Hanna Reitsch longed to fly. Having broken records and earned the respect of the Nazi regime, she was the first female Luftwaffe test pilot, and eventually became Adolf Hitler's personal heroine. An ardent Nazi, Hanna was prepared to die for the cause, first as a test pilot for the dangerous V1 flying bombs and later by volunteering for a suggested Nazi 'kamikaze' squadron. After her capture she complained bitterly of not being able to die with her leader, but she went on to have a celebrated post-war flying career. She died at the age of 67, creating a new mystery - did Hanna kill herself using the cyanide pill Hitler had given her over thirty years earlier? Hitler's Heroine reveals new facts about the mysterious pilot and cuts through the many myths that have surrounded her life and death, bringing this fascinating woman back to life for the twenty-first century.

An enthralling narrative history of Weimar Berlin in the three years before the Nazi takeover and a dramatic account of Germany's slide from parliamentary democracy to dictatorship. Combining meticulously researched historical writing on the one hand with gripping storytelling on the other, Peter Walther examines the mounting crisis during the dying years of the Weimar Republic through the prism of nine principal protagonists, whose lives are profiled deftly and in fascinating detail; they include leading Weimar politicians of the right, left, and centre and prominent e migre s resident in this most cosmopolitan of capital cities. The louche and febrile nightlife of early 1930s Berlin - 'a playground for charlatans and prophets, madmen and crooks' - is memorably and atmospherically evoked. Peter Walther pulls together the threads of these nine lives to chart the demise of German parliamentary democracy and the rise of National Socialist tyranny, the story ending with the terrifying 'Finale furioso' of Hitler's seizure of power in January 1933. Along the way, we gain remarkable insights into the machinations in the corridors of power to try to keep the 'Bohemian corporal' from the chancellorship and the venality of the Nazi elite and its fellow travellers from the demi-monde of early 1930s Berlin.

How could authors not write about the effects of a civil war that tore their nation in two, that divided and destroyed families and friends? They had to tell the story, though they were carefully scrutinized and censored. How could they resist artistically and present alternate voices and visions for the future? Writing is resistance, remembering is resistance. Writing is remembering and selecting those memories that, in these authors' view, have intense significance in the formation of the self. Sender, Delibes, Laforet, Matute, and Martin Gaite have left a legacy of confrontation and hope. Coming of Age in Franco's Spain studies the social and psychological damage of the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and identifies an aesthetic of resistance, a portrayal of emerging adults who rebel with courage and caring that even more mature adults do not show. Whereas the Fascists engaged in the process of "othering", considering certain groups to be enemies, sub-human, deserving death, meriting bondage in slavery, these novels describe protagonists who learn to reach out to "the other". They advocate treatment of the marginalized and persecuted in a manner diametrically opposed to the policies and practices of the Franco Regime. The positive message conveyed is that the human spirit was not completely crushed by the Fascists' mandate to make all Spanish citizens conform to the Regime's own "values", but these authors advocate authenticity, creative freedom, universal values, all alive and well, even in the darkest of times; they crafted a blueprint for hope through complexities of the narrative art.

Fascism's ascent to power across Europe in the 1920s and 1930s marks one of the greatest historical defeats of the left in all of history. Yet, this catastrophic de- feat was resisted at every turn by Marxists who tried, unsuccessfully, to push the mass communist and social democratic parties to organize an opposition to the rising movements of violent reaction. Their devastating failure paved the way for the gas chamber, decades of ruthless dictatorship, and war. This important volume offers the most complete selection of Marxist writings on fascism from this period in any language and provides invaluable lessons for contemporary readers concerned with today's far-right.

