Nathanael Greene 215 Public Affairs Center

Wesleyan University

History 371 Seminar: Fascismspring, 2012

Nathanael Greene 215 Public Affairs Center

Telephone 685-2376 e-mail:

Office Hours: Mondays, 11-12, and Wednesdays, 1-4

Books:The following are available at the Broad Street Books:

Martin Blinkhorn, Fascism and the Right in Europe

Ian Kershaw, Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris

John Lukacs, The Hitler of History

Stanley G. Payne, A History of Fascism, 1914-1945

Stanley G. Payne, Fascism in Spain, 1923-1977

R. J. B. Bosworth, Mussolini

Robert Soucy, French Fascism: The Second Wave

Zeev Sternhell, The Birth of Fascist Ideology

A.J.P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War

Please note that much of your reading will be selected from among titles suggested for each class. All of the suggested titles are available in Olin Library, but only those books listed above will be placed on reserve. It is assumed that students will frequently be reading from different works for each class. Students should feel free to choose relevant works from the library's collection which do not appear on this syllabus, and you are encouraged to devote time to browsing in the collection.

Papers:Each student will submit three papers and a major research paper. The three papers will be due in class on the date stipulated and will be devoted to analysis of the issues posed for the class on that date, as indicated below. These papers must be brief, no more than three printed pages. One half of the class will submit papers on February 13, February 27 and March 26; the other half of the class will submit papers on February 20, March 5, and April 2. These papers will be graded. In addition, very brief reports - no more than one page - will be due on the reading accomplished by the student in preparation for class in the week when a paper is not required; these reports will not be graded. All of these papers should be submitted by e-mail to before the beginning of class on the dates indicated.

The research paper, devoted to a topic chosen no later than February 29, will be due in its final form on May 17. A report indicating the topic, scope of the planned research, questions to be considered, and an introductory bibliography will be due on Monday, March 5, to be submitted by e-mail. First drafts of the research papers will be circulated prior to classes scheduled for April 23 and 30, and May 7 for critical comment and discussion at those classes. Examples and suggestions concerning research papers are offered on pages 7 - 9 of this syllabus.

history 371, Fascism, SPRING 2012, page 2

Oral Presentations: Every student will serve, at least once, either as a reporter or a critic, at one of the classes described below in February, March, and April. In addition, the first draft of a research paper will receive detailed comment from a student assigned to that task at the classes scheduled for April 23 and 30, and May 7.

Examinations: There will be no examinations in this course.

Prerequisites: There are no formal course prerequisites for this seminar, but students who have not taken college-level courses in modern European history should become familiar with the history of Europe in the period from 1900 to 1945 by reading in a reliable textbook in the first weeks of the semester. By way of example, these texts might be useful:

H. Stuart Hughes, ContemporaryEurope, A History

R.R. Palmer and Joel Colton, A History of theModernWorld

Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century

Robert Paxton, Europe in the Twentieth Century

John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe, Volume II

Scheduleofclasses

january 30. Introduction and organizational meeting.

february 6, part 1. Definitions.

Required readings:

Stanley G. Payne, A History of Fascism, 1914-1945, Introduction and Part II

Benito Mussolini, “Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism” [Moodle]

Zeev Sternhell, The Birth of Fascist Ideology, Introduction

Martin Blinkhorn, Fascism and the Right in Europe, Part One and Chapters

3, 6, 7, and 8

Suggested readings:

F.L. Carsten, TheRiseofFascism

Nathanael Greene, Fascism,AnAnthology, Part I, and Part II, section 1

Eugene Weber, Varieties of Fascism, chapters 1-5

Stanley Payne, Fascism:ComparisonsandDefinitions, chapters 1, 8, and 9

Renzo de Felice, Interpretations of Fascism, Part One

Walter Laqueur, Fascism: A ReadersGuide, Part I, articles by Juan Linz,

F. L. Carsten,and by Eugen Weber.

history 371, Fascism, SPRING 2012, page 3

H. R. Trevor-Roper, "The Phenomenon of Fascism", in J. Woolf, ed., European Fascism

Walter Laqueur, Fascism: Past, Present, and Future, Chapter 1

february 6, part 2. Forerunners: France, Italy, Austria and Germany.

Paper topic: In what ways can the roots of Fascism to be found in the past? How would you define the "Radical Right" in one or more European countries at the beginning of this century? How did the "Radical Right" differ from liberalism and, for that matter, from conservatism?

