A young democracy is a delicate sapling, needing time and care if it is to put down the roots that might see it grow into a mighty oak, or even a giant redwood. Europe, in the 1930s, learnt this the awful way. The democracies that had sprung up after the catastrophe of the first world war and the ensuing collapse of authoritarian governments were unable to weather the economic storm. Democracy proved all too easy to reverse.
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