← Unit 1: Change and conflict (1918 to 1939)
How did authoritarian regimes consolidate power in the 1930s, and how did this lead to the collapse of collective security?
The rise and consolidation of authoritarian regimes in the 1930s (Nazi Germany from 1933, Stalinist USSR, militarist Japan), aggressive foreign policy, the failure of collective security, and the path to WWII
A focused answer to the VCE Modern History Unit 1 key knowledge point on the 1930s. Nazi consolidation in Germany (1933-1934), the Great Terror in the USSR (1936-1938), militarist Japan in Manchuria (1931) and China (1937), the collapse of collective security (Abyssinia 1935, Rhineland 1936, Anschluss 1938, Czechoslovakia 1938-1939, Munich Agreement, invasion of Poland 1 September 1939).
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
What this dot point is asking
VCAA wants you to explain the rise of authoritarian regimes in the 1930s and the collapse of the post-Versailles collective security system that led to WWII. The dot point covers the second half of the interwar period.
Nazi consolidation in Germany (1933-1939)
Coming to power (January 1933). Hitler appointed Chancellor by President Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazis held only 3 of 11 cabinet positions; conservatives expected to "tame" him.
Reichstag Fire (27 February 1933). The fire was blamed on communists. Hindenburg signed the Reichstag Fire Decree suspending civil liberties.
Enabling Act (24 March 1933). Passed with 444 to 94 vote (Communists already arrested; some Catholic Centre support). Gave Hitler dictatorial powers to legislate without the Reichstag.
Gleichschaltung (coordination). Trade unions abolished (May 1933). All political parties banned except NSDAP (July 1933). Civil service, professions, education, civil society all coordinated.
Night of the Long Knives (30 June 1934). SA leadership (Ernst Rohm and others) killed. Hitler eliminated the SA as a power centre and reassured the army.
Hindenburg's death (2 August 1934). Hitler combined Chancellor and President as "Führer". Army swore personal loyalty oath to Hitler.
Domestic policies.
- Anti-Jewish legislation: Nuremberg Laws (September 1935) defined "Jewishness" and stripped Jews of citizenship. Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938) was state-organised violence against Jewish people, property and synagogues.
- Economic recovery: rearmament-driven (autobahns, public works). Unemployment fell from 6 million (1933) to under 1 million (1937).
- Cult of the leader, mass rallies (Nuremberg), control of media (Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda).
Stalin's USSR (1928-1939)
Five-Year Plans. Stalin launched rapid industrialisation in 1928. Production targets set centrally; coal, steel, machinery prioritised.
Collectivisation (1928 onwards). Peasant farms merged into collective farms (kolkhozes). Resistance was crushed. The "kulak" class was destroyed (dekulakisation). Famine in Ukraine (Holodomor, 1932-1933) killed 3 to 5 million.
Great Terror (1936-1938). Show trials of Old Bolsheviks (Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin). Mass executions and deportations to the Gulag. NKVD (secret police) under Yezhov. Around 750,000 executed in 1937-38; millions imprisoned. The terror struck the army (purge of generals 1937), creating military weakness exposed in 1939-1941.
Militarist Japan
Background. Japan had modernised rapidly after Meiji Restoration (1868). After WWI, Japan was a major power but felt slighted by Versailles.
Manchuria (September 1931). The Mukden Incident, a Japanese-staged provocation, was used as pretext to invade Manchuria. Japan installed the puppet state of Manchukuo (1932). The League of Nations Lytton Report (1933) condemned Japan; Japan withdrew from the League.
Sino-Japanese War (July 1937). Full-scale invasion of China beginning with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Nanking Massacre (December 1937 to January 1938): around 200,000-300,000 Chinese civilians and POWs killed.
Pact with Germany (1936) and Italy (1937). Anti-Comintern Pact aligned the three revisionist powers.
Aggressive expansion in Europe
Italy in Abyssinia (Ethiopia, October 1935 to May 1936). Mussolini invaded; League imposed limited sanctions; the Hoare-Laval Pact (December 1935, leaked) would have given Italy most of Abyssinia. The League's prestige collapsed.
Rhineland (March 1936). Hitler remilitarised the Rhineland in violation of Versailles and Locarno. France and Britain did not respond.
Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Nationalists (Franco) backed by Germany and Italy; Republicans backed by USSR and International Brigades. Franco won; another fascist state in Europe.
Anschluss with Austria (March 1938). Hitler annexed Austria.
Sudetenland (September 1938). Hitler demanded the German-majority Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. Munich Agreement (29-30 September 1938) between Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain and Daladier conceded the Sudetenland in exchange for promises of no further demands. Czechoslovakia not consulted. Chamberlain announced "peace for our time".
Rest of Czechoslovakia (March 1939). Hitler took the remaining Czech lands. Slovakia became a German puppet. The Munich promises were broken.
