CU-BA-SEM VI-HISTORY-VI

put forward a government-approved slate of precisely 466 men. This included 247 incumbents and 20 former Diet representatives, a significant continuity from the previous decades of party politics. Roughly 550 independent candidates ran for office as well. These included another 150 party politicians. The official IRAA candidates won 82 percent of the seats (381 of 466). All the incumbents on the IRAA slate were reelected. Many party men, whether those serving in the IRAA or those elected as independents, continued to command the local loyalty of their constituents. To a considerable extent, the individual members of the established political parties remained a part of the ruling system. Yet they were certainly a far meeker group of people than in the past. A total of 199 newcomers were elected to the Diet, a higher turnover than in previous elections. And all the Diet members were now acting less as representatives of popular interests than as transmitters of state interests to the people. They no longer constituted an organized or independent political force. The vast majority supported Prime Minister Tojo. Those who did not kept their doubts private or faced arrest and prison. Taken as a whole, state mobilization programs fell short of their more ambitious, even totalitarian goals to “renovate” the nation. Significant though limited pluralism remained. Neither the Economic New Order nor the Industrial Patriotic Federation nor the IRAA brought the state total control over Japanese subjects. Yet the drive to mobilize society for war, and remake it in the process, did change the relation between state, society, and the individual. The Diet became a peripheral institution. Relatively independent organizations of socialists or feminists, of factory workers or tenant farmers, of businessmen or party politicians were dissolved or transformed. The state became more intrusive than ever. Political expression was tightly and harshly monitored. This new order was promoted using the latest technologies, from radio to newsreels and cinema. It linked people to the state and the emperor through a vast network of organizations that had been created in the modernizing endeavors of previous decades. These bodies were now more closely managed by the state: youth groups, women’s groups, village and neighborhood associations, workplace councils, agricultural and industrial producers’ unions. The wartime order was cloaked in a traditionalistic rhetoric that glorified ancient loyalty to the emperor, but in many ways it was exceedingly modern. 8.7 ENDING THE WAR 151 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

People in Japan lived through most of the war with remarkable public perseverance, despite mounting private doubts. But toward the end, signs of social breakdown increased. Chronic absenteeism in urban workplaces throughout Japan reached 20 percent daily even before air raids forced workers to flee the cities. After the raids began in 1944 and 1945, absentee rates often came to a full 50 percent of the work force. Wildcat disputes over wages and work conditions rose in number. The military police also noted an alarming rise in passive resistance such as anti-government graffiti. As they observed these trends, and as they realized that the war had turned decisively against Japan, some leaders in court, diplomatic, and business circles and a few military brass concluded that even a nearly total surrender would be preferable to the consequences of a doomed last battle. Most prominent among them was Prince Konoe Fumimaro, the former prime minister upon whom the more radical reformers had pinned great hopes several years back. Konoe and others were terrified at the prospect that the Soviet Union might enter the war against Japan. The group around Konoe feared above all that a prolonged war would crush the imperial institution.They came to identify a three-pronged threat: Foreign attack might combine with unrest from below and revolutionary plans from above to destroy the spiritual and cultural heart of their world. These fears especially the fear of a domestic revolution initiated by high-level military and bureaucratic radicals were exaggerated. Factional conflict near the war’s end indeed set Konoe and his allies against the army leadership in particular. But this was not a fight setting pro-emperor conservatives around the throne versus antiemperor revolutionaries in the military. The dispute centered on the question of who posed the greater threat to the imperial institution: the United States or the Soviet Union. Army officers who feared the Americans even entertained desperate plans to evacuate the emperor to the Asian continent with Soviet protection during a final battle for the homeland. Their opponents preferred to take their chances by accepting the American conditions for peace. The army strategy prevailed in the first stage of the war’s endgame. Prime Minister Tojo resigned in July 1944. He had lost the support of the court, the navy, and his own cabinet ministers. But these elites believed they could not control the military, so another army man, General Koiso Kuniaki, succeeded him. In February 1945 Konoe made a desperate attempt to take the initiative from army hardliners. He presented a plea, known as the Konoe Memorial, to the emperor in person. He urged Hirohito to make peace with the United States, even at the cost of unconditional surrender. This, he argued, was the only way to “extricate the people from the miserable ravages of war, preserve the kokutai, and plan for the security of the imperial house.”16 The emperor appeared intrigued, but did not follow his advice to replace the prime minister with someone 152 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

willing to take this course. Several of the men who helped Konoe formulate his proposal were briefly jailed, including the diplomat and postwar prime minister, Yoshida Shigeru. Koiso continued his public stance of confidence in the aggressive pursuit of the war, but he secretly made overtures to the Soviet Union seeking its help in working out a peace agreement. This approach had clearly failed by the spring of 1945. Facing strong American pressure to join the war, the Soviets announced they would not renew their neutrality pact with Japan. Koiso resigned in April 1945. In an atmosphere of grave crisis, he was succeeded by Admiral Suzuki Kantaro. As Suzuki was forming his cabinet, American forces launched the fierce battle for Okinawa. By the time the United States took the island in June, the fighting had taken 12,500 American lives and left a stunning toll of 250,000 Japanese dead (including 150,000 civilians). By this time Germany had surrendered, and fire-bombing had turned Japan’s cities to rubble. Those with access to accurate reports were well aware that continued fighting was hopeless. But Suzuki and the others in the inner circle of senior statesmen around the throne feared the uncertainty of a peace that might bring down the imperial institution more than the certainty of a war that would yield nothing but continued death and destruction. Through July and the first days of August, they continued to make diplomatic maneuvers based on the fantasy that the Soviet Union might mediate a surrender that would guarantee the emperor’s survival. Only the combination of the two atomic bombs, dropped on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), the declaration of war by the Soviet Union (August 8), and, a Soviet invasion of Manchuria (August 9), led the emperor himself to end the war. Even in the face of these blows, it took nearly a week to reach the point of surrender. At midnight on August 9, after a daylong conference in his presence, the army and navy chiefs of staff and the army minister were still holding out. They wanted Japan to negotiate a surrender without an Allied occupation or any Allied war crime trials. Siding with the prime minister and two other members of the Supreme Council of State, the emperor cast the deciding vote to surrender with the sole condition that the imperial institution be preserved. The Americans offered the unsettling reply that the Japanese people would be allowed to decided the emperor’s fate, despite the fact that top-level planners in Washington intended to keep the emperor in place and use him to facilitate a smooth occupation. On August 14, perhaps believing that he would fare better under American than Soviet control, the emperor broke another deadlocked conference to accept the American surrender terms. The following day, he broadcast this news directly via radio to the entire nation. On September 2, the surrender document was signed aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. 153 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

8.8 SUMMARY The post first world war disruption of the international order led some Japanese to project their country to serve as a role model in reviving East Asian reform and reconstruction; others continued to hold the West as a model for national expansion.  Japan occupied a place of honor in the new League of Nations, which marked Japan’s growing status that Nitobe Inazo, was named under secretary-general, thereby symbolizing an era of internationalism.  The Washington Conference, produced a network of interrelated agreements that can be described as the “Washington Conference system”; it set the parameters of Pacific policy and security for the rest of the decade.  In the summer of 1927 Tanaka convened a Far East Conference of Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Finance, and army, navy, and General Staff representatives to try to work out Japanese priorities.  The Great Depression did not affect Japan. By large fiscal stimulus involving deficit spending; and second, by devaluing the currency Japan rescued herself from the debacle.  The depression, resulted in a strong and swift negative reaction from nationalists, especially those in the army. From 1934, the military's dominance of the government continued to grow.  The 1930s were the most eventful and turbulent decade in Japanese history as during its early years witnessed the assassination two prime ministers and rise of military rule.  In 1937, Japanese troops engaged in a minor skirmish with Chinese soldiers in the vicinity of the Marco Polo Bridge just south of Beijing. This finally led to Sino-Japanese war of 1937.  Japanese relations with the Soviets which had been damaged with the seizure of Manchuria worsened when Japan and Germany signed the Anti-Comintern Pact (1936). Italy subsequently joined the AntiComintern Pact (1937).  In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland and France the following month, which resulted in the declaration of second world war, however confined to Europe.  The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 was the stage when Japan entered in to the Second World War. The attack on Pearl Harbor destroyed the 154 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

heart of America’s Pacific fleet. The Pacific War began with swift dramatic victories for the Japanese army and navy. 8.8 KEYWORDS  New trends : A trend simply reflects what seems to be going around at any given time.  Social life :These concepts allow us to get closer to the idea of social life , which is usually defined by opposition to private life . In this sense, we can affirm that social life encompasses the activities that take place in the public or community sphere , while private life includes what is lived inside the home or within the family.  Political System : It is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the legal system, economic system. Cultural system, and other social systems. It handles how religious questions should be handled and what the government’s influence on its people and economy should be.  Superficial resemblances : Apparent rather than actual or substantial.  Reparation : The fine imposed on defeated countries to compensate for the damage done to civilian population and property.  Sanctions : Coercive measures taken against an aggressor or a country defying international law; sanctions may be economic or military.  Axis : Term used for three Fascist Powers viz. Germany, Italy and Japan who had come together on the eve of the Second World War. 8.9 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. Describe any two major causes of the Second World War. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. Sum up the out break of World War 11. 155 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 8.10 UNIT END QUESTIONS A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions 1. How did the Nazi dictatorship ended in Germany 2. Trace the events leading to unconditional surrender of Japan. 3. Sum up the main consequences of World War 11 4. Mention briefly provisions of peace treaty concluded between victors and Italy in 1946. 5. Evaluate the provisions of peace treaty signed by Japan in 1952. 6. Describe emergence of the United States as most powerful nation after the Second World War. Long Questions 1. In what ways did the USSR challenge the US supremacy after 1945? 2. Analyse briefly the emergence of Super Powers after the Second World War. 3. Discuss the various aspects of foreign policy of Japan in the inter war era. 4. How Japan project her ambition of greater Asiatic empire? Discuss. 5. Write a essay on the anti-Comintern Pact. 6. Give an account of the Japanese role in Second World war. 7. Discussthe political economy of Japan during second world war. B. Multiple Choice Questions 156 (i) Communism still has strong holds in ............... . (a) China and Cuba (b) Pakistan and India (c) Russia and Estonia CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

