Introduction

Looking back on history, we often find patterns. We see them just before terrible events. Authoritarianism, including fascism, was on the rise. It paved the way for leaders in many countries to command the obedience of whole populations. In some ways, their actions were like experiments. They saw what they could get away with. When nobody stopped them, they became bolder and more aggressive. This article details some of those experiments.

Italian East Africa

Mussolini founded the Italian National Fascist Party. He promoted the ideas of la razza and la stirpe (“the race” and “the lineage”). Italians were members of both. But outsiders and immigrants were not. His government argued that Italians needed colonies. They would provide national Spazio Vitale. This means “vital space.” This policy had deadly consequences for Africans in Libya and Ethiopia.

In the 1920s, Mussolini’s foreign policy was aggressive. First, he attacked the Greek island of Corfu. He also supported the brutal crackdown on anti-colonial resistance in Libya. His military leaders used chemical weapons. They forced starvation. They used concentration camps and mass resettlement of African Libyans. They did so to make space for Italian settlers. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia. It used similar tactics.

In 1938, Mussolini published a “Manifesto of Fascist Racism.” It declared a policy of discrimination against Africans, Arabs, and Jews. He said these groups were biologically different. They were to be excluded.

German Lebensraum

German imperialism was based on an idea of colonial growth. It was called Lebensraum. This means “living space”. Lebensraum was popular before and during Nazi rule. In the 1890s and 1900s, Germany expanded its colonies. It had colonies in South West Africa (modern- day Namibia). It also had colonies in the Pacific. The Germans wanted to provide wealth and “habitat” for German settlers. Between 1904 and 1908 the German military used concentration camps and slave labor in South West Africa.

Under Adolf Hitler, Lebensraum became clearly connected to race and antisemitism. The Nazis tried to define who belonged in the German “nation.” Hitler’s eugenic forced sterilization program began in 1933.¹ This was before World War II even began. Nazi doctors sterilized over 350,000 people.

In 1935, the Nazis passed the Nuremberg Laws. These laws defined who had “German” blood. They stripped citizenship from both Jews and Roma.

The Soviet Union

Josef Stalin ruled the Soviet Union. He ruled from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. Stalin used violence and propaganda to maintain power. However, he was not a fascist leader. Communist thinking was internationalist and anti-racist. It was committed to regarding all people (both men and women) as workers. But in practice, communism did not always match its ideas. In the 1930s, the Soviet Union was a place of intense violence and fear.

In 1931-32, the Soviets faced a poor harvest. It was made worse by Soviet economic policies. This led to famine. The government blamed the situation on kulaks. Kulaks were better-off peasants. It is estimated that between 3.3 million and 7.5 million people died in Ukraine during this famine. Another 2 million died in Kazakhstan.

Stalin and his supporters identified their enemies. They did not use race. They used politics. Stalin was very focused on getting rid of enemies. This resulted in the Great Purge of 1936-38. During this time, about one-third of the Communist Party’s three million members were killed. Another million were sent to prison.

Japan

In the 1930s, the Japanese increasingly came under the control of authoritarian governments. They were not really fascist. But, these governments were heavily influenced by military and industrial leaders. These leaders wanted Japan to take over territories in Asia. Japan had a problem. It had too few natural resources. They needed minerals, timber, and oil from abroad. Japan already had a few colonies. But leaders argued that Japan deserved to rule most of Asia.

In 1931, Japanese forces invaded Manchuria, in China. Five years later they conquered Inner Mongolia as well. A year later they pushed into northern China. Resistance was unnoticed at first. However, it grew rapidly. Japanese forces attacked the Chinese capital of Nanjing. They killed as many as 300,000 civilians.

Back in Japan, the government pushed down on any opposition. It became dangerous to question the government and military.

Conclusion

These authoritarian efforts in the 1920s and 1930s were different. But we can also see similarities. All of them embraced nationalism. They all justified violence against civilians. They also happened in a similar time period. This suggests that a global pattern was taking place. Events in one place could affect another. And indeed, rising instability, aggression, racism, and fear triggered the Second World War.

1 Eugenics is a set of beliefs. It holds that the human species can be improved through selective breeding. It is widely regarded as fake science. It is seen as an excuse for “scientific” racism.