Timeline of the Rise of Dictators
The 20-year period between World War 1 and World War 2 is known as the interwar era. This period, from 1919-1939, saw the rise of militarism and dictatorships across the globe.
Included here are some of the major events from 1932-1939 that helped bring about these authoritarian governments in Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, and Japan. The titles of the events are color-coded by country. You can find Part 1, from 1919-1932 here.
The Reichstag Fire
The Reichstag building, which housed the German parliament, was purposefully set on fire on February 27, 1933. This pivotal event led to the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany.
Hitler had just been named Chancellor of Germany after the Nazi Party gained seats in the Reichstag. Hitler blamed the fire on communist agitators and had communist delegates to the Reichstag arrested.
With their arrests, the Nazis gained a majority after elections on March 5th. This gave them a pretext to pass the Enabling Act. This allowed Hitler to bypass any checks on his power. It essentially transformed the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party totalitarian dictatorship.
Hitler began to pass laws that suppressed political opposition, including the Communist Party and other left-wing groups, as well as the trade unions, the press, and civil rights. With the Enabling Act, Hitler was able to consolidate his power and establish a one-party dictatorship in Germany.
Who actually set the fire remains a topic of debate. While the Nazis blamed communists, historians believe that the arson was planned and ordered by the Nazis themselves as a “false flag” event.
The Holodomor
The Holodomor was a man-made famine that occurred in Soviet-controlled Ukraine from 1932 to 1933. The famine was caused by Joseph Stalin’s collectivization policies and resulted in millions of deaths.
The Soviet government’s collectivization involved the forced relocation of farmers into collective farms and the seizure of their land. This disrupted food production in Ukraine and led to a severe food shortage.
At the same time, the Soviet government forced the export of most grain from Ukraine to urban areas in the Soviet Union. As a result, millions of Ukrainians died of starvation.
The exact number of deaths from the Holodomor is not known, but it is estimated to be between 2.5-7.5 million people. The famine was particularly devastating for children, elderly, and the rural population.
The Soviet government denied that there was a famine and blamed the deaths on natural causes such as drought. It is considered a tragic and significant event in the history of Ukraine and the Soviet Union and a reminder of the human cost of totalitarian regimes.
Italy Invades Ethiopia
In October 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia as part of Benito Mussolini’s colonial expansion effort. Ethiopia was one of the few independent African nations and the only one that had never been colonized by a European power.
Mussolini’s fascist regime saw the conquest of Ethiopia as an opportunity to expand Italy’s empire and to assert its power on the international stage. Mussolini sought to exploit Ethiopia’s resources and to use it as a source of raw materials for Italy’s growing war machine. It also used the invasion to distract the public from the country’s economic problems.
Outmatched by the Italian army, Ethiopia was defeated and annexed into the Italian Empire. Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie appealed to the League of Nations for help, saying, “It is us today. It will be you tomorrow.”
The League of Nations condemned the invasion but proved too weak to do anything more. Its inaction emboldened other countries seeking to expand their empires.
Nuremberg Laws Passed
The Nuremberg Laws were a set of racial laws passed by Germany’s Nazi government in in 1935.
The Nuremberg Laws consisted of two main pieces of legislation: the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor.
The Reich Citizenship Law defined who was considered a citizen of Germany and stripped Jews of their citizenship.
The second piece of legislation was the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. This law made it illegal for Jews to marry or even to have relations with Germans.
The Nuremberg Laws had a profound impact on Jewish people in Germany. They were the first step in the legal discrimination and persecution of Jews by the Nazi government. Jewish people were denied many basic rights and subject to increasing discrimination and violence. The laws also served as a precedent for further legislation that would come in the following years and the eventual Holocaust.
Italy Intervenes in the Spanish Civil War
In 1936, Italy intervened in the Spanish Civil War to support General Francisco Franco and his Nationalist forces. The conflict was between the left-wing Republican government and the right-wing Nationalist forces.
The Italian government, under the rule of Benito Mussolini and his fascist regime, saw an opportunity to spread their ideology and gain influence in the region by supporting Franco. It was also seen as an opportunity for fascist Italy to test its military and gain experience before later conflicts.
Mussolini sent tens of thousands of Italian soldiers to fight on the side of Franco’s Nationalists and provided them with modern weaponry and air support.
The Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War helped tip the balance in favor of Franco’s Nationalists and played a key role in their eventual victory in the Spanish Civil War.
The Great Purge
In 1936, Joseph Stalin was losing support in the Soviet Union. His Five Year Plan and collectivization upset many and rivals began calling for his removal. In response, Stalin began the Great Purge, a campaign of political repression against his perceived enemies.
The purpose was to eliminate any threats to Stalin’s power. Stalin ordered the arrest, imprisonment, and execution of millions of people, including government officials, military officers, Communist Party members, and ordinary citizens.
Many people were falsely accused of being “enemies of the people” and were subjected to brutal interrogations, torture, and execution without trial.
Specific groups, such as the intelligentsia and kulaks (wealthy peasants) were targeted along with ethnic minorities. Stalin also purged the Red Army, executing or imprisoning many of its top officers.
The Great Purge had a profound impact on Soviet society, destroying the lives of millions and leaving the country in a state of fear and uncertainty. The repression and violence also had a negative impact on the economy and the military, weakening the Soviet Union’s ability to defend itself. However, the Great Purge solidified Stalin’s personal power as the country’s dictator.
The Sino-Japanese War & Nanjing Massacre
Japan occupied Manchuria since 1931 and created a new puppet state called Manchukuo. Following this, China fought Japan in several small “incidents”. This escalated into war in 1937 after the Marco Polo Bridge incident. A Japanese soldier went missing outside Beijing and shots were fired by both Chinese and Japanese armies.
The Chinese Nationalist government, led by Chiang Kai-shek, and the Communists, led by Mao Zedong, both fought against the Imperial Japanese Army. The Japanese scored several major victories, capturing Beijing, Shanghai, and the capital of Nanjing in 1937.
It was there that Japanese soldiers led a mass slaughter of Chinese civilians in an event known as the Nanjing Massacre. It is estimated that 200,000-300,000 people were killed during the 6-week massacre.
Japanese soldiers engaged in widespread rape, looting, and numerous acts of atrocity, including mass executions. The Nanjing Massacre was one of the most egregious war crimes in modern history and has had a profound impact on Japanese-Chinese relations that has lasted until this day.
The Munich Conference & Kristallnacht
Two events in Fall 1938 had a massive impact on Nazi Germany’s global ambitions.
First was September’s Munich Conference, during which the leaders of Germany, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom met. The topic of discussion was the future of Czechoslovakia. Hitler was demanding “lebensraum” or living space ethnic Germans.
France and Britain were intent on avoiding war and agreed to appease Hitler and allow him to annex the Sudetenland, despite an earlier agreement that it was part of Czechoslovakia. This only emboldened Hitler to continue his expansionist policies.
In November, the Nazis began a pogrom (violent riot) against Jews known as Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass”. It involved the destruction of Jewish businesses, synagogues, and homes, as well as the arrest and imprisonment of thousands of Jewish people.
Kristallnacht was a turning point in the persecution of Jews in Germany. It marked the beginning of a more aggressive policy of racist discrimination and violence against them. The pogrom was condemned internationally, but the German government refused to take responsibility and blamed the Jewish community for the violence. Kristallnacht escalated the persecution of Jews in Germany and ultimately led to the Holocaust.
