The Collapse of Liberal Civilization

The early 20th century witnessed the shocking disintegration of liberal democratic values—principles once taken for granted in “progressive” societies. Constitutional governance, free elections, and civil liberties had seemed irreversible achievements by 1914. Even Europe’s last autocracies—Tsarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire—were adopting constitutional reforms. Yet beneath this veneer of progress, three forces threatened liberalism: traditionalist institutions like the Catholic Church, dissident intellectuals, and the unsettling rise of mass democracy.

Socialist movements, though revolutionary in rhetoric, largely embraced Enlightenment ideals. German Social Democrats even paired Marx’s image with the Statue of Liberty on their May Day badges. But by the 1930s, liberal democracy was in retreat. Between 1918 and 1940, elected governments fell in over a dozen European nations. Only Britain, Sweden, and Switzerland remained consistently democratic.

The Anatomy of Fascism

Fascism defied rational analysis. As historian Ian Kershaw noted, its leaders spoke of global domination with quasi-religious fervor, yet their regimes emerged from Europe’s most advanced economies. The Nazi regime, rooted in racial hatred, mechanized genocide with chilling efficiency. Auschwitz left historians speechless.

Fascism’s appeal lay in its paradoxical nature: a “revolutionary counter-revolution.” It borrowed socialist symbolism—the Nazi Party’s full name included “Socialist Workers”—while crushing leftist movements. Mussolini’s Blackshirts and Hitler’s Brownshirts glorified violence, as one young fascist’s letter revealed: “To kill is to fulfill one’s will upon another.”

Unlike traditional conservatism, fascism mobilized masses through spectacle: Nuremberg rallies, Mussolini’s balcony speeches. It rejected both liberal capitalism and Marxist class struggle, offering instead a mythic past—one invented, not inherited. Nazi racial theories, for instance, drew not from medieval prejudices but from pseudo-scientific eugenics.

The Social Roots of Extremism

Fascism thrived among disaffected middle and lower-middle classes—white-collar workers, small businessmen, and veterans disillusioned by postwar instability. In Germany, the Nazi Party’s 1930 electoral surge (from 3% to 18%) reflected economic despair. Students and ex-officers, craving discipline and purpose, became core supporters.

Anti-Semitism provided a unifying scapegoat. While pogroms had long occurred in Eastern Europe, Nazi ideology industrialized hatred. The 1938 Kristallnacht, orchestrated by Berlin, shocked even Austrian Jews accustomed to street violence.

The Conservative-Fascist Alliance

Traditional elites initially saw fascists as useful allies against socialism. German industrialists and Italian landowners backed Mussolini and Hitler, only to be sidelined later. In Spain, Franco co-opted the fascist Falange while maintaining conservative control. Catholic authoritarian regimes (Portugal’s Salazar, Austria’s Dollfuss) shared fascism’s anti-communism but distrusted its populism.

The International Spread

Fascism’s appeal extended beyond Germany and Italy. Hungary’s Arrow Cross and Romania’s Iron Guard mirrored Nazi tactics. In Latin America, figures like Brazil’s Vargas and Argentina’s Perón adopted fascist-style leadership while adapting it to local contexts—Perón’s base was urban labor, not the petite bourgeoisie.

Japan’s militarism, though spiritually aligned with Nazi ideals, remained distinct. Its emperor-worship and feudal hierarchy lacked fascism’s mass mobilization character.

Why Liberalism Failed

The Great Depression exposed democracy’s fragility. Nations lacking consensus—like Weimar Germany—collapsed under partisan strife. Others (Britain, Scandinavia) adapted through coalitions or welfare reforms. Key weaknesses doomed interwar democracies:

1. Legitimacy deficits: Newly formed states (Poland, Yugoslavia) lacked ingrained democratic traditions.
2. Social fragmentation: Ethnic divisions (Czechoslovakia’s Germans/Slovaks) paralyzed governance.
3. Governance overload: Parliaments, designed to check power, now had to manage crises.
4. Economic collapse: Poverty radicalized electorates—Nazis and Communists won over 50% of Germany’s 1932 vote.

Legacy and Warnings

Fascism’s defeat in 1945 buried its ideology but not its lessons. Postwar democracies flourished through prosperity and compromise, yet recent populist surges echo 1930s grievances. As Kershaw observed, Auschwitz reminds us that civilization and barbarism can coexist—a warning for any age.

The 20th century’s central political drama wasn’t communism’s rise but liberalism’s near-death experience. Its survival remains contingent on shared prosperity, social trust, and institutions resilient enough to channel—not suppress—democratic discontent.