The Rise of Fascism, Nazism, and Militarism before WWII

In our previous posts, we talked about the world economy's collapse under the weight of Black Thursday, leaving millions desperate and governments powerless. But history has a cruel pattern: where poverty and humiliation take root, extremism finds fertile ground. The 1930s produced dictators; they produced several, and almost simultaneously, on opposite ends of the globe. In Italy, a former journalist transformed street violence into state power. In Germany, a failed artist rewrote the rules of democracy until there were no rules left. In Spain, a civil war became the world's dress rehearsal for the catastrophe ahead. And in the Far East, an island nation decided that the only answer to economic desperation was conquest.

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The Rise of Fascism in Italy: Il Duce and the Blackshirts

Despite being one of the victors of World War I, Italy was dominated by massive disappointment and an economic crisis because it could not get what it wanted at the peace table. This negative atmosphere in the country mostly benefited one man and his ideology: Benito Mussolini, known as “Il Duce” (The Leader), and his Fascist Party.

Following the 1921 elections, the radical ideas of the Fascist Party began to spread rapidly among the masses. Taking advantage of this momentum, Mussolini organized the famous March on Rome in 1922 with the “Blackshirts”, a violent group of volunteer fascist militias. After seizing power that same year following this massive show of force, Mussolini's very first action was to ruthlessly put an end to all democratic practices in the country, establishing his absolute dictatorship.

Having completely silenced the opposition at home, Mussolini turned his eyes to the Mediterranean basin for his foreign policy. Calling the Mediterranean “Our Sea” (Mare Nostrum), just like in Ancient Rome, Il Duce began to pursue an aggressive and expansionist colonial policy aimed at resurrecting the glory of the ancient Roman Empire.

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The Rise of Nazism in Germany: From Weimar to Dictatorship

The political and economic chaos during the early years of the German Republic, established by the Weimar Constitution in 1919, incredibly accelerated the rise of right-wing movements and Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party). To increase its power on the streets and violently intimidate its political rivals, the Nazi Party created its own paramilitary forces known as the SA (Storm Detachment) and the SS (Protection Squadron).

Entering the German parliament for the first time in the 1924 elections, the Nazi Party made very clear and radical promises to a desperate public: tearing up the humiliating conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, fighting a relentless battle against communism, and asserting the absolute superiority of the German (“Aryan”) race to the world.

After completely seizing power in the 1933 elections, the Nazi Party used the heavy pressure of these armed forces to ban all other political parties, establishing an absolute Nazi dictatorship in the country. The regime wanted to control the present as well as the future. It went so far as to place special propagandists in party schools and youth organizations established in 1934 to indoctrinate the younger generations. The party established the ruthless secret state police known as the Gestapo to silence opposition and strictly control all public activities.

Germans were developing industry in underground bunkers, defying the strict restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. Generated by AI

Hitler's Foreign Policy: Tearing Up Versailles and “Lebensraum”

Having completely consolidated his dictatorship at home, Adolf Hitler turned his eyes outward. During this period, the German foreign policy shaped by the Nazis was built on three main, aggressive objectives that would drag the world into a new catastrophe:

• Breaking the Chains of Versailles: To completely break free from all the heavy conditions and restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, which strangled Germany militarily and economically and was seen as a massive humiliation by the public.
• One Nation, One State: To unite all ethnic Germans scattered across different regions of Europe (such as Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, etc.) under the roof of a single, massive state.
• Living Space (Lebensraum): This was the most dangerous principle of the regime. It aimed to conquer and annex the vast territories (especially in Eastern Europe) that the superior German (Aryan) race needed to live comfortably, multiply, and be agriculturally and industrially self-sufficient.

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The Spanish Civil War and the Franco Era: A Nation Divided

Another country affected by this totalitarian storm in Europe was Spain. The process, which began with the army seizing power in 1923, failed to solve the country’s socio-economic problems and pushed social polarization to its peak. This growing crisis dragged the nation into a bloody civil war in 1936.

