fascism

The Army Warned Troops in 1945 of the Danger of Fascism. That Warning Rings True Today

by Alan J. Singer

As the military prepared for the occupation of conquered Axis nations, it realized that without awareness of the content and goals of fascism, it could emerge at home as "Americanism." 

Why is the American Right so Thirsty for Generalissimo Franco?

by David Austin Walsh

Increasingly "respectable" conservative intellectuals are openly advocating for a dictator to enforce cultural traditionalism as part of a battle to control the politics of elite institutions.

Maddow's Documentary Follows American Nazis in the 1940s—Does it Miss a Bigger Danger?

by Nelson Lichtenstein

The legal and law enforcement response to the rise of pro-Nazi groups in pre-WWII America was part of a growing national security state that would be used against dissent from the left and which the far right today seeks to use as a weapon. 

Jeff Sharlet on the Intersectional Erotics of Fascism

by Annika Brockschmidt

In an interview with historian Annika Brockschmidt, journalist Jeff Sharlet discusses his new book on the "slow civil war" in America and the need to understand how the far right is sustained by the pleasure of ceasing to resist the tide of anger and instead being carried by it. 

What I Saw when I Snuck In to the British National Conservatism Conference

by Seth Thévoz

If a group of fervent young British conservatives were packed into a wood-paneled room in Westminster with the freedom to say what the pleased, what would a party-crashing historian and journalist hear? 

Attacks on Education Echo Fascism

by Eden McLean

"Florida’s legislation represents only the latest in a long history of attempts to deplore knowledge, deride academic inquiry for its own sake, and discourage intellectual curiosity in our children and the American public."

Face It: CPAC Was a Mussolini Moment

by Will Bunch

After Trump's CPAC speech promised that he'd be an instrument of retribution against his followers' enemies, it's time to stop tiptoeing around the historic parallels, writes columnist Will Bunch. 

Drop "Culture War" Description: Banning Books and Restricting Ideas is Fascism

by Jason Stanley

Conflicting cultural values are a normal part of democracy. What leaders like Ron DeSantis want is to make sure only one set of values has a place in the public square. 

Why is Italy's Far Right Embracing Dante?

Italy's original Fascists embraced Dante as a marker of national chauvinism, and a prophet of authoritarianism; today's far right has renewed their enthusiasm for the poet. 

The Real Story of "Casablanca" Was the Refugees

At its 80th anniversary, it's appropriate to honor the classic film by focusing on the waves of Europeans fleeing Nazi persecution and working to fight back. 

The Pope at War: Pius XII and the Vatican's Secret Archives

by James Thornton Harris

David Kertzer's book argues that defenders of Pope Pius XII's actions during the Holocaust mistake his defense of the prerogatives of the Catholic Church for a defense of the victims of Nazi persecution and genocide. 

Mussolini in Myth and Memory

by Paul Corner

Italians' recollection of Mussolini and the Fascist regime embody the replacement of historical memory with national mythology—a mythology that dismisses both the violence of the dictatorship and Italians' collective responsibility for it and enables the resurgence of the far right today.

What, Exactly, Is Fascism?

by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Are you confused about the meaning of Fascism? If so, you're not alone. Benito Mussolini, the creator of Fascism, famously did not define it until 1932.

Robin Kelley: Fascism Doesn't End Because People "Come to Their Senses"

The historian discusses the ongoing threat of the antidemocratic far right, despite the failure of the "red wave" in the midterms, abetted by the willingness of many Democrats to cave to panics about crime. 

Boston's Role in the Antisemitic Right of the 1930s and 1940s

Professor Charles Gallagher discusses the Christian Front, a local branch of followers of Father Charles Coughlin, that pushed a variety of antisemitic and nativist political positions in Boston between the World Wars. 

The Fascism Debate is Over; Fascism Won

by Jonathan M. Katz

Academic hair-splitting about the applicability of the F-word to the MAGA phenomenon has not served the cause of democracy well. 

Beschloss, Ben-Ghiat on the Stakes of the Midterms

NBC Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss and NYU History Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat discuss the concept of fascism and the danger facing the U.S with American Voices host Alicia Menendez. 

The US Response to the Holocaust Was Part of a Longer Pattern of Appeasing Fascism

by Roger Peace

The Roosevelt administration's refusal to accept large numbers of Jewish refugees was of a piece with a pattern of diplomatic and economic solicitousness toward Nazi Germany. 

A Pro-Nazi Camp Run by the German American Bund Subject of New Play

The Long Island town of Yaphank was eager to erase the memory of Camp Siegfried, which closed after the American entry into World War II. Playwright Bess Wohl wants to use it as a warning about the seductive potential of ideology. 

Spain's New Citizenship Law for Exiles from Franco Portends Massive Return from Latin America

Between the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and the end of the dicatorship in 1978, an estimated 2 million Spaniards fled political persecution by leaving the country.