(d) Germany and Peru (ii) The global wave of democratisation in ............... his raised democratic principles to a position of prominence. (a) 1980 (b) 1990 (c) 1985 (d) 2000 (iii) Parochaials are ............... . (a) illiterates (b) rural people (c) people who ignore politics (d) all of these (iv) A small minority of citizens are involved in a ............... . (a) two-party system (b) one-party system (c) multi-party system (d) none of these (v) Authoritarian society can be seen in ............... . (a) Germany (b) Cuba (c) Egypt or China (d) none of these. Answer 1. (i) (a) (ii) (b) (iii) (d) (iv) (b) (v) (c) 157 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

8.11 REFERENCES Reference books Berger, M. and D. Borer., (eds), The Rise of East Asia,London, Routledge, 1997. • Curtis, G. L., (ed.) The United States, Japan, and Asia, New York, W.W. Norton,1994. • Henshall, K. G., A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower, London, Macmillan, 1999. • Hunter, J., The Emergence of Modern Japan, London, Longman, 1991. • Iriye, A., The Origins of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific, London, Longman, 1987. • Kishimoto, K., Politics in Modern Japan, Tokyo, Japan Echo, 1997. • Mason, R. H. P. and J. G. Caiger., A History of Japan, Melbourne, Cassell, 1972. • Megarry, T., (ed.) The Making of Modern Japan: A Reader. Dartford, Greenwich University Press, 1995. • Schirokauer, C., A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, San Diego, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,1989. • Shively, D. H. and W. H. McCullough, (eds) The Cambridge History of Japan, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1999. UNIT-9CAUSES & RESULTS OF 2ND WORLD WAR STRUCTURE 9.0 Learning Objectives 9.1 Introduction 9.2 World War II 9.3 Second World War (1939-1945): Causes and Consequences 9.4 Summary 9.5 Keywords 9.6 Learning Activity 158 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

9.7 Unit End Questions 9.8 References 9.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this unit, you will be able to:  Understand Second World War (1939-1945): Causes and Consequences 9.1 INTRODUCTION We have seen the causes and consequences of the First World War in the last post. The first world war itself sowed the seeds for Second World War, primarily because of the humiliating Treaty of Versailles. We shall see the causes and consequences of the Second World War (WWII) in this post. World War II, also called Second World War, conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–45. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers— Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. The war was in many respects a continuation, after an uneasy 20-year hiatus, of the disputes left unsettled by World War I. The 40,000,000–50,000,000 deaths incurred in World War II make it the bloodiest conflict, as well as the largest war, in history. Along with World War I, World War II was one of the great watersheds of 20th-century geopolitical history. It resulted in the extension of the Soviet Union’s power to nations of eastern Europe, enabled a communist movement to eventually achieve power in China, and marked the decisive shift of power in the world away from the states of western Europe and toward the United States and the Soviet Union. 9.2 WORLD WAR II 159 Axis initiative and Allied reaction The outbreak of war CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

By the early part of 1939 the German dictator Adolf Hitler had become determined to invade and occupy Poland. Poland, for its part, had guarantees of French and British military support should it be attacked by Germany. Hitler intended to invade Poland anyway, but first he had to neutralize the possibility that the Soviet Union would resist the invasion of its western neighbour. Secret negotiations led on August 23–24 to the signing of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in Moscow. In a secret protocol of this pact, the Germans and the Soviets agreed that Poland should be divided between them, with the western third of the country going to Germany and the eastern two-thirds being taken over by the U.S.S.R. Having achieved this cynical agreement, the other provisions of which stupefied Europe even without divulgence of the secret protocol, Hitler thought that Germany could attack Poland with no danger of Soviet or British intervention and gave orders for the invasion to start on August 26. News of the signing, on August 25, of a formal treaty of mutual assistance between Great Britain and Poland (to supersede a previous though temporary agreement) caused him to postpone the start of hostilities for a few days. He was still determined, however, to ignore the diplomatic efforts of the western powers to restrain him. Finally, at 12:40 PM on August 31, 1939, Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to start at 4:45 the next morning. The invasion began as ordered. In response, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, at 11:00 AM and at 5:00 PM, respectively. World War II had begun. Forces and resources of the European combatants, 1939 In September 1939 the Allies, namely Great Britain, France, and Poland, were together superior in industrial resources, population, and military manpower, but the German Army, or Wehrmacht, because of its armament, training, doctrine, discipline, and fighting spirit, was the most efficient and effective fighting force for its size in the world. The index of military strength in September 1939 was the number of divisions that each nation could mobilize. Against Germany’s 100 infantry divisions and six armoured divisions, France had 90 infantry divisions in metropolitan France, Great Britain had 10 infantry divisions, and Poland had 30 infantry divisions, 12 cavalry brigades, and one armoured brigade (Poland had also 30 reserve infantry divisions, but these could not be mobilized quickly). A division contained from 12,000 to 25,000 men. 160 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

It was the qualitative superiority of the German infantry divisions and the number of their armoured divisions that made the difference in 1939. The firepower of a German infantry division far exceeded that of a French, British, or Polish division; the standard German division included 442 machine guns, 135 mortars, 72 antitank guns, and 24 howitzers. Allied divisions had a firepower only slightly greater than that of World War I. Germany had six armoured divisions in September 1939; the Allies, though they had a large number of tanks, had no armoured divisions at that time. The six armoured, or panzer, divisions of the Wehrmacht comprised some 2,400 tanks. And though Germany would subsequently expand its tank forces during the first years of the war, it was not the number of tanks that Germany had (the Allies had almost as many in September 1939) but the fact of their being organized into divisions and operated as such that was to prove decisive. In accordance with the doctrines of General Heinz Guderian, the German tanks were used in massed formations in conjunction with motorized artillery to punch holes in the enemy line and to isolate segments of the enemy, which were then surrounded and captured by motorized German infantry divisions while the tanks ranged forward to repeat the process: deep drives into enemy territory by panzer divisions were thus followed by mechanized infantry and foot soldiers. These tactics were supported by dive bombers that attacked and disrupted the enemy’s supply and communications lines and spread panic and confusion in its rear, thus further paralyzing its defensive capabilities. Mechanization was the key to the German blitzkrieg, or “lightning war,” so named because of the unprecedented speed and mobility that were its salient characteristics. Tested and well- trained in maneuvers, the German panzer divisions constituted a force with no equal in Europe. The German Air Force, or Luftwaffe, was also the best force of its kind in 1939. It was a ground-cooperation force designed to support the Army, but its planes were superior to nearly all Allied types. In the rearmament period from 1935 to 1939 the production of German combat aircraft steadily mounted. The table shows the production of German aircraft by years. The standardization of engines and airframes gave the Luftwaffe an advantage over its opponents. Germany had an operational force of 1,000 fighters and 1,050 bombers in September 1939. The Allies actually had more planes in 1939 than Germany did, but their strength was made up of many different types, some of them obsolescent. The 161 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

corresponding table shows the number of first-line military aircraft available to the Allies at the outbreak of war. Great Britain, which was held back by delays in the rearmament program, was producing one modern fighter in 1939, the Hurricane. A higher-performance fighter, the Spitfire, was just coming into production and did not enter the air war in numbers until 1940. The value of the French Air Force in 1939 was reduced by the number of obsolescent planes in its order of battle: 131 of the 634 fighters and nearly all of the 463 bombers. France was desperately trying to buy high-performance aircraft in the United States in 1939. At sea the odds against Germany were much greater in September 1939 than in August 1914, since the Allies in 1939 had many more large surface warships than Germany had. At sea, however, there was to be no clash between the Allied and the German massed fleets but only the individual operation of German pocket battleships and commerce raiders. When World War I ended, the experience of it seemed to vindicate the power of the defensive over the offensive. It was widely believed that a superiority in numbers of at least three to one was required for a successful offensive. Defensive concepts underlay the construction of the Maginot Line between France and Germany and of its lesser counterpart, the Siegfried Line, in the interwar years. Yet by 1918 both of the requirements for the supremacy of the offensive were at hand: tanks and planes. The battles of Cambrai (1917) and Amiens (1918) had proved that when tanks were used in masses, with surprise, and on firm and open terrain, it was possible to break through any trench system. The Germans learned this crucial, though subtle, lesson from World War I. The Allies on the other hand felt that their victory confirmed their methods, weapons, and leadership, and in the interwar period the French and British armies were slow to introduce new weapons, methods, and doctrines. Consequently, in 1939 the British Army did not have a single armoured division, and the French tanks were distributed in small packets throughout the infantry divisions. The Germans, by contrast, began to develop large tank formations on an effective basis after their rearmament program began in 1935. In the air the technology of war had also changed radically between 1918 and 1939. Military aircraft had increased in size, speed, and range, and for operations at sea, aircraft carriers were developed that were capable of accompanying the fastest surface ships. Among the new types of planes developed was the dive bomber, a plane designed for accurate low- 162 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

altitude bombing of enemy strong points as part of the tank-plane-infantry combination. Fast low-wing monoplane fighters were developed in all countries; these aircraft were essentially flying platforms for eight to 12 machine guns installed in the wings. Light and medium bombers were also developed that could be used for the strategic bombardment of cities and military strongpoints. The threat of bomber attacks on both military and civilian targets led directly to the development of radar in England. Radar made it possible to determine the location, the distance, and the height and speed of a distant aircraft no matter what the weather was. By December 1938 there were five radar stations established on the coast of England, and 15 additional stations were begun. So, when war came in September 1939, Great Britain had a warning chain of radar stations that could tell when hostile planes were approaching. The war in Europe, 1939–41 The campaign in Poland, 1939 The German conquest of Poland in September 1939 was the first demonstration in war of the new theory of high-speed armoured warfare that had been adopted by the Germans when their rearmament began. Poland was a country all too well suited for such a demonstration. Its frontiers were immensely long—about 3,500 miles in all; and the stretch of 1,250 miles adjoining German territory had recently been extended to 1,750 miles in all by the German occupation of Bohemia-Moravia and of Slovakia, so that Poland’s southern flank became exposed to invasion—as the northern flank, facing East Prussia, already was. Western Poland had become a huge salient that lay between Germany’s jaws. It would have been wiser for the Polish Army to assemble farther back, behind the natural defense line formed by the Vistula and San rivers, but that would have entailed the abandonment of some of the most valuable western parts of the country, including the Silesian coalfields and most of the main industrial zone, which lay west of the river barrier. The economic argument for delaying the German approach to the main industrial zone was heavily reinforced by Polish national pride and military overconfidence. When war broke out the Polish Army was able to mobilize about 1,000,000 men, a fairly large number. The Polish Army was woefully outmoded, however, and was almost completely lacking in tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and antitank and antiaircraft guns. Yet many of the Polish military leaders clung to the double belief that their preponderance of horsed cavalry was an important asset and that they could take the offensive against the 163 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

