Fascism and Antifascism: Today and Yesterday; Editors' Comment

Abstract

I salute the organizers of this week's events for choosing the theme of fascism as the major topic for our deliberations. Fascism is again on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic and we all need to understand what fascism is, why it appears, and how it manifests itself. We need to understand that, contrary to what we are told by the U.S. media, fascism is not an extreme development, limited in time and place, that occurred a long time ago. Quite the contrary. Fascism is extended, generalized, and exists everywhere. But it is good that you chose the Spanish Civil War, as the proper terrain for discussing the nature of fascism and, equally important, of antifascism. We are just celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the only popular war—and the only antifascist war—that the United States has ever fought. It is quite fitting, therefore, that in the midst of this year-long celebration, we dedicate at least a few days to an understanding of the prologue to that war: the Spanish Civil War.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.