1. How did fascism differ from the predominant world political and economic systems of the mid 20th century? Who used it and why was it popular in the context of the Great Depression? What were the themes & narratives of fascism?
• The predominate world political and economic systems were democratic and capitalistic. This democratic or liberal capitalism was believed to be dying or an outdated way to run a government. Fascism was popular, even in America, because the great depression showed, too many people, that the old system was broken and that they were fed up. The difference that made fascism popular was that it created a mixed economy that would help redistribute the wealth among the poor people. This was obviously popular among poor people and there were a lot of poor people. Another way that fascism differed was by having a strong central government that led by force. People thought that was what was needed because you couldn’t trust the people to run government. The other main difference was that fascism was
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Women were required to be perfect housewives while men were required to get good paying jobs. The social pressure to do so was enormous. The repression of the individuality and self-representation was beginning to break down. People were getting tiered of trying to fit into the gender roles that society gave them and the strict rules that every young person had to follow in order to be proper. This gave way to the rebellious culture that was the beginning of the age; Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll. Singers and song writers were producing music and dancing in ways that were viewed as provocative in nature. The younger generation was using it as a form of rebellion. Kids were tired of the idea that they would have to work long hours to make a good living. They largely decided that they would rather drop out, smoke, drink and party. This lead to a new generation of
People turned to dictators during this time because they thought that they could lead them out of the Depression. In document 1 the text reads, “...many saw in him in him already another christ, who predicted the end of their suffering and had the power to lead them into the promised land of they were only prepared to follow him.” This was written about the people listening to Hitler speak. While in document 4 it states, “ Mussolini seemed to them the one man capable of bringing order out of the chaos.” Both of these sources show that the people believed what with a dictator ruling, their country could be led out of the Depression.
Their freedom changed a lot, drinking laws changed, and even divorce laws changed. Dating and relationships changed a great deal. Women started seeing their dating and relationships as real romance. Birth control was starting to be introduced by Margaret Sanger. She wanted families to believe that the reason for poverty and other family problems was because of larger families.
The end of World War I was difficult for everyone. Debt, unemployment, shortages, etc. plagued the United States. The 1920s, or Roaring Twenties, brought a lot of good economic, political, and social changes. Plenty of major changes took place in society during this time.
That said, this name calling creates a great deal of confusion and can leave one wondering “Is Fascism Left or Right?” Fascism — a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
On March 23, 1919 Benito Mussolini founded the Fascist party in Italy (History.com Staff). Mussolini was a World War I veteran and a publisher of Socialist newspapers in Italy. (History.com Staff). Mussolini decided to break off from Italian Socialists and he established the nationalist Fasci di Combattimento, which is commonly known as the Fascist Party (History.com Staff). Some of the main characteristics of fascism are a government led by a dictator, who has complete control, the government forcibly suppresses all opposition and criticism, the government controls all industry, commerce, and other economic factors, and aggressive nationalism and sometimes racism are promoted by the government ("Fascism").
In the political and social doctrine “The Ideology of Twentieth Century” the fascist leader Benito Mussolini expresses his view about the aims of the Fascist government with impressive but indirect way: “The Fascist State express the will to exercise power and command. Here the Roman tradition is embodied in a conception of strength. Imperial power, as understood by the fascist doctrine, is not only territorial, or military, or commercial; it is also spiritual and ethical. An imperial nation, that is to say, a nation which directly or indirectly is the leader of others, can exist without the need of conquering a single mile of territory…” (Griffin, 1998, p. 256).
The 1920s also known as the “Roaring Twenties” is best remembered by a time period of change and rebirth throughout America. Before World War 1, the 1800s had been a time period of disagreements and conflicts, but also an industrialisation period of prosperity and growth. Towards the late 1800s the economy grew, wages and production rapidly increased. The opportunities that were available in America caused many to cross the seas in search for jobs and political and religious freedom. From 1861 to 1865 the United States was destroyed by the bloody Civil War which led to more than 600,000 deaths.
The Roaring Twenties I. The Roaring Twenties altered the everyday lives of many Americans. Many more people listened to music, women became more liberated, and there was a rise in the number of people smoking and drinking. The list goes on and on. Many major events took place in the twenties like women getting the right to vote, the ratification of the 19th Amendment (Prohibition), and the publication of “The Great Gatsby”. As a whole the Roaring Twenties were pictured as a time of independence and freedom.
First is dissemination of ideology. United State and the Soviet Union as the victors of the World War II has understood the differences ideology between them which are the United State use capitalist liberal while the Soviet Union use communist ideology. In capitalism, people and businesses control the production of goods. People have right to decide where they live and work. It also increase the competition among the society where each individual has right to own the property by their own.
The 1920s carried much change in society. Some of these changes were more rights for women, jazz music, and prohibition. The people of the 1920s were disillusioned by society lacking in idealism and vision, sense of personal alienation, and Americans were obsessed with materialism and outmoded moral values (The Roaring Twenties).Cultural changes were strongly influenced by the destruction of World War I ending 1918. America needed to recover and with it youth rebelled against the norms of the older generations.
From this upheaval, came Mussolini and his supporters, the Black Shirts, to end the problems that were currently facing Italy. Soon there were over 10,000 followers fought against the king and the rule of the country. After the March on Rome, Mussolini was named prime minister, he successfully turned Italy into a Fascist country. Different people have different opinions on Fascism, but at this moment, there were thousands of Italians wanting a change and Mussolini brought that change to them. He got the support from the people showing them what he was like as a leader.
The 1920s were the first years of the new, modern America, with a growing consumer society and new ideas and rules. America saw many changes throughout this decade, including but not limited to social, economic and political changes. Throughout this time, new values were made with the growth of new forms of entertainment and education. After the Progressive Era, the ideas of political figures changed with a new focus on conservative politics and less labor issues. With the new ability for people to buy other products than basic needs, their money went to new inventions, causing new industries to grow.
Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany were similar in that both were dictatorships. Both Mussolini and Hitler came to power through legal means and believed that people were divided into either inferior or superior races. For example, Hitler was obsessed with the Aryan race and called for the genocide of Jews during WWII. In addition, both Mussolini and Hitler favored the wealthy, believed that an individual was meaningless and must submit to the decisions of their leaders, and aimed at self-sufficiency so that each could survive entirely without international trade. Furthermore, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy “had aimed for prestige and power for their countries, and brought instead humiliation and destruction” (Tarr, R.,
Fascism and communism are both types of totalitarian style governments that had a great influence on the 20th century. Communism involved the emphasis on the common good by seizing private property and distributing it among the masses in order to create state-owned property, whereas fascism involved the complete rule of a dictator by forcibly suppressing the opposition with an emphasis on nationalism and sometimes racism. The most popular example of communism was the Soviet Union, but many smaller countries possessed the Soviet Union’s communist influence. The two most popular examples of fascist style governments include Hitler’s Nazism in Germany, which had an emphasis on racism, and Mussolini’s fascist state in Italy. Although many countries pursued communist style governments, fascism had a greater impact and
(3) Fascism was attractive because it offered a better future than what the people had. The leaders of fascism learn and understand the needs and wants of the people. Therefore, they said and did what they knew would attract people to their groups. For example, after WWI, Germany economy collapsed, and people became frustrated. Hitler knew he could gain power, by putting fear into the people in regards to the economic meltdown.