ABSTRACT
Fascism determined the political agenda in Europe for a quarter of a century, from its origins in the right-wing political violence that followed the First World War to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. Yet few political movements have been as difficult as fascism for historians and political scientists to pin down. Interpretations of fascism have tended to reflect the political orientation of the commentator and changes in the international political climate. The emergence of two fascisms in Austria between the wars reflected a broader historical division on the political right between a clerical conservatism united around the Christian Social Party and a more fragmented network of secular liberal and national groups. Talos qualifies his use of the term "Austrofascism" by distinguishing between his own use, which is based on scholarly research, and the manner in which it has frequently been used to make party political points.