Pact with Stalin (23 August 1939). Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: non-aggression between Germany and USSR, with secret protocol dividing Eastern Europe. Stalin gained time to prepare; Hitler gained safe eastern front.
Invasion of Poland (1 September 1939). Britain and France declared war on Germany (3 September 1939). WWII began.
Why appeasement?
Reasons democratic powers appeased:
- War weariness. Memory of WWI casualties (Britain 700,000+, France 1.4 million+).
- Economic crisis. The Depression constrained military spending.
- Misjudgement of Hitler. Many believed his demands were limited to revising Versailles.
- Reluctance to ally with the USSR. Anti-communism made Western statesmen wary of joint action with Stalin.
- Public opinion. Pacifism strong in Britain (the Oxford Union 1933 "King and Country" debate).
- Time to rearm. Britain rearmed substantially after 1936; appeasement bought time.
Appeasement is sometimes defended as buying time for rearmament; more often criticised as encouraging Hitler.
Collapse of collective security
The League of Nations failed in successive crises: Manchuria (1931), Abyssinia (1935), Rhineland (1936), Czechoslovakia (1938). By 1939, collective security through the League was dead. Only direct alliances and rearmament remained as deterrents, and they came too late.
In one sentence
The 1930s saw the consolidation of three authoritarian regimes (Nazi Germany from January 1933 through the Enabling Act and Gleichschaltung, Stalin's USSR through Five-Year Plans, collectivisation and the Great Terror, militarist Japan invading Manchuria 1931 and China 1937), the collapse of collective security through the League of Nations' failures in successive crises (Manchuria 1931, Abyssinia 1935, Rhineland 1936, Czechoslovakia 1938-1939), and Western appeasement culminating in the Munich Agreement (September 1938) before Hitler's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 triggered World War II.
Past exam questions, worked
Real questions from past VCAA papers on this dot point, with our answer explainer.
Year 11 SAC10 marksExamine the reasons for the collapse of collective security between 1931 and 1939.Show worked answer →
A Year 11 SAC.
Thesis. Collective security collapsed between 1931 and 1939 due to a combination of structural weaknesses (the League's lack of military power, US non-membership), the aggressive expansionism of three revisionist powers (Japan, Italy, Germany), and Western democratic appeasement based on a misjudgement of Hitler's intentions.
Structural weaknesses.
- The League of Nations had no military enforcement power.
- USA never joined; USSR not admitted until 1934 and expelled in 1939.
- Member states' national interests often trumped collective action.
Aggressive expansionism.
- Japan: Manchuria 1931; full-scale invasion of China 1937.
- Italy: Abyssinia 1935; intervention in Spanish Civil War 1936-1939.
- Germany: rearmament 1935; Rhineland 1936; Anschluss with Austria March 1938; Sudetenland October 1938; full Czechoslovakia March 1939; invasion of Poland 1 September 1939.
Appeasement.
- Munich Agreement (September 1938): Chamberlain and Daladier conceded the Sudetenland to Hitler in exchange for promises of no further demands.
- "Peace in our time" promise (Chamberlain) lasted less than a year before Hitler took the rest of Czechoslovakia.
- Appeasement was based on hope that Hitler had limited aims; this was a misjudgement.
Conclusion. Collective security depended on collective will, which was absent. By 1939 it was clear that only force would stop Hitler; Britain and France declared war on Germany after the Polish invasion.
Markers reward the multi-cause explanation, specific events with dates, and the appeasement-misjudgement analysis.
Related dot points
- The rise of communism (Bolshevik Revolution 1917, Soviet Russia), fascism (Mussolini's March on Rome 1922), and Nazism (Hitler and the NSDAP), and the appeal of authoritarian and totalitarian ideologies in the interwar period
A focused answer to the VCE Modern History Unit 1 key knowledge point on the rise of ideologies. The Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and the foundation of communism; Mussolini's fascism in Italy (March on Rome 1922); Hitler's Nazism in Germany; the common features of totalitarianism; and why authoritarianism appealed in the interwar context.
- The challenges facing democratic states in the 1920s, including the Weimar Republic in Germany, post-war Britain and France, the United States in the 'Roaring Twenties', and the changing role of women
A focused answer to the VCE Modern History Unit 1 key knowledge point on democratic states in the 1920s. The Weimar Republic in Germany (hyperinflation 1923, Dawes Plan, Stresemann era), post-war Britain and France, the United States in the Roaring Twenties (Prohibition, mass culture, consumer boom), and women's enfranchisement and changing social roles.
- The impact of WWI on Europe, the collapse of empires, the Treaty of Versailles (June 1919) and the post-war territorial and political settlement
A focused answer to the VCE Modern History Unit 1 key knowledge point on the impact of WWI. The collapse of the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires, the Treaty of Versailles, key terms (war guilt, reparations, territorial losses, disarmament), the League of Nations, and the political and economic instability of the post-war period.