Required readings:

Stanley G. Payne, A History of Fascism, 1914-1945 , chapters 1-3

Zeev Sternhell, The Birth of Fascist Ideology, Chapters 1-3

France: Charles Maurras, "Dictator and King" [Moodle]

Italy: Filippo Marinetti, "The Futurist Manifesto" [Moodle]

Suggested readings:

James Joll , Intellectuals in Politics (Marinetti)

Peter Pulzer, The Rise of Political Antisemitism in Germany and Austria

Eugen Weber, "France", in Rogger and Weber, eds., TheEuropeanRight

Eugen Weber, Action Française

Ernst Nolte, ThreeFacesofFascism, Part II

George L. Mosse, TheCrisisofGerman Ideology, Parts I and II

Fritz Stern, The Politics of Cultural Despair

february 13. Liberal Italy, the First World War, and Mussolini’s Rise to Power.

Paper topic: "We have created our own myth. That myth is a faith, it is a passion. It isn't necessary that it be a reality. It is a reality by virtue of the fact that it is a fist, that it is a hope, that it is a faith, that it is courage. Our myth is the nation, our myth is the greatness of the nation". – Mussolini.

How does this statement help to explain Mussolini’s rise to power?

Required readings:

R. J. B. Bosworth, Mussolini, Introduction and chapters 2-7

Zeev Sternhell, The Birth of Fascist Ideology, Chapter 5

Stanley G. Payne, A History of Fascism, 1914-1945, chapter 4

Martin Blinkhorn, Fascism and the Right in Europe, Documents 1 and 2

Gabrielle d’Annunzio, statement on war and Italy [Moodle]

Suggested readings:

Nathanael Greene, Fascism,AnAnthology, Part II, section 2

Alan Cassels, FascistItaly, Chapters 1 and 2

Denis Mack Smith, Italy,AModernHistory, sections one through seven

history 371, Fascism, SPRING 2012, page 4

Christopher Seton-Watson, ItalyfromLiberalismtoFascism, parts I-III

Ernst Nolte, ThreeFacesof Fascism, Part III

Benito Mussolini, My Autobiography

A. James Gregor, The Ideology of Fascism

Frederico Chabod, A History of Italian Fascism

february 20. Mussolini’s Italy.

Paper topic: “Everything about Italian Fascism was a fraud. The social peril from which it saved Italy was a fraud; the revolution by which it seized power was a fraud; the ability and policy of Mussolini were fraudulent. Fascist rule was corrupt, incompetent, empty; Mussolini himself a vain, blundering boaster without ideas or aims.” -- A. J. P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War, chapter 3, page 56 of 1961 edition.

“I am the most disobeyed dictator in history.” -- Attributed to Mussolini.

Evaluate these assessments of Mussolini and Italian Fascism.

Required readings:

RJB Bosworth, Mussolini, chapters8-17, and 1

Stanley G. Payne, A History of Fascism, chapter 7

Martin Blinkhorn, Fascism and the Right in Europe, Documents 7 and 8

Suggested readings:

Alan Cassels, Fascist Italy

Ivonne Kirkpatrick, Mussolini: A Study in Power

Denis Mack Smith, Mussolini’s Roman Empire

Gaetano Salvemini, Under the Axe of Fascism

Herbert W. Schneider, Making the Fascist State

Herman Finer, Mussolini’s Italy

Nathanael Greene, Fascism: An Anthology, Part II

R. J. B. Bosworth, Mussolini’s Italy

february 27: Germany: Empire and Republic

Paper topic: [a] In what specific ways do you find linkages and threads of continuity between the pre-1914 and post-war Right in Germany? [b] How do you account for the failures of the Weimar Republic and Hitler’s accession to power?

Required readings:

Stanley G. Payne, A History of Fascism, Chapter 6

John Lukacs, The Hitler of History, chapters 1-4, or

Ian Kershaw, Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris, chapters 1-10

history 371, Fascism, SPRING 2012, page 5

Suggested readings:

Alan Bullock, Hitler, A Study in Tyranny

Joachim Fest, Hitler

Ernst Nolte, Three Faces of Fascism, Part IV

Nathanael Greene, Fascism: An Anthology, Part III

Klaus P. Fischer, Nazi Germany: A New History, chapters 2-7

Richard J. Evans, The Coming of the Third Reich

march 5: Hitler’s Germany.

