In the 1920's and 30's many intelligent Europeans believed that liberal democracy was an eighteenth-or nineteenth-century anachronism, soon to be replaced by either Soviet communism or fascism (including Nazism). This gives rise to two closely related questions. First, what political, economic, and cultural factors in their specific historical situation made this belief at least somewhat plausible to a large number of Europeans during the interwar years? In conclusion, what were some of the most important reasons why liberal democracy ultimately survived the threats of fascism and communism in Europe?