Dictators
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, a soviet communist leader, joined the League of Nations in attempt to gain international acceptance for the Soviet Union. His attempt to increase an agreement with Great Britain and France was unsuccessful, so he joined a nonaggression pact with Germany. The pact was to keep Russia out of World War II. During the war, he rose from premier to marshal to generalissimo. After the war, Stalin used his increased power to consolidate his control over the Soviet Union. Under his rule, the Soviet Union had become a powerful force in Eastern Europe, and Western Europe took notice. In 1956, Soviet leaders denounced Stalin as a political tyrant.
Benito Mussolini was the founder of Italian dictatorship and he became premier and dictator of Italy. He sought to restore his nation to its classical Roman greatness by allying himself with Adolf Hitler in World War II, but he lead his people to disaster. In April 1939, Mussolini sent his armies to Albania, but stayed out of World War II, until June 1940, when the fall of France was in the offspring and Germany seemed unstoppable. That is when they entered World War II. Hitler welcomed Mussolini, but quickly had reason to regret the alliance, as Mussolini's military forces suffered many disasters in Greece and North Africa. By the middle of the war, the popular tide had turned against their dictator (Mussolini), and the leaders of his own party abandoned him. King Victor ordered Mussolini's arrest, but Hitler rescued him. Allied forces were closing in on Mussolini. He and his mistress were captured at Lake Como and later, their bodies were hung in a public square in Milan.
Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945. He established nazism, instituted policies of racial supremacy and genocide, and plunged the world into World War II. He rose to power in the National Socialist German Workers Party. He transformed this party into the Nazi Party. During this time, Germany was in a depression and were vulnerable and very weak. They needed a leader and Hitler said he would help them. Hitler started by excluding Jews from public sightings, then placed Jews in concentration camps. The Jews suffered, then later were murdered. In March 1938, Hitler invaded and annexed Austria, then claimed the Sudetenland, the western part of Czechoslovakia. He attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, which was the start of World War II. By 1941, Germany occupied much of Europe and North Africa. The course of the war turned following an invasion of Russia and the U.S. entry into battle. On April 29, 1945, as American, British, and French forces closed in from the west and the Russian army approached from the east, Hitler married his long-time mistress. The next day, the couple committed suicide.
Evin S.