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Fascism in America?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
Extract
Attention has been drawn recently to the possibility of a Fascist revolution in the United States—by the Dickstein Committee, by journalistic and cinematic exposés of Fascist tendencies, by the revival of the 1918–20 “Red-baiting” spirit and technique, and by the fervent and constant agitation of the League Against War and Fascism and related organizations. Little is said seriously in responsible circles of the possibility of a Communist revolution, that being so overworked a thesis that all are aware of whatever drift in that direction there may be. Hence the present discussion of Fascist tendencies must not be taken to imply the impossibility of a swing to the left, but rather simply to denote an interest in a more novel movement to the right.
- Type
- American Government and Politics
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © American Political Science Association 1935
References
1 Hearings Before the Special Committee on un-American Activities in the United States, House of Representatives, Washington, 1934–1935Google Scholar.
2 See, for example, a series of articles by McCoy, Samuel Duff, “Hitlerism Invades America,” in Today, March 31, April 7, and April 14, 1934Google Scholar; also two articles by George Seldes, “Hitlerism Marches in America,” ibid., March 9 and March 16, 1935. The motion picture, “The President Vanishes,” released late in 1934 by Paramount was, in spite of (or possibly because of) its imaginative character, highly effective in satirizing the Fascist tendency and in formulating public opinion directed against it. Production-lot rumor in Hollywood insinuated that important interests brought such pressure to bear that the release of the production was delayed several months after completion. The present writer previewed the production several months before it was released to the public. See also note 8 below.
3 Duffield, M., “Mussolini's American Empire,” Harper's Mag., Vol. 159, pp. 661–672 (November, 1929)Google Scholar, gave one of the most effective exposes.
4 The following have been especially useful in ascertaining the nature of the “classical” Fascism in its Italian origin: Mussolini, B., “The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism,” International Conciliation, No. 306 (January, 1935)Google Scholar, translated from “Dottrina Politica e Sociale del Fascismo,” published originally in the Enciclopedia Italiana (Rome, 1932)Google Scholar; Rocco, A., “Political Doctrine of Fascism,” International Conciliation, No. 223 (October, 1926)Google Scholar; Chilò, C. F., “I caraterri dello Stato Fascista,” Giornale di Politica e di Letteratura, Vol. 8, pp. 309–330 (September, 1932)Google Scholar; Gentile, G., Origine e Dottrina del Fascismo (Rome, 1929)Google Scholar; Ibid., “Philosophic Basis of Fascism,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 6 (January, 1928); de Montemayor, G., Lo Stato Fascista (Palermo, 1928)Google Scholar.
5 Schuman, F. L., “The Political Theory of German Fascism,” in this Review, Vol. 28, pp. 210–232 (April, 1934)Google Scholar; Hitler, A., My Battle (American trans., Boston, 1933)Google Scholar; Feder, G., Das Programm der nationalsozialistischen deutsche Arbeiterpartei und seine weltanschaulichen Grundgedanken (Berlin, 1933)Google Scholar; Heiden, K., History of National Socialism (American trans., New York, 1934)Google Scholar.
6 Mosley, O., The Greater Britain (London, 1932)Google Scholar; Drennan, J., B. U. F.: Oswald Mosley and British Fascism (London, 1934)Google Scholar; Allen, W. E. D., “The Fascist Idea in Britain,” Quarterly Review, Vol. 261 (October, 1933)Google Scholar.
7 The peculiar aspects of Japanese Fascism are developed in Bisson, T. A., “Rise of Fascism in Japan,” Foreign Policy Reports, Vol. 8, pp. 196–206 (October 26, 1932)Google Scholar, and “Trend Toward Dictatorship in Japan,” ibid., Vol. 10, pp. 318–328 (February 13, 1935); Zapp, M., “Die nationalsozialistische Bewegung in Japan,” Preussische Jahrbücher, Vol. 232, pp. 193–199 (June, 1933)Google Scholar.
8 Fascism in the United States has been the subject of many recent analyses, among which the best are probably: American Civil Liberties Union, Shirts (New York, 1934)Google Scholar; Haider, C., Do We Want Fascism? (New York, 1934)Google Scholar; Shaplen, J. and Shub, D. (eds.), Socialism, Fascism, Communism (New York, 1934)Google Scholar, published for the American League for Democratic Socialism; Thomas, N., The Choice Before Us (New York, 1934)Google Scholar; Strachey, J., The Menace of Fascism (New York, 1933)Google Scholar. Numerous articles in the same vein have appeared in Plain Talk, The New Masses, The New Republic, and The Nation.
