Fascism: Comparison and Definition

Bibliographical Note

A Bibliographical Note Though an early literature on Fascism and National Socialism, some of it of considerable value, appeared well before World War II, global and comparative treatments of fascism did not emerge for an entire generation afterward. Only with the recession of the period into historical perspective did it become possible to study fascism as a more general and historical phenomenon rather than an immediate political or military problem. The two principal works that initiated the "fascism debate" in contemporary historiography and theory were Ernst Nolte's Der Fascnismus in seiner Epocne (Munich, 1963), translated as Three Faces ofFascism (New York, 1966), and Eugen Weber 's Varieties of Fascism (New York, 1964). Both had the force of originality and a new comparative approach, examining fascism as a unique historical phenomenon with diverse manifestations. During the decade or so that followed, a number of general descriptive accounts and symposia on manifold aspects or manifestations of fascism appeared, led by the Journal of Contemporary History 's special number "International Fascism 1920-1945" (1966), edited by George L. Mosse and Walter Laqueur, followed by a second special number ten years later (the two subsequently published together as International Fascism [London, 1979]); and Nolte's Die Krise des liberalen Systems und die fasdzistisdzen Bewegungen (Munich, 1968). 215 216 I BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE These were followed by two composite volumes edited by Stuart J. Woolf: The Nature of Fascism (London, 1968) and European Fascism (London, 1969). Of general surveys, Alan Cassels's Fascism (New York, 1975) is the most useful as a descriptive text, while Otto-Ernst Schiiddekopf's Fascism (New York, 1973) is the best illustrated, and H. R. Kedward 's Fascism in Western Europe, 1900-1945 (New York, 1971) is the most superficial, not to say inaccurate. F. L. Carsten,The Rise ofFascism (BerkeleylLos Angeles, 1967), describes the growth of Fascism and National Socialism and surveys fascist movements elsewhere. An account of some of the background ideas and cultural influences is the subject of Paul Hayes, Fascism (London, 1972). Much more useful is Walter Laqueur ed., Fascism: A Reader's Guide, (BerkeleylLos Angeles, 1976), a rich collection of studies and interpretive and analytic work, in which Juan J. Linz's "Notes Toward a Comparative Study of Fascism in Sociological Historical Perspective " stands out as the best introductory comparative sociology of fascism available. Much information will also be provided by the collective work Stein V. Larsen et al., eds., Who Were the Fascists? (Oslo-Bergen, forthcoming). Explicit comparative studies of fascist movements are very few. N. M. Nagy-Talavera, The Green Shirts and the Others: A History of Fascism in Hungary and Romania (Stanford, 1970), is probably the most vivid example, but the broadest and most systematic is H.-V. Thamer and Wolfgang Wippermann, Faschistische und neofasdzistische Bewegungen (Darmstadt, 1977). Others are W. Schieder, ed., Fasdzismus als soziale Bewegung (Hamburg, 1976); Jean Plumyene and Raymond Lasierra, Les Fascismes franglis, 1923-1963 (Paris, 1963); Michael Ledeen, Universal Fascism (New York, 1972); and Manuel de Lucena, A evoluglo do sistema corporativo portugues (Lisbon, 1976), 2 vols. P. F. Sugar ed., Native Fascism in the Successor States, 1918-1945 (Santa Barbara, 1971), deals with eastern Europe, and Hans Rogger and Eugen Weber, eds., The European Right (Berkeley/Los Angeles, 1965), provides comparison and contrast with the right. Finally, there are studies that deal with diverse elements of fascism and the authoritarian right within the same country, such as Rene Remond, The Right-Wing in France from 1815 to De Gaulle (Philadelphia, 1969); Francis T. Carsten, Fascist Movements in Austria: From Sdzonerer to Hitler (London, 1976); Richard A. Robinson, The Origins of Franco's Spa,in (Pittsburgh, 1970); and Edward D. Wynot, Jr., Polish Politics in Transition (Athens, Ga., 1974). BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE I 217 The two best synthetic analyses of the principal theories that have been advanced to explain fascism are A. James Gregor, Interpretations of Fascism (Morristown, N.J., 1974), and Wolfgang Wippermann , Faschismustheorien (Darmstadt, 1975). Also important are Renzo de Felice's Interpretations of Fascism (Cambridge, Mass., 1977) and his massive anthology and commentary II fascismo: Le interpretazioni dei contemporanei e degli storici (Bari, 1970), and Nolte's anthology Theorien aber de Faschismus (Cologne, 1967). Henry A. Turner , Jr., ed., Reappraisals ofFascism (New York, 1976), represents some recent reinterpretations, and mention should also be made of De Felice's interpretive interview-essay Fascism (New Brunswick, 1977) and George L. Mosse's Nazism: A History...