Routledge Library Editions: Responding to Fascism – serie

The rise of fascism in Europe ultimately plunged the world into war and brought about the horrors of the holocaust, yet these outcomes were far from apparent to many observers in the 1930’s. This collection of contemporary and near contemporary works represents some of the diversity of response as the English speaking world struggled to come to terms with the political upheaval. It includes a wide range of works, including translations from French, Italian and German. The authors are similarly diverse and range from activists through academics to apologists.In Enter Mussolini and The Rise of Italian Fascism leading anti-fascist writers Emilio Lussu and Angelo Tasca (writing under the pseudonym ‘Amilcare Rossi’) chart the establishment of a fascist state in Italy and offer telling insights into the nature and future of fascism. Both Lussu and Tasca were active in their opposition, and for many others the response to fascism involved taking up arms, typified by the thousands of volunteered to fight against Franco in Spain. In The Spanish Tragedy, Dutch writer Jef Last’s recounts his experience, which ends in disillusionment with Stalin and the Soviet Union.Other works demonstrate a more basic need for information. Hitler’s Official Programme is a translation of official Nazi documents, which a contemporary review describes as ‘a declaration of war by barbarism on civilization’. However it should never be forgotten that the views of many others were more equivocal. In Norman Hillson’s I Speak of England the author offers a sympathetic description of a journey through Germany, highlighting the success of economic reconstruction under Hitler. Issues of race are not ignored but are not seen as central, a view which is challenged by the works of the two exiled German Jews, Heinrich Fraenkel and G. Warburg, included in this collection.A characteristic of the fascist regimes was the extent to which ideology penetrated aspects of everyday life. German Literature through Nazi Eyes and Higher Education in Nazi Germany examine the impact of the Nazis on culture and education. Straight On includes an account of Red Cross work in Belsen and Auschwitz, perhaps the most moving and tragic of the many responses to fascism.For institutional purchases for e-book sets please contact online.sales@tandf.co.uk (customers in the UK, Europe and Rest of World)

The influence of Nazism on German culture was a key concern for many Anglo-American writers, who struggled to reconcile the many contributions of Germany to European civilization, with the barbarity of the new regime. In German Literature Through Nazi Eyes, H.G. Atkins gives an account of how the Nazis undertook a re-evaluation of German literature, making it sub-ordinate to their own interests. All reference to Jewish writers and influence was virtually eliminated, and key writers such as Goethe and Lessing were re-interpreted. What was left was a military history that was avowedly militant and propagandist.

Higher Education in Nazi Germany was first published in 1944, when it was apparent that Germany was likely to lose the war. Developing themes that were to become commonplace in the analysis of totalitarian regimes, it provides an account of how higher education became a means of both installing and re-enforcing the dominant state ideology.

Not all of the responses to fascism in the English speaking world were hostile. With the aim of providing a representative sample, Routledge here re-issues Norman Hillson’s I Speak of Germany. First published in 1937, this is an account of the author’s travels in Germany, and is largely sympathetic to the changes wrought by the regime. Like others adopting a similar position, the author believes that the terms of the Versailles treatment put Germany in an impossible position, and that the Nazis had inspired a recovery. Racial politics, whilst not ignored, are not seen as being at the heart of the programme – ‘obsession of race purity maybe a little absurd and quite impractical of realization’.

The extent to which the Nazi regime was truly representative of the German people was a key issue for external commentators. First published in 1940, The German People versus Hitler sets out to prove that the identification of ‘Germany and the Third Reich, Germanism and Nazism, the German people and the Nazi Party’ is a fallacy. It identifies widespread sources of opposition to the Nazi regime from all strata, including the Church and from the former socialist parties.

The Spanish Civil War was one of the pivotal events of the 1930’s, the moment when fascism and socialism came into open conflict. First published in 1939, The Spanish Tragedy recounts the experiences of Jef Last. Activist, poet and novelist, Last might have been the archetypal Republican volunteer but his experience left him even more disenchanted than most. Critical of Soviet Communism, a court martial loyal to Moscow tried to sentence him to death and he was forced to flee to Scandinavia.

The rise of Italian fascism is often seen as a pre-condition, as well as a precursor of, later developments in Europe most notably in Germany. As such they were also much discussed in the English speaking world throughout the 1930’s. First published in English in 1938 this book gives an account of Italian history in the years immediately following the first world war, culminating in the triumph of Mussolini. Arguing that Mussolini succeeded because he was much more ruthless than his opponents, he concludes that this is something that must be learnt from: ‘in point of material and military strength we must be superior to the fascists since that is the ground on which they are trying to force a decision.'.