The Spanish Civil War was fundamentally fought between two irreconcilable factions: the left-leaning Republicans, who formed a government in Valencia, and the right-wing Nationalists, led by General Francisco Franco.

Franco in a meeting of his government, 1939

This war remained solely an internal Spanish issue; it practically turned into an international rehearsal for the approaching World War II. While the Republicans received ideological support from France and military backing from the USSR, General Franco's Nationalist forces received massive weapons and air power support from the Nazi regime in Germany and the Fascist regime in Italy.

This bloody civil war, which lasted for three years and left the country in ruins, ended in 1939 when Franco's forces captured the capital, Madrid. Emerging victorious and seizing absolute power, Franco made a highly cunning move, even though he had come to power with the help of Germany and Italy. Knowing that his country could not survive another devastation, he did not enter Spain into World War II. This strategy of neutrality prevented him from being overthrown like Hitler and Mussolini, and Franco ruled Spain with an iron fist until his death in 1975.

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The Rise of Militarism in Japan: From Washington to the Great Depression

While totalitarian regimes were gaining power in Europe, a different kind of storm was brewing in the Far East. Japan’s aggressive and expansionist policy in Asia from the 1920s onwards drew massive backlash from Western powers (especially the US and Britain) who wanted to protect their interests in the region.

To halt this escalation, the Washington Naval Conference was held in 1922. The primary goal of the Western powers at this conference was to impose strict limits on Japan's rapidly growing naval forces, thereby preventing a potential attack on China.

However, these diplomatic efforts did not last long. The 1929 Great Depression struck Japan, a nation desperate for raw materials and new markets. The desperation caused by the economic crisis incredibly increased the military's power in politics. Seeing the conquest of new territories as the only way out of the crisis, Japan accelerated its expansionist policies and began to base its entire state policy heavily on military power (militarism). This shift would inevitably turn the Pacific into one of the bloodiest theatres of World War II.

The stage was set. The players were in position. Italy was dreaming of a new Roman Empire, Germany was rearming in the shadows, Spain had just emerged from a bloody rehearsal, and Japan was eyeing the vast territories of the Pacific. The world had seen the warning signs and ignored every single one of them.

In the next chapter, we arrive at the moment history had been building toward for two decades: World War II.

See you in the next part.

Japan's Meiji Restoration and the Birth of a Modern Empire

In our previous chapters, we examined how European powers redrew the maps of the Middle East and how the Soviet Union transformed Central Asia. Now, we turn our gaze to the Far East to an isolated island nation that defied the fate of colonization and instead became a formidable global power.

For over two centuries, Japan had locked its doors to the outside world. But in the late 19th century, the arrival of foreign warships forced a dramatic awakening. This sudden shock triggered the Meiji Restoration, one of the most astonishingly rapid modernizations in human history. How did a feudal society of samurai and shoguns transform into an industrialized, modern empire in just a few decades?

Portrait of Emperor Meiji in 1880

The year 1867 marked the beginning of a special 45-year reign under Emperor Mutsuhito, known in history as the Meiji Period. Unlike his isolationist predecessors (the Shoguns), the young emperor realized a harsh truth. He understood that if Japan did not open its doors to the West and implement radical reforms, it would inevitably become a colony of imperialist powers, just like many other Asian nations.

Rejecting this dark fate, Emperor Mutsuhito initiated a massive and unprecedented transformation to modernize his country. The term “Meiji,” which translates to “Enlightened Rule,” became the ultimate symbol of how an isolated island nation rapidly evolved into a formidable global power.

Emperor Meiji travels from Kyoto to Tokyo, late 1868.

The Charter Oath and the Collapse of the Traditional Order

Lasting from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912, this era saw Japan rapidly modernize and rise to a powerful status on the world stage. Radical changes were announced by issuing the historic “Charter Oath” (Five-Article Oath) in 1868, a declaration that would alter the destiny of the nation forever.

