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By the late 19th century, pressure from the new mass parties of the organized working class and ‘scientific’ managers led employers to rethink their treatment of workers. Taylorism gained ground as a means of streamlining production in the wake of World War I, sacrificing worker’s autonomy and knowledge of the production process in the name of economic efficiency. The outbreak of the Russian Revolution inspired a generation of workers around the world, but political repression in the Soviet Union thwarted dreams of liberation for many. Finally, the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany led to devastating defeat for the worker’s movement, as the rhetoric of worker empowerment was quickly abandoned when these regimes came to power.