The most prominent 20th-century fascist regimes were those in Germany and Italy. German fascism took the form of Nazism, which rose out of the ashes of the post-World War I Weimar Republic. Inflation, soaring unemployment rates, and deep political divisions paralyzed the republic during the Great Depression and helped create the conditions that allowed Nazism to prosper. The Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, promised stability and a return to prewar German pride. It espoused militaristic nationalism, derided cultural decadence, and blamed various marginalized groups—chiefly Jews—for Germany’s social ills. The Nazis governed Germany beginning in 1933 and attempted to spread their ideology through conquest and genocide until their defeat in 1945.
Italy’s fascist movement also began after World War I, although it achieved power in the mid-1920s. Under the leadership of Benito Mussolini, the movement—fasci di combattimento (”fighting bands”)—made heavy use of black-clad paramilitary troops to intimidate leftist politicians and ultimately seize control of Italy during the postwar economic crisis. As the world’s first fascist dictator, Mussolini targeted democratic institutions, dismantled free speech, attacked political opponents, and engaged in heavy surveillance. His regime was virulently xenophobic, and although it initially disavowed anti-Semitism, it passed several anti-Semitic laws in 1938 that would pave the way for Italy and Germany’s cooperation during World War II.