WWII_Euro

WWII IN EUROPE: REVIEW I
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Versailles

The seeds of World War II were planted in the aftermath of the First World War. The harsh terms of the Versailles Treaty ruined the German economy, caused ruinous inflation and massive unemployment, and resentment among former soldiers who blamed the politicians for Germany’s surrender.

Above: Members of a Freikorps brigade participate in a street battle.

Communism

In this atmosphere of uncertainty and despair, those who offered certain answers or convenient scapegoats attracted followers. Communists, emboldened by the Bolshevik triumph in Russia, attempted to foment revolution in the West. Communists and their political opponents fought battles in the street, adding to the atmosphere of unease encasing Europe.

Above: Communist leader Karl Liebknecht gives the funeral oration over the grave of a fallen comrade killed in a street fight with the Freikorps. Only days later, Liebknecht, along with Rosa Luxembourg, was assassinated.

Fascism

Fascism arose in response to Communism. Fascists emphasized law and order under a strong central state. They often preserved a façade of representative government, but in reality a single party, and a single leader, ruled. The three fascist leaders who would dominate Europe in the coming years were Adolf Hitler of Germany, Benito Mussolini of Italy, and Francisco Franco of Spain.

Click here for photos of the three fascist leaders.

Benito Mussolini

Mussolini started the fascist movement in Italy after World War I. He drew power from popular fears of Communism. Mussolini became prime minister of a minority government, but used his position to expand his personal power and influence. By 1926, he was supreme leader of Italy—”Il Duce.”

Nazism

The National Socialist German Workers Party was born out of the embers of World War I. The party’s improbable name—it was neither a workers’ party nor a socialist one—defined itself by its slogan: “Deutschland, Deutschland, über Alles!”—in short, Germany rules the world. The party was only one of hundreds of parties and fringe groups in Germany after the war—until a former soldier arrived in 1920 and found his destiny.

In 1920, Adolf Hitler took over the Nazi Party and transformed it into a platform for power. With Germany teetering on the brink of economic ruin, he preached a message Germans wanted to hear: they had been stabbed in the back by the Jews and politicians in World War I; Germany must retake control of her destiny by tearing up the hated Versailles Treaty; and Germans were a master race destined to rule the world.

In November 1923, Hitler and some 600 Nazis marched into a speech being delivered by a Bavarian state minister at Munich’s Bürgerbraükeller. Hitler leapt up onto a table and fired a shot into the ceiling, yelling: “The National Revolution has begun!” Eventually, 3,000 Hitler partisans faced off against the police outside. Shots were fired, but Hitler was unhurt. He was subsequently arrested and found guilty of treason, and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

While serving his sentence in Landswehr Prison, Hitler used the time to dictate Mein Kampf, his remarkable blueprint of Germany’s future under the Nazi regime. To Hitler, power was force, and the key to power was terror—spiritual and physical—against the individual and the masses. In a seminal passage, Hitler said Nazism would unleash “a veritable barrage of lies and slanders against whatever adversary seemed the most dangerous.”

Hitler and some of his cronies in prison.

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Benito Mussolini Mussolini started the fascist movement in Italy after World War I. He drew power from popular fears of Communism. Mussolini became prime minister of a minority government, but used his position to expand his personal power and influence. By 1926, he was supreme leader of Italy—”Il Duce.”
	Nazism The National Socialist German Workers Party was born out of the embers of World War I. The party’s improbable name—it was neither a workers’ party nor a socialist one—defined itself by its slogan: “Deutschland, Deutschland, über Alles!”—in short, Germany rules the world. The party was only one of hundreds of parties and fringe groups in Germany after the war—until a former soldier arrived in 1920 and found his destiny. In 1920, Adolf Hitler took over the Nazi Party and transformed it into a platform for power. With Germany teetering on the brink of economic ruin, he preached a message Germans wanted to hear: they had been stabbed in the back by the Jews and politicians in World War I; Germany must retake control of her destiny by tearing up the hated Versailles Treaty; and Germans were a master race destined to rule the world. In November 1923, Hitler and some 600 Nazis marched into a speech being delivered by a Bavarian state minister at Munich’s Bürgerbraükeller. Hitler leapt up onto a table and fired a shot into the ceiling, yelling: “The National Revolution has begun!” Eventually, 3,000 Hitler partisans faced off against the police outside. Shots were fired, but Hitler was unhurt. He was subsequently arrested and found guilty of treason, and sentenced to 5 years in prison.
While serving his sentence in Landswehr Prison, Hitler used the time to dictate Mein Kampf, his remarkable blueprint of Germany’s future under the Nazi regime. To Hitler, power was force, and the key to power was terror—spiritual and physical—against the individual and the masses. In a seminal passage, Hitler said Nazism would unleash “a veritable barrage of lies and slanders against whatever adversary seemed the most dangerous.”	Hitler and some of his cronies in prison.
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