At the same time, Macdonald was critical of the methods that elected, democratic governments used to oppose totalitarianism. In the course of World War II (1939–1945), he suffered from increased fatigue and psychological depression as he observed the progressive horrors of the war, especially the commonplace practice of the bombing of civilian populations and the destruction of entire cities, especially the fire bombing of Dresden (February 1945) and the mistreatment of dehumanized Germans. Hence, by the war's end, Macdonald's politics had progressed to pacifism and to libertarian socialism.