The Rise of Fascism in Europe and the Spanish Civil War
Posted on May 17, 2024 in History
ITALIAN FASCISM
Causes
- Exalted Nationalism: Italy desired greater rewards after World War I. Despite being on the victor’s side, they did not receive the territories they demanded.
- Industrial, Financial, and Social Crisis: A post-war crisis emerged, characterized by unemployment, debts, strikes, and occupations of farms and factories.
- Parliamentary Crisis: The liberal democracy faced difficulty in forming stable governments and addressing all the problems.
Way to Government
- Mussolini founded the National Fascist Party in 1921. Its origins lay in the parliamentary groups that acted against the workers’ movement.
- The Fascist Party was the racist party, and the parliamentary party was the Blackshirts.
- The middle classes feared “Bolshevization,” while the upper classes were afraid of occupations.
- To pressure the government, Mussolini organized the March on Rome.
- The government wanted to proclaim a state of emergency, but the king refused. Consequently, Mussolini formed a government.
GERMAN FASCISM
Way to Government
- Hitler founded and grew the Nazi Party and its parliamentary groups (S.A) amidst hyperinflation.
- Hitler planned to seize power by force, relying on the Assault Sections.
- In November 1923, Hitler staged the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich with Ludendorff and Rohm, but they were arrested and imprisoned.
- While in prison, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf.
- The crash of 1929 led to the withdrawal of loans, company bankruptcies, rising unemployment, and escalating social tensions.
- Hitler finally reached power on January 30, 1933, when the President of Germany appointed him Chancellor.
DICTATORSHIP
- Expansionist Foreign Policy: Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy, targeting Austria, Czechoslovakia, the Spanish Civil War, and protected territories like Poland and Eastern Europe.
- Propaganda and Internal Persecution: The Nazi regime established the Gestapo, persecuted opposition groups and those considered inferior, and purged parliamentarians and internal dissidents.
- Antisemitism: The Nazis implemented antisemitic laws, including the Nuremberg Laws, which removed Jews from public office, classified them as non-Germans, and forced them to wear the Star of David badge.
| Foe | Night of the Reichstag Burning | Night of the Long Knives | Night of Broken Glass |
|---|
| Communists | Parliament burns, and communists are blamed. | S.A members arrested and leaders executed. | Jewish |
| Events | Parliament burns, and communists are blamed. | Members arrested and leaders executed. | Neighborhoods raided by S.S and Hitler Youth. |
| Outcome | Legalization of the Communist Party, members taken to concentration camps. | The NSDAP tamed. Rise of the S.S, subordinate to Hitler. | Jews interned in ghettos and concentration camps. |
CHARACTERISTICS OF FASCISM
- Ultra-nationalism
- Exaltation of the State
- Imperialism
- Inequality
- Rejection of Democracy
- Cult of the Leader
- Distrust of Reason
- Propaganda
- Practice of Violence
- Rejection of Pacifism
- Fascist Parties
- Control of Education
VOCABULARY
- Financial Bubble: An economic process that took place in the USA in the 1920s, where the value of the stock market grew enormously, leading to a desire for quick profit.
- New Deal: A government program carried out in the USA during Roosevelt’s presidency, proposing state intervention to create jobs and recover the economy.
- Autarky: An economic project in Europe during the interwar period, aiming to reduce trade with other countries as much as possible and become a self-sufficient state.
- Living Space: A political concept developed in Germany during the interwar period, justifying the conquest of other countries to secure necessary resources.
SPANISH REPUBLIC
Reformist Government
| Name | Territorial | Military | Agrarian | Educative | Religious | Social |
|---|
| Measures | Decentralization, autonomy for states | Loyalty and reduce macrocephaly | Create new landowners and reduce large farmlands | Building schools, increase literacy | Secularism and Jesuit’s exile | Improve quality of job conditions |
| Opposition | Centralists, serial groups | Africanist generals | Large landowners | Upper classes | Church | Industrial bourgeoisie |
Popular Front Government
- New elections in February 1936.
- Left-wing groups, fearing European fascism and the halting of their reforms, formed an electoral union.
- Members included the Republican Left, peripheral nationalists, and worker parties.
- Electoral victory achieved.
Measures
- Amnesty for prisoners from the 1934 revolution.
- Restoration of reforms from the first biennium.
- Catalan Statute reinstated.
Disorder and Violence
- Anarchists: Land occupation.
- Falange: Attacks on worker organizations.
- Businesses: Employers’ lockout.
Conspiracy Against the Government
- Coup d’état plans, with Mola in Pamplona and Franco in the Canary Islands.
- The aim was to establish a dictatorship and reverse reforms.
- Rebellion starts on July 17th in Melilla.
SPANISH CIVIL WAR
Uprising
- Beginning of the coup in the Moroccan protectorate in July 1936.
- One day later, the coup spread to the peninsula.
- Failure of the coup to achieve its objective; it succeeded in some areas but not in all.
- The Popular Front could not recover the rebel areas.
- Division into war fronts, with the government no longer controlling the entire country.
- Workers supported the government and the social revolution.
Consequences
- Destruction of infrastructure.
- Economic collapse.
- Terror inflicted on the population, including urban bombings and repression.
- Similar numbers killed in combat and repression.
- Flows of refugees and exiles.
- Repression continued in the post-war period.
| 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1973-1975 |
|---|
| Foreign Relations | Axis proximity, neutrality, isolation | Ending of isolation | Ending of isolation | Clash with Morocco |
| Economics | Autarky | Falling of autarky | Economic liberalism | Oil crisis |
| Group Controls | Movement and technocrats | Movement and technocrats | Technocrats | Bunker vs. liberals |
VOCABULARY
- Regenerationism: A stage of restoration in Spain during the early 20th century, attempting to reform and increase social support.
- Ration Cards: Documents given to Spanish people during autarky, distributing food in such low amounts that it fueled the black market.
- Developmentalism: The second stage of Franco’s dictatorship, taking place in the 1960s, characterized by economic growth due to liberal measures.
