18 THE SLIDE TO WAR 1918–
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
M
ed
it
er
r an
ea n
S e a
B
a
l
t
i
c
S
e
a
NorthSea
A
d
r
ia
t
ic(^)
S
e
a
Rhi
ne
Elb
e
Danube
Sardinia
Corsica
ALBANIA
EAST
PRUSSIA
LITHUANIA
LATVIA
ESTONIA
DENMARK
NETHERLANDS
BELGIUM
LUXEMBOURG
SAAR
IRELAND
UNITED
KINGDOM
BULGARIA
CZEC
HOS
LOV
AK
IA
N
O
R
W
A
Y
AUSTRIA
ROMANIA
POLAND
HUNGARY
P
O
R
T
U
G
A
L
GERMANY
GREECE
I
T
A
L
Y
SWITZ
ERLAND
S P
A I N
FRANCE
TU
RK
EY
Bl
ack
Sea
U S S
R Y U G O S L A V I A
F
I
N
L
A
N
D
S
W
E
D
E
N
Paris
Toledo
London
Milan
Geneva
Venice
Genoa
Frankfurt
Montpellier
Cambridge
Toulouse
Rome
Avignon
Naples
Lisbon Lérida
Le Havre
Lille Brussels
Riga
Wilno
Tallinn
Helsinki
Bremen
Hamburg
Copenhagen
Orléans
Angers
Bilbao
Liverpool
Manchester
Dublin
Belfast Edinburgh
Krakow
Warsaw
Danzig
free port
Wagrowiec
Stockholm
Oslo
Madrid
Barcelona
Pamplona
Tarazona
Marseille
Pisa Bucharest
Sofia
Tirana
Belgrade
Budapest
Athens
Oxford
Birmingham
ANDORRA
89%
60% 63%
61%
73%
▽ The March on Rome
With the threat of civil war looming
in Italy, Benito Mussolini and his
Fascist Blackshirts marched on
Rome October 28–29, 1922,
leading to Mussolini’s appointment
as prime minister.
1933 Engelbert
Dollfuss establishes an
authoritarian government.
1922 Mussolini
leads the March
on Rome.
1931 A republic is
set up in Spain, but
is beset by strikes,
demonstrations,
and uprisings.
1934 King
Alexander of
Yugoslavia is
assassinated in
Marseille by a
Croat Nationalist.
1934 Riots and a general
strike break out
after accusations of
government corruption.
1932 Oswald Mosley
sets up the Fascist
Blackshirt movement.
1933 The Nazis
come to power and
crush all opposition.
ITALY AND THE RISE OF FASCISM 1922–
Although Italy had been on the winning side of
World War I, it emerged from the war dissatisfied
with its meager territorial gains at Austria’s
expense in the north. This dissatisfaction, along
with a fear of the revolutionary left, encouraged
the growth of Fascism in the country. In October
1922 Benito Mussolini was made prime minister,
establishing one-party rule and an authoritarian
state that pursued an aggressive foreign policy
designed to increase Italy’s power.
2
GERMANY AND AUSTRIA 1929–
Germany emerged from World War I defeated,
divided, and demoralized. Its democratic Weimar
government lacked popular support, and was
debilitated by the financial crisis after 1929. The
far-right Nazi party under Adolf Hitler pledged
national renewal, taking power in January 1933
and establishing a one-party totalitarian state.
The newly formed Austria was similarly weak,
becoming an authoritarian state in 1933 before
Nazi Germany annexed it in March 1938.
4
ECONOMIC DOWNTURN 1929–
The New York Stock Exchange crash (see box,
right) led to an international financial crisis that
crippled the economies of Europe. International
economic collaboration broke down and was
replaced by insular economic nationalism. This
weakened some already fragile democratic
governments, with many countries establishing
Fascist or other dictatorial governments.
Nationalist groups also gained popularity in
democracies such as the Netherlands and France.
5
POLAND AND THE BALTICS 1926–
Caught between the new Communist state of the
USSR and, after 1933, the rising power of Hitler’s
Germany, Poland and the Baltic states struggled
to assert their independence and keep their
democracies alive. With no democratic heritage,
all eventually became dictatorships. To the
north in Finland, a Nationalist movement,
Lapua, attempted a coup d’état in 1932.
3
Poland and Baltic states
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 1931–
In Spain, the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera,
which had begun in 1923, was replaced in 1931 by
a republic that failed to gain widespread support.
A brutal civil war in 1936–1939 led to the victory
of the proto-Fascist Nationalists under General
Franco. Portugal emerged from its limited role in
World War I with a weak republican government,
but by 1932 it had embraced the conservative and
authoritarian ideologies of Antonio de Salazar,
who became prime minister with almost
dictatorial powers.
6
1915 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940
2
3
4
5
6
1
TIMELINE
DIVIDED EUROPE
The interwar years saw the failure of democracy in most European
nations as both Fascism and Communism gained ground. Strong, often
dictatorial leaders took control of their countries.
KEY
Fascist regime
Communist regime
Other dictatorship
Right-wing activity
Strikes and riots during the 1930s
Over 20 percent unemployment by 1932
Percentage decrease in industrial output
from 1929 to 1932
US_018-019_Europe_Dictators.indd 18 22/03/19 2:45 PM