During the winter and spring of 1932-33, Hitler came to power; Japan invaded Jehol and left the League of Nations; Franklin Roosevelt was elected; France changed governments three times; and the victors of 1918 fell out acrimoniously over war debts, currency, tariffs, and Germany. What went wrong? Here Paul Jankowski reveals that it was collective mentalities and popular beliefs that put nations on the path to war, rather than the often-cited "national interest." As he weaves together the stories of the national upheavals that would culminate in World War II, Jankowski offers a cautionary tale for western democracies today.