European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and the general secretary of the European Trades Union Congress, John Monks, agree that Europe is headed for a repeat of the 1930s, though both disagree as to how this will come about.

“This is extremely dangerous. This is 1931, we’re heading back to the 1930s, with the Great Depression, and we ended up with militarist dictatorship,” Monks said in an interview with the EU Observer. “I’m not saying we’re there yet, but it’s potentially very serious, not just economically, but politically as well.”

Monks fears that the austerity measures being enacted across Europe will push the Continent to the brink of dictatorship. Barroso disagrees, believing instead that without the austerity measures, Europe is bound to fail.

“I had a discussion with Barroso last Friday about what can be done for Greece, Spain, Portugal and the rest, and his message was blunt: ‘Look, if they do not carry out these austerity packages, these countries could virtually disappear in the way that we know them as democracies. They’ve got no choice, this is it,’” said Monk. “He’s very, very worried. He shocked us with an apocalyptic vision of democracies in Europe collapsing because of the state of indebtedness.”

The two opinions of these men illustrate the catch-22 Europe has found itself in. If it does implement the cuts necessary to put its economy in order, it risks triggering massive unrest, leading to the rise of extreme parties and policies and a return to the 1930s.

Yet if governments do not implement the cuts, then entire nations could go bankrupt, leading to chaos and unrest, which could also bring about the dictatorships of the 1930s.

George Soros has also said that the world’s economic situation is “eerily” similar to that time period.

These men are warning of a real danger. They are well-informed leaders of Europe. And they are saying that 1930s-style dictatorships could very well return!

Think about what this could mean. 1930s-style dictatorships lead to 1940s-style war—only this time with nuclear weapons!