In the nineteenth century, it seemed as if the entire world was moving towards democracy. In the two decades between World Wars I and II, fascism was the main challenge to the democratic way of life. World War II destroyed the military ambitions of the fascist Axis, though. Before the end of World War II, communism surfaced as the next big threat to democracy. At the end of World War I, communism seemed as if it were just a Russian spectacle because Russia was the only communist state in the world. With the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, Russia became the dominant military power in Europe, and the strength of Communist Russia was revealed