New Deal & Rise of Totalitarianism in Postwar Europe
New Deal in the United States
The United States was one of the countries hardest hit by the economic crisis. In 1933, it had thirteen million unemployed. In this situation, the new president, Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt, presented an economic and social program known as the New Deal to end the crisis, which consisted of state intervention in economic activity. The main measures of this program were:
- Helping farmers by paying compensation, in order to reduce their crops and thus cause a rise in prices of agricultural products.
- Creating unemployment benefits for unemployed workers.
- Increasing workers’ wages and reducing work hours to boost purchasing power and encourage consumption and industrial production.
- Intervention in the banks by the state through the acquisition of shares.
- Job offers by the government through the completion of major investments in public works, for example, bridges, roads, and dams.
Causes of the Rise of Totalitarianism
The rise of totalitarianism in postwar Europe is explained by the critical situation experienced on this continent, characterized by:
- Recovery after a terrible war.
- Concern about the possibility of a workers’ revolution similar to that which had triumphed in Russia.
- The fear of the economic crisis starting in 1929.
Fascist-style totalitarianism, especially Italian and German, won the support of all social classes and managed to create a true mass movement. In both cases, they implemented a centralized totalitarian state that had the party as the main organizational tool. They were opposed to liberal democracy, whose institutions they rejected as ineffective in addressing the economic crisis and social revolution. They also rejected socialism, communism, and the organized labor movement, which they broke up and suppressed.
To carry out their policies, they used strategies to sow terror and to attract and manipulate the masses. The methods of action of the fascist regimes were based on:
- Rendering worship to a charismatic leader who radiated power and represented the nation.
- Establishing a social hierarchy in classes, divided according to their work in corporations. The address of the corporation belonged to the leader and the most qualified.
- Exalting militarism, which permeated civil society. It was considered essential to educate and instruct youth in military and nationalistic values.
- Seeking to justify war and revenge as a means to promote territorial expansion of an imperialist character.
- Showing an ingrained nationalism, which reinforced the feeling of national unity and degenerated into racism.
Italian Fascism
During the interwar period, Italy experienced a situation of social disorder and political instability provoked by revolutionary attempts, which weakened the democratic system and encouraged the rise to power of Benito Mussolini in 1922. He established a totalitarian political system called fascism, characterized by:
- In domestic politics, the absolute power of Mussolini and the Fascist Party, and the elimination of political opposition. The Fascist Grand Council replaced Parliament.
- In foreign policy, the ultranationalist ideology led to an aggressive attitude towards other nations.
- In economics, a system imposed by an autocratic and interventionist state.
- In society, corporatism and the promotion of workers’ rights were terminated (strikes were banned).