Editing Fascism (section)

== Origins and development ==
Fascism developed in Europe during the political instability that followed the [[First World War]]. Early fascist movements responded to parliamentary crisis and fears of socialist revolution by promoting militant nationalism. They used mass rallies and paramilitary violence to build political support. Their programmes called for a stronger state capable of reorganizing national life under centralized leadership.

The first fascist movement to establish a government was led by [[Benito Mussolini]] in [[Italy]]. Mussolini founded the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento in 1919 and later organized the National Fascist Party. He became prime minister after the March on Rome in October 1922. The Italian government was converted into a dictatorship during the following years, and Mussolini remained in power until 1943.<ref name="italy-history"/>

[[Nazism]] developed in [[Germany]] as a distinct form of fascism based on [[National Socialism]]. [[Adolf Hitler]] became chancellor on 30 January 1933. Emergency decrees and the Enabling Act were then used to remove constitutional limits on his government. Opposition parties were dissolved, and Germany became a one-party dictatorship by 1934.<ref name="nazi-dictatorship"/> Nazi ideology gave racial hierarchy a central position and defined Jews as enemies of the German national community. It also used territorial expansion as a political objective.<ref name="nazi-ideology"/>

Fascist governments formed part of the [[Axis powers]] during the [[Second World War]]. The defeat of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ended the principal European fascist regimes by 1945.<ref name="second-world-war"/> Fascist organizations continued after the war in altered forms commonly described as neo-fascism.