Fascism and World War II

Unit VIII overview and essential questions (Transformation of Political Realities III: Fascism and World War II)

OVERVIEW

After the First World War, democracy seemed to be on the march across Europe.  Parliamentary governments in central and eastern Europe had replaced the autocratic German and Austrian Empires.  But a scant twenty years later various authoritarian regimes emerged, most notably totalitarian fascism in Italy and Germany.  The emergence of postwar fascism signified the breakdown of liberal society.  Many Europeans happily swapped democracy for the perceived security and stability of one-man rule.  The Fascists' emphasis on action, emotion, and rebuilding society seemed attractive to those disillusioned by liberal governments unable to cope with massive social and economic crises.  The success of fascism marked the height of counter-Enlightenment thinking and ultimately led to Europe's destruction yet again.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

1.  How, where, and why did fascism emerge?

2.  How, where, and why did fascism succeed?

3.  What characterized fascism in Italy? What characterized Nazism in Germany?

4.  What caused World War II?

5.  What was the Holocaust?

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Simon Wiesenthal Multimedia Learning Center
• USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education