Emilio Lussu was an Italian MP and Professor of Political Economy, who was imprisoned because of his opposition to Mussolini. In 1929 he escaped with two fellow prisoners from the island of Lipari. Enter Mussolini combines an account of Mussolini’s rise to power and a critique of the Italian fascist movement that was influential at a time when many observers were still sympathetic to fascism, at least in its Italian guise. It was first published in English in 1936.

First published in 1947, Straight On is a first-hand account of the authors’ work with the Red Cross in central and eastern Europe at the end of the Second World War, including their work providing medical care to survivors at Auschwitz and Belsen.

Faced with a political movement that was effectively unparalleled many observers found it extremely difficult to work out exactly what kind of regime they were dealing with: whose interests did it serve? First published in 1934, The Nazi Dictatorship argues both that the Nazi regime represented a clear break from pre-War ‘Prussian militarism’ and that it was not a passing fad. It describes a ‘State of Monopoly Capitalism’ in which large scale industrial and financial interests are paramount.

In 1927 Hitler asked Gottfried Feder to formulate the official Programme of the German National Socialist Party. This English translation of the fifth German edition was first published in 1934.

Emilio Lussu was an Italian MP and Professor of Political Economy, who was imprisoned because of his opposition to Mussolini. In 1929 he escaped with two fellow prisoners from the island of Lipari. Enter Mussolini combines an account of Mussolini’s rise to power and a critique of the Italian fascist movement that was influential at a time when many observers were still sympathetic to fascism, at least in its Italian guise. It was first published in English in 1936.

The influence of Nazism on German culture was a key concern for many Anglo-American writers, who struggled to reconcile the many contributions of Germany to European civilization, with the barbarity of the new regime. In German Literature Through Nazi Eyes, H.G. Atkins gives an account of how the Nazis undertook a re-evaluation of German literature, making it sub-ordinate to their own interests. All reference to Jewish writers and influence was virtually eliminated, and key writers such as Goethe and Lessing were re-interpreted. What was left was a military history that was avowedly militant and propagandist.

Higher Education in Nazi Germany was first published in 1944, when it was apparent that Germany was likely to lose the war. Developing themes that were to become commonplace in the analysis of totalitarian regimes, it provides an account of how higher education became a means of both installing and re-enforcing the dominant state ideology.

In 1927 Hitler asked Gottfried Feder to formulate the official Programme of the German National Socialist Party. This English translation of the fifth German edition was first published in 1934.

Not all of the responses to fascism in the English speaking world were hostile. With the aim of providing a representative sample, Routledge here re-issues Norman Hillson’s I Speak of Germany. First published in 1937, this is an account of the author’s travels in Germany, and is largely sympathetic to the changes wrought by the regime. Like others adopting a similar position, the author believes that the terms of the Versailles treatment put Germany in an impossible position, and that the Nazis had inspired a recovery. Racial politics, whilst not ignored, are not seen as being at the heart of the programme – ‘obsession of race purity maybe a little absurd and quite impractical of realization’.

Faced with a political movement that was effectively unparalleled many observers found it extremely difficult to work out exactly what kind of regime they were dealing with: whose interests did it serve? First published in 1934, The Nazi Dictatorship argues both that the Nazi regime represented a clear break from pre-War ‘Prussian militarism’ and that it was not a passing fad. It describes a ‘State of Monopoly Capitalism’ in which large scale industrial and financial interests are paramount.

The rise of Italian fascism is often seen as a pre-condition, as well as a precursor of, later developments in Europe most notably in Germany. As such they were also much discussed in the English speaking world throughout the 1930’s. First published in English in 1938 this book gives an account of Italian history in the years immediately following the first world war, culminating in the triumph of Mussolini. Arguing that Mussolini succeeded because he was much more ruthless than his opponents, he concludes that this is something that must be learnt from: ‘in point of material and military strength we must be superior to the fascists since that is the ground on which they are trying to force a decision.'.

The Spanish Civil War was one of the pivotal events of the 1930’s, the moment when fascism and socialism came into open conflict. First published in 1939, The Spanish Tragedy recounts the experiences of Jef Last. Activist, poet and novelist, Last might have been the archetypal Republican volunteer but his experience left him even more disenchanted than most. Critical of Soviet Communism, a court martial loyal to Moscow tried to sentence him to death and he was forced to flee to Scandinavia.

First published in 1947, Straight On is a first-hand account of the authors’ work with the Red Cross in central and eastern Europe at the end of the Second World War, including their work providing medical care to survivors at Auschwitz and Belsen.