German mechanized forces. They also tended to discount the effect of Germany’s vastly superior air force, which was nearly 10 times as powerful as their own. 9.3 SECOND WORLD WAR (1939-1945): CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES Causes of Second World War(1939-1945) (1) Humiliation by the Treaty of Versailles  War indemnity.  The provision for disarming Germany.  Saar coal mine to France for 15 years.  Polish corridor was given to Poland.  City of Danzing was made free. (2) Growth of Fascism and Nazism  Mussolini (Italy) and Hitler (Germany) strongly glorified war and violence.  While West was fighting communism, Germany and Italy started massive militarization. (3) Rise of Japan  Imperialism.  Rome-Berlin-Tokyo axis (1936). (4) Neglect of minority interests  New countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia and Austria were formed after the First World War. While drawing boundaries the interests of minority groups in each of these countries were neglected. (5) Military Alliance  Allies – Britain, France, USA, USSR and China vs Axis Powers – Germany, Italy and Japan 164 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Leaders – Churchill (Britain), Roosevelt (USA), Stalin (USSR) (6) Germany’s attack on Czechoslovakia In-spite of the Munich Pact between Germany and Britain (1938), Germany re-attacked and sized Czechoslovakia. (7) Immediate Cause : Germany’s invasion of Poland (1st September 1939)  Germany annexed Polished corridor and Danzig city. The sudden attack on Poland is known as Blitzkrieg (lightning war).  Brtiain and France declared war on Germany. Course of the War  World War II officially began on September 1, 1939.  Germany conquered – Poland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Holland and France.  Battle of Britain – Germany vs Britain (air battle; German Air force =Luftwaffe).  Battle of Stalingrad – Germany vs USSR. (Operation of Barbaressa (1941 = Attack on Yugoslavia and Greece; Russia countered attack on Moscow with Scorched Earth Policy).  Atlantic Charter (August 1941) – Between Churchil (UK) and Roosevelt (USA).  Pearl Harbor Attack (7th December 1941) – Japan on USA.  Italy vs UK in Africa (1942) – Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, British Somaliland, Eritrea.  France was conquered by Germany in 1940, but British and American troops liberated France in 1944.  Atom bomb – Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Consequences of Second World War  End of colonialism and imperialism.  End of dictatorship in Germany and Italy.  Germany was divided into West Germany and East Germany. West Germany was controlled by Britain, France and USA. East Germany by USSR. (Read more about the re-union of Germany in 1989 when you check our post about the fall of the Berlin wall). 165 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Strengthening of nationalist movements in Africa and Asia. (From Britain – India, Myanmar, Egypt, Sri Lanka; From America – Philippines; From France – Indo- China; From Dutch – Indonesia)  5 crore deaths (2.2 crore soldiers and 2.8 crore civilians)  Economics problems – Unemployment, low growth etc.  Emergence of two power blocks – USA and USSR. This resulted in cold war.  Emergence of third world Countries.  UNO was set up in 1945. 9.4 SUMMARY  The unrealism of such an attitude was repeated in the Polish Army’s dispositions. Approximately one-third of Poland’s forces were concentrated in or near the Polish Corridor (in northeastern Poland), where they were perilously exposed to a double envelopment—from East Prussia and the west combined.  In the south, facing the main avenues of a German advance, the Polish forces were thinly spread. At the same time, nearly another one-third of Poland’s forces were massed in reserve in the north-central part of the country, between Łódź and Warsaw, under the commander in chief, Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły. The Poles’ forward concentration in general forfeited their chance of fighting a series of delaying actions, since their foot-marching army was unable to retreat to their defensive positions in the rear or to man them before being overrun by the invader’s mechanized columns.  The 40-odd infantry divisions employed by the Germans in the invasion counted for much less than their 14 mechanized or partially mechanized divisions: these consisted of six armoured divisions; four light divisions, consisting of motorized infantry (infantry wholly transported by trucks and personnel carriers) with two armoured units; and four motorized divisions.  The Germans attacked with about 1,500,000 troops in all. It was the deep and rapid thrusts of these mechanized forces that decided the issue, in conjunction with the overhead pressure of the Luftwaffe, which wrecked the Polish railway system and destroyed most of the Polish Air Force before it could come into action. The Luftwaffe’s terror-bombing of Polish cities, bridges, roads, rail lines, and power stations completed the disorganization of the Polish defenses. 9.5 KEY WORDS 166 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 World War II: also called Second World War, conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–45.  Mortality: It is the proportion of death to the total population of the country in a particular period of time.  Battle of Britain – Germany vs Britain (air battle; German Air force =Luftwaffe).  Battle of Stalingrad – Germany vs USSR. (Operation of Barbaressa (1941 = Attack on Yugoslavia and Greece; Russia countered attack on Moscow with Scorched Earth Policy). 9.6 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. What are the kinds of constitutions? Discuss ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. Explain the process of growth of constitution. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 9.7UNIT END QUESTIONS A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions 1. How did the Nazi dictatorship ended in Germany 2. Trace the events leading to unconditional surrender of Japan. 3. Discuss the objectives of the Communist Party of China in the formation of the United Front. 4. Discuss the Causes of Second World War(1939-1945) 5. Write the Consequences of Second World War Long Questions 167 1. What impact did the agrarian policy have on rich, middle and poor peasants? 2. Why did the CPC forge the second United Front? CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

3. Explain the impact of U.S., entry in the war on China. 4. Discuss the position of the political forces in China in the post-World War-11 period. 5. Discuss the significance of the Chinese Revolution B. Multiple Choice Questions 1. Choose the correct options: (i) Communism still has strong holds in ............... . (a) China and Cuba (b) Pakistan and India (c) Russia and Estonia (d) Germany and Peru (ii) The global wave of democratisation in ............... his raised democratic principles to a position of prominence. (a) 1980 (b) 1990 (c) 1985 (d) 2000 (iii) Parochaials are ............... . (a) illiterates (b) rural people (c) people who ignore politics (d) all of these (iv) A small minority of citizens are involved in a ............... . (a) two-party system (b) one-party system (c) multi-party system (d) none of these 168 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

(v) Authoritarian society can be seen in ............... . (a) Germany (b) Cuba (c) Egypt or China (d) none of these Answers 1. (i) (a) (ii) (b) (iii) (d) (iv) (b) (v) (c) 9.8 REFERENCES Reference books  Langsam, W.C. and Mitchell, The World Since 1919, New York, The Macmillan  Publishing Co.  Albrecht Carrie, A Diplomatic History of Europe, since the Congress of Vienna, New  York, Marper and Row.  Johnson, Paul, A History of Modern World from 1917 to the 1980s, London,  Weidenfield and Nicolson.  Dhar, S.N., International Relations and World Politics, Since 1919, New Delhi,  Kalyani Publisher. 169 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

170 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

UNIT-10 FASCISM IN ITALY Structure 10.0 Learning Objectives 10.1 Introduction 10.2 General Explanations and Features of Fascism 10.3 Ideological Strands of Fascism 10.4 General Explanations and Features of Fascism 10.4.1 Ideological Strands of Fascism 10.4.2.Social Bases of Fascism 10.4.3 War, Diplomacy and Nationalism 10.4.4 The Economic Crisis of 1929 10.4.5 The Political Mobilisation for Fascism 10.4.6 The Question of Hegemony and Coercion 10.5 State and Society under Fascism 10.6 Summary 10.7Keywords 10.8Learning Activity 10.9Unit End Questions 10.10 References 10.0 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, we can able to  Some general features of fascism and the nature of mobilisation to achieve  dictatorial aims; Multiple ideological strands that contributed to the evolution of the fascist state  and its organisational style;The socio-economic forces responsible for the emergence of fascism; and The nature of state and society under fascist regimes. 171 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

10.1INTRODUCTION The project of Enlightenment in Europe posed a serious challenge to the older order of society and state based on the notion of divine sanction. By the 18th century, the idea of representation and a state organised around elected representatives had taken roots. This marked the inauguration of modern politics or mobilisation of people around some specific idea or policy to achieve a specific political aim. The institutional forms of this modern politics were elections, parties and modern newspapers with all the political insignia and trappings of modern political culture, which created a public space. This led to a whole range of political choices available and competing with each other for occupying this public space. By the end of the 19th century, this had crystallised in the triple ideological division of Europe into the Left, the Right and the Center. It is important to bear this in mind in order to understand the processes of political mobilisation that brought extreme right wing organisations or fascists to power in a number of European countries during the inter-war period. The growth of monopoly capitalism and resultant intense imperialist rivalries fuelled extreme nationalist ideologies and militarism after the 1870s. In the new political context, appeal for political support was made on the basis of new, seemingly non-class identities, especially, outside the workplace. As a result, unique mass-constituencies such as “war- veterans”, “tax-payers”, “sport-fans”, or simply “national-citizens” were also be seen as the necessary background for the growth of right-wing fascist dictatorship in Europe after World War I. The unit begins with some general features of fascism and then, details the ideological and social bases of fascism. 10.2 GENERAL EXPLANATIONS AND FEATURES OF FASCISM Fascism has been interpreted in multiple ways. A favourite Marxist position is to explain it as a violent, dictatorial instrument of monopoly finance capital, which emerged in the form of brutal attack on workers, rights in a period of intensification of class struggle and acute crisis in the capitalist economy. Another interpretation views fascism as the product of cultural and moral breakdown in the aftermath of brutality and savagery of World War I. According to Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation, World War I destroyed the foundations of 19th century Europe and unleashed a long period of crisis marked by war-mobilisation, privation and dislocation. Oswald Spengler wrote his Decline of the West in 1918 and argued that Western civilisation, characterised by industrialism had reached a period of decline in the 172 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