Germany's Nazi government initially made its primary headquarters in one of Berlin's oldest buildings, the Old Reich Chancellery. Unsatisfied with the building, Adolf Hitler commissioned Albert Speer to design and build a newer, grander structure, and his New Reich Chancellery was completed in early 1939. Hitler described his New Reich Chancellery and other Nazi buildings as his "words of stone," eternal monuments to the work that he and the Nazi party intended to perpetuate. Frequented by Hitler and his inner circle, the Chancellery witnessed their fanatical plans and was an architectural reflection of Hitler's megalomania. The Fuhrerbunker, built underneath the Chancellery, became the last refuge of a dying regime; it was here that Hitler retreated to order the destruction of Germany and ultimately to take his own life. This book is a virtual tour of the now demolished Chancellery and Fuhrerbunker. It covers the history of each structure, notes the architectural changes that Hitler made to suit his purposes, and describes the historical events that took place within each building's walls. Appendices contain a chronology of Reich Chancellors (1871-1945), a detailed list of renovations to the Chancellery, and a register of notable gatherings that took place in the Old Reich Chancellery prior to 1914. Texts of various speeches by Hitler are reproduced, along with a copy of his agreement to occupy Czechoslovakia, which was signed in the Reich Chancellery.

Based on extensive archival research, this is a comprehensive study of theatre in the Third Reich. It explores the contending pressures and ambitions within the regime and the Nazi party, within the German theatre profession itself and the theatre-going public. Together, these shaped theatrical practice in the Nazi years. By tracing the origins of the Nazi stage back to the right-wing theatre reform movement of the late nineteenth century, Strobl suggests that theatre was widely regarded as a central pillar of German national identity. The role played by the stage in the evolving collective German identity after 1933 is examined through chapters on theatre and Nazi racial policy, anti-religious campaigns and the uses of history. The book traces the evolving fortunes of theatre in the Third Reich, to the years of 'total war', and the resulting physical destruction of most German playhouses.

This book, part two of Giuseppe Finaldi’s sweeping account of Italian colonialism studies its history from the turn of the 20th century to the early 1930s. The book engages with a period of huge social, political and cultural change resulting in a new dynamism on the African and expansionist front. The period saw an economic leap forward, an extension of Italians’ political engagement – through new forces such as popular socialism, social Catholicism and the ‘new’ nationalism – as well as a huge surge in the number of people leaving Italy for new lives in the Americas while expansionism made its mark in Libya, the horn of Africa and elsewhere.

This book is based on the oral life histories of about 70 men and women workers, born between the end of the last century and 1920, which are combined with sources such as police reports, documentary films and judicial documents. The interviewees recount their visions of life, of history, and of themselves; they call to memory the fascist period, and the ambivalent relationship between the Duce and the masses. A picture of resistance emerges, through such minor episodes as jokes and graffiti, wearing a red tie or whistling an old socialist tune, and through major issues such as abortions carried out in direct opposition to state propaganda. Acquiescence is also recalled, however, in the enrolment of children in fascist youth organisations or in the use of new state-controlled social services. The final chapter reconstructs an event that acquired great symbolic meaning: the eloquent and unexpected silence of the Fiat workers before Mussolini in 1939 at the inauguration of the Miraflori factory.

"Was Hitler A Riddle?" is the first comparative study of how British, French, and American diplomats serving in Germany assessed Hitler and the Nazi movement. These assessments provided the governments in London, Paris, and Washington with ample information about the ruthlessness of the authorities in Germany and of their determination to conquer vast stretches of Europe. Had the British, French, and American leaders acted on this information and taken measures to rein in Hitler, the history of the twentieth century would have been far less bloody: the second world war might well have been avoided, the Soviet Union would not have expanded into central and eastern Europe, and the world would have been spared the Cold War.

"Was Hitler A Riddle?" is the first comparative study of how British, French, and American diplomats serving in Germany assessed Hitler and the Nazi movement. These assessments provided the governments in London, Paris, and Washington with ample information about the ruthlessness of the authorities in Germany and of their determination to conquer vast stretches of Europe. Had the British, French, and American leaders acted on this information and taken measures to rein in Hitler, the history of the twentieth century would have been far less bloody: the second world war might well have been avoided, the Soviet Union would not have expanded into central and eastern Europe, and the world would have been spared the Cold War.

