🔎 Introduction
Totalitarianism=central role in collapse G peace in late 1930s.
Authoritarian regimes (Germany, Italy, and Japan) undermined diplomacy, pursued expansionist policies, & dismantled fragile internat°nal order created after WWI.
I. Totalitarianism Led to Collapse Peace
A/ ⚔️ Militarism & Expansion
- Germany (Hitler):
- Rearmament
- Remilitarization of the Rhineland (1936)
- Anschluss with Austria (1938)
- Annexation of Sudetenland & Czechoslovakia (1938–1939)
- Italy (Mussolini):
- Invasion of Ethiopia (1935) → Violation of League of Nations’ principles
- Japan (Military Rule):
- Invasion of Manchuria (1931)
- War with China (1937)
- Goal: Dominate East Asia
B/ 📢 Propaganda & Suppression of Dissent
- Control of media, education, and civil life
- Germany:
- Nazi propaganda → Aryan superiority & Lebensraum
- Italy & Japan:
- Conquest framed as return to glory or anti-imperialist liberation
- Result: No domestic opposition, full support for aggression
C/ 🏛️ Rejection of International Institutions
- Germany leaves League of Nations (1933)
- Japan leaves League after Manchuria condemnation (1933)
- Italy faces no real sanctions after Ethiopia → League = weak
- 👉 actions undermined diplomacy & collective peacekeeping
II. 🌍 Responsibility of European Democracies
A/ 🤝 Appeasement
- Fear of war → democratic powers (Britain & France) chose appeasement
- Munich Agreement (1938): Gave Sudetenland to Hitler
- 👉 Result: Encouraged more aggression from dictators
B/ ❌ Weakness of the League of Nations
- No army, no enforcement power
- Unable to stop invasions → ineffective in preventing war
C/ 📉 Economic Instability & WWI Legacy
- Great Depression → Rise of extremism
- Germany:
- Hyperinflation, mass unemployment (6+ million jobless)
- Public despair → support for NSDAP
- 1933: Hitler becomes Chancellor, then consolidates power
🧩 Conclusion
While totalitarianism drove aggressive expansion and broke the peace, its effects were amplified by:
- appeasement policy of democracies
- weakness of the League of Nations
- eco& pol instability (bc WWI & Great Depress°)