20th century. Spengler attacked the rational strains of modernity in order to celebrate the ‘Philosophy of Life’ as an alternative. Wilhelm Reich, a neo-psycho analyst, in his Mass Psychology of Fascism explains Fascism as a result of extreme neurotic or pathological impulses that lay dormant in the patriarchal family set-up. Another liberal interpretation traces fascism as a product of mass society where traditional solid identities based on kinship, religion, craft and guild and residence break down and a new amorphous mass-society is created. Some others relate it to a unique expression of middle-class radicalism against monopoly business houses’ profit-motive. Lastly, it has been seen as a form of Bonapartism or an autonomous authoritarian state led by a charismatic leader independent of any specific class-interests or class-domination. Fascism emerged as a radical movement based on the rejection of liberalism, democracy and Marxist socialism. However, it differed from the conservative authoritarian groups. The conservative right invoked traditional legitimacies based on the church, the monarchy, kinship etc. whereas the Fascists wanted a radical institutional change and mobilised people in the name of Organic Nationalism, a belief in the harmonious collectivity of nation privileged over all other forms of human-identification. As in the human body, the structural relationship of the various organs or parts of the body to each other only serves to define and delimit their roles; so in the organic view of the fascist state, the state as the embodiment of national will takes precedence over the identities and rights of the individuals. This view also accounts for the deep-rooted hostility of fascism to inter-nationalism and to organisations and movements based on inter-nationalism such as communism, freemasonry, the League of Nations and to the multi-national Jewish community. In general, Fascism symbolised the rejection of political culture inherited from Enlightenment and its ideas such as rationalist materialism, the philosophy of individualism and pluralism. The fascist opposition to the democratic-bourgeois institutions and values did not rule out their use of mass, constitutional and plebiscite forms of politics, but they made use of these democratic institutions only to wreck them from inside and in order to undermine their value. Fascism was opposed, in all its forms, to the notion of democracy based on respect for pluralism, individual autonomy and the existence of civil and political liberties. The mass- mobilisation of fascists was based on the pattern of militarisation of politics. They made use of military insignia and terminology in their mobilisation. As military-organisations are based on unity of command and order and perfect subordination of rank and file to the higher command, so the fascist organisations had their quasi-sacred figure of the leader-the Duce in Italy and the Fuhrer in Germanywhose will was supreme in all matters. 173 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

A party militia was often used to reinforce the sense of nationalism and wipe out opposition to their dictatorships. The extreme stress on the masculine principle or male-dominance in the fascist ideology and the exaltation of youth were also related to this militarisation of politics. Another significant feature of fascism was the organisation of some kind of regulated, class- collaborationist, integrated national-economic structure. The idea of corporatism as a community of people free from class-conflict emerged in reaction to the growth of individualism and the new centralising states. It was a residue of the feudal ideology of mystical ‘community’ of personal ties. But gradually it acquired a modern, class- collaborationist form. The ideology of societal corporatism believed in giving full autonomy to the corporations, but fascist ideology emphasized state corporatism or the complete subordination of corporations to the needs and requirement of the fascist state. 10.3 IDEOLOGICAL STRANDS OF FASCISM At the ideological level, there was no single unifying idea that guided the fascist movement and state. Fascism emerged from heterogeneous borrowings from various ideas. The basic ingredient of fascism, as we have noted above, was a kind of synthesis of organic nationalism and anti-Marxist ideas. The influence of Sorel’s philosophy of action based on intuition, energy and élan was also discernible in the pattern of fascist mass-mobilisation. The fascists also tried to apply Darwin’s ideas to the development of society. They believed that people in any society compete for survival and only superior individuals, groups and races succeed. This belief directly fed into the anti-Jewish politics or anti-semitism practiced mainly under German fascism, but also elsewhere. Such application of Darwin’s ideas in the realm of society came to be known as ‘Social Darwinism’. Adolph Hitler’s autobiographical statement in Mein Kampf (1924) made out an explicit case for the application of such Social-Darwinist racial ideas. In this book, Hitler characterised parliamentary democracy as a sin against ‘the basic aristocratic principle of nature’ and depicted all human culture as the exclusive product of the creative Aryan race and condemned the Jewish community as inferior and lacking in creativity. The mass–extermination of millions of Jews grew out of this insanity of Nazi ideology in Germany where completely impersonal bureaucratic ‘extermination’ of a people classified as a species of inferior inhumans was put into practice. The political theorist Carl Schmitt wrote his critiques of parliamentary democracy in the 1920s arguing for a plebiscitary dictatorship. The Philosopher Martin Heidegger attacked Western modernity for 174 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

its technological violence and for a contempt of being. In various ways, these philosophies of the right were to become justifications for the Fascist and Nazi regimes in the 1930s. Fascism in Italy emerged as the convergence of three different trends. The radical Syndicalist Confederation of Trade Unions split in 1914 over the issue of Italian participation in war (World War-I). The Syndicalists had believed in the ‘self– emancipation’ of the ‘producers’ through regulation at factory level. The workers associations or syndicates would replace the state at an appropriate time and these would act as the instruments of self–government. Now the right wing syndicalists moved towards extreme nationalism. They described nations in class terms, i.e., as ‘plutocratic’ or having colonies or ‘proletarians’ or ‘have not’ nations without colonies. Italy was described as a proletarian nation. The Futurists who rejected traditional norms and existing institutions and exalted ‘violence’, and who were fascinated by speed, power, motors and machines or all the modern technological possibilities, contributed a second major ideological factor. Mussolini’s ‘socialistic’ views and ideas on ‘national revolution’ was the third major ideological strand of Italian fascism. This heterogeneity of ideas along with local political exigencies was responsible for variations in the form of the fascist movement and state. 10.4 SOCIAL BASES OF FASCISM In the following sub–sections, we will describe the nature of political and institutional forces that helped in the development of the fascist movement and state and sustained it. 10.4.1 War, Diplomacy and Nationalism World War I provided the sociological and psychological conditions for the crystallisation of the fascist state. It revealed the capacity of nationalism in the mobilisation of masses and economic resources. It further demonstrated the importance of unity of command, of authority, and moral mobilisation and propaganda in the service of the modern state. After the war, fascism emerged as a vision of a coherent and reunited people, mobilised on the basis of a whole communal liturgy of songs and torch- light procession, highlighting the cult of physical force, violence and brutality. At the Versailles, the victorious Allied powers tried to extract the terms of defeat from Germany. Severe reparations were imposed on Germany. Germany’s military might was reduced to 100,000 men. Germany also suffered in terms of territorial possessions including loss of its colonies. Discontent over the severity of the Allies’ peace terms and conflicts and squabbles over the newly drawn frontiers contained 175 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

seeds of future conflicts. There was no mechanism to adjudicate rival claims and resolve conflicts. The League of Nations lacked the executive powers to impose peaceful solutions. Hitler was ready to use military force to achieve union with Austria and to get sufficient ‘living space’ (Lebensraum) for the German people. Italian fascism claimed colonies for a ‘proletarian’ Italy. Japanese militarists demanded an ‘equitable distribution of world resources’ and were willing to favour a military action to achieve their aim. Nationalism, war and diplomacy forced individuals and groups within national boundaries to take sides. It also made it possible to restrict the public democratic space. Any person or group could be identified as the ‘national enemy’ or ‘traitors’ and wiped out for not owing allegiance or loyalty to the fascist ‘national’ state. Earlier defeat was attributed to the betrayal of these elements in the fascist propaganda. 10.4.2 The Economic Crisis of 1929 World War I resulted in mass destruction, of resources both physical and human, and hence, productive capacities of societies involved in it. Reconstruction and ‘recovery’ in Europe after the war was financed by US loans. The process went on smoothly till a crisis began in the US over the rapid drop in agriculture prices. As the world agriculture production began to rise with ‘recovery’ in Europe, North American agriculture was hit by a rapid drop in the prices and many faced bankruptcies. Soon the stock markets in America were affected in October 1929. As a result of the global integration of the markets, the crash affected all the economies. Plantations, farms and factories closed down throwing millions out of jobs and restricting output. The Industrialists who had taken advances and loans from banks and financial institutions found it difficult to repay. Many banks and financial institutions started facing bankruptcies. With millions out of jobs and factories, there was no demand for goods and services as the purchasing power of the people deteriorated. The economies showed no sign of recovery. In such circumstances, re-militarisation advocated by fascist leaders created jobs not only in the armies, but also in the armament industries. As this stimulated a demand for goods and services, the fascist programme appealed to people in crises-ridden times- especially when it also satisfied their ‘national pride’. 10.4.3 The Political Mobilisation for Fascism The initial programme of fascists in Italy, launched as ‘Fasci Di Combattimento’ (1919) called for the installation of a republic and reflected demands for radical democratic and socialistic reforms including confiscation of huge war- time profits of capitalists, the 176 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

