1939: Fascism

Fascism in Spain.

The year 1939 may be regarded as a turning-point in the history of Fascism. In the first part of the year Fascism scored a definite victory in Spain. The Government of General Franco was able in March 1938 to break the resistance of Catalonia, occupy Barcelona, and force the surrender of Madrid, a city which had withstood siege for almost two and a half years with great heroism. The Republican Government of Spain and all its adherents, insofar as they had not been able to leave the country, were liquidated. The Nationalist Government of General Francisco Franco was established as the only legal government of Spain. It was recognized by Great Britain on Feb. 27, 1939, and by the Government of the United States at the end of March. The Government was largely under the control of Ramon Serrano Suñer. Minister of the Interior, of the Press, of Propaganda, and of the Fascist organization of the Phalangists. Some of the leading generals with monarchist tendencies, and also some of the leading prelates of the Church objected to this predominant influence of the outright Fascist group. The internal situation in Spain remained obscure during the months following as the result of the strict censorship introduced by General Franco's government, established, possibly, because of the severe treatment meted out to many of the defeated Liberals and Republicans in Spain, and the general misery prevailing among the population. In her foreign policy, Spain sided with the Fascist Powers, Italy and Germany, and declared her readiness to cooperate in the Anti-Comintern Pact which was regarded as the backbone and unchangeable principle of international Fascist policy. The struggle in Spain had been conducted by General Franco with the aid of Germany and Italy as a part of the general fight against Communism and the Soviet Union.

Anti-Comintern Pact.

The so-called Anti-Comintern Pact, which in reality represented a Fascist triple alliance of Germany, Italy and Japan, apparently grew in importance during the first half of 1939. The close cooperation of the three Fascist nations had enabled them to achieve great diplomatic and strategic victories during the year 1938. These successes continued in the first part of 1939, not only in Spain, but also in the Far East and in Central Europe, where Germany completed the absorption of Czechoslovakia and acquired the territory of Memel, and Italy made Albania a part of her Fascist Empire. As the result of pressure exercised upon Hungary by Germany and Italy, Hungary joined the Anti-Comintern Pact and in April announced its withdrawal from the League of Nations. Public opinion in the democracies, however, refused to acquiesce in the further spread of aggression. After the experiences of the preceding years it awoke to the recognition that only a concerted and determined action on the part of the democracies could save democracy in the world, preserve peace and liberty for the nations who desired them, and prevent the continuous expansion of aggression, anarchy and lawlessness in the world. This awakening resulted in the renunciation of appeasement policies and in the declarations of the British and the French Governments that they were ready to assist nations unjustly attacked.

Japan cooperated in March with the expansionist aims of the Fascist powers in Central Europe by the occupation of the Spratly Islands, situated about 1,000 mi. south of the Island of Taiwan, between French Indo-China and the Philippine Islands. Their position makes them a strategic base for possible advance against the Malay Peninsula and the Dutch East Indies. This step was taken by the new Japanese Government which had come into power in January 1939. It replaced the preceding Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoye who, when he took the premiership in June 1937, had been described as the last ace of the old order. His resignation was due to the insistence of the army, unwilling to permit any interference with the measures it deemed necessary for building a 'new order' in Japan as well as in China. The new Cabinet was headed by Baron Kiichiro Hiranuma, the founder of the rightist Kokuhonsha Patriotic Society. He maintained the closest relations with the army high command and with other Fascist and semi-Fascist patriotic groups in Japan. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hachiro Arita, was the chief promoter of Japanese adhesion to the Anti-Comintern Pact, and of close cooperation with Germany and Italy. The idea for which the new Cabinet stood was the regimentation of the nation in conformity with the new order of Nipponism, which was said to include all the advantages of Nationalism, Fascism and Communism. The new Japanese Government put its hope in the Anti-Comintern Pact, and tried therefore to force Great Britain and France to accept Japanese demands since she felt herself backed by Germany and Italy.

Italo-German Alliance.

