totalitarian

In the 1930’s, totalitarian governments fulfilled the political, economic and social needs of the European people. After the First World War, the new democratic governments of Europe were too weak to support their countries devastated by inflation, joblessness and hunger. Germany and Italy were two of the several European countries that were lured into totalitarianism with promises of a better future.

Hitler led Germany into Nazism, a type of totalitarian government that was rooted in extreme nationalism. He was a powerful, forceful dictator who believed all Germans, especially “Aryans”, were superior to the people of neighboring nations and deserved to have more “living space.” Nazism fulfilled the needs of Germans by giving them a boost to their morale and egos. The idea that they were better then everyone else was just what the people of a bankrupt, jobless, and hopeless nation needed. After the Treaty of Versailles, the once proud Germany was left in economic ruin. De...