The rise of dictatorships after World War I

• Describe the conditions that enabled dictators to rise to power in the interwar period

  • Focus on social/political/economic factors that contributed to the rise of each of the dictatorships we have studied. This includes the impact of post-war treaties.

  • Recognise the uniqueness of each dictatorship but also be conscious of the similarities between each. For example: Economics had a significant role in both Italy and Japan but they were different economic situations because of the timing of the dictatorships.

  • Though not specifically listed here Hitler’s rise will also be relevant to this question.

• An overview of the features of the dictatorships that emerged in Russia, Italy, Japan

  • 2-3 dot points on each dictatorship

  • Include one on the rise/establishment of the dictatorship

  • One on the key features of daily life/values/goals of the dictatorship

  • A third could identify similarities/differences between the dictatorships

• What sort of questions should you prepare for?

  • Given the syllabus directives of ‘overview’ and ‘describe’ you should expect lower value questions here.

  • Given that 3 dictatorships are specifically mentioned you should expect a question to ask specifically about one of those dictatorships (in contrast to the ‘treaties’ dot point which doesn’t mention specific treaties).

  • A compare/contrast style question could easily be asked about any combination of the dictatorships.