The Rise of Counterrevolutionary Anti-Fascism in the United States from the Munich Conference to the Fall of France

Michael Seidman

doi:10.7238/dd.v0i7.3163

Abstract

Anti-fascism makes working or fighting against fscism the top priority, and two basic types of anti-fascism emerged in Europe and North America from 1936 to 1945. The first was revolutionary; the second was conservative and even counterrevolutionary. From the Munich Agreement to the fall of France, and in the face of strong isolationist opposition, US counterrevolutionary anti-fascists—who are usually labeled “interventionists” in the historiography—articulated to an increasingly sympathetic public how fascist regimes jeopardized the United States’ national security and way of life.

Highlights

Two basic types of anti-fascism emerged in Europe and North America from 1936 to 1945
The first was the revolutionary anti-fascism promoted during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and often dominant in countries, like Spain, with a weak bourgeoisie
The revolutionary anti-fascism of the Spanish conflict encouraged the end of pacifism among sectors of the left, but because of the Spanish Republic’s disrespect for private property and its violent anticlericalism it did not prefigure—as many have argued—the antifascist alliance of World War II

Summary

Michael Seidman

Submission date: 10 June 2019 | Accepted date: 25 June 2019 | Published in: 15 Dec. 2019. “The Rise of Counterrevolutionary Anti-Fascism in the United States from the Munich Conference to the Fall of France”. Journal of History and Culture 7: 37–68.

Introduction

US perceptions of Fascism

US policies toward Nazi Germany

Findings

Conclusion