WW2 is popularly presented as a crusade against the threat to humanity and democracy posed by fascism. The war saw massive popular armed movements emerge to resist the Nazis from France to Yugoslavia, driven by the desire of ordinary people to rid the world of the poison of fascism. So why did the victory of these movements and the military defeat of the Axis powers not wipe fascist politics from Europe? This talk will explain how the the 'anti-fascist' Allied imperialists gave the fascists a lifeline, preserving their influence in key sections of the state and society, and laying the basis for their eventual resurgence