ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that we should see the spread of radical ideas as the deadliest contagion of the twentieth century. Focusing in particular on the radical ideas of fascism, the chapter employs the analytical model of transnational fascism to investigate how fascism as an idea, concept, and organizing principle moved from Italy and Germany to Latvia. In addition to identifying the significant pathways of transmission through which authoritarianism and fascism came to Latvia, the work also highlights how Kārlis Ulmanis, the authoritarian leader of Latvia from 1934–1940, sought to use the dynamism of transnational fascism to bolster his legitimacy.