Paper topic: "If Hitler had succumbed to an assassination or an accident at the end of 1938, few would hesitate to call him one of the greatest of German statesmen, the consummator of German history. The aggressive speeches and MeinKampf, the anti-semitism, and the design for world dominion, would presumably have fallen into oblivion, dismissed as the man's youthful fantasies. Six and one-half years separated Hitler from such renown". -- J. Fest, as cited by S. Haffner.

Evaluate Fest’s assessment.

Excerpts from the film, TriumphoftheWill will be shown at the beginning of class.

Required readings:

John Lukacs, The Hitler of History, chapters 7-9

Ian Kershaw, Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris, chapters 11-13

Browse a major biography of Hitler, such as Fest’s or Bullock’s.

Suggested readings:

Ernst Nolte, ThreeFacesofFascism, Part IV

Eberhard Jackel , Hitler'sWeltanschauung, Chapters I and III

Dietrich Orlow, TheHistoryof theNazi Party

William S. Allen, The Nazi SeizureofPower

Walter Laqueur, Fascism, A Reader'sGuide, chapters by Hans Mommen, "National Socialism - Continuity and Change" and K. D. Bracher, "The Role of Hitler"

Albert Speer, InsidetheThirdReich, chapters 5-11

Sarah Gordon, Hitler,Germans, and the "JewishQuestion" chapters 1-4, and 10

Karl Dietrich Bracher, The German Dictatorship

Klaus P. Fischer, Nazi Germany: A New History, chapters 8-10

Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich in Power

history 371, Fascism, SPRING 2012, page6

march 26: Hitler and the Second World War.

Paper topic: Evaluate A. J. P. Taylor’s contentions that [a] Hitler was a traditional German statesman whose aims were fundamentally those of his predecessors, [b] the settlement at Munich in 1938 was not a triumph for Hitler, [c] Hitler did not plan the Second World War, and [d] the war of 1939 was the result of diplomatic blunders, not Hitler’s intentions.

Required readings:

A.J. P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War, chapters VI- XI

John Lukacs, The Hitler of History, chapters 5 and 6

Stanley G. Payne, A History of Fascism, Chapter 11

Suggested readings:

Gerhard Weinberg, The Foreign Policy of Hitler’s Germany

Klaus P. Fischer, Nazi Germany: A New History, chapters 11-14

Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich at War

april 2: Spanish Fascism.

Required readings:

Stanley G. Payne, Fascism in Spain, 1923-1977, Parts One and Two

Stanley G. Payne, A History of Fascism, pages 252-267

Manifesto by General Francisco Franco, 17 July 1936 [Moodle]

General Franco's final testament, 1975 [Moodle]

General Millán Astray, “Long Live Death!” [Moodle]

Guidelines of the Falange; the 26 points: NATION. UNITY. EMPIRE. [Moodle]

Ramiro Ledesma Ramos, «The Voice of Spain” [Moodle]

José Antonio Primo de Rivera, «Total Feeling” [Moodle]

Speech by the Monarchist Poet José Maria Pemán [Moodle]

Suggested readings:

Paul Preston, The Coming of the Spanish Civil War

Paul Preston, The Politics of Revenge: Fascism and the Military in 20th Century Spain

Paul Preston, Franco

april 9: French Fascism: Did it exist?

Required readings:

Robert J. Soucy, French Fascism: The Second Wave

Martin Blinkhorn, Fascism and the Right in Europe, Document 5

Drieu La Rochelle, "What is Fascism?" [Moodle]

Jacques Doriot, "The France that We Want" [Moodle]

history 371, Fascism, SPRING 2012, page 7

Vichy, July 1940, speeches by Charles Spinasse and Pierre Laval {Moodle]

Marshal Philippe Pétain, statement at his trial [Moodle]

Suggested readings:

Nathanael Greene, FromVersaillesto Vichy: The Third French Republic, 1919-1940

Eugen Weber, The Hollow Years

Robert Paxton, Vichy France

april 16: no class. i will have office hours, 1:10-4.

april 23, april 30, may 7: First drafts of research papers.

May 17: Final papers are due by noon.

______

suggested topics, intended only as examples:

Great Britain:

Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists.

Mosley’s biographers.

The Imperial Fascist League.

British Policy Toward Germany and/or Italy in the 1930's.

Conservatism in the 1930's.

Appeasement

The Labour Party and its response to Fascism.

France:

The "Leagues" in the 1930’s, e.g., Croix de Feu, Jeunesses Patriotes, Green Shirts.

Activists such as: Jacques Doriot, Marcel Bucard, Henri Dorgeres, de la Rocque.