9 This thought is succinctly expressed in Article I of the Italian Labor Charter: “The Italian nation is an organism whose aim, life, and means of action are superior to those of the single individuals occupying and forming it. It is a moral, political, and economic unity, which finds complete expression in the Fascist State.” Gazzetta Ufficiale, No. 100 (April 30, 1927); Bollettino Parlamentare, Vol. 1, pp. 104–110 (May, 1927)Google Scholar.
10 Rosenberg, A., Der Mythus des 20. Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 1930)Google Scholar; Chamberlain, H. S., Die Grundlagen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 1899)Google Scholar; Feder, op. cit.; Heiden, op. cit. Perhaps the best refutation of the Nazi racial interpretation is Radin, P., The Racial Myth (New York, 1934)Google Scholar.
11 New York, 1933.
12 Is Capitalism Doomed? (New York, 1932)Google Scholar.
13 Bosanquet, B., The Philosophical Theory of the State (London, 1899)Google Scholar; Bradley, F. H., Ethical Studies (London, 1876)Google Scholar; Green, T. H., Prolegomena to Ethics (Oxford, 1883)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. A different aspect of the same concept, traced through Bodin and Hobbes, is illustrated in the jurisprudence of the United States Supreme Court, as in Kawananakoa v. Polyblank, 205 U.S. 349.
14 Schmitt, C., Die Diktatur (Munich, 1928)Google Scholar; “Der Begriff des Politischen,” in Heidelberger Archiv für Sozialwissenschaften und Sozialpolitik (1927)Google Scholar; Jünger, E., “Die Totale Mobilmachung,” in Krieg und Krieger (Berlin, 1930)Google Scholar. Gurian, W., Bolshevism: Theory and Practice (English trans., New York, 1932), p. 368Google Scholar, gives Schmitt credit for introducing the Fascist theory of totalitarianism as a philosophical concept into German political thought, hence affording a point of liaison between Italian Fascism and German National Socialism.
15 Gazzetta Ufficiale, No. 25 (February 1, 1926).
16 Reichsgesetzblatt, 1933, I, 141Google Scholar; text and explanation in Medicus, F. A., Program der Reichsregierung und Ermächtigungsgesetz (Berlin, 1933)Google Scholar.
17 Shouse, J., You Are the Government (Boston, 1934)Google Scholar, develops the thesis of the Liberty League. For the Committee for the Nation, a similar point of view is summarized in Wirt, W. A., America Must Lose (New York, 1934)Google Scholar. Other “right-wing” expressions of this protest include Hoover, H. C., The Challenge to Liberty (New York 1934)Google Scholar, and Mills, O. L., What of Tomorrow? (New York, 1935)Google Scholar.
18 Duranty's, Walter amusing collection of anecdotes, The Curious Lottery and Other Tales of Russian Justice (New York, 1929)Google Scholar, revolves around this theme, of which the present illustration may be an exaggeration.
19 K. Heiden, op. cit., pp. 199–201, provides an adequate explanation of the official Nazi attitude toward the Potempa murder case in 1932–33.
20 A. B. 107 is probably the most interesting in the series. It provides in part: “39 (b) Any person who:
“(1) Advocates the overthrow of government; or
”(2) Publishes, issues, gives away, sells, distributes, or possesses for distribution any book, paper, document, or other printed or written material which advocates the overthrow of government; or
“(3) Knowingly organizes, or aids in the organization of, or knowingly becomes or remains a member of, any society, association, or organization which has as its object or as one of its objects the overthrow of government or the advocacy of the overthrow of government; or
“(4) With knowledge of the purpose of the meeting or assembly, attends any meeting or assembly at which the overthrow of government is advocated; or
“(5) Owns, possesses, or controls the use of a room, building, or other structure or place, and knowingly permits the same to be used as a meeting place of persons who advocate the overthrow of government, or as the headquarters of any society, association, or organization which has as its object, or one of its objects, the overthrow of government; or
“(6) Teaches or advocates in any public or private school or educational institution in this state any scheme, plan, or system which contemplates the overthrow of government;
“Is guilty of a felony and is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one year nor more than fourteen years.”
21 Beard, C. A., The Open Door at Home (New York, 1934), pp. 112–134Google Scholar.
22 Simple defense of the New Deal is not, of course, the sole purpose of such as the following: F. D. Roosevelt, On Our Way; H. L. Ickes, The New Democracy; R. G. Tugwell, The Battle for Democracy; A. A. Berle, J. Dickinson, and others, America's Recovery Program; Wallace, H. A., America Must Choose and New Frontiers (all, New York, 1934)Google Scholar.
23 Malaparte, C., Technique du coup d'état (Paris)Google Scholar; Soule, G., The Coming American Revolution (New York, 1934)Google Scholar.
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