Communism and fascism both arose after World War I. Europe was devastated by the war. The war eliminated the German and Russian empires. Germany had to pay war reparations. Germany had to cede to France previously seized territory and give up eastern lands to Poland (Brower & Sanders, 2016). Moreover, Germany had to live with a “war guilt clause” (Brower & Sanders, 2016). At the same time, Italy did not receive any territorial gains for its contribution to the victory. The varying use of the principle of self-determination and the need to pay reparations led to the creation of radical nationalist movements in Italy and Germany. Germans felt that the Versailles Treaty was unjust and punitive. The Depression of the 1930s made things even worse. Communism and fascism were supported by the masses. Democratic governments could not satisfy the needs of people. People were angry and desperate. The fascist movement capitalized on those feelings. This is how fascists came to power. Communists came to power in Russia because they promised prosperity for working people. The masses followed communist leaders because people were poor and wanted to believe in the future of common ownership of the capital.
The major failure of communism and fascism was the inability to protect human rights. Instead, these two types of government did not value the worth of human life. Communist and fascist leaders were responsible for the genocide of peoples, for example the Holocaust and Holodomor, killing and torturing millions of their own citizens in the Gulag, and playing the major role in starting the Second World War (Penter, 2016). In addition, these two governments oppressed most freedoms. The successes of communism were improving economic conditions for the peoples of the Soviet Union and advances in science and technology. The accomplishments of fascism were advances in social welfare and better education systems.
- Brower, D. R., & Sanders, T. (2016). The World in the Twentieth Century. Pearson. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781323183472/
- Penter, T. (2018). From a Local Erfahrungsgeschichte of Holodomor to a Global History of Famines. Contemporary European History, 27(3), 445-449.
