In the years following World War I, a dark shadow fell across Europe. Country after country fell under the control of dictators who promised to restore wounded national pride, bring order to chaos, and combat the threat of communist revolution. The most notorious were Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy, but they were far from alone. Similar authoritarian nationalist movements came to power in Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, and elsewhere.
How did so many Europeans come to embrace such repressive ideologies, often at the cost of their own freedom? As historians have long sought to understand, the rise of fascism in the interwar period was the product of a perfect storm of political, economic, social and psychological factors.
A Continent Torn Apart
The signing of the Treaty of Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles Palace. The treaty‘s harsh terms left many Germans embittered. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)
World War I left behind a shattered continent. The optimism and faith in progress that had marked the beginning of the 20th century had disappeared, replaced by pessimism, uncertainty and a pervasive sense of civilizational crisis. Over 9 million soldiers had been killed and 21 million more wounded, while millions of civilians had died from violence, famine and disease.[^1]
The war‘s resolution brought little relief. The Treaty of Versailles imposed punishing terms on the defeated Central Powers, especially Germany. The country lost 13 percent of its territory, all of its overseas colonies, and was forced to accept full responsibility for the war and pay massive reparations.[^2] This bred intense resentment and a desire to overturn the post-war order.
Worse still was the economic turmoil that engulfed Europe. Wartime borrowing and the cost of reconstruction left many countries deeply in debt. In Germany, the government printed ever more money to make reparations payments, resulting in disastrous hyperinflation. At its height in 1923, prices were doubling every 3 days, and a loaf of bread cost 200 billion marks.[^3] Millions saw their savings wiped out overnight.
The onset of the Great Depression in 1929 deepened the misery. By 1932, industrial production in Germany had fallen by half and unemployment soared to 30 percent.[^4] The situation was little better in other parts of Europe. Hunger and homelessness were widespread. To many, it seemed that liberal capitalist democracy had utterly failed to provide stability and prosperity.
Fear of a Red Planet
Vladimir Lenin speaking to troops during the Russian Revolution in 1919. The Bolshevik takeover terrified elites across Europe. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)
An even greater spectre stalking Europe was the fear that communist revolution would spread from the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks‘ seizure of power in Russia in 1917 and the emergence of communist parties across the continent sent shockwaves through the ruling classes.
Conservative elites, wealthy industrialists, landowners and much of the middle class saw the "red menace" as an existential threat to be crushed at all costs. Many threw their support behind anti-communist nationalists who vowed to destroy the left and prevent the expropriation of private property. Historians argue this was a key factor that led them to accept the fascists‘ destruction of democracy.[^5]
"The respectable classes trembled at the thought of the rising tide of Bolshevism… They were literally obsessed by the danger it represented for them. Against this danger, they were prepared to accept any means of salvation."
— French historian René Rémond[^6]
Wolves in Sheep‘s Clothing
Fascists were eager to capitalize on this bourgeois insecurity. While socialists called for the working class to unite, fascists made a direct pitch to the middle class with their message of national unity. They presented themselves as patriotic mass movements that would transcend class divides and restore social harmony.
But there was a sinister edge to this promise of national rebirth. Fascist leaders like Hitler and Mussolini blamed their countries‘ woes on convenient scapegoats – Jews, immigrants, leftists, liberal politicians. Only by purging these "parasitic" elements, they argued, could the nation be made healthy again.
Fascists were masters of propaganda, using the latest techniques of mass communication to spread their message. Hitler‘s rallies featured stirring rhetoric, marching columns of loyal stormtroopers, and theatrical effects using music and lighting. "It was a political Disneyland, saturated with 20th-century multimedia technology", writes historian Robert Paxton.[^7] Mussolini‘s strident radio speeches and mass choreographed demonstrations likewise projected an aura of strength and unity.
At the same time, fascist paramilitaries like the Nazi SA engaged in campaigns of street violence and intimidation against their opponents on the left. To many in the middle class, the sight of "roughnecks in brown shirts bashing communists and Jews" was a welcome one, a sign that someone was finally cracking down on the forces of disorder.[^8]
Fascism‘s Harrowing Toll
Once in power, fascists swiftly worked to consolidate their grip and neutralize any potential resistance. Democratic institutions and rival political parties were abolished or marginalized. Trade unions were dissolved and replaced with state-controlled labor organizations. Dissidents were jailed, driven into exile, or murdered.
Hitler‘s destruction of democracy was especially swift. Within his first two months as chancellor, he used the pretext of a suspicious fire in the Reichstag to issue an emergency decree suspending civil liberties. In July 1933, his Nazi Party became the only legal one. A year later, after President Hindenburg‘s death, Hitler made himself Führer – the sole leader of Germany.[^9]
Benito Mussolini, the founder of fascism and dictator of Italy from 1925 to 1945. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)
The fascist regimes of Hitler and Mussolini would eventually lead the world into another catastrophic conflict. Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935 and Albania in 1939. Nazi Germany absorbed Austria and Czechoslovakia, then invaded Poland in 1939, starting World War II. The war took the lives of tens of millions and saw the Nazis perpetrate the genocide of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.
A Warning From History
Looking back, it‘s tempting to dismiss the fascist phenomenon as a product of its time and place, a temporary madness that afflicted Europe between the world wars. But many of the conditions that fueled fascism‘s rise are still present today. Economic crises, declining faith in liberal democracy, the scapegoating of minorities, and fear of outside threats continue to be exploited by far-right populists and authoritarians.
The seductive message of fascism – "unite behind a strong leader who will restore the nation to greatness and crush its enemies" – retains a dark allure. As our politics once again becomes infected with xenophobia, racism and authoritarianism, the history of interwar European fascism remains urgently relevant. We forget its lessons at our peril.
[^1]: World War I casualties – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties[^2]: The Treaty of Versailles – https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Versailles-1919
[^3]: German Hyperinflation in 1923 – https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2013/06/10/hyperinflation-in-germany
[^4]: The Great Depression in Germany – https://alphahistory.com/weimarrepublic/great-depression/
[^5]: Paxton, Robert. The Anatomy of Fascism (2004), p. 58
[^6]: Quoted in: Nolte, Ernst. The Three Faces of Fascism (1966), p. 429
[^7]: Paxton, p. 133
[^8]: Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: A Biography (2008), p. 195
[^9]: The Nazification of Germany – https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-nazification-of-germany
