Icons in the 20th Century

3. The Charisma Kids, 1930-1939

Inter-war European Fame• Benito Mussolini (188

3-1945) - Italian prime minister (1922-1943) and one of the first 20th century European fascist dictators. Il Duce

• Son of a blacksmith, journalist - poor boyhood. Turned out to be a unruly at school and moody at home. Intelligent, self-taught, articulate, and eloquent.

Inter-war European Fame

• Political journalist and public speaker first for left-wings and then right-wings.

• Amid the political, economic crisis following WWI, Mussolini formed a political party consisted of republicans, anarchists, disillusioned socialists and frustrated revolutionaries.

Inter-war European Fame

• Political rallies surrounded by supporters wearing black shirts and Mussolini’s superb oratory caught the imagination of Italian people.

• Fascist militias swept through various corners of Italy, humiliating trade unionists and destroying

Inter-war European Fame

offices of Socialist Party.• March on Rome (1922) -

after defeating the general strike, Mussolini threatened to seize the power at a rally in Naples, ‘Either the government is given to us, or we will seize it by marching on Rome.’

Inter-war European Fame

• Vittorio Emanuel III, king of Italy, gave in the fascist threat and appointed Mussolini as prime minister.

• Mussolini established law and order but outlawed opposition parties, trade unions and free press.

• Assassination of Giacomo Matteotti, the fiercest critic in the parliament

Inter-war European Fame

• Achievement - reinvigoration of divided and demoralized country; social reformation; coming to terms with the papacy.

• Imperial ambition - invasion to Ethiopia.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EctgTbiV4AI

Inter-war European Fame

• Mussolini found a new ally in Hitler. Pact of Steel and the Rome-Berlin Axis.

• ‘Reluctant’ partner in WWII, but invaded Greece through Albania and Soviet Union. Both ended up in disasters.

Inter-war European Fame

• The Allied invasion started in 43.• Mussollini was dismissed by the

Fascist Grand Council and then arrested.

• Rescued by German troops and a puppet government was established in Saló, northern Italy with Mussolini its nominal head.

• German defenses in Italy collapsed and Italian Communist partisans arrested Mussolini and executed him with his lover.

Inter-war European Fame

• Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) - leader of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party and the Chancellor (1933) and Führer (1934).

• Hitler lost his parents when young and received only modest education.

• Served as lance-corporal in WWI and earned Iron Crosses.

Inter-war European Fame

• Hitler joined German Workers (Nazi) Party and later became its leader.

• Putsch - failed, injured and arrested - the 1st chapter of Mein Kampf (his political autobiography)

• Ideas of Volk, anti-democracy and Führer.

• Hatred of Marxists, Socialists and Jews

Inter-war European Fame

• Hitler made an alliance with a nationalist, Alfred Hugenberg in 1930 and began a newspaper propaganda - national recognition.

• Steady rise of the Nazi Party and in the 1930 election it won 18% of the vote and Hitler 36.5% in the presidential election in 1932.

• In 1933 Hindenburg, the president, offered Hitler the chancellorship of Germany.

• Road to dictatorship - after the fire at Reichstag all civil liberty was suspended and violent campaign against communists began.

Inter-war European Fame

• In the 1933 election the Nazis polled 43.9% of the vote.

• The bill was passed to give Hitler full, absolute powers.

• In three months, all non-Nazi parties, organizations and labour unions ceased to exist.

• Hitler left domestic politics to his deputies and took initiative in foreign policies.

Inter-war European Fame

• Invasion into Rhailand in 1936• Pact of Steal 1936• Anschluss - annexation of Aust

ria in 1938• Invasion into Czechoslovakia i

n 1938• Non-aggression pact with the

Soviet Union in 1939• Invasion into Poland in 1939• Occupation of Norway, Denmar

k, Holland, Belgium in 1940

Inter-war European Fame• Armistice with France• Attack against the Sovi

et Union began in 1941• Pearl Harbour and the

US joined WWII• NEW ORDER in German

y• From expulsion to exter

mination of Jews, Roma, handicaps, homosexuals,

• 6 million Jews killed

Inter-war European Fame• Turning points - the defeats of

El-Almein and Stalingrad, the American landing on French North Africa.

• The Allied landing on Normandy, on June 6, 1944 - the beginning of the end

• April 28-9, 1945 Hitler married Eva Braun.

• April 30, he said farewell to Goebbels and shot himself. Braun took poison.

