Chapter 21: The Collapse and Recovery of Europe: The Axis Powers

Democracy Denied: Comparing Italy, Germany, and Japan

Italy, German, and Japan became known in WWII as the Axis Powers. In this part of the chapter it is discussed what it was that brought these three powers together. They all had a similar development and attack on their own governments after WWI and being strongly opposed to communism. Germany and Japan were the two that stood out within the Axis Powers, though it was indifferent ways.

Fascism was an ideology that had spread across Europe, and which inspired Italy and Germany to change their governments. Fascism seeks to “…revitalize and purify the nation and to mobilize its people for some grand task.” It disregarded violence against enemies, action rather than thought, and looked for a leader who was charismatic. It argued that what caused nations to divide and weaken were because of individualism, liberalism, feminism, parliamentary democracy, and communism. What also caused these three countries to turn to the idea of Fascism was the great impact the Great Depression had.

Italy was the first to take this fascist shape. The rural areas were controlled by landlords both economically and politically, where the north had an industrial society arose. During the economic crisis there were many socialist parties and peasant revolutions that arose demanding quick actions to be taken by the government. This is when Benito Mussolini stepped in with the help of his private army known as the Black Shirts. Mussolini came to power when promising an alternative to both communism and ineffective democratic rule, though he also used violent techniques to also come to power. He promised that there would be order in the streets an end to bickering party based politics, and as well as the maintenance of traditional social orders. He concentrated on building state power. In the midst of this Fascism taking over there was no sense of equality or liberation for women.

The next expansion of Fascism, and a far more important one in regards to history and WWII, was Germany’s Nazi party. Both the Nazi party and Italy’s Fascism government reflected the ideas of extreme nationalism, the open use of violence as a political tool, single party dictatorship, and many other features that led to their joining in WWII. After the First World War, Germany’s imperial government fell and in came the Weimar Republic which faced many issues and didn’t settle them well enough to the people of Germany’s order. Especially once the Great Depression hit, the people demanded direct government action. This is When Hitler’s National Socialist, otherwise known as the Nazi party, began to gain support. “The Nazi party…proclaimed a message of intense German nationalism cast in terms of racial superiority, bitter hatred for Jews…opposition to communism…willingness to tackle the county’s economic problems.” Shortly after Hitler was appointed Chancellor he brought his Nazi party to power. All of his drastic policies brought Germany out of Depression. He used Jews as a symbol of the true corruption to the “true” Germany culture. They drew heavily on the idea of “scientific racism.”

Japan unlike the other two counties did not have that much experience with democratic politics. In the 1930s Japan was moving towards an authoritarian type of government. And just as in Germany, the demand for direct action was called for from the impact of the Great Depression. Overall Japan differed sharply from Italy and Germany. It was internally less repressive and more pluralistic than either of those European states.