Russian Revolution
WWI going badly, Tsar Nicholas II abdicates 1917, Romanov dynasty ends Bolsheviks seize power late 1917 under Lenin Civil war, Bolsheviks win by 1921, country renamed USSR Stalin takes control late 1920s, modernization + industrialization Communist Party dominates everything, no independent civil society Collectivization of agriculture 1928 to 1933, famine, 5 million dead Rapid industrialization, five-year plans, unemployment eliminated Great Purges late 1930s, 1 million executed, 4 to 5 million sent to gulag
Great Depression
Stock market crash October 1929, lasts a decade World trade drops 62%, unemployment 30%+ in Germany and US Colonies hit hard, Latin America turns to import substitution Roosevelt New Deal 1933 to 1942, public spending + reforms New Deal doesn’t end Depression, WWII spending does
European Fascism
New ideology 1919 to 1945, nationalistic, violent, charismatic leader Against individualism, liberalism, democracy, communism Only Italy and Germany achieve prolonged power
Italy
Mussolini sweeps to power 1922 with Black Shirts State is absolute, suspended democracy, corporate state Lateran Accords 1929, invades Ethiopia 1935
Germany
Hitler becomes chancellor 1933, Third Reich Great Depression provides context, Nazis win 37% in 1932 All parties outlawed, press and radio under state control Unemployed 6.2 million (1932) to under 500k (1937) Anti-Semitism central, Nuremberg Laws 1935, Kristallnacht 1938 Cult of motherhood, women pushed to home Rejection of Enlightenment values but claims scientific racism
Japanese Authoritarianism
Great Power newcomer, limited democratic experience 1920s democratization, universal male suffrage 1925 Great Depression hits hard, exports fall by half Radical Nationalism grows, military gains dominant role No fascist party seizes power, no single charismatic leader Less repressive than European fascists internally Imperial ambitions collide with US and Britain, launching WWII
WWII 1937 to 1945
Genuinely global conflict, origins in both Asia and Europe Japan, Italy, Germany seek empires, feel blocked by established powers