1. The Great Depression
   International economic interdependence meant that the U.S. stock crash had farreaching consequences for the world.
   1. Sources of the Economic Contraction
      European economies already buffeted by oversupply and competition were unable to weather the storm unleashed by the stock market collapse, leading to protectionism and economic depression.
   2. Consequences and Responses
      Catastrophic levels of unemployment defied classic economic solutions, responding instead to radical left and rightwing state intervention and accelerating the collapse of moderate leadership.
2. The Stalinist Revolution in the Soviet Union
   Stalin wielded unprecedented power over Soviet society, politics, and the economy, often with tragic results.
   1. Crash Industrialization and Forced Collectivization
      Forcible agricultural collectivization funded Stalin's ambitious program of industrial development and propaganda for Soviet success.
   2. From Opposition to Terror, 1932-1938
      Brutally silencing his critics, Stalin increased his personal power through purges, show trials, and the threat of terror.
   3. Communism and Stalinism
      Devotion to the revolution and the belief that failure had to be due to sabotage helped create a lethal dynamic that Stalin exploited in the late 1930s.
3. Hitler and Nazism in Germany
   Harnessing a host of conflicting impulses in the frustrated German electorate, Hitler's rise empowered troubling doctrines of Nazism.
   1. The Emergence of Nazism and the Crisis of the Weimar Republic
      Political polarization in the wake of the Weimar Republic's inability to deal with the Depression set the stage for Hitler to maneuver into the chancellorship.
   2. The Consolidation of Hitler's Power, 1933-1934
      Exploiting crises and democratic procedures, Hitler decisively moved to consolidate power in his own hands.
   3. Hitler's WorldView and the Dynamics of Nazi Practice
      Geopolitics, biological racism, antiSemitism, and Social Darwinism combined in Hitler's rhetoric to create the Nazi worldview and basis for Nazi actions.
   4. Nazi Aims and German Society
      Charismatic appeals to nationalist sentiment along with orchestrated mass events and propaganda blinded many Germans to the horrors and abuses of radical Nazism.
4. Fascist Challenge and Antifascist Response, 1934-1939
   Ideological divisions between right and left blurred as fascists, democrats, and communists allied and fought in political action and wars.
   1. European Fascism and the Popular Front Response
      Authoritarian traditionalists threatened European democracies, provoking resistance from antifascists, socialists, and communists.
   2. From Democracy to Civil War in Spain, 1931-1939
      The failure of reforms led to political polarization and brutal warfare between Franco's fascistsupported Nationalists and the profoundly divided Republican Loyalists.
   3. France in the Era of the Popular Front
      Emphasizing patriotism, communists and socialists united behind Leon Blum until conservative attacks and policy problems led to the Popular Front's disintegration.
5. The Coming of World War II, 1935-1939
   Most Western leaders desperately sought to preserve peace in the face of Hitler's demands.
   1. The Reorientation of Fascist Italy
      Avoiding domestic political problems, Mussolini concentrated on diplomatic posturing and imperialist ambitions as he pursued an accord with Hitler.
   2. Restoring German Sovereignty, 1935-1936
      Hitler won the restoration of German sovereignty, canceling the checks placed on Germany's continental ambitions by the Versailles settlement.
   3. Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Appeasement
      Western leaders agreed to Hitler's annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, but these concessions only fed German ambition.
   4. Poland, the NaziSoviet Pact, and the Coming of War
      Britain and France defied German claims on Polish territory, but a pact between Hitler and Stalin freed Germany to invade Poland in September 1939.