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Unit 5 - Interwar Period

Unit overview

This unit carries on from the previous unit on the causes and effects of WWI to examine important events and world climate leading up to WWII. Students will participate in independent reading, note-taking, watching documentary, performing a simulation, drawing for understanding, developing a mind map, and writing an open-book test.

Enduring Understandings: How did the European Imperialism affect the World?

Hitler and Mussolini both came to power for very similar reasons using similar techniques. Here are some bulletpoints on why Hitler and Mussolini gained power and how they did it.

Mussolini

  • He forbid all political parties that were opposing his political ideology.

    • His party was the only existing one

  • Propaganda

    • Media

      • He owned the newspaper

      • He edited every published newspaper in Italy

    • used experience gained in WWI to increase support

    • Catholic church

      • made people believe he was a supporter in order to gain sympathy

      • Got married in the catholic church

    • Education

      • controlled education

      • what kids learned in school was decided by him

  • Power

    • had his own private army

      • very good military training

    • murdered to control

    • forced every Italian to be a member of the fascist party and carry around a card proving this

    • Daughter

      • Choses daughter’s husband

      • acts like the new “Royal Family”

    • invasion of Ethiopia

  • 'Helped' his people

    • improved the infrastructure

  • Personal qualities

    • excellent speaker and writer

    • Sympathy

      • seemed like a good man

Hitler

  • Propaganda

    • Education - mandatory to read his book in school

      • Mein Kampf

    • Posters, Film, news manipulation...

    • At one point, he gave five speeches a day

      • Hitler was a great speaker - very persuasive

      • good leadership and charisma

      • powerful speaker

  • Appealing to all generations

    • Hitler Youth

  • Communists

    • Hitler staged fights and did everything to make germans fear the communist, making them believe he could protect them

  • Failing of Weimar republic

    • people lost faith in their government

  • Hitler seemed powerful

    • good speaker

    • Support from influential and rich people

      • gained their support by taking advantage of their fear for the communists

    • Support from Veterans

      • out of jobs because of treaty of Versailles

    • Army

    • his own secret police

    • Traveling in helicopters/planes

  • Made other parties illegal

    • Social democrats and communist were illegal

  • Desperation and Hope

    • Germans were in depth after the great depression and the treaty of versailles sanctions

    • People were unemployed

    • Hitler assured he would help

  • Treaty of Versailles

    • left many germans angry

    • Hitler promised to overturn treaty of Versailles

  • Nationalism

    • After having lost WWI, germans wanted their country to be great again

  • Antisemitic views

    • blaming jews for everything

  • Manipulation of people’s thoughts

    • Saying he was married to Germany

      • support from women

  • Spread of fear

    • killing opponents of Nazi party

Strength

Analysing the rise to power of Hitler and Mussolini.

Explanation

My strength this unit was analysing, comparing and contrasting Hitler's and Mussolini's rise to power and how and why it happened.

Weakness

Understanding the outcomes of the treaty of versailles.

Explanation

Although I understood the main point about the treaty of Versailles, I had trouble remembering it's effects on every country.

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