Question

Why were fascist leaders so appealing after world war 1?

Answer 1

Answer: Fascism arose after the Great War: Because it was good for— some— business.

Explanation:

Fascism, and other forms of State control over the economy and society, arose after the Great War because the leaders of commerce and industry sought out the coercive power of the State to protect them from free market competition. As business ceded more authority to the State, the State took more control. Ultimately, the State exercised total control over the economy, as well as social control (abrogation of civil rights and liberties) necessary to accommodate the economic control. In some countries, like the US, State control was welcomed and ushered in a period where the State was viewed as the protector of the public against the vagaries of the free market. In other countries, like Italy and Nazi Germany, the State abandoned any pretense of freedom, and made its control felt with an iron hand.

Granted, people in the US don’t think of ourselves as living in a Fascist regime, but the fact is that the State— what people call “governments”— controls the economy and the social structure. Historically, fascism arose because prior to the Great War, changes in technology, communication, and transportation made free markets highly competitive. But during the Great War, the State co-opted industry and commerce for purposes of war production. In doing so, the State made sure that the leaders of industry remained leaders by assuring their profits. The State also limited competition, as well as labor. The captains of industry enjoyed the profiteering without market risk, so after the war, they tried to establish voluntary trade associations to do what the State had done for them during the war. However, the captains of industry could not corral all of the markets—some people would ignore the cooperative associations for their own benefit. So the captains of industry turned to the State, and influenced the State to coerce industry and commerce to conform to the tenets of the cooperative associations. The next natural step was an administrative state, through which the State maintained control over the economy.

Answer 2

Most fascist dictators were nationalists who not only promised to their country recover from the Great War but to lead their country to greater heights and the did indeed stay true to those promises. Not to mention the amount of propaganda that raised the dictator’s image to god like heights to the point some people basically worshiped them.