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World War I: The Rise Of Nazism And Stalinism

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After World War I, Europe saw a rise in strong totalitarian leaders and programs. Hitler used Nazism to give Germany an economic rebound, in the same way Stalin used Stalinism to increase production in Russia, and boost their economy. The circumstances of the time that led to the rise of Nazism and Stalinism included the Treaty of Versailles and the Russian Revolution. In addition, the leaders of these programs used previous ideas of nationalism, unification of the country, and imperialism to rise to power and lead their nation. Nazism was created by Adolf Hitler in response to terms of the Treaty of Versailles that Germany would have to pay extreme reparations to other countries that had been involved in World War I. The circumstances of the time for Germany was their desperation for things to get better and many people believed the countries involved in the Treaty of Versailles took “all sovereign rights from us. We are just good enough that international capital allows us to fill its money sacks with interest payments… Have we deserved it? No” (We Demand, 1927). With this belief, Hitler used previous ideas of nationalism in his speech saying to unite the German people for “as long as the German people was united it has never been conquered” (Proclamations to The German People and the German …show more content…

Hitler used the circumstances involving the unfair terms of the Treaty of Versailles and previous ideas of nationalism and imperialism to rally a following in Germany and promote Nazism. Stalin’s rule was a product of the Russian Revolution and the death of Vladimir Lenin. He was put into power as a puppet leader, but ended up increasing production and rallying his people with nationalism and a total war economy. Although both Nazism and Stalinism did improve the economies of Russia and Germany, the cost was great and millions of people perished under Hitler’s and Stalin’s

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