World History/The Rise of Dictatorship and Totalitarianism/Quick Quiz
<< World History/The Rise of Dictatorship and Totalitarianism
The following multiple-choice quiz should help you to further understand the material in the related article. Following the quiz is a brief explanation of each answer.
1. Which of the following was NOT a major cause of the fall of the Weimar Republic?
A. The polarization of German politics between left and right parties
B. Economic woes attributed to the Great Depression
C. The failure of coalition governments to control the Nazi Party
D. President Hindenburg's repeated use of the "rule by decree" powers
E. The inability of successive Chancellors to gain a majority in the Reichstag
2. Joseph Stalin supported which of the following policies toward agricultural development?
A. That is took second priority to transportational development
B. That the Five-Year Plan's quotas on agriculture should be expanded
C. Soviet citizens were not working hard enough and needed to be taught a lesson
D. The widespread adoption of collectivization among the agricultural districts
E. An end to the state's control over the Soviet agricultural sector
3. Both the Nazi regime in Germany and the Soviet Union used all of the following arguments in propaganda EXCEPT
A. The use of scapegoats to answer for their respective country's problems
B. Advocacy for their policies of racial discrimination
C. That their leader was the only person who could help change their situation
D. That their respective territorial claims were justified
E. The USSR and communism were antagonized in German propagand and vice versa in Soviet propaganda
4. All of the following nations' democratic governments were replaced by authoritarian dictatorships during the period between World War I and World War II EXCEPT
A. Poland
B. Czechoslovakia
C. Spain
D. Hungary
E. Austria
Practice Essay topic (40 min. recommended writing time):
During the period of 1918-1939, dictatorships came to power in many countries around the world. Select TWO of the following and discuss the causes and effects of these dictatorships during this period.
Soviet Union
Germany
Italy
Spain
1. C While the Nazi Party did help bring about the end of the Weimar Republic, the real problem was the inability of coalition governments to form, not their failure to control the Nazis.
2. D Remember that Joseph Stalin hoped to collectivize the entire agricultural sector of the Soviet Union as a means of increasing production (which, incidentally, had the complete opposite effect).
3. B Only Nazi Germany, as part of fascism, practiced a policy of racial discrimination, and therefore needed to convince their people that they were right to do so.
4. B Remember: Joeseph Piludaski in Poland, Francisco Franco in Spain, Richard Dreyfuss in Austria, and - in Hungary.
Essay: Soviet Union-discuss the policies of Lenin, but concentrate on Stalin and the five-year plans. Include information concerning Stalin's methods of pitting allies against each other and switching sides, and discuss her terror tactics and mass murder and imprisonment of Soviet citizens. Germany- discuss the Weimar Republic and the disatisfaction with its policies, the Great Depression, and the hatred caused by the Treaty of Versailles. Discuss Hitler's domestic policies, including remilitarization, racial policies, and political liberties. Make sure and discuss the how Hitler's dictatorship ignited World War II and/or appeasement. Italy- discuss Mussolini's radical agenda, the ineffective coalition governments (extra points if you mention proportional representation), and his Blackshirt's bullying techniques and how he played on the fear of communism. Also discuss domestic policies, especially the stress on having large families and expanding agricultural production to feed them. Relate this policy with Italy's military buildup and its invasions of Ethiopia (especially) and possibly Albania. Spain- discuss the weakness of the Republican government and support for Franco among the military and private business. Discuss his domestic changes, the cost of the civil war, and Spain's foreign policy. Good essays will mention Guernica by Picasso.