Renewed Latvia. A Case Study of the Transnational Fascism Model
This article examines the lesser-known authoritarian regime of Kārlis Ulmanis, the Vadonis [Leader] of Latvia from 1934-1940, as a case study of transnational fascism. Specifically, by investigating the nature of Mazpulki [Latvian 4-H] – an agricultural youth organization modeled on American 4-H which became during the Ulmanis regime a sort of unofficial ‘Ulmanis Youth’ institution – and its international connections, and particularly with Italy, the article contends that we should view the Ulmanis regime as having been part of the transnational fascist wave that swept over Europe in the period between the two world wars. The article also makes the historiographical point that the transnational fascism model offers key analytical methods for interpreting fascism’s syncretic nature, especially in the case of those regimes which had some recognizable features of ‘generic’ fascism but which have previously been categorized as merely authoritarian. Future studies of such regimes will expand our understanding of the nature of and links between the many varied manifestations of interwar fascism.
To Expand or not to Expand? Territory, Generic Fascism and the Quest for an `Ideal Fatherland'
Constructing a theory of generic fascism that is both comprehensive and elaborate, flexible and heuristically useful, has always been a daunting task. This has largely (though by no means exclusively) been the result of fascism’s own dual identity — a political ideology underpinned by a set of generic values; and the varying interpretation of such values in each national context. It is this pluralism of meaning that fascism acquired in the different countries that renders meaningful generalizations extremely difficult and always open to critique. The existing grand theories of generic fascism have endeavoured to square this methodological circle by employing two different strategies. Some, like Roger Griffin and Roger Eatwell, have lowered the threshold to the absolute minimum that suffices to distinguish fascism from its nationalist, authoritarian and populist predecessors or siblings. Others, like Stanley Payne and Renzo De Felice, have focused on a sort of fascist ‘maximum’, an ideal type of what fascism aspired to be, thus producing elaborate lists of features which need apply partly (but not necessarily in toto) to the fascist case studies. The former strategy rests on abstraction — stripping the fascist experience down to its unique differentia specifica; the latter distils the whole spectrum of fascist manifestations into an all-embracing paradigm which sets the highest standard of what fascism intended to become and to do. Both approaches strive to define fascism, to distinguish it from kindred ideologies and political conducts in an already overcrowded spectrum of concepts. In so doing, one cannot but recall J.J. Linz’s argument that fascism was an ideological ‘latecomer’, struggling to occupy its own autonomous space in the kaleidoscope of established world-views. No matter how concise or dense the definitions
The Millennial of Castile (1943): the historical culture of Spanish Fascism
Abstract The creation of new symbols and historical myths were common practices of nationalist politics, especially in Fascist regimes. In 1943 the Franco regime organized the most impressive historical commemoration celebrated in post-war Spain: the Milenario of Castile. With its heterogeneous mixture of history and spectacle, the Milenario of Castile was by far the greatest historical commemoration promoted by the State during the 1940s. Taking the commemoration of the Milenario as a case study, this article examines the historical culture of Spanish Fascism, as well as the attempts of the Falangist intellectual elite to impose a concrete national narrative in post-war Spain. At the same time, the article analyses the historical discourses and aesthetics displayed throughout the commemoration, underlining its Fascist character, and consequently the transnational dimension of the Fascist politics of the past. Finally, the article reflects on the scope and limits of the process of Fascistisation in Franco's dictatorship, especially in its commemorative culture.