CHAPTER REVIEW

Interactive activity

Short answer questions

1. Explain each of the ideologies in the political spectrum – communism, fascism and Nazism.
2. What were the ideologies of socialism and communism and how were they adopted by Vladimir Lenin in Russia?
3. What was the ideology of fascism and how was it adopted by Benito Mussolini in Italy?
4. What was the ideology of Nazism and how was it adopted by Adolf Hitler in Germany?

Analyse the historian’s views

British historian Alan Bullock wrote an influential biography of Adolf Hitler in 1952 called Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, published a mere seven years after the Nazi regime was defeated. In the following extract, Bullock explains why Hitler won so many votes from the common people.

The foundation of Hitler’s success was his energy and ability as a political leader … Hitler’s genius as a politician lay in his unequalled grasp of what could be done by propaganda and his flair for seeing how to do it. He had to learn in a hard school, on his feet night after night, arguing his case in every kind of hall, from the smoke-filled back room of a beer-cellar to the huge auditorium of the Zirkus Krone; often, in the early days, in the face of opposition, indifference or amused contempt; learning to hold his audiences, finding the sensitive spots on which to hammer. ‘He could play like a virtuoso on the well-tempered piano of lower middle-class hearts,’ says Dr Schacht.

Behind that virtuosity lay years of experience as an agitator and mob orator. Hitler came to know Germany and the German people at first hand as few of Germany’s other leaders ever had. By the time he came to power in 1933 there were few towns of any size in the Reich where he had not spoken. Here was one great advantage Hitler had over nearly all the politicians with whom he had to deal, his immense practical experience of politics, not in the Chancellery or the Reichstag but in the street, the level at which elections are won, the level at which any politician must be effective if he is to carry a mass vote with him. Alan Bullock, Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, Penguin, 1952, pp. 62–4

 

1. List three examples that Bullock uses to explain Hitler’s success.
2. According to Bullock, what advantage did Hitler have over nearly every other politician?
3. Using your knowledge from this chapter, explain the type of policies that Hitler spoke about.
4. Using this extract and your knowledge from this chapter, explain the strengths and weaknesses of Bullock’s point of view.

Extended-response question

Write a considered response to this statement: ‘The ideologies of fascism and Nazism can be more easily defined by what they opposed than by what they proposed.’

Use information from this chapter to form an argument that is supported with evidence.

• To answer this question you will need to be able to define both fascism and Nazism. Both have significant similarities such as a dominant leader.
• Make a list of what fascism and Nazism oppose, such as communism. What are some other examples?
• Make a list of what fascism and Nazism propose, such as strong nationalism. What are some other examples?
• Compare your two lists. Which is longer, or has the most powerful elements?
• What is your argument? Do you believe that these two ideologies can be best explained and understood by their negative beliefs?