What was fascism, and how did totalitarian regimes seize and hold total power?
Topic 8.6 Fascism and Totalitarianism: the rise of fascist and totalitarian regimes between the wars (Mussolini's Italy, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's USSR), their ideologies, and how they built total control over society.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.6, on fascism and totalitarianism: the rise of Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin, the ideology of fascism (ultranationalism, the leader, the enemy), and how totalitarian regimes used propaganda, terror, and the party to build total control over society.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 8.6 asks you to explain the rise of fascist and totalitarian regimes between the wars, Mussolini's Italy, Hitler's Germany, and Stalin's USSR, their ideologies, and how they built total control over society. The College Board wants you to define fascism, understand totalitarianism, and explain why these regimes rose.
What fascism was
What totalitarianism was
Stalin and the totalitarian left
The form crossed ideological lines.
Why these regimes rose
Why it mattered
Fascism and totalitarianism are among the central themes of Unit 8 and of modern history. These regimes destroyed democracy across much of Europe, built the machinery of total control and terror, and, in Nazi Germany, would carry out the Holocaust (Topic 8.9). Their aggression drove Europe into the Second World War (Topic 8.8), and the totalitarian Soviet Union would emerge from that war as a superpower, shaping the Cold War (Unit 9). Understanding what fascism and totalitarianism were, and why they rose, is essential to the whole later course.
Try this
Q1. Name three features of fascist ideology. [Recall]
- Cue. Extreme nationalism, a cult of the all-powerful leader, glorification of the state and violence, contempt for liberal democracy, and hatred of an internal enemy (any three).
Q2. Explain why historians group fascism and Stalinist communism together as totalitarian. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Although opposed in ideology, both used the same methods of total control, a single party, mass propaganda, secret police, and terror, to dominate every aspect of life and remake the whole population, the defining aim of totalitarianism.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2018 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE feature of fascist ideology. Briefly explain ONE method totalitarian regimes used to control society. Briefly explain ONE reason these regimes rose between the wars.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per task.
A. Describe: extreme nationalism, a cult of the all-powerful leader, glorification of the state and violence, and hatred of an internal enemy.
B. Method: a single party, mass propaganda, secret police, and terror to crush opposition and mobilize the population.
C. Why they rose: the bitterness of Versailles, the chaos of the Depression, and fear of communism made many turn to strongmen promising order and revival.
Markers want a fascist feature, a control method, and a cause of the rise.
AP 2021 (style)6 marksEvaluate the most important reason fascism rose to power in interwar Europe.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point causation rubric.
Thesis (1): "Fascism rose to power mainly because the Great Depression and the grievances of Versailles created mass desperation that fascist leaders exploited with promises of order, national revival, and an enemy to blame."
Contextualization (1): the trauma of World War I and the fear of communism.
Evidence (2): the appeal of Mussolini and Hitler amid economic collapse; resentment of Versailles; propaganda and the cult of the leader.
Analysis (2): rank the Depression and Versailles while weighing fear of communism and leadership, then add complexity by distinguishing fascism from Stalinist communism.
Related dot points
- Topic 8.5 Global Economic Crisis: the Great Depression of the 1930s, its causes and effects in Europe, and how mass unemployment and economic collapse undermined faith in liberal democracy and capitalism.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.5, on the global economic crisis of the 1930s: the causes of the Great Depression, its devastating effects of mass unemployment and collapse in Europe, the varied government responses, and how the crisis undermined faith in liberal democracy and fuelled extremism.
- Topic 8.4 Versailles Conference and Peace Settlement: the peace settlement after World War I, the Treaty of Versailles and the punishment of Germany, the redrawing of the map, and why the settlement bred future instability.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.4, on the post-World War I peace settlement: the aims of the victors at the Paris Peace Conference, the Treaty of Versailles and the harsh terms imposed on Germany, the new states created from fallen empires, the League of Nations, and why the settlement left lasting grievances.
- Topic 8.3 The Russian Revolution and Its Effects: the collapse of the tsarist regime, the Bolshevik seizure of power under Lenin, the civil war, and the building of the Soviet communist state.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.3, on the Russian Revolution: why the tsarist regime collapsed in 1917, how Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized power and won the civil war, and how they built the Soviet Union, the world's first communist state, with vast consequences for the 20th century.
- Topic 8.7 Europe During the Interwar Period: the fragile politics, society, and culture of the 1920s and 1930s, the struggles of democracy, and the failure of efforts to keep the peace as aggression mounted.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.7, on interwar Europe: the disillusionment after World War I, the struggles of fragile democracies, the cultural ferment of the 1920s, the spread of authoritarianism in the 1930s, and the failure of appeasement and collective security to stop mounting aggression.
- Topic 8.8 World War II: the causes, course, and total nature of the Second World War in Europe, from Nazi aggression to Allied victory, and its transformation of Europe and the world.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 8.8, on the Second World War in Europe: how Nazi aggression and the failure of appeasement led to war, the course from German conquest to Allied victory, the total and genocidal nature of the conflict, and how it left Europe devastated and divided between two superpowers.
Sources & how we know this
- AP European History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)