The History of the Twentieth Century

Stalin claimed the mantle of successor to Lenin and made the claim stick. He would go on to gain a degree of power in the USSR far greater than anything Lenin ever held, or even dreamed of.

Strangely, although motion pictures and sound recording were invented around the same time, it took thirty years before the technology to link them came together. Sound changed motion pictures, not always for the better.

Fascist governments are run on the views of the fascist leader, more than a written ideology. And what does the leader want? At home, to celebrate "our" superior culture; abroad, war.

In this second of a three-part series on fascism, we examine the beliefs that form the foundation of fascism.

Fascism is the twentieth century's unique contribution to political ideology. In this first of a three-part series, we examine its roots.

Hitler became chancellor of a mostly-not-Nazi cabinet. But he also demanded yet another election and worked hard to create a sense of crisis that would encourage more votes for Nazis.

Just when it seemed the National Socialist movement was beginning to lose steam, other right-wing parties join the Nazis in a coalition, thinking to use the movement for their own purposes.

Germany held four national elections in 1932, and a number of state elections besides. The NSDAP, the Nazi Party did quite well, but fell short every time. By the end of the year, there were signs the Party was losing steam.

With the 1930 German federal election, the Nazi party went from the fringes to status as one of Germany's major political parties. But that's not the same as participating in government.

In the late Twenties, Germany saw its Communist and National Socialist parties grow in popularity, especially the latter. Adolf Hitler became the unlikely leader of the right wing in Germany, while the Communists dismissed the Nazis as a temporary obstacle.

The Japanese occupation of Manchuria was the first real test of the League of Nations, as this was exactly the kind of aggressive act the League was created to prevent. Unfortunately, the League failed the test.

Ever since the eighth planet, Neptune, was discovered in 1846, some astronomers searched for a hypothetical ninth planet. Clyde Tombaugh discovered the ninth planet in 1930. Or did he?

Japan had a rough time of it in the 1920s, between the global economic shocks and a devastating 1923 earthquake. Japanese military commanders saw control of Manchuria as key to Japan's economic independence, and they weren't about to let the politicians in Tokyo interfere.

Chiang Kai-shek unified China, more or less, but survival of the Nationalist government was threatened by warlords, the Japanese, and the Communists. Of these threats, Chiang regarded the Communists as the greatest.

The economic bad news had been centered in the United States, but in 1931, bank failures began multiplying in Europe, leading to the Great Depression.

The combination of higher reparations payments and a slower economy led the German government to pursue harsh and unpopular austerity policies.

The crash of the stock market was a shock, but what did it mean? No one was sure, but over the next 18 months, the US economy went from bad to worse.

There were voices warning that the stock market was overpriced, but even in October 1929, there were louder voices proclaiming that all was well, right up to the moment the bottom fell out of Wall Street.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, America already had a reputation for stock speculation, but the Roaring Twenties set new records.

Unusually heavy rainfall led to widespread flooding in the Mississippi Valley in 1927. The Coolidge Administration's Secretary of Everything, Herbert Hoover, was tasked with flood relief. What kind of relief you got depended heavily on your skin color. Meanwhile, a different sort of flood was rising on the New York Stock Exchange.

Five years into his premiership, Mussolini ruled over a one-party state. He projected an image of il Duce, the tireless, indispensable leader of the Italian people as he cracked down on dissent at home and unrest in Libya.

Although Mussolini had come to power by legal means, he soon cast the moment as a Fascist revolution, and pushed for changes to the electoral system that would tighten the Fascist grip on the country.

The Algeciras Conference awarded Spain a strip of territory in northern Morocco known as the Rif, which became Spanish Morocco. But an award of territory granted by a conference of diplomats is one thing; actual control is another.

In the early 1920s, Gandhi's first nationwide satyagraha campaign saw unprecedented Hindu-Muslim unity, but led to violence and failed to achieve its aims. Gandhi spent some time in prison, but by 1930, with a Labour government in power, Gandhi and the Indian National Congress felt ready to declare independence.

Henry Ford built a successful car company based on the principle of mass production of affordable cars. But his company was eclipsed by General Motors, which had a totally different marketing strategy: planned obsolescence.