With this oath, the entire structure of the state was redesigned:

• The centuries-old feudal land system (the Shogunate domains) was completely abolished.
• A new, modern national school system modelled after Western standards was established.
• A Western-style cabinet system was adopted in the government.
• Taking a massive step towards the rule of law, the Meiji Constitution was enacted, and a national parliament was created.

A Japanese print depicting the arrival of Perry's fleet (1854)

Samurai Resistance

However, such a massive and radical westernization process was not painless. These reforms were initially met with fierce anger and armed rebellion from segments of the public and, most notably, the Samurai, the traditional aristocratic warrior class, who had stood at the top of society for centuries. Stripped of their stipends and their exclusive right to carry swords, the Samurai revolted to protect their ancient traditions. Despite this fierce resistance, the Meiji government maintained a decisive, uncompromising stance. Facing a newly formed, modern-equipped conscript army, the traditional resistance was crushed, and the reforms were successfully implemented.

The Meiji Restoration was literally a total mobilization for national development. The incredible speed and scale of this miraculous transformation can be best understood through these concrete steps:

Industrial and Infrastructure Revolution: While the construction of the first railway began in 1870, this network was built at an astonishing pace, reaching thousands of kilometres in length by 1890. Furthermore, in the critical 30-year period between 1868 and 1898, exactly 2,190 new factories were established, turning the country into an industrial giant.

Administrative and Political Transformation: In 1871, the feudal domain system ruled by the Daimyo was officially abolished, and the country was reorganized in a modern administrative manner. In 1889, a new constitution was proclaimed, carefully modelled after the German state structure and the French legal system. During this process, a national parliament (Diet), political parties, and an advisory council were created.

Education and Society: The strict, centuries-old "caste" (class) system was abolished to ensure social equality. Major reforms were carried out in the land and tax systems, and the country's first daily newspaper was published in 1871. As one of the most critical steps, a law passed in 1872 made primary education compulsory for all children.

A Modern Military: The swords of the Samurai were replaced by modern weaponry. With the conscription law passed in 1873, a professional national army was established up to Western military standards.

Allegory of the New fighting the Old, in early Japan Meiji, around 1870

Culture, Religion, and a New Capital

While Japan absorbed Western technology, it took strict measures to preserve its soul. Shintoism, the ancient and national faith of the Japanese, was promoted as the state religion, while foreign-influenced Buddhism was actively suppressed. The heart of the country, along with the imperial palace, was moved from Kyoto to its new home, Tokyo.

Daily life also experienced a massive transformation. The traditional calendar was abandoned in favour of the Gregorian calendar, and the dress code for government officials was completely redesigned according to Western styles. To support the booming economy, a modern banking system, mirroring those in Europe, was rapidly developed.

The Tokyo Koishikawa Arsenal was established in 1871.

The New Superpower of the Far East

Having modernized its conscript army, Japan sent its officers to Western military and naval academies for elite training. However, this rapid industrialization brought a massive crisis: Japan was an island nation, severely lacking in raw materials. To feed its factories and sustain its growth, it had to adopt an expansionist (imperialist) policy towards the Asian mainland.

·      Setting its sights on Chinese-ruled Korea, Japan achieved a decisive victory in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). However, under heavy political pressure from Western powers and Russia, Japan was forced to return some of the territories it had won. This diplomatic humiliation sparked deep outrage in Japan.

The time for reckoning came soon enough. The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) ended with a result that shocked the entire world. The modern Japanese army and navy utterly decimated the Russian Empire, a massive European power. Following this monumental victory, Japan officially annexed Korea. It had emerged not just as an Asian power, but as a new, terrifying global superpower.

In the next part of our series, we are going to search the “Great Depression of 1929” the economic collapse that shook the entire world to its foundations and changed the course of history forever.