1. Communism in Russia (1917–1945)
1917–1924: Lenin and Bolshevik Consolidation
1917: October Revolution (25 Oct / 7 Nov): Bolsheviks seize power from the Provisional Government. Lenin promises "Peace, Land, Bread."
Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) established, with Lenin as Chairman.
1918:
March: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ends Russian involvement in WWI, cedes large territories to Germany. Huge economic loss.
Russian Civil War begins: Reds (Bolsheviks) vs Whites (opponents of Bolshevik rule), lasting until 1921.
War Communism introduced: State takes control of industry, grain requisitioning from peasants, abolition of private trade.
1919: Comintern (Communist International) founded to spread world revolution.
1921:
Kronstadt Mutiny: A key rebellion by pro-Bolshevik sailors demanding “Soviets without Bolsheviks.” Crushed by Red Army.
NEP introduced at 10th Party Congress: A retreat from socialism—small businesses and private trade allowed. Heavy industry remains nationalised.
Ban on Factions passed: bans opposition within the Communist Party.
- 1920–1922:
Dec 1920 – 1922:
Series of All‑Russian Congresses of Soviets establish economic plans like GOELRO and consolidate power.
USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) formally established.Lenin suffers strokes; power begins to shift to senior Bolsheviks, especially Stalin, Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev.
Mar 1921: Kronstadt Rebellion crushed; Lenin introduces the New Economic Policy (NEP) to ease famine and revive the economy.
- 1922–1924:
Apr 1922: Stalin appointed General Secretary—a position he uses to gain control.
Dec 30, 1922: USSR established, joining Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Transcaucasia.
Jan 21, 1924: Lenin dies; power struggle leads to Stalin's dominance.
- 1924–1929: Stalin Consolidates Power:
1924–1925: Stalin drops opposition (Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev); forms “Socialism in One Country” policy.
1927: Opposition purged at 15th Congress; Trotsky exiled; Bukharin ousted.
1928–1933: Industrialization & Collectivization
Oct 1, 1928: First Five‑Year Plan begins — rapid industrialization.
1929: Forced collectivization begins; kulaks targeted; famine and famine deaths follow.
- 1934–1938: Terror & the Stalinist State
Dec 1, 1934: Kirov’s assassination triggers emergency powers; NKVD expands.
Aug 1936–Nov 1938: Great Purge: three show trials, millions executed or sent to Gulag.
Dec 5, 1936: Stalin Constitution promulgated — theoretically democratic, but power remains tightly centralized.
June 1937: Marshal Tukhachevsky and most Red Army top brass executed — Red Army loses over 30,000 officers in purges.
March 1938: Third Moscow Show Trial — Bukharin, Rykov and Yagoda executed.
1937–1938: The Yezhovshchina — named after NKVD chief Nikolai Yezhov.
1.5 million arrested, 700,000 executed (including teachers, engineers, officers, workers).
Massive falsification of confessions under torture.
November 1938: Yezhov arrested and replaced by Beria.
- 1939–1945
Aug 23, 1939: Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact signed (secretly divides Eastern Europe).
Sep 1939: USSR invades eastern Poland; Winter War with Finland (1939–40) follows.
June 22, 1941: Nazi Germany invades the USSR (Operation Barbarossa); USSR joins Allies.
1942–43: Battle of Stalingrad—turning point on Eastern Front.
1943–45: USSR advances into Eastern Europe; Soviet role crucial in Allied victory by 1945.
2. Origins and Growth of Fascist Regimes in Europe
- Italy (1919–1945)
Mar 23, 1919: Fasci Italiani di Combattimento founded by Mussolini in Milan.
Oct 1922: March on Rome forces King Victor Emmanuel III to invite Mussolini to form a government.
1923–1926: Enactment of Acerbo Law, suppression of opposition (OVRA secret police).
1929: Lateran Treaty between Mussolini and the Vatican—boosts legitimacy.
Established a template for fascism: cult of personality, one-party rule, violence against enemies.
1931: Conflict with Church over education (Catholic Action); resolved in Mussolini’s favour.
1934: Corporate state in full operation — Parliament becomes Chamber of Fasci and Corporations.
- 1935–1939: Militarism and Expansion
Oct 1935 – May 1936: Invasion of Ethiopia (Abyssinia):
Italy condemned by League of Nations.Use of chemical weapons by Italian forces.Mussolini declares creation of Italian Empire.
