In the first part of the book, Johnson deals mainly with the shaping of the Soviet Union in the first decades after World War I, the collapse of democracy in Central Europe due to the rise of Fascism and National Socialism, the causes that led to World War II, and its development and outcome.
In the first part of the book, Johnson focuses on the Soviet Union's development during the initial years after World War I, the collapse of democracy in Central Europe due to Fascism and National Socialism, the causes leading to World War II, its course, and eventual outcome.