The new spirit of resistance shown by the western democracies to Fascist aggression in Europe and in the Far East strengthened in the Fascist Powers the desire for closer cooperation and for the transformation of the Anti-Comintern Pact into an outright military alliance. The first step in this direction was taken in May 1939 by the conclusion of a formal offensive and defensive military alliance between Italy and Germany. Both nations pledged themselves to complete diplomatic and military cooperation, and to coordination of all their activities. Later it became known that at the time of the conclusion of this alliance Italy had informed Germany that the Italian army would be unable for a period of three years to fulfill any military tasks of major importance. Therefore, it was secretly agreed that the two allied Fascist powers should keep peace for the coming three years, and increase meanwhile their military and economic preparedness to such an extent that they would then easily be able to impose their will upon the democratic countries. During the summer of 1939 Japan made an effort to join this military alliance. At that time it was still assumed that the Soviet Union was friendly towards the efforts of the democracies to check Fascist aggression and might even cooperate with them in that effort. The Japanese ambassadors to Berlin and to Rome were especially eager to conclude a firm and definite alliance with the two leading European Fascist Powers.

Nazi-Soviet Pact.

Under these circumstances the conclusion late in August of a Pact of Non-Aggression and Friendship between National Socialist Germany and the Communist Soviet Union came as a great surprise. It doomed the Anti-Comintern Pact. Germany had previously been the leader, and wished so to regard itself, of the international struggle against Communism and the Soviet Union. Many conservative circles in the democracies had looked with complacency upon National Socialist Germany and had forgiven many of its excesses because they saw in National Socialism a bulwark against the spread of Communism. Many radicals and Marxists, on the other hand, saw in National Socialism the last stand, as they called it, of capitalism, and could therefore not believe that National Socialism and Communism had arrived at some form of cooperation.

The Pact of Friendship between Germany and the Soviet Union was primarily dictated by strategic considerations. Germany tried by this pact to impress upon Great Britain and France the futility of their promised assistance to Poland. The pact was designed to give Germany a free hand to annihilate Poland without the danger of Anglo-French interference. Should this hope not be realized, however, then the pact would make it possible for Germany to concentrate all her forces on the western front, and would at the same time open to her the vast resources of the Soviet Union, thus diminishing the effects of the blockade established by the democracies against Germany. The Soviet Government on the other hand expected that through its agreement with Germany the Soviet Union would find it possible to stay out of war, to inaugurate a policy of complete isolation, and to acquire, with the consent of Germany, certain territories and especially certain strategic outposts which would strengthen the isolation of the Soviet Union and make her more impregnable against attack. Soon, however, it became apparent that cooperation between Germany and the Soviet Union was to go further than momentary strategic advantages.

To understand that possibility, two facts should be kept in mind. First, the Soviet Union has developed under Stalin a cult of personal leadership which is completely at variance with Marxism and Leninism and which, in spite of some fundamental differences, brings the Soviet Union closer to the Fascist countries with their adherence to personal leadership. Secondly, National Socialism implied always the promise of a new 'socialistic' order, of a collectivism on a strictly nationalistic or racial basis to be sure, but nevertheless in its practical consequences approaching very closely to Communism. This element had already been represented by forces in Germany which had been called Nationalbolschewismus, and by leaders like Gregor Strasser and Ernst Roehm. When Chancellor Hitler still needed the cooperation of the conservative elements in Germany and in the democratic countries, he had to liquidate these Communistic groups within the National Socialist movement, but now they could be given free scope. Whereas official Soviet circles spoke, as National Socialist propagandists did, of Great Britain and France as capitalistic imperialists and plutocracies, but denied any ideological elements in the present international conflict, the National Socialists began to stress more and more the socialistic mission of Fascism and the new Germany. This was clear in the New Year's proclamation issued on Dec. 30, 1939 by Chancellor Hitler.

