Fascism and the History of Pre-War Japan: The Failure of a Concept

Abstract

Definitions of fascism come in all shapes and sizes, some precise and some diffuse, some mutually contradictory. The broadest of them attempt to associate fascism with a particular historical stage in the development of industrial society. Elitist politics of the 1930s are strikingly different from Italian politics of the 1920s and German politics of the 1930s. One of the distinctive features of fascist political systems in Europe—i.e., regimes founded by successful fascist movements—is the rupture of elite continuity. In both Germany and Italy, defunct or complacent liberal-left regimes were supplanted by leaders who proclaimed themselves visionary representatives of youth, spirit, will, and action. A full understanding and analysis of domestic politics in the 1930s also requires that attention be given to the international setting. In an age of growing international interdependence, which the period between the First and Second World Wars clearly was, international forces had a profound impact upon domestic developments, and vice-versa.

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