The Internationalisation of Italian Fascism in the face of German National Socialism, and its Impact on the British Union of Fascists

Abstract

This article traces the process by which Italian Fascism evolved from being merely an Italian peculiarity to become a universal phenomenon, when confronted by its main competitor, Adolf Hitler's national socialism. The tension between the Italian and German models of fascism – which was particularly acute between 1933 and 1935 – has tended to be analysed with regard only to Italy and Germany. This restricted focus has left relatively unexplored the profound effects that the process had on the minor and less successful fascist movements in other countries, which were inspired by these two main models. This article, instead, aims to show how the ideological debate between Fascism and national socialism found its way into the life and structures of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists in the mid-1930s, and deeply affected its development and ultimate failure. By analysing the inner dynamics of Mosley's party, the article aims to show how the macro-level confrontation between the two main fascist models played out at the micro level and how a transnational approach can shed light on the development of the marginal fascist movements.