suppression of big joint-stock companies and land for landless peasants. These leftist elements of the programme were dropped in 1920 and only an emotive mixture of strident patriotism, justification of war, a concern for national greatness and aversion to the socialist party were retained. The growth of fascist squads, with the support and connivance of state officials and army was directly linked to actual or perceived threats of the left. The support of the traditional conservative elites such as army officers, bureaucrats, and businessmen was utilized and left its imprint on the fascist party and state. In order to achieve a broader mobilisation of people, the military type militia, semi-military propaganda type organisations and regimented fascist trade unions were also created. The Party and its grand Council controlled all these organisations. Similarly, chauvinist sentiment and popular radical demands in Germany were used by Hitler’s fascist organization, the German National Socialist Worker’s Party (NSDAP) in order to gain mass political support. It called for a greater Germany with land and colonies, the annulment of the treaty of Versailles, nationalisation of big monopoly business, profit sharing in big enterprises, the abolition of unearned incomes and agrarian reforms. German fascism capitalised on the growing unease created by the Great Depression of 1929 and its impact on the German economy. They made use of the political instability of the Weimer republic, whose own constitution was used as an instrument to subvert it from within. All these factors created conditions for the rise of the Nazi Party, the organisation of German fascism. It had a particular appeal for those patriotic Germans whose national pride had been hurt by the defeat of Germany in World War I and its subsequent humiliation at Versailles. 10.4.4 The Question of Hegemony and Coercion The German fascist state associated with the Fuhrer Adolph Hitler earned for itself the distinction of being the most barbaric and destructive regime that used industrial techniques for the execution of planned mass murder and genocide. The secret state police office, or ‘Gestapo’ as it came to be known in Germany was created in 1933 under the Prussian Interior Ministry, and rapidly attained autonomy from the provincial government. From 1934, Heinrich Himmler became the head of this nation-wide fascist organ of terror. Its Prussian section was headed by Reinhard Heydrich, who was also in charge of the SD, a party intelligence organisation affiliated to the dreaded SS, with a nation-wide network of informers. It became the internal disciplinary executive of the German fascist state. Such organisations of terror acquired the complete power of life and death over every German. Any opposition to the fascist state was ruthlessly suppressed. Absolute power was 177 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

concentrated in the hands of the Fuhrer. The use of a rational bureaucratic mechanism in order to exterminate the gypsies, Jews and political opponents through concentration camps is a well-known aspect of the fascist state. All this points towards overwhelming dependence of the fascist state on the coercive machinery of state power. Similarly, in Italy, Spain and other fascist regimes, every attempt was made to dismantle democratic institutions of the civil society and replace them with institutionalised dictatorships based on the personal command of the dictators. All this necessitated more and more regimentation of the civil society. Some scholars even characterise fascism as a ‘totalitarian state’ or a state, which acquires day-to- day control over the life of its citizens. But despite the dictatorial rule, fascism made use of certain consent-building experiments. At the ideological level, use of nationalist sentiments and even anti-Semitism had a popular sanction behind it. Apart from this, some new methods were also tried. The fascist state in Italy created the Opera Nazinale Dopolavoro in 1925. Its main concern was the organisation of leisure time for the working people. It ran a huge network of local clubs and recreational facilities with libraries, bars, billiard halls and sport grounds. The Dopolavoro circles arranged concerts, plays, films shows, and organised picnics and provided cheap summer holidays for children. By the 1930s, there were about 20,000 such circles in Italy. Moreover, although the Syndical Law of 1926 brought labour under the control of the state in the interest of production and confirmed the fascist trade unions in their monopoly of negotiations with employers and banned strikes, the fascist state also introduced some welfare schemes for the workers in the 1930s. Family allowances were given in 1934, largely to compensate for the loss of income resulting from the imposition of a forty-hour week. Insurance against sickness and accident was incorporated into wage agreements, and later in the 1930s, Christmas bonus and holiday pay were introduced. All such measures were meant to establish legitimacy of the state that had abolished civil liberties and democratic rights. Compared to Italy, German labour was more tightly regimented under the Nazi regime. 10.5 STATE AND SOCIETY UNDER FASCISM The fascist state emerged as the institutionalisation of personal dictatorship. In Italy, all opposition parties and organisations were banned in October 1926. The Public Safety Law (1926) made the security of the state take precedence over personal liberties. The Fascist Party itself was bureaucratised and syndicalist ideas were suppressed within the party. Many 178 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

industrialists from North Italy including the owner of Fiat Company, Giovanni Oienyale, had financed Mussolini’s fascist organisation. Private capital was a beneficiary of the fascist control of labour. The “Corporate State” was formally created in 1934 with 22 combined corporations of employers and employees, but they lacked the real power to take economic decisions. State intervention in the economic life of the Italian nation was marginal in the early part of fascist regime. The Great Depression and the need to fulfill imperialist ambitions, especially in the Mediterranean Sea and Africa for its aggressive nationalist- militarist project led to an increased state intervention in the economic life. The foundation of the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (IRI) and Instituto Mobiliare Italiano (IMI) in the 1930s reflected this trend of economic regulation in the service of modern warfare. However, even in 1940, IRI possessed only about 17.8% of the total capital assets of Italian industry. The state, in particular, focused on the growth of chemical, electrical and machine industries and gave impetus to modernisation through electrification of railways and telephone and radio industry. However, compared to Germany, investments in military-production were low despite the regime’s rhetoric of Italy “being in a permanent state of war”. Moreover, despite early radical denouncements of the monopoly capitalist class, the fascist state helped in cartelisation and trusticisation i.e. creation of large industrial federations. Mussolini also tried to appease the Church. Large grants were made for the repair of war-damaged churches. In 1923, religious education was made compulsory in all secondary schools. The Roman question was finally settled in 1929. The Lateran Pacts were signed with the Church, giving virtual control of religious-education to the Church and the Pope’s right to govern the Vatican was recognized. The Church’s main lay organization, Catholic Action, was guaranteed freedom provided it stayed out of politics. The personal absolutism and party’s control of social life was more stringent in Germany. In Italy, big business, industry, finance, army and professional bureaucracy retained a large degree of autonomy and fascism came to power on the basis of a tacit compromise with these established institutions and elites. In Germany, the Enabling Act (March 1933) became the legal basis for Hitler’s dictatorship. Legislative power was transferred to the executive. The bureaucracy was purged of politically undesirable and ‘non-Aryan’ elements. The federal character of the state was destroyed. The basic constitutional rights were suppressed. The “rule of law” was transformed into the ‘rule of leader’. The extra-legal notion of the Fuhrer, to whom bureaucracy and the army swore ‘unconditional obedience’, assumed crucial importance in the administrative functioning and signified burial of constitutionalism. The will of the leader became the basis for the legitimacy of law. The independence of the judiciary was completely destroyed. Furthermore, 179 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

the press was completely controlled. Liberal and Jewish-owned newspapers and the Socialist Press were forced to close down. Any type of literature, and art that was found anti-thetical to the fascist perception was banned. The control of cultural life of citizens through propaganda and education became one of the chief goals of the Nazi regime. All education was transformed in accordance with fascist ideals. Text- books were re-written. Jews were forbidden to teach and racial theories of ‘Aryan- German’ master race supremacy became a part of the curricula. The fascist state in Germany also attempted to achieve a complete regimentation of labour. “Trustees” appointed by the owners fixed wages. A labour front was created in October 1934. It operated not as a trade union, but as a propaganda machine, and included employers and professionals as members. Its stated aim was the maximisation of work, and the fascists controlled it. The fascist state’s attitude to women was based on ultra- conservative patriarchal sentiments. The social role of women was defined by the slogan of “Kids, Kitchen and Church”. The most oppressive aspect of fascism in Germany was a systematic persecution of Jews. The ideology of Nazi party in Germany was informed by a strong hatred of the Jews and an intense obsession with the maintenance of the Aryan purity of the German Master race. The Jews were stereotyped as inferior, racially impure and a source of all ills of Germany. They were deprived of citizenship, places in the universities and administration. Their businesses were attacked. They were subjected to all sorts of unprecedented discrimination. Later on, millions of them were sent to concentration camps and massacred during World War II. Italian fascism in contrast, lacked any systematic policy of racial anti-semitism, at least, up to 1937. However, in November 1938, under the influence of the Nazis, racial anti-Jews laws were also passed in Italy. 10.6 SUMMURY  In this unit, you have learnt the basic features of the fascist movement and the state, the role of war in preparing the conditions for the emergence of fascism and the basic ideological strands that contributed to fascism and its organisational styles.  We should understand fascism as distinct from the conservative right-wing movements, it should be viewed as a radical attempt from a rightist perspective to restructure society and its institutions. Extreme nationalism bordering on imperial designs to obtain colonies, complete subordination of institutions like the judiciary, the press, labour-organisation and concentrations of all executive, legislative and judicial powers in the hands of dictators, and deep rooted hostility to democratic rights were some of the key elements of fascist polities. 180 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 However, there were subtle variations within the fascist practices due to local specific conditions. Fascism was not a homogenous movement.  Moreover, although coercive-machinery of the state was used to eliminate all political oppositions, fascist states also used certain measures to maintain legitimacy of dicatorial regimes, even if this legitimacy was based on chauvinistic and popular racial feelings. 10.7 KEY WORDS  Anti-Semitism : prejudice against Jews.  Corporatism : A semi-collectivist creed that attempted harmonious relationship between employees and employers by binding them in a common organisation.  Militia : A semi-military organisation.  Mobilisation : preparing people for action around a particular idea.  Social-Darwinism : application of Darwin’s ideas to the development of society, a belief that people in society compete for survival and only superior individuals, groups and races succeed.  Syndicalism : A belief in the self-emancipation of the producers through regulation at the factory level by workers’ syndicates or associations. 10.8 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. What are the different ways in which fascism has been interpreted? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Distinguish between fascism and conservative right wing authoritarianism. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 181 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

10.8 UNIT END QUESTIONS 182 A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions 1. Explain what ideological strands contributed to the growth of fascism. 2. How was Italian fascism different from its German counter-part? 3. Describe the salient features of the fascist state and society. 4. What does fascism mean in simple terms? 5. What are the 5 main ideas of fascism? Long Questions 1. Explain The Question of Hegemony and Coercion 2. Write The Economic Crisis of 1929 3. What is the difference between Nazism and fascism? 4. Discuss the Ideological Strands of Fascism 5. Write a note on State and Society under Fascism B. Multiple Choice Questions (i) Political socialisation refers to the process by which we (a) develop our own political beliefs (b) apply political answers to our society (c) become politically active citizens. (d) become saturated with political party propaganda (ii) Political socialisation (a) only occurs within the politically active (b) is not particularly important (c) is rather static in nature, and is not influenced by outside factors (d) does not change over time CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

