Ryan Feczko

Mr. Malone

AP World History

5/12/18

Long Essay Question: Political Word Order

During the beginning of the 20th century, the world was going through many changes.

Decolonization of Africa was occurring, with many independence movements beginning to take

shape and be successful. This was due in large part to European politics and the disarray

surrounding the First World War. This disarray continued in the 1930’s with the Great

Depression, which took its toll on both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres and had a global

effect. It also had a large effect on the political structure around the world. Fascism, a form of a

militaristic dictatorship, begins to arise all around the world, in Asia, Latin America, and Europe.

Fascism, specifically in Germany through the Nazi Party, altered the political order around the

world and led to the largest 20th century military conflict, World War II.

Fascism arose because of multiple factors in Germany. Germany was still very

dissatisfied with the guilt clause and their sole blame of causing World War I. They were forced

to give up territory and say that the war was solely their fault when it was truly due to many

other factors, not just Germany. This dissatisfaction was occurring as Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party

was beginning to gain power. His promises of making Germany into a world power again and

improving the lives of the Germans was exactly what German citizens needed to hear at this

time. The Nazi Party and fascism were able to grow because the German citizens were unhappy
with how the world treated them after World War I, and Hitler fed into what they wanted

perfectly.

By this time, the world had taken notice of Hitler and his regime. The political order in

Europe had already been changed as fascism was now present in Italy through Mussolini and in

Germany through Hitler. Germany began demanding that they receive monetary funds and the

land that was taken from them after World War I. This challenge of power forced a response

from Europe, primarily Great Britain. They chose initially to appease Germany with payments

and land, although some people like Winston Churchill saw that war was imminent and did not

support appeasement. This difference of opinions spurred dissention in the political order in

Europe. Therefore, when Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939, the political order

was altered in a more sever way. Other countries now had to step in and fight against the Nazis,

which was not expected, since Germany said that they would not invade Poland. This began

World War II, where millions of lives were lost as the Allied Powers, made up of the United

States, Russia, Great Britain, and others fought against the Axis Powers, the fascist countries of

Japan, Italy, and Germany. The whole world’s political climate was changed by this. Countries

had to work with different countries in order to fight this war against fascism. This immense

military conflict stemmed from the challenge of fascism to the existing political order.

Although Germany is the best example of a challenge to the political order, many

countries adopted fascism to easily rule over their people during and after the Great Depression.

Also, as new nations were being formed, many nations affected the political order in a smaller

scope. Latin America and Africa also had major political changes during this time, but they were

overshadowed by the even larger changes to the political order in Europe. Overall, the largest
conflict in history, World War II, arose because of political conflict that stemmed from many

upset Germans and a political party who promised to improve their lives.