Der »Große Krieg« als Beginn: das Verhältnis zwischen traditionalen Ordnungs konzepten, Faschismus und Autoritarismus

Abstract

The First World War led to a profound social and political mobilization as well as a radicalization that fuelled unrest and ultimately nourished fascism and communism. Yet it also gave rise to new authoritarian regimes. Some of them succeeded in suppressing or integrating fascist movements and parties. Authoritarian dictatorships were based on wartime state intervention and seized on entrenched values and expectations that resonated with the popular quest for security and stability. Even charismatic dictatorships depended on these traditional foundations of political rule. Yet the role of traditional values in the interwar period has been overshadowed by the concept of “The Age of Extremes” (Eric Hobsbawm) and virtually neglected by scholars. Without ignoring the important differences, historians and political scientists, in particular, are to relate authoritarian and fascist concepts of political and social order to each other. Moreover, it should be taken into account that the new dictatorships of the interwar period utilized and exploited traditional values and aspirations.