1936: Sends troops to Spanish Civil War in support of Franco.
1936 (Nov): Rome–Berlin Axis formalised with Nazi Germany.
1938: Manifesto of Race published — anti-Semitic laws passed under pressure from Hitler.
1939:
May: Pact of Steel signed with Nazi Germany — military alliance.
- 1940–1943: War and Collapse
10 Jun 1940: Italy enters World War II.
1940–41: Military failures in North Africa and Greece highlight Italy’s unpreparedness.
Mar 1941: German forces begin assisting Italian troops in Balkans and Libya.
July 1943: Allies invade Sicily.
25 Jul 1943: Mussolini overthrown by Grand Council of Fascism, arrested on King’s orders.
8 Sep 1943: Italy signs armistice with Allies.
12 Sep 1943: Mussolini rescued in German raid (Gran Sasso) and made head of puppet Salò Republic in northern Italy.
Late 1943–1945: Civil war in Italy — Fascists vs partisans; harsh repression under Salò regime.
- 1945: Death of Fascism
27 Apr 1945: Mussolini captured by Italian partisans while trying to flee to Switzerland.
28 Apr 1945: Mussolini and mistress Claretta Petacci executed; bodies displayed in Milan.
End of Apr 1945: Northern Italy liberated by Allies and partisans. Fascism in Italy collapses.
- Germany (1923–1945)
1923: Beer Hall Putsch fails; Hitler jailed (writes Mein Kampf).
1930–1932: Nazi vote share increases during the Depression.
Jan 30, 1933: Hitler appointed Chancellor.
Mar 23, 1933: Enabling Act gives Hitler dictatorial powers.
1933–1934: Night of the Long Knives eliminates internal opposition; President Hindenburg dies 1934; Hitler becomes Führer.
Sept 1935: Nuremberg Laws strip Jews of citizenship.
Inspired by Italian fascism—Mussolini's regime was earlier and shaped Hitler's methods.
1936: Remilitarisation of the Rhineland.
1938:
September: Munich Agreement — Sudetenland handed over.November: Kristallnacht — mass pogrom against Jews.
- 1939–1941: War and Expansion
1 Sep 1939: Germany invades Poland — start of WWII.
3 Sep 1939: Britain and France declare war.
Apr–June 1940: Blitzkrieg sweeps through Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium, Netherlands.
22 Jun 1940: France signs armistice — Hitler tours Paris.
22 Jun 1941: Operation Barbarossa launched — invasion of USSR.
Dec 1941: Hitler declares war on USA after Pearl Harbor.
- 1942–1945: Genocide and Collapse
Jan 1942: Wannsee Conference — Nazi leadership plans “Final Solution” to exterminate Jews.
1942–44: Holocaust intensifies — 6 million Jews murdered, along with Roma, disabled, LGBTQ+ individuals, Slavs.
July 1944: Failed assassination plot against Hitler (Operation Valkyrie).
Early 1945: Soviet forces push into Germany; Western Allies close in.
30 Apr 1945: Hitler commits suicide in Führerbunker.
8 May 1945: Germany surrenders — fall of Nazi regime.
3. Economic and Social Problems in Britain, 1920–1939
1920:
Early 1920: Post-WWI boom collapses; inflation and unemployment rises to 20% in regions like South Wales, Scotland.
May: The Unemployment Insurance Act 1920 is expanded massively — covers 11 million workers, but insufficient during major economic downturns.
Autumn 1920: Coal industry faces overproduction and falling prices; government subsidies under the Coal Mines Act are introduced.
1921:
March 1921: “Black Friday” — Triple Alliance (miners, railwaymen, and transport workers) collapse.
Miners oppose wage cuts but are left to strike alone.
April–Dec: Over 2 million unemployed; peak unemployment rate is 23%.
July 1921: Geddes Axe begins — heavy cuts to public spending on housing, education, health, and the armed forces.
Led by Eric Geddes, aiming to balance the budget post-war.
1922–23:
1922: Tories win general election under Bonar Law; continue austerity.
1923: Baldwin takes over; calls election on tariff reform — loses, Labour’s first minority government forms under Ramsay MacDonald in early 1924.
