Nationalism is responsible for the outbreak of World War II. When Italy's Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Party rose to power in 1922, it was "driven by a sense of belligerent nationalism that encouraged conflict as a means of social improvement" (Hickman, 2009). This rampant nationalism was hostile to other countries and other ideologies, as well as being very militaristic, and when Mussolini installed himself as Italy's dictator in 1935, he turned the country into a police state (Hickman, 2009). At the same time, German ruler Hitler embraced Fascism via the Nazis' National Socialist German Workers Party (Hickman, 2009). Hickman (2009) states, "Playing on the economic distress in Weimar Germany and backed by their 'Brown Shirts' militia, the Nazis became a political force," which was evidenced in January 1933 when German President Paul von Hindenburg appointed him Reich Chancellor. Between Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany, the outbreak of World War II can be seen to derive from nationalism in these two countries. Because nationalism, when it occurs, tends to intense and exclusive, it drives tolerance of non-nationals to a low level, which can provoke hostilities and serve as an excuse for conflict. In the case of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, these factors were operative as well as a mentality that exalted these two individual countries while denigrating others. This resulted in cohabitation of "outsiders" such as Jews with nationals becoming intolerable.
Hickman, K. (2009). World War II Europe: The Road to War Moving Towards Conflict. About.com. Retrieved on December 10, 2009 from: http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/wwiieurcauses.htm
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