Fun story is dubbing has two roots. One is in making film accessible to illiterate masses, which is good.
The other is entirely fash.
Dubbing is a brilliant tool for film censorship. Sound films began to appear in the early 1930s, a time when many countries were falling under the sway of totalitarian regimes. In Europe, these included those of Benito Mussolini, Francisco Franco and the Nazis. Censorship had been a feature of film production and distribution in Italy, Spain and Germany since before these dictatorships took power, but it increased markedly after they did so.
Fun story is dubbing has two roots. One is in making film accessible to illiterate masses, which is good.
The other is entirely fash.
https://theconversation.com/the-political-history-of-dubbing-in-films-164136