Fascism as a political ideology began in Italy between the two world wars, after which it became almost exclusively associated with Hitler’s Germany. During this early phase, it developed and deployed a number of key characteristics and strategies, which strikingly have returned to a variety of political regimes today in Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Asia. What was Fascism historically? How and why did it arise in Italy? What are these characteristics and strategies, and how and why are contemporary political regimes around the globe making use of them in both their classic and new forms? We will address these questions in this course.
Department: History
Location: Florence
Semester: Spring
Credits: 3