The Rise of Dictators

League of Comabt

1919

Mussolini created a new political group, the Fascio di Combattimento, or League of Combat. The term fascist is derived from the name.

Blackshirts

1920 - 1921

Mussolini formed bands of black shirted, armed fascists called squadristi or Blackshirts. These bands attacked socialist offices and nespapers.

Fascism in Italy

1920

Early 1920's Benito Mussolini established the first European Fascist movement in Italy.

The Growing of Mussolini's Movement

1922

By this time Mussolini's movement was growing quickly. The middle class fear of socialism, communism and disorder made the Fascists increasingly attractive to many people

Threats to March to Rome

1922

Mussolini and the Fascists threatened to march on Rome if they were not given power.

OVRA

1926

The fascists outlawed all other political parties in Italy and established a secret police, known as the OVRA.

Dictatorial Regimes

1939

By 1939 only two major European states: France and great Britain remained democratic. Italy, The Soviet union, Germany, and the many other European states adopted dictatorial regimes.

Fascist Youth Groups

1939

Fascist youth groups included about 66% of the population between ages 8 and 18. Members of such groups wore military style uniforms and practiced military drills. Mussolini hoped that youth groups would create a nation of Italians who were fit, disciplined, and war-loving.

A New Era in the Soviet Union

Agricultural Disaster

1920 - 1922

As many as 5 million lives were lost. With agriculture disaster came industrial collapse.

Lenin Abandons War Communism

1921

Lenin pulled Russia back from the abyss. He abandoned war communism in favor of his New Economic Policy (NEP)

USSR

1922

Lenin and the Communists formally created a new state called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which is also known as the USSR or as the Soviet Union.

Lenin Dies

1924

Lenin died in 1924. Immediately a power struggle began among the seven members of the Politburo.

Trotsky and Stalin Rise to Power

1924

Trotsky held the post of commissar of war, while Stalin was the general secretary for the party.

Stalin Rises

1929

Thousands of officials that Stalin appointed supported him when he made his bid for power. By 1929, Stalin was able to eliminate any Bolsheviks from the revolutionary era from the Politburo and create a dictatorship.

Authoritarian States in the West

Authoritarian Regimes Take Power

1929

Parliamentary systems were adopted in Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia (known until 1929 as the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) In most of these countries, however, authoritarian regimes took power.

Costs of Stalin's Programs

1930 - 1940

Stalin's mania for power led him to purge, or remove, all opponents-or imagined opponent- from the Soviet Life. His actions are referred to as the Great Purge. First to be removed were the Old Bolsheviks, anyone who had been active in the early years of the movement.

Spain's Civil War Begins

1936

In Spain political democracy failed to survive. led by general Francisco Franco, Spanish military forces revolted against the democratic government in 1936. A bloody civil war then began.

The Great Purge

1936 - 1938

Most Old Bolsheviks were put on trial and condemned to death due to Stalin's Great Purge.

Spain's Civil War Ends & Dictatorship Begins

1939

The Spanish Civil War came to an end when Franco/s forces captured Madrid in 1939. Franco then established a dictatorship that favored large landowners, business people, and the Catholic Clergy.

The Rise of Dictators