Giuseppe Pagano-Pogatschnig (1896-1945) was a twentieth-century polymath operating at the intersection between architecture, media, design and the arts. He was an exhibition and furniture designer, curator, photographer, editor, writer and architect. A dedicated Fascist turned Resistance fighter, he was active in Italy's most dramatic social and political era. Giuseppe Pagano provides a comprehensive overview of the influential architect and his contribution to the development of modern architecture. It follows a central biographical line with in-depth, mini chapter contributions on aspects of Pagano's cultural production, concluding with writings by Pagano himself and a critical bibliography to aid scholars in further study.

How successful was Mussolini in creating a force of loyal and committed policemen to defend his regime and assist in the creation of a new fascist civilization? How far were the Italian police transformed under Mussolini, and how did policemen experience the dictatorship? This book examines Italy's regular police in the context of fascism's efforts to modernise and establish ideological control over the state. Contrasting the regime's idealised representations with the more humdrum realities of everyday practice, the book considers the impact of the dictatorship on the Italian police and their personnel. Presenting an inside perspective on fascist repression, it focuses particularly on recruitment, training and professionalism in the Interior Ministry Police, as well as officers' ideological orientation, working conditions and quality of life. This book will appeal to students and researchers in police history, Italian fascism and, more generally, conflict and oppression in the twentieth century.

Derek Hastings here illuminates an important and largely overlooked aspect of early Nazi history, going back to the years after World War I--when National Socialism first emerged--to reveal its close early ties with Catholicism. Although an antagonistic relationship between the Catholic Church and Hitler's regime developed later during the Third Reich, the early Nazi movement was born in Munich, a city whose population was overwhelmingly Catholic. Focusing on Munich and the surrounding area, Hastings shows how Catholics played a central and hitherto overlooked role in the Nazi movement before the 1923 Beerhall Putsch. He examines the activism of individual Catholic writers, university students, and priests and the striking Catholic-oriented appeals and imagery formulated by the movement. He then discusses why the Nazis embarked on a different path following the party's reconstitution in early 1925, ultimately taking on an increasingly anti-Catholic and anti-Christian identity.

This is the first authoritative study of the Italian armed forces and the relationship between the military and foreign policies of Fascist Italy from Mussolini's rise to power in 1922 to the catastrophic defeat of 1940. Using extensive new research, John Gooch explores the nature and development of the three armed forces, their relationships with Mussolini and the impact of his policies and command, the development of operational and strategic thought, and the deployment and use of force in Libya, Abyssinia and Spain. He emphasizes Mussolini's long-term expansionist goals and explains how he responded to the structural pressures of the international system and the contingent pressures of events. This compelling account shows that while Mussolini bore ultimate responsibility for Italy's fateful entry into the Second World War, his generals and admirals bore a share of the blame for defeat through policies that all too often rested on irrationality and incompetence.

Based on extensive archival research, this is a comprehensive study of theatre in the Third Reich. It explores the contending pressures and ambitions within the regime and the Nazi party, within the German theatre profession itself and the theatre-going public. Together, these shaped theatrical practice in the Nazi years. By tracing the origins of the Nazi stage back to the right-wing theatre reform movement of the late nineteenth century, Strobl suggests that theatre was widely regarded as a central pillar of German national identity. The role played by the stage in the evolving collective German identity after 1933 is examined through chapters on theatre and Nazi racial policy, anti-religious campaigns and the uses of history. The book traces the evolving fortunes of theatre in the Third Reich, to the years of 'total war', and the resulting physical destruction of most German playhouses.

This book traces the varied development of the far right in Britain from the formation of the National Front in 1967 to the present day. Experts draw on a range of disciplinary and methodological perspectives to provide a rich and detailed account of the evolution of the various strands of the contemporary far right over the course of the last fifty years. The book examines a broad range of subjects, including Holocaust denial, neo-Nazi groupuscularity, transnational activities, ideology, cultural engagement, homosexuality, gender and activist mobilisation. It also includes a detailed literature review. This book is essential reading for students of fascism, racism and contemporary British cultural and political history.

20th century European Fascism is conventionally described as a fierce assault on liberal politics, culture and economics. Departing from this analysis, The Appentice's Sorcerer highlights the long overlooked critical affinities between the liberal tradition and fascism. Far from being the antithesis of liberalism, fascism both in ideology and practice, was substantially, if dialectically, indebted to liberalism; particularly its economic variant.