Inter-war American Fame• Johny Weismuller (1904-

1984) - American freestyle swimmer, who won 5 gold medals and set 67 world records. A famous motion picture actor, notably in the role of Tarzan, who was abandoned as an infant and reared by apes. He starred in 12 Tarzan films between 1932-1948.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJbveRjbzAk&feature=related

Inter-war American Fame

• Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945) - 32nd president of the USA and the only president elected four times to the office. Led the USA through the two of the greatest crises in the 20th century - Great Depression and WWII

Inter-war American Fame• His family was very affluent

and lived in unostentatious luxury dividing their time between New York and European resorts.

• Entered Harvard but spent most of time on extra-curricular activities and busy social engagements.

• He married his distant cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Inter-war American Fame• State senator at 29• Appointed assistant s

ecretary of the navy• In 1920 he was nomi

nated for the Democrat candidate for vice president but lost to Harding and Coolidge.

• In 1921 he was stricken with poliomylitis and completely paralyzed.

Inter-war American Fame

• In 1928 FDR elected to the governor for NY state.

• In his second term, he mobilized the state government to provide relief and aid to the unemployed.

• Nominated for the Democratic candidate for president. ‘I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for American people.’,

Inter-war American Fame

• In 1933 Roosevelt became the 36th president of the USA and he immediately followed up his promise of prompt action. Provided relief to millions of the poor and unemployed.

• Agricultural adjustment, industrial recovery, reform of banking system

Inter-war American Fame

• Popularity and familiarity

• Roosevelt frequently appeared on radio and talked directly to American people. Fireside Chat

Inter-war American Fame

• Shirley Temple (1928 - ) - internationally famous, American child star of the 1930s. The greatest box-office attraction at the age of seven in sentimental musicals.

• Spirited singing, dancing, dimples and golden ringlets proved to be extremely attractive.

Inter-war American Fame

• in contrast with the era of great depression.

• Her popularity declined in the 1940s and retired and married in 1950.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_RZTusUzM8

European Exiles in America• Arturo Toscanini (1867-1

957) - Italian conductor. One of the greatest virtuoso conductor in the 20th century. He sometimes conducted an opera from memory. Music director at La Scala, Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in NY. Made NBC Symphony Orchestra one of the world greatests.

American Movie Stars

• Gary Cooper (1901-1961) - motion-picture actor whose portrayal of ordinary guys established him as a glamourized image of an average man.

• James Stewart (1908-1997) - motion-picture actor mainly known for the portrayal of a moral and diffident man.

American Movie Stars

• Henry Fonda (1905-1982) - motion-picture and stage actor who over 90 films he appeared created quintessentially American heroes.

• John Wayne (1907-1979) - motion-picture actor who mainly played the roles of quiet, stoic cowboys and soldiers and personified the idealized American values.

American Movie Stars

• James Cagney (1899-1986) - motion-picture star who is known for versatility in musicals, comedies and crime dramas.

• Errol Flynn (1909-1959) - Australian motion-picture star remembered as the greatest swashbuckler.

American Movie Stars

• Joan Crawford (1908-1977) - motion-picture actress who started her career as vivacious Jazz Age flapper and matured into a star of psychological melodrama. Developed screen image of glamourous career woman.

• Bette Davis (1908-1989) - versatile, volatile motion-picture actress whose intense acting kept her at the top of her profession.

Photo Magazines

• Life (1936-1972) - picture magazine published in New York. Pioneered photojournalism and remained one of the most popular magazines. Its format was imitated widely.

• Esquire - magazine for men started in 1933 that featured a slick style and drawings of half-naked women.

American Common Heroes• Orson Welles (1915-198

5) - motion-picture actor, director, producer, and writer. He innovated filmmaking in almost every aspect. He and his associates attained national notoriety when they broadcast the performance of The War of the World on 30, 10, 1938.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wxLjcz1oE8

‘The woman I love.’• Edward VIII (1894-1972) - King of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from Jan. 20 to Dec. 10, 1936 in order to marry Wallis Simpson. The only British sovereign ever voluntarily to resign. “I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”

American Ethnic Hero

• Jesse Owens (1913-1980) - African-American track and field athlete who won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

• American newspapers reported that Hitler refused to shake his hands with Owens.

Another Superman• Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) -

secretary-general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1953) and the premier of the state (1941-1953), who dictatorially ruled the country for a quarter of a century.

• Collectivization of agriculture: police state; defeat of Germany; execution of his opponents