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Overview

The twentieth century was a time of mass movements in Europe. Millions of people joined groups that believed they knew the way to a better future.

All mass movements have a few things in common. They believe that the future can be better than the present, they have strong leadership and clear enemies.

Mass movements can be both positive and negative. Some lead to chaos, while others change the world for the better. The key difference is that successful mass movements have these three characteristics in common:

In this passage, you’ll learn about the importance of a strong leader in any movement. You’ll also find out why mass movements are like plants and how successful revolutions were carried out in France and America.

Big Idea #1: Mass movements are spurred on by a belief in change and the hope for something better.

If you had a job that paid well and you enjoyed it, would you look for another one? Probably not. But what if your current job was terrible and made you miserable every day? You’d probably want to find something else as soon as possible.

People who are unhappy or don’t have hope are open to change. In Germany after World War I, people were disillusioned and felt that the future would be bleak. They turned to Hitler because he promised them a brighter future. When people don’t have hope in their lives, they feel hopelessness and lose self-efficacy (the belief that one can succeed at something).

Mass movements are started by instilling a sense of hope in people. The French Revolution was one such movement, which ignited when the idea that humans have infinite capacity for reason and aren’t inherently sinful spread through France. Eventually, it resulted in democratization.

However, hope is not the only thing that makes people desire change. People who have lost something also want to get it back because they know what can be achieved. The Puritan Revolution in England was started by people who’d recently been driven from their property so that landlords could turn the fields into grazing land. People who’ve lost something will fight to get it back.

Big Idea #2: Strong mass movements build unity by replacing individuality with a commitment to something greater.

Have you ever wondered why large groups of people are so powerful? It’s not because they’re all individuals, but rather it’s because they function as a unit. Accordingly, mass movements are strongest when many people work together and form a single unit.

Why? Because groups provide support and help each other out. For example, those in Nazi concentration camps were more likely to survive if they belonged to a group. Groups work because they eliminate individuality and form a united whole. The army does this by assigning uniforms and haircuts that are the same for everyone. This is not enough, however; people need something bigger to identify with when forming a group. Hitler did this by creating an opera where Germans played the parts of heroes. He showed these films on big screens at Nuremberg during his time as leader of Germany (1933-1945). Communist countries continue to do similar things today, even though Communism ended in 1991 (the USSR dissolved).

Mass movements can be dangerous, because they often lead people to believe in things that aren’t true. For example, many years after WWII ended, Japanese refugees in Brazil still believed their empire was alive and well.

Big Idea #3: A mass movement needs a strong leader capable of channeling the hatred of many toward a common enemy.

Have you ever been to a football game and felt united with the crowd of like-minded fans, each of whom is following their team’s star player? That’s similar to what happens in mass movements.