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

What this dot point is asking

VCAA wants you to explain the rise of communism, fascism and Nazism in the interwar period and the appeal of authoritarian / totalitarian ideologies. The dot point is the ideological foundation for understanding the political transformation of Europe between 1918 and 1939.

Communism: the Bolshevik Revolution and Soviet Russia

Marxist theory

Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels argued capitalism would inevitably collapse through proletarian revolution, replaced by a stateless, classless communism. The intermediate stage was a dictatorship of the proletariat.

Russian Revolution 1917

The Tsarist regime collapsed in February 1917 (overwhelmed by WWI losses and economic crisis). A Provisional Government failed to end the war. In October 1917 (November in the Gregorian calendar), the Bolsheviks under Lenin seized power. The world's first communist state was established.

Civil War (1918-1921)

Bolshevik Reds vs anti-Bolshevik Whites. Foreign intervention (including British, French, Japanese, American forces) failed to dislodge the Bolsheviks. The Soviets won.

Stalin's rise (1924-1929)

After Lenin's death (1924), Stalin consolidated power through bureaucratic manoeuvring against Trotsky and others. From 1928 he launched rapid industrialisation (Five-Year Plans) and the collectivisation of agriculture.

Soviet model

A one-party state with state ownership of the economy, central planning, state-controlled media, mass mobilisation, and severe repression of dissent. The Soviet model would inspire and frighten the world for the rest of the century.

Fascism: Italy under Mussolini

Background

Italy entered WWI on the Allied side but felt cheated of promised gains at Versailles ("mutilated victory"). Postwar Italy suffered economic crisis, labour unrest and political fragmentation.

Mussolini

Benito Mussolini, a former socialist, founded the Fasci di Combattimento (1919). The fascist movement combined nationalism, anti-socialism, militarism, and corporatism (cooperation between business, labour and state).

March on Rome (October 1922)

Mussolini's blackshirts marched on Rome. King Victor Emmanuel III appointed Mussolini Prime Minister rather than confront him.

Consolidation

By 1925-1926, Mussolini had transformed his government into a one-party fascist state. Opposition parties banned, press censored, parliament replaced by the Grand Council of Fascism.

Features of Italian fascism.

• Authoritarian one-party state.
• Corporatist economy (state coordinated business and labour).
• Nationalist and imperialist (later: Abyssinia 1935, alliance with Nazi Germany).
• Cult of leadership ("Il Duce").
• Less racially obsessed than Nazism (although anti-Semitic laws came in 1938 under German influence).

Nazism: Hitler and the NSDAP

Hitler

Austrian-born Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) served in the German army in WWI. After the war he joined the small Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (German Workers' Party), renamed Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP, Nazi) under his leadership.

Mein Kampf (1925)

Hitler's manifesto laid out core Nazi ideology: anti-Semitism, anti-communism, German racial supremacy, Lebensraum (living space) in Eastern Europe, contempt for democracy.

1923 Beer Hall Putsch

Hitler's failed coup attempt in Munich. He was imprisoned briefly and used the trial as publicity.

Rise through elections (1928-1932)

The Nazi vote grew from 2.6 percent (1928) to 37 percent (July 1932), boosted by the Great Depression. Hitler was appointed Chancellor on 30 January 1933.

Consolidation (1933-1934)

Reichstag Fire Decree (February 1933) suspended civil liberties. Enabling Act (March 1933) gave Hitler dictatorial powers. Night of the Long Knives (June 1934) eliminated SA leadership and consolidated Hitler's grip. Hindenburg's death (August 1934) allowed Hitler to combine Chancellor and President.

Features of Nazism.

• Authoritarian one-party state with cult of the Führer.
• Race-based ideology: Aryan supremacy, exclusion of Jews and others.
• Aggressive militarism and territorial expansion.
• Total state coordination (Gleichschaltung) of civil society.
• Persecution of perceived enemies (Jews, communists, dissidents, Roma, gay people, disabled).

The appeal of authoritarianism

Common factors in interwar appeal:

Postwar disillusionment

Veterans, especially, felt democratic governments had failed.

Fear of communism

After 1917, propertied classes feared communist revolution. Fascist parties presented themselves as the strong response.

Economic crisis

Hyperinflation (Germany 1923), the Great Depression (1929 onwards), mass unemployment created openings for radical politics.

Weak democratic institutions

Newer democracies (Weimar Germany, post-Habsburg states) had weak roots and were easier to subvert.

Charismatic leadership

Strong-man leaders offered decisive action against the perceived failures of democratic compromise.

Nationalism

Wounded national pride (Versailles for Germany, "mutilated victory" for Italy) created openings for nationalist movements.

Totalitarianism

Both Nazism and Stalinism are often described as totalitarian: regimes that demand total control over the public and private lives of citizens. Common features:

• One-party state with cult of the leader.
• Comprehensive ideology covering all aspects of life.
• State control of mass media.
• Suppression of independent civil society.
• Use of terror against dissidents.

Italian fascism was authoritarian but less totalitarian than Stalinism or Nazism: the Catholic Church retained substantial autonomy, the monarchy continued, and the regime was less personally violent.

Examples in context

Example 1. Fear of communism as the shared engine of fascism's appeal. Read the sequence Bolshevik Revolution (1917) then March on Rome (1922) as a worked illustration of how one ideology fed another. The Bolshevik success and the revolutionary unrest in Germany (1918-1923) made propertied and middle classes receptive to anti-communist movements; Mussolini's Fasci di Combattimento (1919) and Hitler's NSDAP positioned themselves as the strong response. The example shows the dot point's theme that the appeal of authoritarian solutions was relational: communism's rise created the openings that fascism and Nazism exploited.

Example 2. The totalitarian-versus-authoritarian distinction illustrated through Italy. Nazism and Stalinism are usually called totalitarian (one-party state, cult of the leader, total control of media and civil society, terror). Italian fascism is a useful contrast: it was authoritarian but less totalitarian, because the Catholic Church kept substantial autonomy, the monarchy continued, and it was less personally violent, with anti-Semitic laws arriving only in 1938 under German influence. The example reframes existing content into a methodological point about classifying regimes by degree of control.

Try this

Q1. "Fascism and Nazism appealed for the same reasons." To what extent do you agree? [10 marks]

• Cue. Thesis: shared postwar appeals, but Nazism was more radical. Evidence shared: postwar disillusionment ("mutilated victory" and Versailles), fear of communism, economic insecurity, charismatic leadership. Distinctive to Nazism: racism and antisemitism, Lebensraum, fuller Gleichschaltung.

Q2. Explain why authoritarian ideologies appealed in the interwar period. [6 marks]

• Cue. Postwar disillusionment among veterans; fear of communism after 1917; economic crises (1923 hyperinflation, the Depression); weak new democracies; charismatic strong-man leadership; wounded nationalism.

Q3. Compare communism and Nazism as ideologies. [6 marks]

• Cue. Communism: Marxist class analysis, proletarian revolution, state ownership and central planning (Soviet model). Nazism: race-based ideology, Aryan supremacy, Lebensraum; both built one-party states with controlled media and terror but rested on opposed worldviews (class versus race).