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

Chapter 23 - When Fascism and Dictatorships Grew Strong

1. Introduction

"Let's make the world safe for people to be free," said President Woodrow Wilson, when America joined World War I in 1917. But after the war, things didn't go as planned. Instead of making the world better, the peace deal made at the end of the war made some winners feel like they lost too.

The countries that lost the war, especially Germany, were really unhappy because the peace deal was very tough on them. This made many people angry and sad. At the same time, countries had a hard time fixing their economies after the war.

The 1920s were a shaky period with lots of troubles inside countries and between them. Things got even worse in the 1930s when a big economic crisis, called the Great Depression, hit the whole world. This hard time, along with already existing problems, made some people think it was a good idea to support strong leaders who promised to make things better, even if it meant giving up some freedoms. This is how dictatorships started in countries like Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Portugal, Poland, and Romania.

Themes

Cultural Interaction: Fascism is a belief that says loving your country, being loyal to strong leaders, and the good of the country is more important than the rights and freedoms of the people.

Political Systems: The mess that came after World War I and the Great Depression helped the ideas of communism and fascism spread, and let dictators take over.

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