Escape from Freedom Study Guide & Plot Synopsis

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"Escape from Freedom" is Erich Fromm's psychological history of the social conditions that developed in Europe between the Middle Ages and the mid-20th century which culminated in the rise of the Nazi Party to power in Germany under Adolf Hitler. Fromm is writing in 1941, after Hitler has come to power and begun his aggressive campaign to conquer Europe, but before the United States has entered what is to become the Second World War. The underlying question of Fromm's work is how the German people allowed HItler's totalitarian regime to gain power seemingly willingly and with their enthusiastic support. A secondary question Fromm asks is whether or not democracy such as that found outside of Germany makes a people safe from similar developments. He identifies a basic psychological need which has led to the support for the Nazis in Germany and concludes by warning that this need is not necessarily...
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