Formerly the National Socialist attacks had been concentrated upon 'Jewish Communism,' upon an alleged 'Jewish plot' which aimed at world revolution, with Moscow as its center and Marxism as its ideology. One of the leading propaganda organs of Germany, the Contra-Comintern, had published in August 1930 a leading article entitled 'The Bolshevik Offensive against the World.' The article was a violent attack against the Western democracies which were accused of letting Communism penetrate westwards through their friendliness towards the Soviet Union. This issue of the periodical was, however, the last under its old title. A new organ was to be devoted to an attack against 'Jewish capitalism' and the conservative forces, instead of the former attack against 'Jewish Communism' and world revolution. The heavily subsidized anti-Communist propaganda in Germany and in foreign countries suddenly stopped. Vast exhibitions intended to show the 'horrors' of the Soviet régime disappeared. Both the Germans and the Russians were now regarded as 'young and productive nations to whom belongs the future' and who are 'waging this war to build up a new world.' The war was presented as a great 'international revolution' destined to put an end to capitalistic society in favor of socialistic planning within and among nations. The words spoken on Aug. 31 by Mr. Molotov, Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, seemed to be justified: 'It would be difficult to underestimate the international importance of the Soviet-German treaty. It is a date of historic importance. It marks a turning point in the history of Europe, and not only of Europe.'

German Racial Theories.

Although German National Socialism now made its peace with Communism and accepted its pseudo-Socialistic or pseudo-Communistic methods and even its slogan of a world revolution, one fundamental difference was maintained by Germany and was evident in her newly conquered territories. Whereas the Soviets recognized the complete equality of all races and admitted the inhabitants of the annexed territories, Ukrainians, White Russians and Jews, to full partnership in the Soviet State on an equal footing, Fascism maintained the doctrine of the inequality of the races. In Poland and in Czechoslovakia the Germans regarded themselves as the master-race, and assigned to the non-Germanic peoples a purely subservient role. Their aim was to deprive the Czechs and the Poles of their intelligentsia, and of any possible future leadership, and to take away from them all opportunities for economic and social rise so as to keep them forever in the helot status which German racial theory assigned to them. All schools of higher education for Poles and for Czechs were closed. The alleged difference in the cultural levels was to be clearly expressed in the future in the different political and social status of the various populations, even in respect to property rights. Thus the racial theory of National Socialism which had been primarily applied only against Jews, was now applied with similar intention against Poles and Czechs, and was threatened against other peoples who came under the domination of National Socialist Germany.

Repatriation in the Reich.

Another measure adopted by German Fascism marked a departure from previous policy. It aimed at the repatriation in Germany of the German minorities living in Central and Eastern European countries. A similar step had been previously taken by Italy for the repatriation of some thousands of Italians living in France. But this repatriation never reached extensive proportions. The repatriated Italians involved had been relatively recent emigrants. But in the case of Germany the transfer of very large numbers was envisaged, many of whom had been settled for many centuries outside Germany and had become deeply rooted in the country of their birth. A beginning was made in the summer of 1939 with the transfer of German residents of that part of South Tyrol which had been assigned to Italy by the peace treaties after the World War despite the purely German character and the historical traditions of the territory. This transfer was intended to remove one of the possible causes of German-Italian friction. The example served as a precedent for later and more far-reaching plans of bringing the German minorities of Eastern Europe into the German Reich. Such a policy was a completely new departure, because hitherto German National Socialism had regarded these minorities as a most important vanguard for German cultural and economic penetration into the respective countries. In the fall of 1939 came the repatriation of German minorities from Latvia and Estonia. These Germans were to be settled in formerly Polish and Czech territories to strengthen German domination in these newly acquired possessions.

Italian Reaction to Nazi-Soviet Pact.

Because of the new German-Soviet alliance Germany's partners in the now extinct Anti-Comintern Pact were confronted by difficult decisions. On the outbreak of the war in September, Italy did not immediately join Germany. The official utterances of the German Government referred generally with greater warmth to the Soviet Union than to Italy. The Italian Foreign Minister, Count Galeazzo Ciano, explained in a speech on Dec. 16 the reasons why Italy had not yet joined her ally in the war. His words made it clear that the conclusion of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact had come as a distinct surprise to the Italians, but also that the Rome-Berlin Alliance was just as valid now as in the period before the outbreak of war. Nevertheless, German-Italian relations were strained by the fact that Italy expressed her determination of resisting Soviet expansion into the Balkans. As regards Germany, the Italian position was stated by the influential Resto del Carlino of Dec. 17 which declared, that 'the clear and unequivocal pacts with Germany do not pledge us to immediate intervention.'

