What factors contributed to the rise of fascism in Europe?

The first 200 words of this essay...

What factors contributed to the rise of fascism in Europe?

The rise of fascism during the twentieth century has attracted the attention of countless distinguished academics from all over the world. Fascist movements and governments have emerged in many forms and in many countries throughout the twentieth century, and although the most memorable fascist dictatorships surfaced in the form of Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy, it should be borne in mind that fascism also appeared elsewhere. For example, Spain endured many years under Franco; Austria and Portugal succumbed to similar fascist fates during the Second World War era; abortive fascist movements existed in countries such as the United Kingdom; France and the Benelux region encountered fascism through Nazi occupation during World War II; and in more recent years, the Balkans have experienced fascist dictatorships during the wars of the 1990s. Hagtvet and Rokkan assert that during the run-up to and the duration of the Second World War, five nations (Germany, Italy, Austria, Spain and Portugal) all succumbed to the same fate of monolithic control after the failure of mass democracy in these countries.1 They argue that these countries were all historically, economically and politically pre-disposed to fascist forms