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to a sl e labor camp in Siberia. But even if that didn't happen, you would h e no p,litical or ligious rights. You would be a slave of the government.
The Rise of Fascism
A er the war the was a strong eling that the liberal, democratic, parliamenta system just didn't work. There were many asons r is belief: 1) The liberal democracies of England and France had helped plunge Europe in a miserable war. 2) Between the wars ma parliamentary democracies had unstable g ments. In Spain and Italy, r e ple, governments would rise and fall so st that hardly anyone could ep track of them. 3) People realized that elections (even in stable countries like the U.S.) can lead to political corruption and power r the weal y. 4) Many of e post-war liberal gove ents were unable to keep order or to stabilize the econo . There re, people in Eu pe were looking r strong gove ments. They didn't care much whe er they had elections and parliaments or not-th wan d order.
In many countries this need was met by fascism. Fascism means government without elections or a parliament, wi one st ng man as head of state. Fascism promised order and stabili , and scist movements ap­ peared in many countries.
Fascism in itself is nei er good nor evil. Eve ing depends on the man who comes to power. A scist government c be pro-Christian. Po gal was led wisely by a scist g ernment led by An nio Salazar om 1932 until he died in 1971. In Romania, the scist and deeply Christian Legion of the A hangel Michael, which required its members to be willing to die r Christ, p vided strong opposition to libe lism and Communism.
o o en, ough, the strong man ruler can become p er-hungry and despotic. Such was the case in I ly. In 1919 Benito Mussolini rmed the Italian Fascist rty (which took its name om the sces, an ancient Roman symbol r power), nicknamed the Blackshirts r their uni rms. In 1921 Communist and scist riots in Florence marked e beginning of civil war between the two ctions. In 1922 Fascists drove out the Co unist g ernment in Bologna and seized Milan. Then in October they marched on Rome, occupying the ci . On October 31, the king called on Mussolini to rm a gove ent and granted him dictatorial powers. In 1923 Mussolini put ough new election laws which made it easier r him to get total power. In 1924 the Fascist Party won e elections, wi