(e) beings in childhood (iii) Party identification (a) is a good predictor of an individual’s political behavior. (b) is still very strong in America (c) has increased at a steady rate since the 1960s (d) does not serve as a filter through which individuals view the political world (iv) A broad-based change in party identification is known as (a) political socialisation (b) party flipping (c) a schema (d) a realignment (e) partisan awareness. (v) According to the text, public opinion is (a) malleable (b) enduring (c) subject to changing circumstances (d) all of the above (e) none of the aove. Answers (i) (a) (ii) (c) (iii) (b) (iv) (a) (v) (c) 10.9 REFERENCES  Heywood, A, Key Concepts in Politics, Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000  Laqueur, W.(ed), Fascism: A Reader's Guide, Harmondsworth: Penguin, Berkeley,  CA: University of California Press, 1979 183 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Goldhagen, D.J., Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the  Holocaust, New York: Random House, 1996  Hayes, Paul, Fascism, Allen & unwin, 1973  Weber, Eugene, Varieties of Fascism, Van-vest Rand Rainhold, 1964. 184 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

UNIT-11NAZISM IN GERMANY STRUCTURE 11.0 Learning Objectives 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Italy: The Prisoner of the Mediterranean 11.2.1 Rise of Mussolini and Fascist Party 11.2.2 Causes for the Rise of Fascism in Italy 11.2.3 Impact of Fascism in Italy 11.2.4 Fascist Doctrine 11.3 Rise of Hitler and Nazi Party 11.3.1 Causes of the Rise of Nazism in Germany 11.3.2 Impact of Nazism 11.3.3 Nazi’s Doctrine 11.4 Summary 11.5 Keywords 11.6 Learning Activity 11.7 Unit End Questions 11.8 References 11.0LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this unit, you will be able to:  Explain the reason for the rise of fascism and Nazism  Describe the foreign policy and international outlook of fascism and Nazism  The outbreak of the Second World War, and  Describe the core features of the doctrine of Fascism and Nazism. 11.1 INTRODUCTION Fascism and Nazism though ideologically similar emerged in Italy and Germany respectively during the inter-war period and turned out to be the harbinger of the Second World War. A 185 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Fascist State was established in Italy in 1922. Nazis came into power in Germany in 1933. The term Fascist was derived from the Italian word fascio which meant ‘bundle’ and figuratively, a bundle of rods and an axe, a symbol for the party flag. To the Italians ‘Fascisti’ suggested national unity and strength. Benito Mussolini had formed his Fascist party in 1919. Nazi was a term associated with the members of the National Socialist German Worker’s Party of Adolf Hitler. (To be called a Nazi was not a derogatory term at that time; rather it was used for a person who was fanatically dedicated to or sought to seek control over some activity/ practice). Italy in 1919 was politically disgruntled and economically shattered. She suffered from the post-war neurasthenia and could fall easy prey to an aggressive and ambitious political programme. Italy had joined First World War (1914-18) with hopes and ambitions of having plenty after the war for its poor peasants and workers. However, the war rendered Italy great illusions, disappointment and unemployment. The Peace Settlement of 1919 better known as Treaty of Versailles too turned out to be dissatisfactory to Italy. On the other hand, the defeat of Germany in the First World War had witnessed important developments such as the Treaty of Versailles; continuation of the age-old rivalry between France and Germany; the emergence of the first communist state in Russia; and the economic depression in the 1930s. These developments were directly or indirectly responsible for the rise of Fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany. Fascism and Nazism, in turn, were primarily responsible for the commencement of the Second World War in 1939. 11.2 ITALY: THE PRISONER OF THE MEDITERRANEAN Situated in the southern part of Europe, Italy’s geographical position is one of the strongest determinants of its external policies. Italy’s mainland is a narrow peninsula and the distance from the sea coast is not more than seventy-five miles. It is so situated that it can easily be subjected to blockade from the sea. That is why it has been described as the “prisoner of the Mediterranean.” It means if the Mediterranean was controlled by an enemy, Italy had no choice but to go to war. Accordingly, Italy has always nursed an ambition to become a Mediterranean power and establish its supremacy to safeguard its commercial and maritime interests. It was this pride and aspirations that have been a strong motivating factor for strong nationalistic fervour among the Italians. Benito Mussolini was intelligent enough to comprehend this nationalistic feeling and capitalised on the same to capture the power and institute a dictatorial Italy. 186 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

11.2.1 Rise of Mussolini and Fascist Party Economic distress facilitated the rise of socialists and revolutionaries in Italy. Workers and agricultural labourers were often on the streets of countryside protesting against the misdoings of the State. Factory owners and landlords were being forced to grant higher wages and shorter work-hours for the workers. The establishment of Communist International (Comintern) inspired the Italian Socialist Party (ISP) and it got affiliated to the same. ISP gave a call for the establishment of “Dictatorship of the Proletariat” in Italy. It also contested the elections of November 1919 and secured one- third of the votes cast thereby emerging as the single largest party in the Chamber of Deputies – the lower house. Soon the Catholic peasants, inspired by religious orthodoxy, seized the lands of the landlords in central and southern Italy. Socialist workers seized and controlled the factories of northern Italian cities in September 1920. The Liberal Government of Prime Minister Francesco Nitti (1919-20) and then of Giovanni Giolitti (a five-time prime minister during 1892 and 1921) became helpless and refrained from taking any action for fear of an upsurge of violent revolution. However, the ranks of Socialists witnessed a split with consequent decline. The revolutionary Socialists formed a separate Communist Party in January 1921. Socialist upsurge alarmed the landlords and industrialists. Consequently, they found refuge in a patriotic and nationalist movement which was rising under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. The nationalists promised to restore the lost prestige and rightful respect for Italy among the comity of Rise of Fascism and Nazism nations. It was in this backdrop that Fascism emerged in Italy under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. Benito Mussolini, born in 1883, the son of a blacksmith with socialist-leaning, became the creator, soul and guide of this movement and subsequently the Fascist party. Mussolini began his political career as a socialist agitator and was exiled to Switzerland. In 1912, he opposed the Italian aggressiveness, was against Turkey, and was captivated. He agitated for Italian participation on the side of the Allies when the First World War started in 1914. He was finally made to leave the Socialist party on account of supporting the war. He later participated in the war by joining the army. He got wounded in action in 1917. Subsequently, he became a staunch enemy of Russian Communism and throughout the rest of his life, he battled against it. The conditions and circumstances that existed in Italy during and in the immediate aftermath of the First World War were highly conducive to the rise of fascist dictatorship under Benito Mussolini. He founded the first Fasci or club of patriots and intellectuals in March 1919 and thus started the Fascist movement in Italy. He became the rallying centre for the unemployed youth and ex-soldiers. He received funds from the industrialists and landlords. He took cudgels against the socialists on behalf of these people. The army officers provided arms and 187 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

ammunition to Mussolini with which his followers broke the meetings of the political opponents. Followers and workers of the party were enthused with discipline. Volunteers were known as ‘Black Shirts’ for their attire and were to salute their Duce (leader) with their hands stretched in the old Roman fashion. Fascists were thus reduced to the semi-military organization. Ever growing aggressiveness of the Fascists led to the subsequent decline of other parties. The Communists became special targets. The Fascists mustered 35 seats in the elections of 1921 against 122 of the Socialists and Communists in the Chamber of Deputies. Mussolini held a National Fascist Congress at Naples on 28th October 1922 and threatened to “March on Rome” with his men unless the reign of Government was entrusted to him. Following the delivery of a threatening speech, he entrained for Milan while thousands of armed Fascist militiamen began to concentrate on Rome. Thus, in October 1922 the Fascists felt strong enough to attempt the overthrow of the government by force. Meanwhile, the government decided to declare martial law. But King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign the declaration. The liberal Government resigned on 27th October 1922 and on 29th October 1922, the King invited Mussolini to form the government. Mussolini at once left for Rome announcing “Tomorrow Italy will have not a ministry, but a government.” The Parliament entrusted dictatorial powers to Mussolini and thus a Fascist dictatorship had begun in Italy. Mussolini’s Coalition Government was approved by the Chamber of Deputies by a vote of 306 to 116. The Italians too gave their approval to the Fascist revolution and expected a firm and strong government as was promised to them. From 1922 to 1943 the Fascist Party, under the dictatorship of Mussolini, was in power. The twenty-one years of rule by Mussolini gave the nation the appearance of being converted to the Fascist ideology, though in reality a small minority of confirmed Fascists—20,000,000 strong—alone were active while most people simply submitted by accepting the new regime. Mussolini joined Hitler and entered the war in 1940. Italy was, however, defeated in 1943 and Mussolini’s regime was overthrown. 11.2.2 Causes for the Rise of Fascism in Italy Treaty of Versailles: Versailles Peace Treaty had disappointed the Italians since it could not obtain any share in the German overseas territories which the other allied powers had secured. Italy had joined the Allies after the secret treaty of London of 1915. The Allies had agreed to give Italy certain areas like Eritrea and Trieste and later backed out. This gave a justification to Italy’s grievance against the Allies. The military leaders in Italy were disappointed as the victory had not benefitted their country in any way. Socio-economic conditions of Italy: There was terrible confusion in the political, social and economic life of Italy in 1919. The economic 188 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

