Originally Posted by
Turtler
Depending on how widely and fairly we cast our net, I'd probably widen that qualification to say "no" countries did. You are also right to say that there was nothing "uniquely" polluted or wrong about German culture or politics, and if anything I'm a bit surprised you don't mention de Coasta, Salazar, Araki, Pilsudski, and *especially* the Lenin-Trotsky-Stalin troika. The diseases of authoritarianism and totalitarianism can strike anyone.
However, I think it's safe to say that while it's worthwhile to observe the international situation and the spread of such toxic ideologies, I also think its' worthwhile to observe where they struck and why. I think it's pretty safe to say that even by the standards of modern authoritarian, totalitarian, and pre-authoritarian/totalitarian dictatorships, German was messed up.
Of all the people after Robespierre mentioned, its' worth noting that Mexatas, De Rivera, and Pilsudski were basically unable to obtain a truly mass following, and were always at least *somewhat* unpopular amongst civil society. In addition, Mexatas and Mussolini (and to a lesser extent de Rivera) inherited control over nations with long-standing democratic, republican, and liberal traditions and so often had to appease or co-opt that sentiment in order to maintain power (rather than the grab-and-throw-away Hitler managed to do with Weimar). This shouldn't be taken as apologia for them or somehow "diminishing" how utter bastardly they could be (if anything it speaks less than well about those institutions, like the Italian constitutional monarchy), but at the same time it probably acted as a sort of stopper on their power that they never could quite jettison.
I think at least a big part of the reason why Germany fell as hard as it did (harder than even Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, etc.) was because of what brought it about, and the recent history that had marked Germany's march to that moment. The fact is that Kellog and Galton did not seriously lay down roots as inspirations for an authoritarian regime on their native soils (excepting maybe the latter to some degree, but even he was viewed as a second or third fiddle for Vichy compared to their main theorists like AF). So clearly, not all racist or troublesome pathologies or their promoters were equal.
Hitler didn't happen in a vacuum either domestically or internationally, and you're right that it's vitally important we not forget that. However, I think there's also worth in pointing to the Nazi regime and the collapse of Weimar democracy which drew as much from Germany's history at that point as it did to international problems and inspirations.