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How Fascism, Nazism, and Economic Collapse Led to World War II


 


Journey to a new world


Global trends between the two world wars


(1) In Italy - Fascism


(2) In Germany – Nazism


(3) In Japan – Militarism


(4) Global Great Depression - 1929-32


(1) Fascism in Italy: In World War I, Italy sided with the victorious nations and fought the war on their side. In


Italy was outraged that the victorious Allies had taken whatever territories they wanted despite the huge cost of 12 billion dollars and the loss of 600,000 soldiers. The Italian people believed that the Italian government was responsible for the humiliation of Italy's national pride, and wanted to avenge the national humiliation. To save Italy from such a difficult situation, Benito Mussolini founded the "Fascist" party in Italy. Its symbol was the "wooden staff and axe", which was the symbol of the supremacy of the Roman Emperor. Fascism is derived from the Italian word 'fasce'. Fasce means the right of states over all things. Mussolini's motto was "one party and one leader". He gave military training to his party volunteers. Their uniforms were black. After coming to power, Mussolini captured the islands of Rhodes and the Dodecanese in the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey. In 1924, he conquered Albania, Abyssinia and the port of Fium. After achieving such success, Mussolini broke away from the League of Nations and joined the "Rome-Berlin-Tokyo" axis.


(2) Nazism in Germany: 


Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. After the death of German President Hindenburg, Hitler assumed the presidency and established a dictatorship in Germany. Hitler adopted a fierce and aggressive policy and led the German people towards narrow nationalism… The German people considered Hitler to be the Führer (savior).


Nazi soldiers wore brown military uniforms and wore red shoulder straps and a swastika-like symbol. After coming to power, Hitler's totalitarian and warlike nature became evident. His main goal was the rise of Germany as a major power; but his policies aimed to exterminate Jews, Gypsies, and mentally unstable individuals in the name of racial purification of the German race. By the end of World War II, countless European Jews had lost their lives in what is known as the Holocaust. Hitler's expansionism, military actions with neighboring countries, and the policy of exterminating certain groups became very important factors leading to World War II.


(3) Militarism in Japan: After World War I, in the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, Japan was given the right to its own interests in China.


The territory did not benefit. Many German institutions were divided by England and France. This caused great dissatisfaction in Japan. At the Washington Conference of 1921-22, Japan had to accept the proposal to keep only 35% of the navy of England and America. japan did not get permanent membership in the League of Nations. Western countries could not stop Japan's imperialist activities. Japan occupied Manchuria and established its Manchukuo government there (1932), in addition, Japan occupied some territories of Korea, Mongolia, Shandong and China and had relations with Germany and Italy.



(4) Global Great Depression - 1929: Most European leaders expected that at the end of World War I


The world's non-war problems would also end; but this assumption turned out to be wrong. Suddenly, a large number of shares were sold in the American 'Wall Street' stock market, and the price of shares started falling very alarmingly, so critics called it the "Wall Street Crisis" (October 24, 1929). This crisis had devastated the economic situation around the world. Out of which, the global Great Depression was created. Even a superpower like Great Britain had to abandon the policy of keeping gold reserves against its currency, the pound. Rich countries like America had to impose strict restrictions despite ignoring the economic situation. World trade was reduced by half. Thus, the outline of World War II was created.


World War II (1939-1945) factors


The seeds of World War II were sown in the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I. The Paris peace process left many nations dissatisfied. 


(1) Fierce nationalism: Germany and its people could never forget the Treaty of Versailles. As a result, due to the Nazi ideology in Germany, Hitler seized some territories of Austria and Czechoslovakia, saying that wherever the German people lived, Germany should get the territory. On the other hand, Japan also jumped into the race of imperialism from Asia. Thus, world peace became a threat.


(2) Allies: After World War I, France was always afraid of Germany, so it signed friendship agreements with Belgium, Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia.


Italy signed agreements with Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, and Austria.


Russia signed agreements with Germany, Turkey, Lithuania and Iran.


Germany signed a nonaggression pact with Russia. Thus, a reign of terror was created in the world. This factor precipitated the world war.


(3) Militarism: After the First World War, efforts were made to maintain peace, but instead, the nations of Europe were competing in armaments. In Europe, the production of weapons only increased in every nation. Weapons superior to each other were made. Eventually, England and France also increased their armaments, and the drums of World War II started beating.


(4) Failure of the League of Nations: Member nations were not obliged to bring their disputes to the League of Nations or to accept its verdict. Some nations even withdrew from the League of Nations.


After that, Italy and Japan left it, because Italy seized the independence of Abyssinia. Japan invaded Manchuria, Germany seized some territories of Czechoslovakia, but the League of Nations could not stop it. The lust for power or the worship of power of different nations became strong in the League of Nations. The League of Nations could not prevent factionalism. This was the biggest failure of the League of Nations.


(5) Treaty of Versailles: The Treaty of Versailles was concluded at the end of World War I as part of the Paris Peace Process. It gave Germany the responsibility of:


It was considered. Therefore, a huge amount of 6.5 billion pounds had to be paid as a war penalty. Its territories like the Rhineland were seized. The German Rhine River was opened to international waterways. Thus, a humiliating and unjust treaty was imposed on Germany. The dictator of Germany, Adolf Hitler, called for the Treaty of Versailles to be rejected as a "piece of paper". Therefore, the people of Germany got encouragement for war. On the other hand, Japan was also dissatisfied with this treaty. Thus, the Treaty of Versailles caused injustice to some nations in some way, and the seeds of World War II were planted in the Treaty of Versailles itself.


(6) Adolf Hitler's imperialist ambitions: Hitler was at the root of World War II. He was a fierce nationalist and


Being militaristic, he wanted the unity, stability, and prosperity of Germany at all costs. Austria became the first victim of Hitler's imperialism.


Hitler enters Austria with the German army (March 12, 1938).


He occupied Czechoslovakia the day after the Munich Agreement (October 1, 1938). Then in March 1939 he occupied the Lithuanian port of Memel (March 1939). Thus, he created the vast German nation. Hitler's imperialist policy was largely responsible for World War II.


(7) Germany's invasion of Poland Immediate factor: All the above factors caused the entire world to be inundated with huge quantities of ammunition.


It was brought to the world and was installed. A small spark could cause a terrible explosion in the world and this spark was ignited by Germany's invasion of peaceful Poland (in the early hours of September 1, 1939). Thus began the Second World War. Britain and France warned Germany to stop the war immediately, but Germany ignored it, so Britain and France entered the war. As a result, the flames of the Second World War spread throughout the world.


Outline of World War II


When World War II began. The world was again divided into two groups. On one side was the "Allied" group led by England and France. On the other side was the Axis group of Germany, Italy and Japan. In addition, some other factors with a warlike mentality had entered it. Japan attacked the American navy at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. As a result, America abandoned its neutrality and attacked back. It joined the Allied side. Therefore, the strength of the Allied countries increased. When the World War was raging, America dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than one hundred and twenty-four thousand Japanese citizens and causing great destruction. As a result, Japan surrendered (August 11, 1945) and World War II ended.



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