At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II. Tsars, like kings, were born into royalty and had absolute power. In 1905, the Bolshevik and Menshevik rebel groups, who believed in different forms of communism and socialism, tried to overthrow the tsar. Though they were unsuccessful, their attempt, called the Revolution of 1905, hurt the public’s view of Tsar Nicholas II and sparked increased activity in the Communist Party.

Like many nations, Russia lost millions of young men in World War I. Many people in Russia attributed these losses of life to Tsar Nicholas II's lack of military experience. In March 1917, nobody could afford the price of bread, and people began to starve. Thousands of people marched, holding signs. "Peace and Bread," they read. The Russian government forced Tsar Nicholas II to step down. In 1918, those in power executed Nicholas II and his whole family. A temporary government was installed, but it was soon overthrown by the Bolsheviks, who believed in communism, a way of thinking that said that things like factories should be owned by the workers and that there should be no social classes. The Bolsheviks were lead by a revolutionary thinker named Vladimir Lenin.

The Bolsheviks wanted to create a ________ government.

Some Russians didn't like the new communist regime. Fresh from the wounds of World War I, Russia sank into its own civil war. The communists, or Red Army, fought against the anti-communists, or White Army. The communists had secret police who worked to hurt and terrorize anyone who disagreed with them. The Red Army won. Lenin and the communists had total control. But they had total control of a country suffering a famine.

Lenin died in 1924. Enter Joseph Stalin. Stalin took complete control of Russia, now called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR. He became the dictator. He began a Five-Year Plan, aimed to quickly change the USSR into an industrial nation. During the changeover, farming suffered, and people continued to starve.

Stalin knew that it would be impossible to convince everyone to agree with his policies. So rather than work harder to convince people he was right, he just got rid of the people who disagreed. People who opposed Stalin were either executed immediately or sent to a forced labor camp in Siberia (called the Gulag) to die. Over 8 million people suffered this fate.

With which of these statements would Stalin most likely agree?

Following the Russian Revolution, Italy’s wealthy elite grew afraid of the possibility of a similar revolution in Italy. A communist revolution might improve life for very poor Italians, but people with money would lose their possessions. Benito Mussolini created the Fascist Party as a response to fears of communism. In a fascist government, the dictator has control of everything and people have no individual rights. This is also known as a totalitarian government.

Mussolini used secret police called the OVRA to make sure that nobody could speak out or act out against fascism. Mussolini used a campaign of propaganda--biased, most likely false information designed to make people feel or believe a certain thing--to influence the public. Propaganda signs around town said, "Mussolini Is Always Right."

Mussolini also began a cult of personality around himself. This means the dictator created an idealized version of himself and promoted this version all over using mass media. He was not the only one to do this. Stalin, for example, had a biography of himself published in 1948 in which he was described as the “greatest leader” and most “sublime strategist of all times and nations.”

Which of the following is the best example of propaganda?

No country felt the brunt of World War I like Germany. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to accept complete responsibility for all the death and destruction of World War I. Additionally, the treaty required Germany to pay reparations, or payments, to cover the losses of the Allied Powers. The acceptance of responsibility hurt Germany's morale, and the reparations hurt Germany's economy. Germany suffered an even worse depression than the Great Depression in the United States.

Germany’s depression caused massive inflation. Inflation is when prices increase while each dollar is worth less and less. Many employers couldn't pay their workers enough, so people became poor.

During this terrible economic time, 40 percent of Germans were unemployed. Many German citizens grew frustrated and angry with the government. One such citizen was a young artist named Adolf Hitler. Hitler joined a political group called National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi Party for short. The party wanted to overthrow the post-World War I German government, called the Weimar Republic. By 1921, he was the führer, or leader, of the Nazi Party. In 1923, he staged an uprising against the Weimar Republic. The rebellion failed, and he was put in jail.

During the depression, most Germans felt _____________

While Hitler was in jail, he wrote a book called Mein Kampf, which means "My Struggle" in German. In this book, he outlined his belief in German nationalism and expressed his hatred of Jews. Prejudice against and persecution of Jewish people is known as antisemitism. He claimed that Jews were the reason that Germany lost World War I. He also used Jews as the scapegoat for the economic depression in Germany, unfairly blaming them for widespread poverty. He said he wanted to create a master race of blue-eyed blond people, whom he called Aryans. Hitler didn't invent racism, but he used racism and nationalism as the cornerstones of his platform.

Because German citizens were so shamed and poor from World War I, many of them were willing to believe anything that placed blame on other people. The economic depression made people more willing to support extreme political groups that wanted to change or overthrow the government. Even though Hitler was spreading lies about Jews, he was a persuasive and creative speaker. When he spoke, people listened.

Which sentence from the passage supports the idea that “Hitler used the Jews as the scapegoat for the economic depression”?

The Nazis gained a majority in the Reichstag, the parliament in the Weimar Republic. People were thrilled when Hitler managed to turn the economy around and eliminate most of the unemployment. And even more so, he made Germans feel proud of their country again.

The president of Germany appointed Hitler chancellor. The Reichstag passed a law called the "enabling act," which allowed the government to ignore the constitution for four years while it fixed the pressing problems of Germany. With no laws to hold him accountable, Hitler could legally do whatever he wanted.

When the president died in 1934, it made Hitler's complete rule official. The new government was now called the Third Reich. In 1935, Hitler passed the Nuremberg laws, which took away almost all rights from Jewish people. Hitler also created Hitler Youth, a program that influenced the young minds of thousands of children to follow Hitler's beliefs. By 1938, he had enough power to unleash terror on Europe. By the end of World War II, he would be responsible for the deaths of over 11 million people—including over 6 million Jews. And yet, Hitler rose to power in mostly legal and nonviolent ways.

All of the following contributed to Hitler’s rise to power except

Before the end of World War I, US President Woodrow Wilson made a speech called the Fourteen Points. Wilson tried to rally the troops and inspire the Allies to keep fighting. He explained that the war was being fought to ensure a peaceful, democratic future in Europe. At the end of his speech, he suggested an idea called the League of Nations. Wilson imagined an organization where countries of the world could discuss international issues and intervene in international disputes before they escalated to war.

In fact, the main goal of the League of Nations was to prevent another world war. Fresh from the pain of total war, many people wanted to make sure that such a thing never happened again. The League of Nations, however, did not have its own army to enforce its power. What's more, even though the United States laid out the plans for the League of Nations, they didn't join because many Americans didn't want to get involved in "European issues." Ultimately, the League of Nations, with no military force behind it, was unable to prevent Hitler from his conquest of the continent.

With which of these statements would Woodrow Wilson most likely agree?