How did the dictators during world war 2 come to power?

Answer 1

Dictators of WW2 A dictator is one who exercises 'absolute power and authority'. Most rulers during WWII exercised at least some dictatorial power. The Axis consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The leaders of those nations were: • Germany: Adolf Hitler. • Italy: Benito Mussolini. • Japan was ruled by a Emperor, whose name was Hirohito. The first two were Dictators, who ruled without question and without control by the courts or the people. They had the power of life and death over their nations. Hirohito was different. He was part of a inherited monarchy. He took over when his Father, the previous Emperor, died. He was like a King, and the country was ruled by him, but with a Parliament and a cabinet that made decisions, which he approved. He was not a Dictator in the true sense of the word. The USSR, part of the Allies, was led by a communist dictator: Joseph Stalin. Here is more input: Stalin was probably the most tyranical of all world rulers. His system outlawed all basic liberties. There was no right to own property in the Soviet system. Religion was supressed. Basic human liberties such as the right of assembly, to petition the government, of press and speech...all were surpressed. The people were regimented such as in no other world society. Minor crimes or even no crime at all was punishable by extensive prison sentences in horrific conditions or even death. In summary, Stalin answered to no one and took little advise. Hitler was a dictator but in his system, some personal liberties were allowed. Private property was to a great extent, allowed and protected. Religion, other than Judaism, was allowed. Assembly, press, speech and other civil liberties were restricted / censored. While Germany did have many concentration camps the use of them to terrorize to average citizen with arbitrary imprisonment was not exercised. Hitler did have great power over the German people but to a large extent this was due to his magnetic personality, great speaking ability and victories on the battlefield. He did take advise and had to defer to various other groups within Germany including the major industrialists, various military leaders and even some religious leaders. Mussolini was the Italian dictator and compared to the two above, was very weak in his powers. He never controlled the Italian economy or military to the extent dictators did in Russia or Germany. For example, the Italian economy was famously inefficient and stayed so throughout the war. The Italian economic leaders did little to further the war effort unless it lined their personal pockets. Japan was very regimented but did not have a central figure dictator. The emperor had the power did not weild it tyrannically. In fact, one of the major problems with Japan fighting WWII was the divisions in the country between the various sectors of army, navy, economy, religion, and civil authority. Franco ruled Spain as a medium level dictator. Churchill and Roosevelt, British and USA leaders respectively, also had some dictatorial powers. Control over the economies was fairly extensive in both countries. The press was censored but remained technically free. Freedom of assembly was greatly surpressed. Both nations drafted huge numbers of civilians into the armed forces, which is certainly a sort of dictatorial power. Compared to the Soviets, the USA and Britain continued to respect religion and private property throughout the war. In the USA, some groups, such as the Japanese Americans, suffered internment, loss of property and curtailment of all civil liberties.

Answer 2

Dictators were able to rise to power easily during the 1930s because of the recent World War and a world-wide depression. Many people were seeking economic stability, a surplus of food, a strong leader to help them, and some national pride. This is just what dictators like Hitler, Stalin, and Tojo offered.