Research Article Annotated Bibliography

Working Thesis: While Fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany incorporated racial ideologies, racism was a guiding principle in German Nazism, whereas, in Italian Fascism, it had a less defining role.

Secondary Sources

Source Number One:

Citation: Pasquini, Dario. “Longing for Purity: Fascism and Nazism in the Italian and German Satirical Press (1943/1945–1963).” European History Quarterly 50, no. 3 (July 2020): 464–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265691420932251

Annotation: The work by Pasquini analyses post-war satirical media in Italy and Germany, with a reference system of the memory of Fascism and Nazism, which recently came to light to help to understand the Fascism-Nazism ideological corpus presence and processing in the two societies. The study demonstrates that the Italian media frequently tempered or even endorsed Fascism, presenting it as a recognizable and domesticated form: Research Article Annotated Bibliography.

By contrast, the German press demonized Nazism and played up the racial crimes of the regime, notably references to concentration camps. This contrast would help prove the thesis in the sense that it showed that German Nazism and its racial ideology remained more strongly associated with public memory. In contrast, Italian Fascism was more frequently remembered as a nationalist organization focusing less on race. The article offers a cultural perspective on why racism came to be considered essential to Nazism but not to Fascism.

Source Number Two:

Citation: Staudenmaier, Peter. “Racial Ideology between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: Julius Evola and the Aryan Myth, 1933–43.” Journal of Contemporary History 55, no. 3 (October 7, 2019): 473–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022009419855428.

Annotation: Staudenmaier’s article examines ideological aspects of racial doctrine in Italian Fascism and German Nazism, with particular attention to the writings of Julius Evola. Hoping to bring the ideology of Fascist Italy more into line with Nazi racial doctrine, Evola would help advance the spiritualized vision of the Aryan myth. However, his attempts encountered resistance, reflecting a more general hesitance within Italian Fascism to embrace a biologically based racism along the lines of Nazi antisemitism.

This source supports the thesis by illustrating that among at least some fascist intellectuals, despite the attempt by some to incorporate racial theory into an Italian ideology, it was seen as a subsidiary and a matter of controversy. The research confirms  that racism was a much more central and state-sponsored part of Nazi Germany; in Italy, it was less bundled up together and never entirely institutionalized as a keystone of the regime.

Source Number Three:

Citation: Weiner, Daniela R.P. “Teaching about Fascism(S): The Relationship between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in Italian, West German, and East German Textbooks, 1950–60.” Journal of Contemporary History 58, no. 1 (December 13, 2021): 002200942110630. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220094211063097.

Annotation: Weinher examines early post-war history textbooks in Italy, West Germany, and the German Democratic Republic, which treated Fascist Italy’s and Nazi Germany’s relations in the 1930s. The study finds that although all three states accepted ideological linkage between the regimes, they used educational narratives to shift blame away from Germany as the racialist aggressor and Italy as less egregious.

Through the examination of how each state represented events like the racial laws, imperialist wars, and the Pact of Steel, Weiner’s sketch complements the narrative that racism was perceived to be more integral to Nazism than Fascism hence supporting the thesis. This source helps to understand how postwar societies perceived the separate ideological paths of the two systems, especially as they related to race and authoritarianism.

Primary Sources

Source Number One:

Citation: Mussolini, Benito. “The Doctrine of Fascism,” 1932. https://sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/2B-HUM/Readings/The-Doctrine-of-Fascism.pdf.

Annotation: This primary source describes the theoretical underpinning of Italian Fascism, as defined by Benito Mussolini. It highlights the supreme power of the state, the denial of liberal democracy, and the ideal of national unity and discipline. This document demonstrates how Fascism attempted to present itself as a spiritual and moral force that would transform the individual with the energy of the state.

Mussolini’s open hostility toward liberalism and individualism helps support the thesis that Fascism was fundamentally anti-democratic and involved a determination to monopolize social, political, and cultural existence. The text offers vital evidence of the regime’s aims to instill a new national identity based on obedience, sacrifice, and collective mission, justifying authoritarian rule and the stifling of dissent.

Source Number Two:

Citation: “Hitler Speech January 30, 1939.” n.d. World Future Fund. https://www.worldfuturefund.org/Articles/Hitler/hitler1939.html.

Annotation: In this speech delivered to the Reichstag on January 30, 1939, Adolf Hitler emphasizes the centrality of racial ideology and antisemitism for Nazi policy and language. In it, Hitler calls the “Jewish question” a great danger to Germany and paints Jews as enemies of the state who anchor their mission to international malice and national disintegration. This is direct evidence that the biologically driven racism was integrated into the politics of the Nazi regime.

The speech proves the thesis in that it offers specific proof that racism was institutionalized under Nazism as opposed to Fascist Italy, where it was more of a symbolic or less significant aspect. This distinction reflects variations in the extent of an emphasis on race between the two regimes.

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Cite your three scholarly, secondary sources as well as your two primary sources using the Chicago Manual of Style format – especially noting the location in which you found your information. Beware of the citations offered on the UA Library website. Nearly all of them contain at least one mistake. Instead, refer to the following websites for citation help:

Research Article Annotated Bibliography