Introduction and the Rise of Fascism
Overview
Statewide Dual Credit Modern World History: Unit 13, Lesson 1
A discussion of the aftermath of World War I, focusing on the failure of Wilson's Fourteen Points and the Treaty of Versailles to secure lasting peace. This failure, exacerbated by economic hardship, led to the rise of Fascism in Europe, notably in Italy under Mussolini and the early stages of Hitler's rise in Germany.
On December 13, 1918, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) arrived in Paris to streets thronged with cheering crowds. Over the past 18 months, Wilson had provided manpower and supplies crucial to the victory of Entente forces in World War I. His Food Administration had likewise provided millions of tons of food for the starving populations of Britain and France. The first president ever to travel abroad to negotiate a peace treaty, Wilson had journeyed to Paris to participate in the 1919 Versailles Peace Conference. Encouraged by such a warm reception from ordinary Parisians, Wilson believed that if the conference delegates would follow his “Fourteen Points,” that future world wars could be prevented.
Spotlight On | WILSON’S FOURTEEN POINTS
Woodrow Wilson’s proposed “Fourteen Points” represented a combination of progressive political thought, laissez-faire economics and old-fashioned power politics. They included open treaties, freedom of the seas, equal trade, a decrease in armaments among all nations, and an adjustment of the colonial claims of different countries. Wilson also insisted on the evacuation of all Central Powers forces from Russia, the restoration of the Belgium government, the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France, a readjustment of Italy’s border with Austria, national self-determination for the ethnic minorities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, national self- determination for the peoples of the Balkans, and the creation of Turkey and Poland as independent nations. Lastly, Wilson suggested the creation of a League of Nations to maintain world peace and prevent future wars. The European delegates at the Paris Peace Conference were amazed at the boldness of Wilson’s proposal. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau reportedly stated, “God gave us the Ten Commandments, and we broke them. Wilson gives us the Fourteen Points. We shall see.”
A product of American progressivism, Wilson failed to understand neither the deep-seated rivalries that had triggered World War I nor the anger and despair many Europeans grappled with in the wake of four years of bloody warfare. For Prime Ministers George Clemenceau of France (1841-1929), David Lloyd- George from Great Britain (1863-1945), and Vittorio Orlando of Italy (1860-1952), there was no question that the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty upon the defeated Triple Alliance would be harsh. In the final version of the treaty, Germany was forced to reduce its military to the size of a police force, give up territory in the east to Poland and in the west to France, plus its overseas colonies. Section 233 of the document likewise laid the moral blame for the war entirely at Germany’s feet. Most controversial, a Reparations Committee set up by the Entente powers determined in 1921 that Germany would pay $31.5 billion (in U.S. dollars) in war reparations. As none of the Triple Alliance powers had representation at Versailles and were forced to accept either the treaty or military occupation, the war’s end left Germans embittered. They scornfully referred to the treaty as the Diktat (dictated peace) and repeatedly sought ways to work around it.
One of the few Fourteen Points that the leaders of Britain and France did not object to was the final one, namely that “[a] general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.” The delegates at the Versailles Conference established the Covenant of the League of Nations as part of the Versailles Peace Treaty signed in 1919. Consisting of a National Assembly, Executive Council and Secretariat, the League sought to provide a forum for resolving international disputes.
Spotlight On | U.S.A. RESISTS LEAGUE OF NATIONS 1919
Although Wilson received the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts, a Republican-controlled Senate led by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924) blocked U.S. entry into the organization. Lodge was primarily angry because the Republican Party had been afforded no representation in the American delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. Furious at this blow to his plans, Wilson embarked on a national speaking tour to drum up support for American entry into the league. Suffering a stroke in Pueblo, Colorado in September 1919, Wilson would have diminished health for the remainder of his presidency.
THE RISE OF FASCISM
The United States, which did not sign the Versailles Peace Treaty, agreed to loan money to Germany to finance its reparation payments. However, the postwar Weimar government of Germany faced consistent economic stagnation and inflated currency throughout the 1920s. In 1929, the Great Depression undermined economies and governments on both sides of the Atlantic. Desperate Europeans began turning to radical political figures who promised solutions to their problems. In 1922, Italians elected journalist and World War I veteran Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) as Prime Minister.
Spotlight On | BENITO MUSSOLINI
Born into a working-class family in Romagna, Italy in 1883, Benito Mussolini was named after Mexican revolutionary Benito Juárez (1806-1872). After serving two years in the Italian military, Mussolini became a journalist. Well-versed in the works of leftist European intellectuals, he became a leading Italian socialist. When the First World War broke out, Mussolini broke with socialism and became a corporal in the Italian army. In 1919, he founded the first Italian fascist party. Three years later, Mussolini and 20,000 fascist followers marched on Rome to demand the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Luigi Facta (1861-1930). Appointed as the new prime minister, Mussolini set out to remake Italian society in his image. A master of propaganda, Mussolini projected the image of a strong leader who dressed in military costumes, surrounded himself with his armed Black Shirt followers, and used parades and radio broadcast speeches to enhance his reputation. Taking on the moniker of El Duce (or leader), Mussolini dismantled Italy’s constitution to create a police state under his control. In doing so, Mussolini created the first fascist state in Europe. Fascism differed from traditional authoritarianism in that fascist leaders were often democratically elected, exalted nationalism above any other consideration, created cults of personality surrounding their leaders and concentrated political power in the hands of dictators and their followers.
Germans watched events in Italy with much interest. In 1923, Adolph Hitler (1889-1945), a veteran of World War I and National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi) leader, launched an armed coup against the Weimar Government. Defeated and thrown into prison, Hitler wrote a biography entitled, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). In this work, Hitler discussed his service as a corporal in the German Army during World War I, his disillusionment with the Kaiser’s surrender, and his brushes with poverty in the 1920s. Throughout his work, Hitler railed against Jews, whom he blamed for the rise of international communism and Germany’s defeat in the Great War. He also stressed that Germans had a “national destiny” in gaining lebensraum (or living room) in Eastern Europe.