Writers, e.g., Drieu la Rochelle, Robert Brasillach, Bertrand de Jouvenel, Maurice Barrès.

The Right and the Spanish Civil War.

Interpretations of Hitler and National Socialism, on Left and Right.

The power of certain fears, e.g., the fear of war, of communism.

The Action Francaise in the 1930’s.

The ideas, ideology, inclinations of Marshal Pétain.

The Vichy regime in France, 1940-1944. Numerous possible topics.

From Socialism to Fascism: the Career of Marcel Déat or the actions of other socialists, supporters of the Vichy regime, e.g., Charles Spinasse.

The Milice during the Vichy period.

The Popular Front: An Effective Challenge to Fascism?

history 371, Fascism, SPRING 2012, page8

Anti-semitism in the 1930’s and 1940’s; particular figures, e.g., Xavier Vallat.

The Dreyfus Affair as a preview of Fascist ideology.

Georges Sorel : A Forerunner of Fascism?

The Political Pareer of Pierre Laval before 1940 or during the Vichy period.

Parliamentary Conservatism in France in the 1930's.

Trials of Fascists, 1944-1946.

Anti-Communism and Fascism.

Historiography of debate about French fascism

Historiography of debate about Vichy France

Germany and Austria:

Early Political Anti-Semitism: Stocker and Lueger.

The Weimar Republic, several possible topics, e.g., political extremism.

The Corporate State in Austria, 1934-1938.

Hitler's Allies: The German Nationalist Party.

Hitler's Allies: The Role of the Military.

Hitler's Opposition: The Role of Social Democracy.

Hitler’s Pope? Pius XII and the Roman Catholic Church.

Hitler's Collaborators: Eastern Europe.

Hitler's Collaborators: Norway or France.

Hitler's economic policies in the 1930’s.

The Strasser brothers and the “second revolution.”

The German Youth Movement.

The S.S. in peace and war.

Aspects of Hitler's foreign policy. Several topics, e.g., the Anschluss with Austria.

Major figures of the Nazi regime such as Goebbels, Hess, Himmler, Goering

Hitler as Orator, or Military Strategist, etc.

Interpretations of the Holocaust, e.g., Goldhagen’s Hitler’s Willing Executioners, Mayer’s Why Did the Heavens Not Darken?

Spain and Portugal:

The Franco Regime in Spain, 1939-1975. Several possible topics.

The Falange after 1939.

Gil Robles and the CEDA in the politics of the 1930’s.

The Church in Spanish Politics, roughly from 1923 to 1936.

Carlism in the 1930’s.

Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera.

The Dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, 1923-1930.

The Military in Spanish Politics, 1931-1936.

The Spanish Left in the crises of the 1930’s – Anarchists and/or Socialists

The Salazar Regime in Portugal. Numerous possible topics.

Franco and the Second World War.

Franco’s political philosophy.

Italy:

Mussolini and the Roman Catholic Church, or specific study of the Lateran Accords.

History 371, Fascism, SPRING 2012, page9

Mussolini's Role in International Affairs, e.g., origins of the “Pact of Steel.”

The Ethiopian War.

Mussolini's Career as a Socialist.

Activists and writers, e.g., Gabrielle d' Annunzio.

Futurism and Fascism; study of Marinetti.

Fascist institutions in Italy: Party and State.

Mussolini's political techniques.

Fascist propaganda.

Exile critics of the Fascist regime, e.g., Salvemini, the Roselli brothers.

Other countries:

Henri de Man and "Humanistic" Marxism:

The "Rex" Movement in Belgium.

Fascist Movements in central and eastern Europe, e.g., Hungary, Rumania. Yugoslavia during World War II.

General; comparative; theory.

Fascist uses of history.

Fascist films, literature, art, music or architecture.

Fascism and Labor: comparative analyses.

Comparative Fascist propaganda.

Fascist rhetoric, speeches, and writings.

Fascist Intellectuals.

Marxists into Fascists.

Fascist Youth Movements.

Fascist Signs and Symbols.

Women and Fascism, several possible topics, e.g., women’s organizations, key personalities, activists.

Roman Catholic Churchmen in two or more countries, e.g., Germany and Spain.

Compare biographies of one or more of major figures, Hitler, Franco, Pétain, etc.

Attraction of the Military to Fascism, e.g., individuals or collectivities.

Interpretations of Fascism since the Second World War.

Non-European Fascist ideas and movements.