structure had collapsed due to war and natural resources were scarce. It was argued by the supporters of Fascism that Italy, under such terrible conditions, will be saved by the Fascist revolution. However, a group of scholars have argued that the economic condition of Italy after the War, i.e., between the years 1919-1922, had improved considerably. They dispute the contention that the post-war conditions alone were responsible for the rise of Fascism in Italy. Notwithstanding the short-lived postwar economic prosperity, the economic conditions in Italy, on the whole, were not satisfactory and there existed considerable unemployment. This resulted in strengthening the revolutionary movements, especially in increasing the influence of the revolutionary movements and the communist party. There were strikes, lockouts and closure of industrial establishments. At the political level, the government was not able to save the situation as there existed chaos and corruption, loss of faith in the parliamentary institutions due to administrative inefficiency and disorder. Such a situation alarmed the middle classes and the well-to-do, who were haunted by the spectre of Bolshevism. The success of the Russian revolution was another factor in making them suspicious about the intentions of the Communists at home. Socialism and Nationalism: These two forces were particularly more prominent in Italy than in any other country in Europe. Italians were disgruntled elements for loss of spoils of victory compared to France and England which made them feel poor relatives among the rich Western allies. This provided the ground to opposing forces like Nationalists and Socialists from 1920 onwards to discredit Prime Minister Giolitti’s government for his inability to solve the mounting socioeconomic problems of post-war Italy. These two parties were also fighting against each other amidst an atmosphere of violence and rebellion. At this juncture, Mussolini appeared on the scene with claims to reconcile the seemingly conflicting forces of socialism and nationalism. His new political party suggested a happy union of nationalism and socialism. Rise of Communism: Mussolini claimed that the post-war labour unrest and discontent in Italy were leading the country towards communism and his party, Fascisiti, alone could save the society from the danger of communism. The Fascist activists, the Black Shirts opened a violent campaign against the Socialists and the Communists. Consequently, in 1921 the coalition government of Giolitti was defeated and the Fascists entered the Chamber of Deputies with 35 seats. False Aspirations of Italians: The feeling of disappointment owing to the Rise of Fascism and Nazism marginalization and subsequent loss in the Peace Settlement of 1919 left a feeling among Italians that though Italy had won the war, it had lost the peace. The disappointments 189 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

and frustrations of the Italians were fully exploited by Mussolini. He succeeded not only in uniting the people under his leadership but also in increasing his hold over Italy. The people had this feeling that their high ambitions which could not be achieved under a democratic Italy would be realised under Fascist Italy. 11.2.3 Impact of Fascism in Italy Rise of Totalitarianism: Mussolini changed the laws to suit his interests of dominating the Parliament. He dissolved all political parties except his own. Fascists started terrorizing opponents making most of them to flee Italy. Giacomo Matteotti, the socialist leader was killed mysteriously. He abolished the Chamber of Deputies in 1929. Fascist Grand Council was established as an apex body to make laws with Duce (leader) at its top, with most of the important portfolio with him like Foreign Affairs, Interior, Colonies, War, Air, and Marine. Strikes and lockouts were declared illegal to enhance agricultural and industrial productions. Almost all walks of Italy’s life were being controlled by the State. Territorial Expansion: Mussolini gradually transformed the weak foreign policy of the previous government and tried to make Italy a world power. Increase in population, need for raw material for industrial development, making it imperative for Italy to have territorial expansion. Italy thus adopted the policy of setting England against France; France and England against Germany; England, France and Germany against the Soviet Union. Thus, through a systematic policy of dividing the major European powers and through invasion and conquest, Mussolini succeeded in expanding Italian territories. Aggressive Foreign Policy: Mussolini adopted ambitious foreign policy and persuaded Yugoslavia to handover the port of Fiume and acquired it in 1924. He established a protectorate over Albania in 1926 and subsequently annexed it in 1939. He also acquired some territory in East Africa and near Libya through negotiations with England and France. He conquered Abyssinia in 1936, which sounded a death-knell of the League of Nations. Led to Second World War: Mussolini joined the Anti-Communist Pact of Germany and Japan in 1937. Thus came into being the Berlin-Tokyo-Rome Axis. During the Spanish Civil War, Italy helped General Franco. The victory of the General in the Civil War strengthened the position of Italy in the western Mediterranean. Italy was now in the German camp. Subsequently, Italy denounced in 1938 the treaty made with France in 1935. Italy was right on the warpath when in May 1939 she concluded a formal military pact with Germany. Economic Reconstruction of Italy was a Success: Italian industries and agriculture made 190 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

great progress under the Fascist regime. He developed hydropower projects and facilitated industries to raise their productions. Automobile industries made rapid advances. Means of communication were also improved. Railways were modernised. Marine and merchant navy were developed with more induction of ships. Armed forces of Italy were also modernized with more weapons and ammunition. Mussolini was quite successful in striving home the majesty, might and military glory of ancient Rome into the minds of Italians. 11.2.4 Fascist Doctrine Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944) was the chief exponent of the fascist doctrine and was a disciple of Hegel as well as a great admirer of Benito Mussolini. He had described the core elements of his philosophy as anti-intellectualism; the total submission to authority; and contempt for reason. He believed that there was no contradiction between individual and the state and that “maximum of liberty coincides with the maximum force of the state.” Gentile became the official philosopher of Fascism and described it “as a total conception of life.” He further explained in 1928 that Fascism was not a philosophical system but a plan of action. Mussolini claimed that Fascist state was to create a new socio-economic and a political system as all other forms—liberal, democratic, and socialist or communist system were defective. It advocated strongly about the duties of citizens rather than their rights. Fascists were opposed to democracy, liberalism and all forms of socialism, be it revolutionary or evolutionary. Democracy was decried as stupid, corrupt, slowmoving and the worst form of government—’a decaying corpse’. Parliament was ridiculed as a useless talking shop. He rejected the Marxist’s advocacy that everything in life was determined by economic factors and went on to say “economic well-being would reduce man to the level of animals.” Fascists also rejected the idea of class war and stood for cooperation between all sectors of society in the glory of the state. Fascism was based on narrow and extreme nationalism. Total commitment to the state was the utmost duty of citizens. Fascism was also opposed to international peace and harmony and advocated war as a national policy, as it alone provides an opportunity to demonstrate the strength of the nation. He said, “War is to man what maternity is to women.” Hence, territorial expansionism was the avowed policy of Fascism. 11.3 RISE OF HITLER AND NAZI PARTY “Periods of collapse are marked by the predominant activity of the worst elements”, writes Adolf Hitler in his Mein Kampf (My Struggle). It was exactly under these circumstances that his party arose in Germany. Several parties and their factions emerged on the ruins of the 191 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

German Empire, each with a strong will to capture power. The communists tried to achieve this end by revolutionary methods. The reactionary elements took advantage of the failure of the Weimar Republic and stirred up hostile propaganda against the Socialists. In their bid to capture power they blamed the Socialists, Catholics, and the Jews who they said had “stabbed Germany in the back” during the War of 1914-18. This propaganda became very effective for the millions of middle-class Germans who were on the verge of becoming paupers on account of the economic crisis (1921-23). They began to join the ranks of the National Socialists. These National Socialists were being backed by the landed aristocracy of Germany which were aghast at the instance of ever-expanding socialists. Adolf Hitler, the leader of the National Socialists, tried to capture power in 1923 by coup d’ etat but failed. Hitler was arrested and jailed, and his party was proscribed and dissolved. It was during this imprisonment that he wrote the Mein Kampf, which was published in 1926. Adolf Hitler: Born in 1889, he was an Austrian and had joined the German army and had fought in the trenches on the ‘Western Front’ as an ordinary soldier. Hitler joined a group organised by Anton Drexler, which started the Nazi movement. Hitler was an influential member of the group which told the German people that Germany was not defeated in the war but was let down. This group infused a new spirit among the Germans and made the Nazi movement revolutionary and militant. Hitler said, “What we have to fight for is security, for our race and our nation, nourishment of its children and purity of its blood, freedom and independence for the Fatherland.” He appealed to the tender sentiments of the Germans and told them that “the German Reich, as a State, should include all Germans.” He declared the aim of National Socialists must be to secure for the German people an extension of the space in which our people must live. He had major hatred for France which he considered an eternal and mortal enemy of the German nation. He denounced the Treaty of Versailles and advocated for its revision. The Nazi Party: The National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NAZIs) assumed an aggressive role from 1926 and its following began to rise readily. The unemployed workers and poverty-stricken middle-class Germans were greatly affected by the hypnotic orations of the party leader and they were won over to the party by its promises of future greatness for Germany. Consequently, in the national elections of 1930, the National Socialists won 107 seats in a Reichstag which had a total strength of 576 seats. An elated Hitler burst with the words: “Heads will roll in this struggle.” Hitler contested the Presidency in 1932 against the grand old man, Hindenburg, and secured 37 per cent of the German votes. Though he lost the election it convinced him that he was the man of the future in Germany. The Reichstag elections of 1932 gave him 230 seats out of a total of 608 and emerged as the 192 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

single largest party. The Government ordered re-elections in which National Socialists won 196 seats in a House of 584. Though their votes and strength were reduced yet they remained the single largest party. Hitler was now invited by the President to become the Chancellor; when Hitler demanded powers to rule the country without the help of Parliament, it was denied to him. Hitler ultimately formed a coalition Government in January 1933. He soon ordered new elections to the Reichstag. The Reichstag building was put on fire on the eve of elections by some miscreants. Hitler blamed it on the Communists and pressurised the President to sign a declaration of Emergency. The constitution along with fundamental and all other relevant rights was suspended. He then let loose his storm troops on his political opponents. The Communist party was declared illegal and banned along with many other parties. The reign of terror was organised by Hitler and the Nationalists. When President Hindenburg died in 1934, Hitler combined the office of the President with that of the Chancellor and himself became the Fuehrer (Leader) of Germany. 11.3.1 Causes of the Rise of Nazism Following were the main causes of the rise of Nazism in Germany: (1) The war and the Peace Settlement left Germany disillusioned and crushed spiritually and materially. (2) The continuing hostile attitude of France, the quarrels over the Ruhr, the Rhineland occupation, the Saar, and the reparation it was made to pay. (3) The ceaseless wrangling over security and disarmament, all these fed the indignation and anger of many Germans. (4) The Republic’s acceptance of unfair disabilities, its policy of reconciliation and its inability to assert itself more strongly in international affairs rankled in the hearts of many Germans. (5) During the period of temporary economic revival (1924 to 1929) these factors remained in the background. It required a few years of hard times and increasing unemployment to bring them out in full force. These circumstances were capitalized by the Nazis through propaganda methods, oratory, posters, banners, songs, uniforms, ceremonies, rituals, discipline, historic traditions, theories of racial superiority of Germans, anti-Semitism, enthusiasm, the dynamic personality of Hitler etc. were the major points of attractions for millions of Germans. Germans were strongly convinced that they needed a ‘strong man’ who would restore the peace, prestige and prosperity of Germany. 11.3.2 Impact of Nazism The impact of the Nazi rule was direct and severe on the people of Germany, indirect and yet paralysing on Europe and the rest of the world. The Nazis adopted unscrupulous, ruthless and 193 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

