The First World War was supposedly fought for peace and democracy. But the war transformed a tradition of hope in Europe into one of despair. The hope of individual and social perfectibility that existed in the Enlightenment and the 19th century was destroyed after the First World War. According to Orwell, moral decay had just begun. When 1984 was first published, World War II had only been over for four years. Dictators like Hitler and Stalin had ruined people's hope for reform. Technology, for the first time in history, now had the potential to annihilate civilization. Hitler had used fear and technology to increase his power and control the people. Big Brother did exactly the same thing. The regime used technology to control people. Big Brother had television screens, spies, the thought police to control people. The people, being so oppressed by this power, could do nothing but obey. They soon lost their individuality and became mindless automations. Like the repressive governments of Germany and Russia, anyone who rebelled or spoke out against them was "disciplined". In Winston's world, people were never seen again. Once the enemies were "vaporized", every trace of their existence was eliminated. And people, being machines, automatically forgot about the enemy and went on in life as if that person had never existed. Technology had destroyed all critical thinking. Orwell wanted to warn the world against fascism in the hope of preserving humanity and its people