History (HIST) - Interwar Europe: Fascism and the Radical Right, 1918-1945

HIST 3626  Interwar Europe: Fascism and the Radical Right, 1918-1945

Prerequisites:

Twelve credits of History with at least 3 credits at the 2000-level; or any 54 credits completed.

Hours:

Three hours of lecture per week for one term.

Credits:

3

Description:

This course will examine the various political, cultural, and social dimensions of European fascism during the interwar and war years (1918-1945). The course focuses primarily on German and Italian fascism, but also French, Spanish, Romanian, and Hungarian varieties. Lectures will stress comparative aspects of interwar and wartime fascism, emphasizing similarities and differences in fascist movements and regimes in their national contexts. Special attention will be paid to the differences between fascist movements and fascist regimes. The course will also examine the nature of fascist rule, the role of the dictator, race, gender, fascist economics and ideology, the role of militarization in fascist ideology, and the social bases of support. The aim of the course is to explore some of the basic interpretive problems concerning the definition and theory of fascism, whether there is such a thing as ""generic fascism,"" and how useful the term is for historical understanding.