This page lists political regimes and movements that have been described as fascist during the middle of the 20th century. For movements in more recent periods, see neo-fascism. Whether a certain government is to be characterized as a fascist government, an authoritarian government, a totalitarian government, a police state or some other type of government is often a matter of dispute. The term "fascism" has been defined in various ways by different authors. Many of the regimes and movements which are described in this article can be considered fascist according to some definitions but they cannot be considered fascist according to other definitions. See definitions of fascism for more information about that subject.
Axis powers (1922–1945)
Italy (1922–1943)
The first fascist country was Italy, ruled by Benito Mussolini (Il Duce). The Italian Fascists imposed totalitarian rule and crushed political and intellectual opposition, while promoting economic modernization, traditional social values and a rapprochement with the Roman Catholic Church. Italy was a leading member of the Axis powers in World War II, battling with initial success on several fronts. However, after the German-Italian defeats in Africa and the Soviet Union and the subsequent Allied landings in Sicily, King Victor Emmanuel III overthrew and arrested Mussolini, and the Fascist Party in areas (south of Rome) controlled by the Allied invaders was shut down. The new government signed an armistice with the Allies in September 1943. Mussolini was then rescued from prison by German paratroopers, and after his rescue, he was installed as the head of the "Italian Social Republic" in northern Italy, a state which continued to fight against the Allies alongside Germany.
Germany (1933–1945)
The Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, espoused a form of fascism that incorporated fervent antisemitism, anti-communism, scientific racism, and the use of eugenics. Its extreme nationalism originated in pan-Germanism and the ethno-nationalist Völkisch movement which had been a prominent aspect of German nationalism since the late 19th century, and it was strongly influenced by the Freikorps paramilitary groups that emerged after Germany's defeat in World War I, from which came the party's underlying "cult of violence". Nazism subscribed to pseudo-scientific theories of a racial hierarchy and social Darwinism, identifying the Germans as a part of what the Nazis regarded as an Aryan or Nordic master race. On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, the head of government, by the President of the Weimar Republic, Paul von Hindenburg, the head of State. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all sources of political opposition and it also began to consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934 and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the offices and powers of the Chancellery and the Presidency. Genocide and mass murder became hallmarks of the regime. Starting in 1939, hundreds of thousands of German citizens with mental or physical disabilities were murdered in hospitals and asylums. Einsatzgruppen paramilitary death squads accompanied the German armed forces inside the occupied territories and conducted the mass killings of millions of Jews and other Holocaust victims. After 1941, millions of others were imprisoned, worked to death, or murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps. This genocide is known as the Holocaust.
Japan (1926–1945)
Right-wing elements in Japan, including industrialists, military officers, and the nobility, had long opposed democracy as an anathema to national unity. Military cliques began to dominate the national government starting in the 1930s. A major militarist nationalist movement which existed in Japan from the 1920s to the 1930s was the Imperial Way Faction, or "Kodoha". In 1936, Japan and Germany signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, aimed at countering the Soviet Union and the Communist International. In 1940, Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoye established the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, or the Taisei Yokusankai, to consolidate all political parties under a single umbrella group. That same year, Japan joined Germany and Italy by signing the Tripartite Pact.
Fascism in contemporary and transitional liberal democracies Fascist, quasi-fascist, and proto-fascist movements have emerged within democratic nations, often drawing ideological inspiration from regimes established by Mussolini and Hitler. In some cases, these movements have contributed to democratic backsliding, actively undermining liberal democratic norms and threatening the continued functioning of these countries as liberal democracies altogether.
Australia (1931–1940s)
The New Guard was founded in Sydney in 1931 and was opposed to the rule of the then New South Wales premier Jack Lang. The organisation was pro-Monarchy and anti-Communist and was led by World War I veteran Eric Campbell. At its height, the New Guard had a membership of over 50,000 and was almost exclusively based in New South Wales. Following the dismissal of the Lang government in 1932, the New Guard lost much of its momentum and officially disbanded in 1935. Another Fascist movement was the short-lived antisemitic, anti-Communist and Nazi-inspired Australia First Movement founded by former communist Percy Stephensen. The organisation was founded in October 1941 and existed until March 1942 when it was suppressed by Australian security agencies who believed the movement was supportive of the Axis Powers. Its leaders (including Stephensen) and several members were also interned. A small Nazi movement was founded among South Australia's ethnic German Australian community by Johannes Becker, a German migrant who arrived in Australia in 1927. Becker had joined the NSDAP in 1932 and was appointed State Leader (Landeskreisleiter) for the South Pacific the following year. Following the outbreak of World War II, Becker was interned and released in 1946, then deported to West Germany the following year.
Belgium (1930s–1945)
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