Module 4

1) World War I occurred when a Serbian nationalist assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne named Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The rulers of Austro-Hungary saw Serbian Slavs as a threat and decided they would "crush" them. Behind the Austro-Hungarians lay an ally which was Germany and behind Serbia was Russia. The allies of Russia were the French and the British. For the conservative British government, going to war meant uniting their nation that had been facing mounting class- and gender based conflicts within European societies. Europeans used a lot of propaganda ensured that Europeans believe that their national identities were valuable. This public pressure on mass media and schools allowed men little to now compromise and ensured maximum support for war. Although most Europeans believed the war would in by Christmas in the late summer of 1914, the war did not end until the German defeat that ended in November 1914. The aftermath of this war brought social and cultural changes. Following these events was the great depression which resulted in an American Stock Market crash. Many banks closed and various people lost their life savings. Eleven Wall Street financiers committed suicide jumping off of skyscrapers. Fascism was intensely nationalistic, seeking to revitalize and purify nations adn to mobilize people for some grand task. This proposed violence against enemies and was promoted by Hitler. It ultimately lead to World War II.

2) What is Fascism? Self guided research.
I learned that fascism is a "form of political practice distinctive to the 20th century that arouses popular enthusiasm by sophisticated propaganda techniques for an anti-liberal, anti-socialist, violently exclusionary, expansionist nationalist agenda". This was viewed with leaders after World War I that consisted of Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin. The main goal for fascist leaders is to make a nation stronger, more powerful, and successful. Fascists believe that national strength is the only thing that make a nation good. Fascist reigns are good at exposing propaganda and grand gestures. They also scagoat and demonize other groups. This could be seen by Hitler's aim to get rid of those who were Jewish, gay, and who were born with disabilities. Some of the stages of facism include the following:
1) The primacy of the group
2) Believing that one's group is the victim
3) The belief that individualism and liberalism enable dangerous decadence
3) A strong sense of community or brotherhood
5) Individual self-esteem is tied up in the grandeur of the group


3) Although some may believe that Donald Trump is a fascist, I am not sure if I would go far enough to call him that. I don't like the man, but I honestly think he's only racist. The reason I do not believe Donald Trump is a fascist is because he doesn't romanticize violence itself as a cleansing agent of society. Although Trump has fascist tendencies, we have been seeing these tactics throughout history. For example, we saw them with the confederacy when they established Jim Crow and by the 1924 Immigration Act which were racial based immigration exclusions. Fascism is most successful when the audience that is being convinced is left with a destabilized sense of loss. This loss is what is responsible for their mistrust and anger against another race.