ABSTRACT
In this chapter we explore the complex development of traditional fascism, ascendant largely in Europe from the early 1920s to the end of World War II. Structural, ideological, and cultural dimensions are identified within a specific matrix of historical conditions – a resurgent nationalism mixed with elements of racism, emergence of a corporate state to contain fundamental contradictions of capitalism, the strong appeal of traditional values, and the challenge of a powerful left opposition (Communists, socialists, anarchists) that elites set out to destroy. Although fascists were able to build large movements and parties, and came to power in several of them (Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain), we discuss here mainly the Italian experience – and the first one – that serves as the best model for understanding historical forces potentially driving fascist prospects today. The very positive American reception of Mussolini’s corporate state in Italy during the 1920s and 1930s, treated in the afterword, is very illuminating within this political narrative.
