A central symbol of the book, Nazi Germany stands as an important example of what happens to a country that loses its freedom to an authoritarian regime. Hitler and the Nazis use propaganda, paranoia, disrespect for civil society, reverence for a mythical national greatness, and strict obedience to Hitler as their methods of rule. Nazi policies of intolerance, violence, and suppression are the opposite of democratic values and cause the nation to suffer a terrible disaster. Nazi rule becomes an object lesson for those who would protect their countries from modern tyranny and its consequences.

The Bolshevik revolution forcefully replaces a budding republic with a vast and brutal dictatorship that causes decades of hardship for its people. That it succeeds at all, much less rules for most of the 20th century, becomes a warning to those who assume that democracies easily can withstand threats from within. Along with Nazi Germany, the Soviet regime serves as a reminder of the dangers that threaten republics if they let down their guard. 

Free republics prevail over tyrannies in World War II; later, the Communist threat collapses. People begin to believe history has come to an end and the future will simply refine the inevitable liberal democracies that have arisen from the ashes of old regimes.