After Ww2 Analysis

Sometimes the aftermath of a war can be just as destructive as the war itself. This was especially true after the First World War. When the war was over, governments were in shambles, unable to govern their own subjects. They could not give their people what they needed, and in the political turmoil aspiring leaders used this to their advantage and took power. After World War One, the totalitarian leaders of Adolf Hitler in Germany, Benito Mussolini in Italy, and Joseph Stalin in Russia were able to take power through the political chaos that followed the war, each government’s inability to provide for their people, and the people’s hunger for change.

First, following the War to End all wars, totalitarian leaders were able to rise to the top

Throughout postwar Germany, inflation was extremely high, and the Government was not able to make decisions. There were too many parties for the democracy to run smoothly. The Weimar government was not serving the needs of the people as it needed to, and the people wanted a new government. Inflation was a similar scene in postwar Italy as well. Italy’s unit of currency became worth about a sixth as much as it was before the war. Additionally, food shortages became common as farmers went on strike. The TCI textbook states, “Adding to the economic crisis, jobless workers had to compete with returning soldiers for whatever work was available.” The Italian government was not being an effective government either, and was not serving the needs of the people. In Leninist Russia, the people weren’t getting their needs met either. In the video titled Stalin Comes To Power, it is stated, “What we need to remember here is that the people were suffering. The people were in crisis and the Russian government was not able to meet those needs.” The Russian people were therefore more welcoming to Lenin, who promised reform. Totalitarian leaders were able to take power in part because the governments that they replaced were unable to meet the people’s needs, and people were much more open to the idea of a new