Explain the rise of fascism in Europe and how did it contribute to World War II?

Answer 1

The 1920s were a time of political experimentation in Europe. World war 1 had damaged the credibility of governments. many felt the bloodshed had been to little purpose, and people proposed new systems that would not exploit ordinary people. This led to social disorder, while national economies were quite unstable. Some felt revolutionary socialism would overthrow the old orders, but many conservative people felt an authoritarian government would restore order and prosperity.

The Depression which began in 1929 and spread through the world destroyed the credibility of liberal capitalistic democracy, heightening the tension between communism and fascism in the countries that had the weakest democratic institutions. Fascist messages of order and authority were appealing, while blaming sinister foreign forces was, and to this day remains, an easy political device. Many countries most susceptible to fascism were those that had been slow to gain colonies in the late 19th century.

So the combination of militarism and colonial expansionism, tied with industrial growth, and the use of wealth for big national projects rather than personal consumption, tended to produce conflicts. This led to WW2.

Answer 2

The rise of fascism in Europe was exactly the cause of WW II. As Hitler and Mussolini began to expand their power base they also began to move from their countries and take control of other countries as well. Hitler moved to annex Austria, to take control of the Sudetenland, and then he moved into Poland. These are the beginnings of WW II in Europe.

One can argue that the reason all of this happened was because of the treat of Versailles at the end of World War I, the Great War. France and Great Britain were so insistent on punishing Germany for their part in the war, that they levied huge reparations, $33 billion worth, on Germany, which placed Germany in a hole so big its people were suffering. The conditions of Germany demanded that some strong leader take over and pull Germany back to a position of pride. Hitler was that leader.

This perhaps shows why after a war it is critical not to destroy or humiliate a defeated enemy. It is critical to raise them up to a point of self-sufficiency once again, like happened at the end of WW II and the Marshall Plan.

Answer 3

Facism had nothing to do with the start of WWII.

Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact in 1939 so Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union became allies and worked with each other, albeit for a very short time.

The start of WWII was the direct result of the Hitler/Stalin Pact when both Hitler and Stalin invaded Poland in September 1939 twelve days after signing the pact and both armies met in the middle and parcelled up Poland between them. Then Great Britain honored her treaty with Poland and declared war on Germany, but Stalin betrayed Hitler and violated the Pact when he switched and took sides with the British.

Facism was invented by Benito Mussolini in the 1920s/30s and about ten years later Adolf Hitler adopted Facism to his National Socialist policies. Facism is simply a police state. Hitler became a facist after Mussolini invented it. And Facism had nothing to do with the start of WWII.