Chapter 23: The Rise Of Fascism And Totalitarian States -Introduction

Chapter 23 - How Fascism and Total Leaders Came to Be

1. Introduction

"Let's make the world safe for being fair to everyone," said President Woodrow Wilson when America joined World War I in 1917. But when the war ended, things didn't work out that way. Even some countries that won felt like they lost. Germany, which lost, was very upset because of the tough rules they had to follow after the war. Countries struggled to fix their broken economies.

The peace in the 1920s was shaky, with many countries having trouble inside and with each other. Things got even worse in the 1930s when the Great Depression spread from the United States to the rest of the world. The hard times made some people in countries like Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union support leaders who promised to fix everything but asked for a lot of control in return. Dictators took over in many places.

Themes

Cultural Interaction: Fascism was about loving your country a lot, listening to strong leaders, and putting the country's needs before your own rights and freedoms.

Political Systems: The mess after World War I and the Great Depression helped spread communism and fascism, and made it easier for dictators to take over.

Economic Systems: In places with fascism and communism, the government had a lot of control over businesses and money.