| The defeat of the Axis powers in World War II brought an end to the appeal of Fascism, as the major examples of Fascist-style regimes were defeated and were forced to experience the establishment of liberal democracies. While authoritarian dictatorships continued in many parts of the world, only Franco in Spain and Perón in Argentina advocated Fascist-style ideologies on which to base their legitimacy. Most dictators after World War II appealed to popular sovereignty and the concepts of democracy. This created the conditions for the main ideological conflict of the second half of the 20th century, the competition between democratic liberalism and communism, which took the concrete form of the COLD WAR between the emerging superpowers of the U.S. and the Soviet Union. | 1 |
