Global Economic Crisis and Totalitarian Regimes (1929-1939)
The Great Depression and Global Consequences
The U.S. crisis extended globally, stretching the world economy to its limits. Consequences included:
- Demographic Shifts: The crisis halted population growth and transoceanic economic migrations.
- Economic Decline: Decreased agricultural and industrial production, severely impacting foreign trade.
- Mass Unemployment.
- Political Instability: The crisis favored the rise of political ideologies and totalitarianism, challenging existing democracies.
Seeking Solutions: Autarky and the New Deal
To solve the crisis, some countries promoted economic self-sufficiency (autarky) and the creation and intervention of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the economy.
U.S. President Roosevelt launched a recovery program in 1933 known as the New Deal.
The Rise of Totalitarianism
Causes and Social Foundations
The rise of totalitarianism was driven by several factors:
- The existence of poorly consolidated democratic systems.
- The severe economic crisis, for which liberal governments were blamed.
- Social polarization between anti-revolutionary groups.
- The formation of ultranationalist groups unhappy with the Treaty of Versailles following World War I. Germany and Italy felt humiliated and believed they had received insufficient rewards.
Social support for these movements came from the middle class, big business, veterans, the unemployed, and social conservatives.
Defining Characteristics of Totalitarian States
Totalitarian regimes shared several key features:
Political System: Implantation of an authoritarian system, concentrating total power in an infallible leader who demands absolute obedience. There is no political pluralism or freedom; only one party exists, and opposition is violently repressed.
- State control over the economy (rejecting liberal societies).
- Promotion of social inequality and irrational thinking.
- Ultranationalism and militarism.
Key Totalitarian Regimes
Italian Fascism under Mussolini
Fascism emerged in Italy led by Benito Mussolini, founding the movement in 1919 (characterized by the Blackshirts). In 1922, the intervention of these groups against strikes and unions allowed Mussolini to claim power by organizing the March on Rome. King Victor Emmanuel III entrusted him with forming a new government, leading to the implementation of a fascist dictatorship.
German Nazism and the Third Reich
Nazism arose in Germany, centered on the Nazi Party, founded in 1920 and directed by Adolf Hitler. In 1933, after electoral success, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Once in power, he ended the Weimar Republic, proclaimed the Third Reich, implemented a harsh dictatorship, and pursued a militaristic and aggressive foreign policy based on the rejection of the Treaty of Versailles. This aggressive policy ultimately led to World War II.