Hindenburg reveals how a previously little-known general, whose career to normal retirement age had provided no real foretaste of his heroic status, became a national icon and living myth in Germany after the First World War, capturing the imagination of millions. In a period characterized by rupture and fragmentation, the legend surrounding Paul von Hindenburg brought together a broad coalition of Germans and became one of the most potent forces in Weimar politics.
Charting the origins of the myth, from Hindenburg's decisive victory at the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 to his death in Nazi Germany and beyond, Anna von der Goltz explains why the presence of Hindenburg's name on the ballot mesmerized an overwhelming number of voters in the presidential elections of 1925. His myth, an ever-evolving phenomenon, increasingly transcended the dividing lines of interwar politics, which helped him secure re-election by left-wing and moderate voters. Indeed, the only two times in German history that the people could elect their head of state directly and secretly, they chose this national icon. Hindenburg even managed to defeat Adolf Hitler in 1932, making him the Nazi leader's final arbiter; it was he who made the final and fateful decision to appoint Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933.

Incoherent, obsessive and violent, Hitler's ideas nonetheless found an audience of millions and led to one of the most horrific and devastating conflicts of the 20th century. Taking two of Hitler's texts as his starting point, Neil Gregor discusses 'this second-rate mind of great power' and helps the reader to understand the nature and popular reception of Hitler's crude but hugely influential writings.

A study of the informal logic that has governed the half-century of academic writing devoted to what has been generally identified as 'neofascism', together with a careful assessment of those political movements and regimes considered the proper objects of inquiry. The intent of the study is both pedagogical and cautionary. Its central thesis of the work is that terms like 'fascism', 'generic fascism', and 'neofascism' are often used with considerable indifference, applied uniquely to political movements and regimes considered on the 'right' rather than the 'left', intended more often to denigrate rather than inform. The result has been confusion. Within that context some of the most important political movements of our time are considered, including, among others, the Alleanza Nazionale of Italy and the Bharatiya Janata Party of India, both of which have discharged leadership roles in their respective governments: identifying either as 'neofascism' has clear implications for international relations.

During the last three decades or so there has been a significant growth of extreme right voter support, in Europe and elsewhere in the world. The chapters in this book look at an earlier period before most of this increase. Comprising eight previously published articles or book chapters and two hitherto unpublished studies, this book gives extended accounts of the major extreme-right political parties or movements in a number of west European countries, looking both at their antecedents and also at their their support and significance in the 1980s and early 1990s. The countries covered in detail are France, the Federal Republic of Germany (old and new regions), the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria. During the last three decades some earlier parties of the extreme right in these west European countries have disappeared into oblivion, to be superseded by replacements; others have survived and flourished. Given the date when most of these chapters were written, they are now to be regarded as contributions to a modern history about the status and relevance of the respective parties or movements. The book also includes an introductory essay that discusses issues arising from the disputed labelling terminology used to describe such parties and identifies themes that feature in the more recent literature about the subsequent and current state of the extreme right in Europe. The book will be of particular interest to researchers on the contemporary politics of the extreme-right in Europe, as well as being a valuable resource for those teaching courses on this topic or on general political sociology.

This is a study of relations between the Vatican and the Fascist regime in Italy in the most troubled and crucial phase of their relationship, the period 1929-32. It is the first time that any historian, either in Italy or elsewhere, has carried out a detailed and comprehensive study of the conflicts between the Vatican and Italian Fascism in these years; nor has there been any detailed analysis of the causes and the consequences of the crisis of 1931. As well as considering the various causes of conflict in this period, the author sets out what he believes to be the long-term consequences of the 1931 crisis, and in so doing challenges a number of previously accepted interpretations.

Many of the foremost experts in the study of European fascism unite to provide a contemporary analysis of the theories and historiography of fascism. Essays discuss the most recent debates on the subject and how changes in the social sciences over the past forty years have impacted on the study of fascism from various perspectives.