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The Russian Revolution
At the dawn of the 20th century, Russia was an autocratic regime very different from
the western European countries.
The Tsar (Nicholas II of the Romanov dynasty) led with an iron hand an absolute
monarchy. Russian citizens had no political rights.
Russia also was an economically and socially backward and unfair country. There
were important economic differences between the wealthy few and the rest of the
population. -
Benito Mussolini
After the First World War, a former socialist journalist, Benito Mussolini, founded the
Fascist National Party in 1921. This party organised paramilitary groups (the Camicie
Nere, also known as the “Black Shirts”) that attacked violently workers and left-wing
organisations.
The Fascist Party was supported by landowners, factory owners, middle classes, the
Catholic Church and the King Victor Manuel III. -
Lenin’s government
Under his leadership, the USSR (Union of Socialist Soviet Republics) or Soviet Union
was formed. The former Tsarist Empire was substituted by a federal country made up
by several European and Asian republics. Actually, all the power was concentrated in
the hands of the Communist Party. -
The crash
On 24 October 1929 (the “Black Thursday”), the New York Stock Exchange
plummeted as the investors panicked and try to sell their stocks. The “Wall Street”
collapse triggered the economic crisis of the 1930s. -
Solutions to the crisis
The economist John Maynard Keynes’ ideas became popular as the best method to
solve the economic problems in the 1930s.
Keynes proposed state intervention in the economy to stimulate investment,
employment and consumption. -
depresión in USA
This situation helped Hitler to establish its national-socialist (“nazi”) dictatorship in
Germany. Based upon racist ideas, Hitler was inspired in the fascist dictatorship
established by Mussolini in Italy. In 1936 a civil war broke out in Spain. Franco, a
dictator who tried to follow the example of Mussolini and Hitler, imposed a
dictatorship which would last almost forty years. Democracy went through tough times
in Europe. -
Fascism and Nazism
Before starting this point: Do you have any oral information about Franco’s
dictatorship? If it is the case, what is your opinion about that political regime?
Due to the economical, political and ideological crisis of the interwar period some
European states were governed by totalitarian right-wing dictatorships: fascism in Italy
(1922), nazism in Germany (1933) and Francoism in Spain (Civil War 1936-1939).
