Question

State any four factors that led to the rise of dictatorships in Germany and Italy.

Answer 1

 The four factors that led to the dictatorships in Germany and Italy were:
(i) Dissatisfaction of the Peace Treaties: Italy joined the First World War on the side of the allies. Mussolini and for that matter whole of the Italy as dissatisfied with the compensation granted to Italy after the war. Similarly German felt discriminated by the Treaty of Versailles. A large chunk of it occupied and own territories were taken away and share by other European powers. Military sanction were imposed. Adolf Hitler blamed the democratic government for this.
(ii) Economic Factors: Economic conditions in Italy after the war was very bad, war debts and budget deficit cause lots of difficulty. The salaried employees, the farmers and the industrial workers felt the pinch post war inflation. Additionally heavy war penalties were imposed on Germany which made economic recovery impossible and resulted in high rate inflation and unemployment. Nazi ranks swelled by unemployed youth.
(iii) Inefficient and Corrupt Democratic Government: The post war democratic Governments were weak. They could not respond properly to the needs and aspirations of the people. Short lived coalition governments in Italy were unable to tackle the problem faced by the people in their day to day life. Similar was the political scenario in Germany where Weimar republic failed miserably in to tackle economic downfall and ensuing riots.
(iv) Rise of Totalitarian Ideology: In Italy their rose a strong feeling for a strong leader with absolute powers to restore peace and economic stability in Germahy highlighting the threat of a communist takeover. Hitler was successful in convincing the people that only Nazism could provide a stable economically viable alternative.