Introduction

Fascism was defeated in the Second World War. The alliance between Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and Japan was beaten, and the fascist regimes dismantled. Hitler committed suicide, Mussolini was strung up by his own people, and the Japanese government dissolved itself. Fascism, rising during the first half of the 20th century, collapsed before it could see the second half.

However, the collapse of fascism did not mean that as a problem it had been wiped off the face of the earth. After the Second World War, and in the Third World, fascism actually increased. The dictators and juntas which came to power in Latin America and Africa were also basically committed to fascism.