terrorist methods – all in the garb of serving the nation and racial superiority of the German race. They had no regard for life and property. They had no political morals and adopted incendiary methods for the growth of their party. Terrorization was writ large which presented a sort of miniature civil war within Germany. People had only to join the party and that prosperity would be theirs. Such were the themes of the Hitlerite propaganda. Nazi adopted a twenty-five-point program with a major focus on forming a ‘Greater Germany’ by the union of all Germans in a single State. Germany becomes a Totalitarian State: Hitler decided to crush all opposition Rise of Fascism and Nazism after assuming supreme powers both within and outside his party. Like the Fascist state of Italy and the Soviet State of Russia, Germany under Hitler became a totalitarian state. Hitler declared in one of his first decrees: “There is only one political party in Germany, and that is the Nationalist Socialist Workers’ Party. Trade Unions of the Communists and Socialists were dissolved, their offices were sealed and funds were confiscated. Criticisms of government in any form and on any forum were not to be tolerated. Reichstag meetings were just to applaud the Fuehrer. Hitler’s will was the will of the party and that of the nation. Hitler became dictator and proceeded to direct Germany’s ‘national resurgence’ in the political, economic, and cultural life of the country. The Gestapo or the German Secret Police Service wiped out of existence all opposition to the Fuehrer. Individual liberty of any kind ceased to exist. Newspapers were either Nazified or abolished. Practising Nihilism: Reason is Impotent. Values are baseless. Morals are invented. Nihilism can be described as an idea that life, or the world, has no distinct meaning or purpose. There is no objective order or structure in the world except what we give it. Nihilism came out clearly in the terror and the murder of the innocents, the concentration camps and the gas chambers. Nihilism was the essence of Nazi process which manifested itself through the organised killings of millions of people by destroying the individual as a moral being. The purpose of Nazi nihilism was “to transfer a human being into a non-human and to restrict the quality of being human to those who were acceptable to the Nazi rulers.” Rearmament of Germany: Germany began rearming itself. Heavy armaments, particularly armoured cars, tanks and aeroplanes began to be made in huge quantities. Herman Goering, a close associate of Hitler and an ace pilot, was appointed the commander of the German Air Force. Nazis adopted the slogan “Guns not Butter”. Compulsory military training was introduced in Germany in 1935 and Hitler blatantly repudiated the provisions of the Peace 194 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Settlement which placed limitations on its arms. Nazis were proceeding on the path of war to wash away the stains of humiliation and tear up the Treaty of Versailles. Racism and anti-Semitism: Nazi racism and antisemitism are traced to the teachings of Rosenberg, who held the superiority of the Nordic race as responsible for the great cultures of Greece and Rome in ancient times. The decline of the German race was advocated on account of its intermingling with inferior races. The Jews were held primarily responsible for decadence and looked upon as the chief conspirators against Nordic purity. Hitler had also believed in such ideas as ‘Lebensraum’, living space for a nation. No nation could be strong unless its land was fertile and the peasantry contented. Hitler had classified people as ‘culture-creators’, ‘culture-bearers’ and ‘culture-destroyers’. The Aryans were the culture- creators which included the Germans, the Dutch and the British. Hitler regarded the Jews as enemies of the Aryans supremacy since they were an embodiment of ‘culture decadence’ a gang of international bankers more interested in money and profits than the well-being of the German people. Schools became Propaganda Machine: The purpose of Nazi education was to shape young minds into good Nazis. Therefore, schools were transformed into propaganda machines. School curriculum was rearranged to include subjects like race studies and genetics. Books which were not supposed to be read by good Nazis were burnt publicly. Liberal writers were black-listed and forced to stop writing. Thus, the thinking and writing too were controlled. Economic Growth: When Hitler assumed power in 1934 there was improvement in the economic situation and the credit for the ‘economic miracle’ was claimed by Hitler. Hitler began a series of four-year plans and centralization of industries in the hands of corporations such as Krupps, to establish control over the economy. Owing to massive rearmament plans after 1935 Germany’s economy was gearedup and there was a boom in the heavy industry providing ample employment opportunities to Germans. Consequently, workers were willingly parting with their freedom and liberty and the labour unions lost their independence by becoming the Front organization of the Nazi party in exchange for employment and social security. Almost all stakeholders in the process of economic reconstruction lent their support to the Nazi party. Expansion of Germany: The influence of Nazism was not limited to Germany only but its expansionist policy affected many other countries. It led to the denial of basic human equality and persecution of the Jews. The expansionist military policy of Hitler led to military conscription in 1935, the militarization of Rhineland in 1936, the annexation of Austria in 1938, of Czechoslovakia in 1939, and the beginning of the Second World War 195 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

by the invasion of Poland in September 1939. France was vanquished in 1940. The Nazis, while in possession of large parts of Europe, attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, and declared war on the United States of America in December 1941. 11.3.3 Nazi Doctrine Nazism was greatly influenced by the teachings of Nietzsche, Hegel and Rosenberg. Hegel gave the ideas of extreme militarism and narrow nationalism. Nietzsche’s nihilism rejected the western ideas of morality and dignity of men, the consequences of which have been discussed above. First was their method of ruthless attack on opponents. The second was for repudiation and abrogation of the hated ‘Treaty of Versailles’ and St. Germain. The third was for the restoration of the German colonies to maintain German people and provide a settlement to their surplus population. Fourthly, it also stood for a strong central authority and a national army. Fifthly, they wanted to abolish all unearned incomes. They pretended to give all things to all Germans. 11.4 SUMMARY  Both the rise of Fascism and Nazism were a temporary phenomenon but had devastating and some lasting impact. Both emerged on the international horizon during the inter-war period.  Both took entire Europe in their strides resorting to authoritarianism and leading to the Second World War. They deified the nation; thought of the nation as a living being whose purpose was supreme to the purpose and well-being of an individual.  More important than rights are the duties which individuals owe to the nation. A muscular and militaristic nationalism, preparedness for war for territorial expansion, innate belief in racism and doctrine of racial superiority, and hatred and destruction of the ‘other’ (Jews in the case of Nazi Germany) were the hallmarks of both fascism and Nazism. The end of the Second World War was the final death-nail into their coffins. The World heaved a sigh of relief, “Never Again”. 11.5 KEY WORDS  Racism and anti-Semitism: Nazi racism and antisemitism are traced to the teachings of Rosenberg, who held the superiority of the Nordic race as responsible for the great cultures of Greece and Rome in ancient times. 196 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Practising Nihilism: Reason is Impotent. Values are baseless. Morals are invented. Nihilism can be described as an idea that life, or the world, has no distinct meaning or purpose.  Impact of Nazism: The impact of the Nazi rule was direct and severe on the people of Germany, indirect and yet paralysing on Europe and the rest of the world.  Institutional Reform: Refers to a broad set of rules and regulations which govern the socio-economic transactions. Under wellstructured and established institutional arrangements, the cumulative functioning of economic transactions is expected to yield optimum results or outcomes. 11.6LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. What conditions in post-war Italy favoured the rise of Fascism? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 2. What were the main elements of fascist philosophy? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 11.7 UNIT END QUESTIONS 197 A. Descriptive Questions Short Questions 1. What were conditions which led to the rise of Nazism? 2. . What is Fascism? 3. What are the Essential Features of Fascism? 4. Explain Fascism in Italy, Germany and Spain 5. What were the causes of rise of fascism in Italy? 6. What is Neo-Fascism in Europe? Long Questions CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

1. What was Nazism in history? 2. What is difference between fascism and Nazism? 3. What are the 3 characteristics of fascism? 4. Describe the Causes of the Rise of Nazism Following were the main causes of the rise of Nazism in Germany. 5. Discuss the Causes for the Rise of Fascism in Italy Treaty of Versailles B. Multiple Choice Questions (i) The prime minister is the link between the parliament and the ............... . (a) Judiciary (b) Chief Minister (c) President (d) Ministers (ii) The American Congress adopted a resolution in ............... which took the form of 25th constitutional amendment two years later. (a) 1955 (b) 1965 (c) 1950 (d) 1960 (iii) The impeacement proceedings were made against Nixon in ............... . (a) 1974 (b) 1985 (c) 1971 (d) 1973 198 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

(iv) The functions and powers of the American President may be under ............... . (a) executive and legislative (b) financial (c) judicial and emergency (d) All of these (v) The constitutions empowers the ............... to send messages to the two houses of the parliament. (a) Prime minister (b) President (c) Governor (d) Chief minister 11.8 SUGGESTED REFERENCES  Dev, Arjun & Indira Arjun Dev. (2009). History of the World. Hyderabad. Orient  Blackswan.  Carsten, F. L. (1967). The Rise of Fascism. London. Methuen.  Tannebaum, E. R. (1972). The Fascist Experience: Italian Society and Culture 1922- 1945. New York. Basic Books.  Carsten, F. L. (1967). The Rise of Fascism. London. Methuen.  Griffin, Roger D. (2009). (ed.). Fascism. Oxford. Oxford University Press.  Griffin, Roger D. (1993). The Nature of Fascism. London. Routledge.  Kershaw, Ian. (1993). The Nazi Dictatorship. 3rd Edn. London. Edward Arnold.  Noakes, Jeremy. & Jeoffrey Pridahm. (1974). Documents of Nazism 1919—1945.  London. Jonathan Cape.  Laqueur, W. (1979). (ed.). Fascism: A Reader’s Guide. Harmondsworth. Penguin.  Lowe, Norman (1997). Mastering Modern World History. Gurgaon. Macmillan Publishers. 199 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

 Nester, William R. (2010). Globalization: A Short History of the Modern World. Palgrave. Macmillan.  Tannebaum, E. R. (1972). The Fascist Experience: Italian Society and Culture 1922- 1945. New York. Basic Books.  Woolf, S. J. (1981). (ed.). European Fascism. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 200 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)