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Life in Authoritarian States - Coggle Diagram
Life in Authoritarian States
Fascist Italy
Women
The task of young girls was to get married and have children – lots of them. In 1927, Mussolini launched his Battle for Births.
Women were encouraged to have children and the more children brought better tax privileges
Large families got better tax benefits but bachelors were hit by high taxation.Families were given a target of 5 children. Mothers who produced more were warmly received by the Fascist government.
Mussolini wanted Italy to have a population of 60 million by 1950. In 1920, it stood at 37 million so his target was a tall order. However, the Battle for Births was a failure.
Economics
The workers were promised an eight hour day while an enquiry into the profits made by the industrialists during World War One was dropped. The rich benefited from a reduction in death duties – now, under Mussolini, more of what someone had earned during their lifetime, went to their family and not the government.
Biennio Russo 1919-1921
Battle for Grain
corporatism
The Battle for Land
Battle for the Lira began when the value of the Italian currency dropped. To restore its value abroad (and thus help stop internal price rises), and to increase Italian prestige, the lire was re-valued. This allowed Italy to continue importing coal and iron for armaments and shipbuilding.
By 1939, the IRI had become a massive state company, controlling most of the iron and steel industries, merchant shipping, the electrical industry and even the telephone system
Culture
In 1927, a secret police force was set up called the OVRA and it was lead by Arturo Bocchini. The death penalty was reintroduced for “serious political offences”.
All Italians were expected to obey Mussolini and his Fascist Party. Authority was enforced by the use of the Blackshirts – the nickname for the Fasci di Combattimenti.
Though the population grew as people were living longer due to better medical care, the birth rate actually went down between 1927 and 1934.
Mussolini was extremely charismatic and utilized a lot of speech propoganda
Advocating for Revolutionary Nationalism
Children
To get support from the Roman Catholic Church, religious education was made compulsory in all elementary schools.
the children were the Fascists of the future and Mussolini took a keen interest in the state’s education system and the youth organisations that existed in Italy.
Boys were expected to grow into fierce soldiers who would fight with glory for Italy
girls were expected to be good mothers who would provide Italy with a population that a great power was expected to have.
Children were taught at school, that the great days of modern Italy started in 1922 with the March on Rome. Children were taught that Mussolini was the only man who could lead Italy back to greatness. Children were taught to call him “Il Duce”
Children were taught to obey those in charge.
Boys took part in semi-military exercises while members of the Balilla. They marched and used imitation guns. Mussolini had once said “I am preparing the young to a fight for life, but also for the nation.”
Nazi Germany
Women
The Nazis ideal woman was expected to stay at home, look after the family, and produce children in order to secure the future of the Aryan race.
Hitler believed women’s lives should revolve round the three 'Ks': Kinder (children), Kuche (kitchen), Kirche (church)
A high birth rate was very important to Hitler and he tried to achieve this by: introducing the Law for Encouragement of marriage (giving newlywed couples a loan of 1,000 marks, and allowing them to keep 250 marks for each child they had), giving the Mother's Cross awards to women who had large number of children, allowing women to volunteer to have a baby for an Aryan member of the SS
Women were strongly discouraged from working
Women were expected to emulate traditional German peasant fashions
Culture
Control Over the Police Force: The SS (Loyal to Hitler), Gestapo (Nazi Secret police force, monitoring Germans for signs of opposition), SD (gathered intelligence and responsible for security)
Control Over the Legal System: Judges swore loyalty to Hilter, all lawyers had to join the Nazi Layers' Association
The Nazis attempted to control the churches, however they were forced to return control of the Church to the old Protestant leadership, in return for a promise the Church would stay out of politics.
the Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda, headed by Dr Joseph Goebbels. It aimed to brainwash people into obeying the Nazis and idolising Hitler. Its methods included: Censorship of the press, control of radio broadcasts, mass rallies, use of sports events, the arts.
The Nazis gain connections and control over big business.
Rules over small businesses tighted
Farmers Benefitted under the Nazis. The Hereditary Farm Law of 1933 prevented farms from being repossessed from their owners, which gave farming families greater security. By 1937, agricultural prices had increased by 20 per cent and agricultural wages rose more quickly than those in industry.
Those working in the rearmament industries aside, living standards did not really improve for German workers under the Nazis. From 1933 to 1939 wages fell, the number of hours worked rose by 15 per cent, serious accidents in factories increased and workers could be blacklisted by employers if they attempted to question their working conditions.
The Nazis’ racial philosophy taught that Aryans were the master race and that some races were ‘untermensch’ (sub-human). Many Nazi scientists at this time believed in eugenics, the idea that people with disabilities or social problems were degenerates whose genes needed to be eliminated from the human bloodline. The Nazis pursued eugenics policies vigorously.
Policies to keep the Aryan race pure: sterilisation, euthanasia, concentration camps
1935 Nuremberg Laws: stripped Jewish people of German citizenship, outlawed marriage and sexual relationships between Jews and Germans, took away all civil and political rights from Jews.
Economics
Rearmament was responsible for the bulk of economic growth between 1933-1938, creating millions of jobs
National Labour Service (NLS) meant all round men spent six months in the NLS and were then conscripted into the Army
Hitler began a huge program of public works, which included building hospitals, schools, and public buildings. This program created work for 80,000 men.
May 2, 1933: Trade Unions were banned and German worker were expected to join the new German Labour Front (DAF). This policy eliminated the potential for opposition of large groups in the labour force.
Hitler wanted Germany to become an autarky - to produce everything that it needed.
Children
The Hitler Youth: Its aim was to prepare German Boys to be future soldiers. Boys wore military style uniforms. Activities centered on physical exercise and rifle practice, as well as political indoctrination
The League of German Maidens: Its aim was to prepare German girls for future motherhood. Girls wore a uniform of a blue skirt, white blouse, and heavy marching shoes
Nazi control of the young through education: The curriculum was altered to reflect Nazi ideology and priorities. History-lessons included a course on the rise of the Nazi Party. Biology-lessons were used to teach Nazi racial theories of evolution in eugenics. Race study and ideology-this became a new subject, dealing with the Aryan ideas and anti-Semitism. Physical Education-German schoolchildren had five one-hour sports lessons every week. Chemistry and Mathematics-were downgraded in importance
Again, the aim was to brainwash children so that they would grow up accepting Nazi ideas without question.