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The course will introduce students to the ideologies and histories of the major right radical and fascist movements of the region during the first half of the twentieth century. The course will also cover some of the inter-war and war-time authoritarian regimes which frequently appropriated the symbols and rhetoric of the radical right while remaining essentially conservative (e.g. King Carol II’s dictatorship in Romania). During the course, students will be asked to consider the extent to which right radical movements in Eastern Europe were influenced by the Italian or German ‘model’ of Fascism and Nazism or were, in fact, indigenous or ‘native’.

The course will open with an exploration of the various definitions and causal theories of right radicalism, fascism and authoritarianism which have been put forward in the post-war decades. We will also look at the cultural conditions of fin de siècle Europe which were conducive to the rise of right radicalism and authoritarian nationalism. Important precursors to fascism, such as Georg von Schönerer and the Pan-Germans in Austria and Gabriele D’Annunzio’s Fiume regime, will be considered. We will also look at the impact of the First World War in shaping the mindset of interwar right radicals. The ideologies of Italian Fascism and German Nazism will also be briefly discussed for comparative purposes. The course will then proceed to a country-by-country study.

Students will also be encouraged to consider various themes relating to the right radical movements of the period throughout the course e.g. nationalism and revisionism; corporatism and Catholic social theory; religious politics; aryanism, racialism, anti-Semitism; violence; the cult of youth and the cult of death.