1924:
Labour’s first government introduces minor welfare expansions and unemployment assistance.
Oct 1924: Stanley Baldwin returns to power (Conservatives win after the “Zinoviev Letter” scandal).
Industrial productivity stagnates. British goods remain uncompetitive globally.
1925:
April 1925: Winston Churchill (Chancellor) restores the Gold Standard at the pre-war parity (£1 = $4.86) — makes British exports expensive and fuels deflation.
31 July: Baldwin’s government grants coal industry a temporary subsidy (“Red Friday”) to avoid a miners' strike, while planning for future wage cuts.
May 1926: General Strike—workers in key industries show solidarity; strikers return after nine days.
1929–32: Great Depression: GDP falls, unemployment remains high (~1.5 million).
Means Test introduced to restrict government unemployment support—deeply unpopular.
1936: Jarrow March—200 unemployed workers walk to London to demand jobs.
Social reforms: 1930s saw council housing, the 1938 Education Act (leaving age 15).
1937–38:
Rearmament increases state spending and boosts heavy industry.
Unemployment begins to decline, especially in previously struggling regions.
Public opinion turns increasingly against appeasement and demands action on defence and jobs.
1939:
On the eve of war, unemployment is down to ~1.3 million.
Britain begins full mobilisation of industry and labour for wartime production.
National Defence Contribution (1937–39) funds rearmament through new business taxes.
4. Anglo‑American Popular Culture: Radio & Cinema
1920–30s: US Hollywood rises; British cinema struggles but produces notable documentaries (Night Mail 1936), and quota quickies.
1922: BBC established; becomes public service broadcaster.
1930s: Radio becomes primary mass medium: entertainment (Will Hay, Jack Benny) and news (pre-war political broadcasts).
WWII: Radio vital for morale—Churchill’s "This was their finest hour", Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats.
Cinema used for propaganda: UK’s The Lion Has Wings (1939), US Why We Fight series.
5. Politics in France: Third Republic (1920–1940) & Vichy (1940–44)
- Third Republic
Frequent governments: average tenure = 6 months.
Feb 6, 1934: Stavisky Affair → anti-parliamentary riots; threat to democracy.
1936–38: Popular Front (Léon Blum) introduces 40‑hour week & paid holidays; collapsed under economic pressure & political violence.
- Vichy State
June 1940: France falls; Pétain accepts armistice; Vichy regime established (Révolution nationale).
Implements anti-Semitic laws, forced labour (Service du travail obligatoire), and repression.
French Resistance rises under De Gaulle abroad and internal networks; grows after 1942 German occupation.
6. Hitler’s Foreign Policy & Causes of WWII (1933–1939)
Oct 1933: Germany exits the League of Nations.
Mar 7, 1936: Remilitarizes the Rhineland—Western powers don’t intervene.
Mar 1938: Anschluss—Austria annexed.
Sept 30, 1938: Munich Agreement allows Hitler the Sudetenland, seen as appeasement.
Mar 15, 1939: Hitler occupies the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Aug 23, 1939: Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact secretly prepares partition of Poland.
Sep 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland → Britain and France declare war → WWII begins.
7. The Second World War (1939–1945)
- 1939–40
Blitzkrieg in Poland (Sep), then Scandinavia and France by spring 1940.
May–June 1940: France falls; Britain stands alone.
- 1940–41
Jul–Oct 1940: Battle of Britain; German air force fails to subdue RAF.
June 22, 1941: Operation Barbarossa: Hitler invades USSR.
Dec 7, 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor; US enters war.
- 1942–43
- 1944–45
Jun 6, 1944: D‑Day landings open Western front.
Apr–May 1945: Allies enter Germany; Hitler commits suicide (Apr 30); VE Day on May 8.
Aug 1945: Atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki; VJ Day ends WWII.
8. Society During WWII
Total war economies: rationing (food, clothing, petrol) sustained through coupons.
Women’s roles: RAF and WAAF; land army; munitions factories ("munitionettes").
Propaganda: US Office of War Information; UK Ministry of Information; posters like "Keep Calm..." and US films.
Civilian experience: Blitz in London & Coventry; evacuation of children to countryside.
The Holocaust: Nazi genocide system begins 1941 with Einsatzgruppen; 6 million Jews and millions more killed.
Displaced persons: post-war refugee and POW camps across Europe.