AllMovie

This program chronicles the history of American involvement in warfare during the 20th century. Starting with the Spanish American War and ending with the Gulf War, the United States participated in a century of turmoil, marked by two world wars. Wars took a huge toll in lives and suffering in a steady course of conflict, punctuated by a few years of peace. The Time Life series evaluates the causes and costs of warfare in the last century. This episode examines the forces at work which led to the rise of totalitarian regimes after World War I. The conflict ended with the defeat of Germany, but the world entered a period of economic peril. The extreme times gave rise to extreme leaders and policies. In America, the Depression brought the New Deal under Roosevelt. But in many countries, people hearkened to the call of dictators, such as Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin to solve their economic woes. Archival film footage, photographs, journalistic accounts, and scholarly commentary tell the story of the rise of the dictators.