. This essay will discuss the similarities and differences between Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini.

The economic instability of Europe developed totalitarian goverments that began rising during the depression in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Germany, Italy, and Japan all became countries subjected to the rule of dictated military rule leaving no room for opposition. Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy in 1922 (Calvocoressi, Wint, p 777, 1999). Mussolini had his own philosophy that his destiny was to rule over Italy as Caesar in a more modern version while re-creating the Roman Empire. In his attempts in

Before the first world war the model of Government that had been adopted by the European countries, with the exception of Russia, was that of liberal democracy. In some countries the system worked poorly and in others the evolution towards this form of Government was not yet complete, but the trend at all was a competition of political parties, with representatives elected democratically and the Executive power in the hands of a responsible Ministry before Parliament. "This means on the one hand, that the State is, by definition, totalitarian, physical and spiritual, of the individual destinations and the activities of the society. On the other hand, in the period between the two world wars, many countries were falling into the hands of totalitarian dictatorships. These regimes received different names: in Russia was communism, in national-socialist Germany and Italy, fascism, and although in each place had its own characteristics, participated in numerous common aspects: head of Government was a dictator whose will was absolute, only a political party was tolerated, and although generally still existing representative bodies in the Government, posts were covered by the party addicts or stalwarts of the dictator. Franco was a general African, had trained in the wars in Africa. he was very Catholic, reaching the point of confusion to the Catholicism and the homeland. Their national values were the hierarchy, order, and discipline, which could only impose with the army. The

The Fascists’ social and economic policies up to 1939 significantly aided their control over Italy yet may not be cited as the sole cause. The Fascist party’s social and economic policies along with other factors attributed to the overall control of Italy. Through such policies it was a certainty that the Fascist party would hold complete power over the population of Italy in each aspect of an individual’s life whether it was their leisure time through the Dopolavoro or at work under the corporate state system which was formally introduced in 1934. This complete domination of the Italian peoples’ lives could be argued to have been the instrumental factor behind the Fascists’ control over Italy up to 1939. Other factors which assisted the

The Importance of the Economic Factors in the Rise to Power of the Fascist Party in Italy

As a result of how Italy was created but not fully unified, the new Italian state suffered from a variety of weaknesses which the new liberal state was unable to tackle these. This made Italy susceptible to the appeal of fascism, and therefore aided Mussolini’s rise to power.