Fascism without Borders: Transnational Connections and Cooperation between Movements and Regimes in Europe from 1918 to 1945

by Arnd Bauerkämper (Editor), Grzegorz Rossoliński-Liebe (Editor)

It is one of the great ironies of the history of fascism that, despite their fascination with ultra-nationalism, its adherents understood themselves as members of a transnational political movement. While a true “Fascist International” has never been established, European fascists shared common goals and sentiments as well as similar worldviews. They also drew on each other for support and motivation, even though relations among them were not free from misunderstandings and conflicts. Through a series of fascinating case studies, this expansive collection examines fascism’s transnational dimension, from the movements inspired by the early example of Fascist Italy to the international antifascist organizations that emerged in subsequent years.

Genres: History

384 pages, Paperback

Published December 17, 2018

Reviews

[Jakub]

Historians for a long time failed to recognize transnational character of fascism and crossborder cooperation between fascists. Subsequently, fascism has largely been investigated only in the framework of national histories. Transnational studies of fascism are thus a new and very much unexplored field. This book is a valuable contribution in this new emerging field, however, I did expect a little bit more from it. Some brilliant chapters (like those from Aristotle Kallis, Matteo Pasetti or Goran Miljan) are followed by the less good ones. Also, what is missing - and the reason for this is a mystery to me - is a chapter by Roger Griffin, whose paper was presented (though not by himself) on the conference in Berlin and might add some methodological depth and probably also a little different perspective to this book. Still, it is a very good book and sort of a must-read if you are interested in fascism studies.