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Rick Steves Special: The Story Of Fascism In Europe

Rick holding a fasces at the Palace of Italian Civilization in the E.U.R. district of Rome.
Courtesy of Rick Steves
Rick holding a fasces at the Palace of Italian Civilization in the E.U.R. district of Rome.

Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV / Stream now with the PBS App

In this one-hour special, Rick Steves travels back a century to learn how fascism rose and then fell in Europe - taking millions of people with it. He traces fascism's history from its roots in the turbulent aftermath of World War I, when masses of angry people rose up, to the rise of charismatic leaders who manipulated that anger, and the totalitarian societies they built.

Rick Steves' Special Preview: The Story of Fascism in Europe

In addition, Rick chronicles the brutal measures the leaders used to enforce their ideologies, and discusses the horrific consequences of genocide and total war. And yet despite all this, inspiration can be found by those who resisted.

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Rick visits the Altes Museum in Berlin, Germany. In RICK STEVES FASCISM IN EUROPE, Rick Steves travels back a century to learn how fascism rose and then fell in Europe — taking millions of people with it.
Courtesy of RICK STEVES' EUROPE
Rick visits the Altes Museum in Berlin, Germany. In RICK STEVES FASCISM IN EUROPE, Rick Steves travels back a century to learn how fascism rose and then fell in Europe — taking millions of people with it.

Along the way, Rick visits poignant sights throughout Europe relating to fascism, and talks with Europeans whose families lived through those times.

Congress Hall at the former Nazi party rally grounds, Nazi Documentation Center, Nürnberg, Germany.
Courtesy of RICK STEVES' EUROPE
Congress Hall at the former Nazi party rally grounds, Nazi Documentation Center, Nürnberg, Germany.

The goal of "Rick Steves Special: The Story Of Fascism In Europe" is to learn from the hard lessons of 20th-century Europe, and to recognize that ideology in the 21st century.

Mussolini’s Stadio dei Marmi, at the Foro Italico in Rome. In RICK STEVES FASCISM IN EUROPE, Rick Steves travels back a century to learn how fascism rose and then fell in Europe — taking millions of people with it.
Courtesy of RICK STEVES' EUROPE
Mussolini’s Stadio dei Marmi, at the Foro Italico in Rome. In RICK STEVES FASCISM IN EUROPE, Rick Steves travels back a century to learn how fascism rose and then fell in Europe — taking millions of people with it.

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