Italy and the Vatican.

During 1939 a closer cooperation was evident between the Vatican and Italy. The Resto del Carlino of June 24 praised the special friendship shown by Pope Pius XII for Italy. It added that 'for Italians the whole attitude of Pius XII in these early months of his pontificate indicates how potentially fruitful the Lateran Accord (between the Vatican and Fascist Italy) can be.' The growing cooperation between Italy and the Holy See, developed as the result of conversations between the Papal Secretary of State, Cardinal Maglione, and the Italian Ambassador to the Vatican, Dinio Alfieri, led to parallel actions on behalf of peace and against the spread of Communism. Late in December the Pope awarded to Count Ciano the Order of the Golden Spur for his efforts in the cause of peace, and King Victor Emmanuel III awarded a similarly high decoration to Cardinal Maglione. On Dec. 28, Pope Pius XII returned the earlier visit of the Italian sovereigns to the Vatican. This marked an innovation in the history of the Catholic Church since 1870. In his official address at the Quirinal Pope Pius XII praised Italy for 'the peace which has been safeguarded by the wisdom of her rulers and is making Italy great, strong and respected in the face of the world.' Understandings between the Fascist Government and the Vatican, which have not been embodied in a formal agreement, provide for an exchange of views regarding parallel peace efforts.

Effect of German-Soviet Pact on Japan.

The repercussions of the German-Soviet pact were even greater in Japan than in Italy. The result there was the complete disorientation of Japanese policy, and the action of the United States in denouncing its trade agreement with Japan made matters still more awkward. A new Cabinet was formed under General Nobuyiki Abe which comprised mostly unknown personalities whose task it was to permit Japan to adjust herself to the new situation. The action of the majority of the members of the Japanese Parliament in calling for the resignation of the Cabinet was an indication of Japan's growing difficulties.

Generally it may be said that at the beginning of 1940 the situation of Fascism throughout the world was far from being satisfactory. The will to resistance in the democracies had grown, and had shown appreciable results. The economic situation in Germany, Japan and Italy was growing worse. The Japanese war against China had come practically to a standstill, and the successful resistance of Finland against Soviet aggression encouraged the will to resistance of all smaller nations against any aggression. It may be said that the future of Fascism and democracy depends entirely upon the outcome of the present war. A victory for the democratic nations will eliminate the danger of Fascism everywhere. On the other hand a victory for the aggressor nations will necessarily increase the prestige of Fascism.

Setbacks to Fascism in European and Latin-American Countries.

Meanwhile, in 1939, in the democratic countries of Europe, the small Fascist and National Socialist groups suffered a definite setback. In the Belgian elections of March 1939 the Fascist party led by Léon Degrelle saw the number of its representatives diminished from thirty-three to nine. In Denmark the National Socialist group received only 3 seats out of 149 in the lower chamber. There were similar results in Finland and in Switzerland.

In South America a definite lessening of Fascist influence could be noticed. That was partly due to the energetic measures taken by some of the South American Governments against Fascist and Nazi influence in Italian- and German-speaking schools. Greater emphasis was laid upon educating the children of German and Italian immigrants in the patriotic tradition of their new countries. In Mexico at the beginning of April, the Government expelled three leading members of the rightist Fascist Phalangist organization who conducted propaganda on behalf of General Franco's Government and its ideas. The Spanish Club, where 3,000 members of the Phalangist organization had cheered Chancellor Hitler, Premier Mussolini and General Franco, was stoned by angry demonstrators. Thousands of Spanish Republican refugees were admitted to Mexico, to settle there. They may be regarded as a force opposing the spread of Fascism there. At about the same time the Argentine police raided Nazi headquarters in Buenos Aires in an effort to discover facts about reported espionage and propaganda. In Chile the fact that a number of Germans refused to send their children to Chilean schools aroused much resentment. The Director General of Primary Education in Chile published a report in which he pointed out that in spite of important concessions by the Chilean government in property rights and other facilities, the Germans have systematically refused to mix with the Chileans. It was found that German boys and girls brought up in the country could not speak Spanish and knew nothing about Chilean history, geography or local conditions. German parents, when asked to send their children to Chilean schools, declared to the Director that they did not recognize the slightest obligation to do so, and that they desired no other teaching but that given at the German schools in Santiago. Under these conditions the Chilean government decided that it would close all foreign schools, regardless of protest from any quarter, if due respect to Chilean nationality and authorities were not in evidence. The European war curtailed to a certain extent the possibility of National Socialist activities in Latin America, as the sympathies of the population in general were largely on the side of the democratic countries. Cultural and economic cooperation on the part of the United States also helped to counteract Fascist influences in Latin America and to strengthen the democratic ideals of the Latin-American peoples.

