Humanities 5695: Fascism

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Humanities 5695: Fascism Spring 2013 Wednesdays 7.00 – 9.50 pm Room 3416 Instructor: Prof. Joshua DERMAN E-Mail: [email protected] Office: Room 3354 Office hours: Wednesday and Fridays 3:00 – 4:30 pm and by appointment Course Description This course aims to provide students with an introduction to the comparative study of twentieth-century dictatorships. Course readings will focus on Italian Fascism and National Socialism, but the overarching theoretical perspectives will also be relevant to students of non-European dictatorships. Attention will be paid to political leadership, social mobilization, coercion and collaboration, political violence and mass killing, and comparative theoretical frameworks. Students will attain a general understanding of the narrative development of modern European dictatorships, as well as the historiographical and social scientific theories that have been used to interpret them. Assignments Participation (attendance is compulsory): 10% Two short in-class presentations on the weekly readings: 20% 10 pp. midterm paper (due April 10): 30% 15 pp. final paper (due May 27): 40% Readings In preparation for class, students with little or no prior background in European history are encouraged to read the assigned chapters from the textbook: Stanley G. Payne, A History of Fascism, 1914–1945 (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995). It is available for purchase at the campus bookstore, or on 2hr reserve in the library. All other readings are available as PDFs on the course LMES site. Expectations Incompletes will not be granted in this course. Please note that this course enforces a zero-tolerance policy on cheating. If a student is found to have cheated or committed plagiarism, he or she will receive an automatic F in the course, and the case will be referred to the university administration for further action.

2 Course Outline February 6: Introduction and orientation February 13: No Class Part I: Narrative History February 20: World War I as Crucible Textbook: Payne, History of Fascism, introduction, chapters 1–3, 4 (only through the section “Italy in World War I”) For discussion:  Mussolini, “The War as a Revolutionary Event” (1914)  Benito Mussolini, “Trenchocracy” (1917)  Ernst Jünger, “The Emergence of a New Type of Being” (1932)  Richard Bessel, “The First World War as Totality” February 27: The Rise of Italian Fascism Textbook: Payne, History of Fascism, chapter 4 For discussion:  Platform of the Fasci di Combattimento (1919)  Postulates of the Fascist Program (1920)  Program of the National Fascist Party (1921)  Roberta Suzzi Valli, “The Myth of Squadrismo in the Fascist Regime” March 6: Hitler and the Rise of National Socialism Textbook: Payne, History of Fascism, chapter 6 (through the section “Why Did Nazism Triumph?”) For discussion:  Program of the German Workers’ Party (1920)  Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (1925)  Theodore Abel, Why Hitler Came Into Power (1938) March 13: Fascist State and Society Textbook: Payne, History of Fascism, chapter 7 For discussion:  Benito Mussolini and Giovanni Gentile, “Foundations and Doctrine of Fascism” (1932)  R. J. B. Bosworth, “Everyday Mussolinism” March 20: The Racial State Textbook: Payne, History of Fascism, chapter 6 (remainder) For discussion:  Michael Burleigh and Wolfgang Wippermann, The Racial State

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March 27: Nazi Society Textbook: Payne, History of Fascism, chapter 6 (review) For discussion:  Detlev Peukert, Inside Nazi Germany April 3: HOLIDAY Part II: Historiography and Controversies April 10: Intentionalism and Functionalism Textbook: Payne, History of Fascism, chapter 11 For discussion:  Eberhard Jäckel, Hitler’s Worldview  Hans Mommsen, “The Realization of the Unthinkable”  Christopher Browning, “Nazi Resettlement Policy and the Search for a Solution to the Jewish Question, 1939–1941” April 17: Dictatorship For discussion:  Ian Kershaw, The Nazi Dictatorship  R. J. B. Bosworth, The Italian Dictatorship  Paul Corner, “Italian Fascism: Whatever Happened to Dictatorship?” April 24: State, Society, and Policy For discussion:  Gustavo Corni, “State and Society: Italy and Germany Compared”  Robert S. C. Gordon, “Race”  MacGregor Knox, “Expansionist Zeal, Fighting Power, and Staying Power in the Italian and German Dictatorships” May 1: HOLIDAY May 8: What is “generic” fascism? For discussion:  Selections from The Fascism Reader: Gilbert Allardyce, Martin Kitchen, Juan Linz, Roger Eatwell, Stanley Payne, and Robert Paxton May 15: What is fascist ideology? For discussion:  Selections from The Fascism Reader: Ernst Nolte, Noel O’Sullivan, Zeev Sternhell, Roger Griffin, and Stanley Payne