Was fascism inevitable for Germany and Italy?

Answer 1

No, it was not.

The two nations could have easily prevented the rise of Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy, and therefore terminated the rise of fascism in Europe in it's earliest stages.

Answer 2

Instead of ongoing rebellions, German unification was brought about largely by political maneuvering on the side of Prussia. The Frankfurt assembly, convened in 1848, wrote a liberal constitution for the German states to unify under an emperor. In desperation, the crown was offered to Frederic William IV, King of Prussia. With Frederic's refusal of the crown, the assembly was dismissed without having forged unification for Germany. Prussia and its main rival Austria came away from the assembly still vying for unification. Prussia's leader, William I, and his Prime Minister, Otto von Bismarck, both agreed that unification must be made under Prussia's power and direction. With this goal in mind, Bismarck set about securing treaties with the other major European powers. Prussia soon secured treaties with Russia, France, and Italy. Prussia then agreed to aid Austria in a joint invasion of Schleswig-Holstein, two Danish territories.

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After the successful invasion, a disagreement about authority over the conquered territories occurred between Austria and Prussia. Bismarck, waiting for an excuse to attack Austria, manipulated the disagreement in Prussia's advantage by declaring war on Austria. The war that followed is today known as the Seven Week War, and it astounded Europe in how quickly Austria was defeated by Prussia's industrialized railroads and weapons. After the war, Prussia instituted a lenient peace with Austria, hoping not to alienate the second greatest power in the German states. After the shock and intimidation gained from the war, Prussia had little difficulty in organizing the North German Confederation in 1876, which contained the northern German states excluding Austria. Austria itself soon became part of the Austria-Hungry kingdom.

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With the northern German states finally unified, Prussia turned its gaze to the south. In the year 1870, French dictator Napoleon III demanded an assurance from Prussian ruler William I that a member of the Hohenzollern family would never ascend to the throne in Spain. Seeing an opportunity, Bismarck twisted an account of the incident and published it for the French people. Angered over the account, France declared war on Prussia. When war was declared, the southern states joined with the unified North German Confederation, and under the might of a fully unified Germany, France fell in 1871. After the war, Bismarck convinced the southern states that Prussia's formidable military, combined with the strength of the northern states, would make its dominance of Germany inevitable. In Versailles, on January 18th, 1871 William I of Prussia was declared the leader of a restored German Empire, the Second Reich.

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Comparisons

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What differed most between the unifications of Germany and Italy were the methods and reasons behind them. In Italy, multiple rebellions made the country hostile, and forced a military occupation, which angered the inhabitants even more. These intolerable actions towards the Italians angered them, so the rebellions continued until Sardinia stepped in to help mold the situation politically. In Germany, the major force behind unification was insistence by the Prussians that unification must occur on their own terms, and under their rule. From here, political maneuvering and fast, well-orchestrated wars lead to alliance after alliance until the country was once again united. The distinction to be made clearly is this: with a popular uprising that was aided by strong internal political support, the Italian kingdom was founded, despite major opposition from foreign ruling powers. German unification was brought about by keen political tactics that were supported by an excellent military. This combination was successfully used to demonstrate Prussia's might, and to impress the other German states that alliances would be both unavoidable and very beneficial.