ation became clear, an ideological conflict developed between democracy and fascism, and the revulsion against what nazism stood for is an important factor in the final decision of France and Britain to go to war. (Bell, Origins, 109)Out of all the powers in Europe, The Soviet Union was the most affected by ideology. As soon as the Soviet Union came into existence, relations between Russia and the West began to deteriorate on ideological grounds. During the 20’s, this rift grew because of the fear and mistrust of communism in France and Britain, which was intensified by Comintern activities, and the view of communists that capitalists were their enemies. The ideology of Stalinism, and the world situation in the 20’s and 30’s, created a cautious foreign policy which followed a double line of ideology and realism. To communism, the rise of fascism was not perceived as a threat since it was seen as a manifestation of monopoly capitalism in decay. In this respect, the Soviet Union, and the liberal democracies had something in common, in that they both had ideological misconceptions of fascism, and were much more concerned with each other to see the danger nazi Germany posed. The disarray the existence of communism and its international organization created, and the preoccupation of the liberal democracies and the Soviet Union with each other and their failure too see the danger Hitler posed, are two more important influences in the origins of WWII. (Bell, Origins, 111-126)During WWII, many believed that the great depression had an important part in the origins of the war. The depression destroyed the positive economic and political developments that had been made after 1924, shattered the atmosphere of confidence and cooperation that existed in Europe, and created in its place an atmosphere of competition, and a drive for self-sufficiency. The social and political unrest that was also caused by the depression, whi...
