Interwar Fascism in Europe and Beyond: Toward a Transnational Radical Right

Abstract

On September 28, 1937, millions of Germans listened to the Italian Duce Mussolini when he declared at a mass rally in Berlin: “Comrades!… The rallies which have been held for my reception have deeply moved me.… I have not only come to you as head of the Italian government but also as leader of a national revolution who would like to give evidence of the overt and firm bonds [I have with] your revolution. Though the development of the two revolutions might have been different, the aim that we wish to achieve is the same: the unity and greatness of the people. Fascism and National Socialism are expressions of the sameness of the historical processes in the lives of our nations, which have achieved unity in the same century and as a result of the same events.… Tomorrow’s Europe will be Fascist as a result of the logical successions of events, not as a result of our propaganda.… Germany has woken up. The Third Reich has emerged. I do not know when Europe will wake up It is important, however, that our two great peoples, which encompass a vast and growing mass of 115 million people, are united in unshakable determination. Today’s gigantic rally conveys this to the world.”1 Although he had by no means abandoned his claims of Italian superiority in the alliance with Germany, Mussolini clearly conceived Fascism as a political challenge that was to transcend national borders.2