In Europe of the pre-war period, the rise of totalitarian primarily refers to the three states of Germany,

Russia and Italy, with their three charismatic, almost deistic figures, Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Benito
Mussolini although General Francos Spain may be considered a totalitarian, Fascist regime as well. The
degree to which the dictators really did turn their state into one that is purely totalitarian is debatable, but
on the surface, each possessed the required quality of totalitarian states. As each of the states had a
different totalitarian regime with varying degrees of control and severity, most factors for the rise of, and
in many cases, the appearance of totalitarianism are different. In order to identify them, it is important to
know the background of the states that turned to totalitarian governments and dictators.

Many of the conditions and factors that enabled and nurtured the rise of totalitarianism in Europe can be
traced back to the end of the First World War. The Treaty of Versailles, inspired much resentment and hate,
particularly in Germany as it was stripped of land, national prestige and money. It also created
disappointment in Italy and Japan, as they were allied to the victors, and had been disillusioned into thinking
that they would benefit considerably, but were left feeling as if they deserved more than the outcome. It
was this resentment that Hitler and Mussolini utilized to their advantage to appeal to more people. The
Treaty of Versailles also created new countries like Czechoslovakia caused land disputes that marred the
peacetime and collective security throughout Europe. The numerous veterans and demilitarised soldiers
were often handicapped or traumatised. Many were also unskilled and so created a strain on the national
economy and were unable to adjust to society. The flue epidemic of 1918 1919 caused many deaths and
a general strain on society.

The League of Nations, which was set up to promote international co-operations, also encouraged, is not
the rise of totalitarianism, the consolidation of power by the dictators. Not only were they too weak to stop
the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the Italian invasion of Abyssinia, which showed Hitler and other
dictators that they need not fear interference of the League, but to some extent, they approved of some
dictators, like Hitler as a potential threat to a greater enemy, the USSR.

The European economy was severely damaged by the war and took a long time to revive, especially with
the extra burden of paying back loans and reparations. The protectionism and drive towards self-sufficiency
that led to the termination of free trade and introduced tariffs on imports. The bad living conditions and
economy made more people want a totalitarian regime where the economy was under the control of the
state and industry was nationalised.

The end of the war to end all wars created a dangerous illusion of peace, which in turn mad people less
wary of dictators with a tendency towards aggressive foreign policies and a desire for war.

The introduction of the idea of democracy to many of the formerly autocratic states led to them desiring a
parliamentary democracy like Britain. The Weimar Republic is one of many countries that tried democracy
without the population being prepared for it. These governments were poorly organized and soon led to
people being more attracted to more extreme, radical parties that had the appearance of organisation and
the potential to revive the economy and national pride.

The Great Depression caused by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 affected the whole globe, particularly
Germany ass it could no longer depend on the loans from the United States to rebuild itself. This led to
the abandonment of international co-operation and the focusing on national interests. Many countries
went into a policy of isolation and were unable to keep dictators from coming into power, and were not
actively interested in the affairs of other countries.
Collective security, International co-operation and democracy had largely failed in Europe, which turned
and gave rise to totalitarian governments and aggressive dictators to solve their problems and reinstate
their national identity, and go back to the glory days. The dictators used the above failures to their
advantage to appeal to a wider audience.