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The anxiety and crisis that followed the First World war contributed to the rise of powerful dictatorships in parts of Europe, and , unfortunately, an even more horrible Second World War. Some of these dictatorships were old-fashioned and conservative, but there were new totalitarian dictatorships as well, notably in Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. This section examines the different kinds of dictatorship in a general way and then looks at Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Germany in detail. It goes on the describe the Second World War and why and how the great coalition of the Soviet Union, Britain, and the United States defeated Germany and its allies. In Soviet Russia, Lenin relaxed rigid state controls in 1921 after the civil war in order to revive the economy. After defeating Trotsky in a struggle for power, Stalin established a harsh totalitarian dictatorship, which demanded great sacrifices from the people. Soviet Russia built up its industry while peasants lost their land and a radically new socialist society came into being. Mussolini's government in Italy was much less radical and totalitarian. This section then examines Adolf Hitler and the totalitarian government of the Nazis in Germany. The roots of Nazism are found in racism, extreme nationalism, and violent irrationality, all of which drove Hitler relentlessly. Hitler was also a master politician, and this helped him gain power legally. His government was popular, especially because it appeared to solve the economic problems of the Great Depression. Hitler also had the support of many of the German people because of his success in foreign affairs. He used bullying and fears of communism in Britain and France to rearm and expand, until finally war broke out over Poland in 1939. By 1942, Hitler and the Nazis had temporarily forged a great empire andwere putting their anti-Jewish racism into operation. The Grand Alliance, consisting of the Soviet Union, Britain, and the United States, was able to wage a successful war against Hitler partly because it postponed political questions and adopted the principle of unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan, and partly because of the great and heroic contributions of the British and soviet peoples and American resources. The beginning of the end for Germany came in 1942, when its offensive into the Soviet Union was turned into a retreat, and the end became certain in 1944, when the American and British forces began to push into Hitler's empire form the west.
This chapter discusses the main political and economic trends in the Western world since the dark day of the Second World War. It shows how Europe, especially western Europe, recovered from the destruction of 1945, how the cold war split the Continent into communist and non-communist blocs, how European empires came to an end as the peoples of Africa and Asia achieved national independence. The section begins by examining why the Grand Alliance of Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States failed to hold together after they succeeded in defeating Nazi Germany. Military decision, ideological differences, and disputes over eastern Europe were key factors in the origins of the cold war. By 1950, the Iron Curtain was in place, and western and eastern Europe were going their separate ways. Battered western Europe rebuilt quickly and successfully, helped by new leaders and attitudes, American aid, and the creation of the Common Market. Developments in East European countries closely followed those in Soviet Russia. Stalin reimposed a harsh dictatorship after the war, which Khrushchev relaxed but which Brezhnev tightened once again. An anticommunist popular revolt in Hungary failed, while material conditions in communist countries gradually improved and communist governments remained firmly in control. European empires in Asia and Africa went out of business after the Second World War. India led the way to national independence right after the war, and other British, French, and Dutch territories followed. Most countries gained independence peacefully, but there were bitter colonial wars in Vietnam and Algeria. Western influence lives on in Asia and Africa, since most of the newly independent countries have retained Westernnationalism and either communism or democracy as guiding ideas.
The Big Three at Yalta, February 1945
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