Fascist Activities in United States.

In the United States a number of Nazi, Fascist or semi-Fascist organizations, generally characterized by a strictly isolationist attitude in foreign policy and by their unrestrained anti-Semitism, were conspicuous in 1939. Among them were the German-American Bund, whose leader, Fritz Kuhn, was sentenced by a New York Court to prison in November for embezzlement of Bund funds; the Knights of the White Camellia, under the leadership of George Deatherage; the Christian Mobilizers; the Crusader White Shirts; and many others of passing importance. They were supported by a number of personalities, among them Major General George Van Horn Moseley. Father Coughlin voiced frequently in his radio addresses and in his weekly organ Social Justice, opinions which resembled some of the doctrines propagandized at that time by National Socialism. The Congressional Committee under the Chairmanship of Representative Martin Dies directed its efforts towards uncovering Fascist and more especially Communist activities which were regarded as un-American.

Fascism and Italian Youth.

On the cultural side of Fascism in Italy may be noted the educational reforms drafted by Italian Fascism in February 1939. Such reforms directed by the Minister of Education, Bottai, envisage the complete coordination of the schools and the Fascist youth organizations. All Italian children must be members of the Fascist youth organizations from the fourth to the fourteenth year, after which date they have to serve until their twentieth year according to their vocational status. This new order, which is called the Carta della Scuola, by contrast with the Carta del Lavoro, aims to establish complete coordination of intellectual and military training with labor service. All the youth of Italy are to be submitted to the same intellectual, physical, military and political discipline. The youth organizations and the schools are to make every effort to abolish class spirit. Children of all classes must live and work together, not only in the schools, but especially in the training camps, the workshops, and in the field of labor service. The young Italian will be trained above all as a soldier and as a workman. The spirit of comradeship is especially to be fostered.

A new class of Fascist elite is to be formed in Italy with the creation of the Center of Political Preparation for Young Men. Party members under twenty-eight years of age who can meet special physical and political requirements receive there during two years training in the doctrine and history of fascism, in corporative economies, racial policy, military training and foreign languages.

Fascist Code of Law.

In the field of law reforms have been inaugurated similar to those in the field of education. In July the provisions of the first book of Italy's new Civil Code were put into effect. The old Italian Code of 1865, which had been based on the liberal principles of the Napoleonic Code was thereby superseded. The first book of this 'True Fascist Body of Laws' which, according to Premier Mussolini, is intended to set a world-wide example of new forms of justice as the Napoleonic Code had done in the nineteenth century covers chiefly family relations and other questions of personal status. The articles of the new Code embody the Fascist concept of the complete subordination of the individual to the state, the ethical basis of all life and all justice.

Nazi Doctrine of Aggression.

German National Socialism goes even further than Italian Fascism in its new doctrines. On Dec. 4 Reichsminister Dr. Hans Frank, head of the Academy of German Law, proclaimed the abolition of all objective justice and the supremacy of the law of war as the new legal principle of the world order created by the might of the German army. Dr. Frank declared. 'The maxim, 'Right is whatever profits the nation: wrong is whatever harms it,' marks the beginning of National Socialist Justice. Pale phantoms of objective justice do not exist for us any more. The Fuehrer has placed us in a world of reality filled with values that are independent of formal rules. The deciding principle is: Who is stronger, who is more determined, who has better nerves? Whoever does not admit this is a pale theorist and is no good for politics or, in the deepest sense, for creative law-giving. The decisive issue in this war is the supremacy of the National Socialist principle of war.'