Monday, March 17, 2014 (Vanessa)

Week Eleven, Day 1
The Rise of Dictators

• Before World War I, countries had been split into two main groups or factions. A strong movement was underway to bring facism. Facism was a way of organizing a society, in which a government ruled by a dictator controlled the lives of the people, and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government; very harsh control or authority (taken from Merriam Webster Dictionary)
• In a simpler way, facism was an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
• Governments became dictatorships. They run the country like military army. They were walking around like generals. 
• New alliances were forming between democracies and dictatorships.
• Main features of a democracy: everybody can vote and help choose a government; voters have a choice between parties; government power and terms are limited; everybody, including the government, must obey the laws of the land; individual and corporate freedoms (freedoms of speech, assembly, religion, etc.) were all protected by law.
• Communist dictatorships were in place (USSR) for the first time. The new China government, Kuo Ming Tang, was dealing with both a Japanese incursion and the onslaught of internal Communist undermining.
• Kuo Ming Tang was under two attacks: internally and externally, from Japanese and Communists.
• Taiwan refused to accept leaderships.
• The three case studies: USSR-Communist Dictatorship (page 118), ITALY-Facist Dictatorship (page 119), GERMANY-Socialist Dictatorship (pages 120-121).

Notes from Ashura's presentation

• Treaty of Versailles was related to the dictators.
• Germany blamed the treaty for making them poor. Germany lost a lot, including pride, money, and land. They were the victims of the Nazis.
• Hitler ignored the constitution and treaty. He actually wanted to go with his own ways.
• The treaty said that after Germany signed, Germany had to pay for the reparations and everything that cost.
• Germany was not satisfied with the treaty, because they think it was not fair. Hitler appeared on the scene, but did not want to follow the treaty's laws.
• The ideas of communism and fascism caused them to build their own ways.
• When the Germans invade Poland, the Japanese invaded Europe and China. 
• The Japanese and Germans made a decision. 
• World War II happened after all the aggressive actions, so Germany and Japanese were fighting with each other in an argument to know who was better. 
• There were a lot of appointments, and there was also the Stock Market crash. 
• Hitler went to jail, and wrote a book called "My Struggles", and he was released. Then, he came back to form the Nazis.
• Since a lot of people joined the Nazis, Hitler became arrogant and started to ignore the treaty's laws.
• A lot of countries mentioned about the leadership, but Germany actually used the idea of fascism and communism to lead their own country.