European Fascist Movements, 1918-1941

During the interwar years, fascist movements were active in every European country. Reflecting fascism as a transnational cycle of protest, this networking project brings together twenty scholars, each of whom have specialist knowledge of one European fascist movement. Through a series of structured meetings, the collaborators will seek to uncover common trends and themes between the movements. With an expanded knowledge of fascist movements, the participants in the network will produce a seminal collection of translated source material to be published by Routledge. Crucially, through a close collaboration with the Wiener Library London and the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right, the project will bring its findings into the public realm in the form of a public website, exhibition and digital app.

Given the resurgence of right-wing parties and extremist movements across the world in recent years, this is a timely project. Indeed, it is crucial more than ever that we now understand how fascist movements functioned. Most scholars define fascism by thinking first of what was unique about fascist regimes, putting fascist movements a distant second. As a result we lose sight of countries where strong fascist movements never managed to take power. By placing movements rather than regimes at the centre, this project helps us to understand more fully what drove individuals to identify themselves with the label 'fascism', how fascists recruited, and how states and anti-fascist individuals dealt with the fascist threat.

This project has serious consequences for the field of fascist studies more generally. First, instead of looking for an ideology that has been officially sanctioned by a regime, we explore the roots of these movements. In many cases the movement preceded the formulation of ideology. We thus need to study ideology as a product of fascist movements rather than as their cause. Second, the project suggests that 'successful' fascisms gained strength from the political systems they were challenging. Fascism should therefore be seen as a transnational cycle of protest that managed to take power in some countries but not others. Taking this approach necessitates an exploration of where fascists themselves looked for their inspiration and redrawing our conceptual maps appropriately. Finally, thinking of fascism in transnational terms challenges us to write a chronological history of this protest cycle as a whole rather than telling each story independently within the confines of various nation-states.

At present scholars know too little about fascist movements in a comparative sense because too few of the sources have been translated. Our source collection will allow high school and university students to analyse sources themselves and provide specialists with the material they need for a deeper engagement with movements that they do not have the linguistic capabilities to research themselves. The project seeks to increase public knowledge about fascist movements through a series of interactive public events and an article in the journal History and Policy. Collaborations with the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right will facilitate conversations with experts on contemporary extremism and provide forums for outreach. Similarly, the project partnership with the Wiener Library will lead to a public symposium and exhibition of the source material in the Library's exhibition space.

Full partnerships with the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right (CARR) and the Wiener Library mean that the network is well situated to engage with policy makers and the wider public. Widespread concern about right-wing extremism across the world makes this network particularly timely. The network's primary concern is to engage experts on interwar fascism with broader debates about extremist movements and to provide them with avenues to discuss their work with one another and with policy makers. Publishing a collection of translated primary sources further allows the network to disseminate its findings among secondary school and university students as well as among scholars and the interested public.

POLICY MAKERS: The network will engage with policy makers through the CARR Insights series, the colloquium at the Wiener library, and by writing a paper for the peer-reviewed journal History and Policy. Bringing insights from the study of fascist movements it will help to shape ongoing debates about the nature of right-wing extremism, including why people join such movements, the role of charismatic leadership, religion, nationalism, policing, and impact. Findings from discussions at the workshops and audience questions during the colloquium will feed into the History and Policy paper.

STUDENTS: Fascist movements are covered in eight different topics in the A-Level syllabus, and in numerous university modules both in the UK and abroad. For the first time, the unique source collection produced by the network will allow secondary school, undergraduate, and postgraduate students to engage in a comparative study of fascist movements using historical sources specific to movements as they developed in time and space. The publication will have long-term impact as students are inspired to go on to further study on political extremism and scholars of comparative fascism have increased access to more information about more different movements than ever before.

WIENER LIBRARY: The Library's partnership with the network will increase scholarly use of its collections and increase the visibility of the Library. The Library attracts a range of people interested in the Holocaust and Genocide and the network provides an opportunity for people already connected to the Wiener Library to learn about fascist movements through the exhibit and colloquium as well as attracting new people into the Library's gambit.

CARR: Partnering with the network will increase CARR's visibility with an academic audience and will potentially attract more fellows and contributors to the Centre's activities.

GENERAL PUBLIC: The network will produce its own interactive website with an app that maps the places mentioned in the translated documents. Students and interested readers will be able to see at a glance where fascists were active in interwar Europe and to engage with the sources in geographical terms as well as just words on a page. Information about the project, its events and findings will be disseminated through a dedicated Twitter feed with the #fascistmovements hashtag.

The network's impact will be evaluated by measuring attendance at the exhibition and colloquium, audience questionnaires, and monitoring use of the network's website and app as well as the success of its Twitter feed.