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Hello class, in this lesson we are going to know more about the interwar period in the 1920s and in the 1930s.

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So, let's have a look at the crisis of democracy and the rise of totalitarianism in some countries in Western Europe, such as in Italy under the rule of Benito Mussolini and in Nazi Germany with Adolf Hitler.

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So, in this lesson we are going to analyse in depth the decline of democracy and the rise of a new mentality, a new mindset that emerged above all in Italy and in Nazi Germany.

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We are talking about totalitarianism.

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So, we really need to remember that the interwar period was a time of severe instability.

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The First World War had created a strong political animosity between the winners, such as Great Britain and the United States above all, and the losers, Yemeni.

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At the same time, serious economic problems were made worse by the financial crisis that occurred in the United States in 1929, as we have learned recently.

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Furthermore, the success of the Russian Revolution caused the conservative classes to fear the spread of communism, as we are going to learn in the following lessons.

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In many cases, this resulted in the emergence of authoritarian regimes and a political backlash, political campaign against democracy, as we are going to learn today.

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The fascist movement in Italy and Nazism in Germany emerged in this contest, a particular contest in Western Europe, and, important, their aggressive foreign policy led the world into the Second World War, as we are going to learn in the following lessons.

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So, today, as an introduction for the lesson, we really need to remember that during the interwar period in the 1920s and 1930s, Western Europe, above all, had a trauma after the First World War, and also due to the particular situation during the post-war.

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The post-war was so difficult in Europe due to the economic and social instability. So, due to these important events in history, I would say that due to the First World War, and due to the difficulties during the post-war period, it brought, in some countries, a new current thought,

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that acknowledged that the democratic system and parliamentarism had failed. However, despite all of these difficulties, the democratic system, the democracy, prevailed in the United States with a presidential political system, where the president had a lot of powers,

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and also in the UK and France with parliamentary systems with a more liberal tradition. However, in some countries in Central and Southern Europe, such as Italy and Nazi Germany, it emerged authoritarian regimes,

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when one ruler had the political power, like in Italy, where Mussolini had the political power, but he didn't control completely the country, because Mussolini was forced to make agreements with other political important forces in Italy,

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such as the church, the police, important businessmen in Italy. So, in an authoritarian regime, Mussolini controlled the political power, but he wasn't able to control completely the country,

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because he was forced to make agreements with other political and economic forces, such as businessmen, the Catholic Church, the police, the army, and also the king.

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However, in a totalitarian regime, the situation was completely different, because in a totalitarian regime, only one party, like the Nazis in Germany, had complete control in the political system, in the society, and also they controlled the economy.

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However, in both countries, in Fascist Italy and also in Nazi Germany, in both countries, they had important supporters. For example, they had the support from the middle class, because remember that the middle class almost lost everything after the First World War.

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The vast majority of the middle class had a decrease in their standard of living, they lost their savings due to the economic crisis, there was a decrease in their standard of living for sure, and for this reason, some part of the middle class supported both countries.

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Fascist in Italy and also the Nazis in Germany. Also, both countries had the support from different businessmen, because they were afraid of communism.

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After the First World War, communism emerged, the political communist parties had more supporters than before, and for this reason, some businessmen were afraid of communism, and as a consequence of that, they gave money, funds, to the fascists in Italy and also to the Nazis in Germany.

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And what about the soldiers? Some soldiers were without jobs, they didn't have a job after the First World War, they were soldiers during the First World War, and when the war ended, they were not able to find a job.

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They were jobless, and for this reason, they gave their support to the fascists in Italy and to the Nazis in Germany.

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So, in the following lessons, we are going to know more about the characteristics of totalitarianism, and also we will analyze what happened in Italy under the rule of Benito Mussolini, and when the Nazis came into power in Germany.

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Thank you for your attention, and bye bye!