Fascism in North America

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German American Bund parade on East 86th St., New York City, October 1939
An example of Fascism in America

Fascism in North America is composed of a set of related political movements in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and the caribbean that are variants of fascism. Fascist movements in North America never realized power, unlike their counterparts in Europe. Although the geopolitical definition of North America varies, for the sake of convenience it can be assumed to include Central America and the Caribbean, where fascist variants also flourished.

Canada[]

Main article: Fascism in Canada

In Canada, fascism was divided between two main political parties. The Winnipeg-based Canadian Union of Fascists was modelled on the British Union of Fascists and led by Chuck Crate. The Parti national social chrétien, later renamed the Canadian National Socialist Unity Party, was founded by Adrien Arcand and inspired by Nazism. The Canadian Union of Fascists in English Canada never reached the level of popularity that the Parti national social chrétien enjoyed in Quebec. The Canadian Union of Fascists focused on economic issues while the Parti national social chrétien concentrated on racist themes. The influence of the Canadian fascist movement reached its height during the Great Depression and declined from then on.[1]

Caribbean[]

Marcus Garvey

Fascism has also been a rare feature of politics in this region, not only for the same reasons as those in Central America but also due to the continuation of colonialism well after the main era of fascism in much of the area. However Falangist movements have been active in Cuba, notably under Antonio Avendaño and Alfonso Serrano Vilariño from 1936 to 1940.[2] A Cuban Nazi party was also active but this group, which attempted to change its name to the 'Fifth Column Party' was banned in 1941.[3] As in Cuba, Falangist groups have been active in Puerto Rico, especially during World War II, when an 8000 strong branch came under FBI scrutiny.[4]

Support, of sorts, for fascism was also briefly logged in British Jamaica during the 1930s. Although based in London for much of that decade, Marcus Garvey remained an important political figure on the island which had often been his home base. In the early 1930s Garvey expressed a strong admiration for Benito Mussolini and argued that "we were the first fascists", comparing the mass membership and discipline of Mussolini's followers to that of his own.[5] Garvey changed his opinion following the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 and soon denounced Mussolini as "a tyrant, a bully, [and] an irresponsible upstart".[6]

Central America[]

See also: Nazi Party/Foreign Organization

The dominance of right-wing politics in Central America by populism and the military has meant that there has been little space for the development of proper fascist movements.

As a minor movement, the Nazi Party was active among German immigrants in El Salvador, where the government cracked down on activity,[7] and Guatemala, which outlawed the Nazi Party and the Hitler Youth in May 1939,[8] among others. They also organised in Nicaragua although Falangism was more important, especially in the Colegio Centro América in Managua where this brand of fascism flourished in the 1930s.[9]

Costa Rica[]

The existence of figures sympathetic to Nazism in high political positions has been pointed out in the administrations of León Cortés Castro and Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia. Cortés in particular (who spent some time in Nazi Germany) was famous as sympathizer since he was a presidential candidate.[10][11]

In the 1930s, a movement sympathetic to Nazism developed among the large community of German origin.[12] Supporters of Nazism used to meet in the German Club.[12]

Since the declaration of war on the Third Reich by Costa Rica during Calderón Guardia's presidency, many citizens and residents of German and Italian origin were imprisoned and their properties nationalized, even though the vast majority had no links with Nazism or Fascism.[11] The doctrinal origins of racism and the allegations of European racial superiority in Costa Rica had previous origins, as for example among the racist writings of Costa Rican scientist Clodomiro Picado Twight.[13]

Panama[]

The Central American leader who came closest to being an important domestic fascist was Arnulfo Arias of Panama who, during the 1940s, became a strong admirer of Italian fascism and advocated it following his ascension to the presidency in 1940.[14]

Mexico[]

In 1922, the Mexican Fascist Party was founded by Gustavo Sáenz de Sicilia. The party was viewed with dismay by Italian fascists, with the Italian ambassador in 1923 stating that "This party was not anything else than a bad imitation of ours".[15]

The National Synarchist Union was founded in 1937 by José Antonio Urquiza. The group demonstrated some of the palingenetic ultranationalism at the core of fascism because it sought a rebirth of society away from the anarchism, communism, socialism, liberalism, Freemasonry, secularism and Americanism which it saw as dominating Mexico. It differed from European fascism however by being very Roman Catholic in nature.[16] Although supportive of corporatism the National Synarchist Union was arguably too counterrevolutionary to be considered truly fascist.[17]

A similar group, the Gold Shirts, founded in 1933 by Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco, also bore some of the hallmarks of fascism.

A Falange Española Tradicionalista was also formed in Mexico by Spanish merchants based there who opposed the consistent support given to the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War by Lázaro Cárdenas. The group neither sought nor had influence outside this immigrant population, however.[18] A Partido Nacional Socialista Mexicano was also active, with most of its 15,000 members being of German background.[19]

A more modern group, the Nationalist Front of Mexico was founded in San Luis Potosí in 2006 by Juan Carlos López Lee. It has strongly promoted the Reconquista ideology.

United States[]

Charles Coughlin (right) on Time magazine 1934

American intellectuals paid considerable attention to Mussolini, but few of them became his supporters. However, he was very popular in the Italian American community.[20][21] During the 1930s, Virgil Effinger led the paramilitary Black Legion, a violent offshoot of the Ku Klux Klan that sought a revolution to establish fascism in the United States.[22] Although it was responsible for a number of attacks, the Black Legion was very much a peripheral band of militants. More important were the Silver Legion of America, founded in 1933 by William Dudley Pelley, and the German American Bund, which emerged from a number of older groups the same year, including the Friends of New Germany and the Free Society of Teutonia. Both of these groups looked to Nazism for their inspiration.

While these groups received some support, they were largely peripheral. A more prominent leader, Father Charles Coughlin, sparked concern among some on the left at the time. Coughlin, who publicly endorsed fascism, was unable to become involved in active politics because of his status as a priest.[23] Other fascists active in the US included the publisher Seward Collins, the broadcaster Robert Henry Best, the inventor Joe McWilliams, the architect and Museum of Modern Art director Philip Johnson, and the writer Ezra Pound.

In 1966, Republican Senator Thomas Kuchel said of the Conservative movement, "A fanatical neo-fascist political cult in the GOP, driven by a strange mixture of corrosive hatred and sickening fear, who are recklessly determined to either control our party, or destroy it."[24] In the view of philosopher Jason Stanley, white supremacy in the United States is an example of the fascist politics of hierarchy, in that it "demands and implies a perpetual hierarchy" in which whites dominate and control non-whites.[25]

A growing number of scholars have argued that the political style of Donald Trump resembles that of fascist leaders, beginning with his election campaign in 2016,[26][27] continuing over the course of his presidency as he appeared to court far-right extremists,[28][29][30][31] including his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election results after losing to Joe Biden,[32] and culminating in the 2021 United States Capitol attack.[33] As these events have unfolded, some commentators who had initially resisted applying the label to Trump came out in favor of it, including conservative legal scholar Steven G. Calabresi and conservative commentator Michael Gerson.[34][35] After the attack on the Capitol, the historian of fascism Robert O. Paxton went so far as to state that Trump is a fascist, despite his earlier objection to using the term in this way.[36] Other historians of fascism such as Richard J. Evans,[37] Roger Griffin, and Stanley Payne continue to disagree that fascism is an appropriate term to describe Trump's politics.[33]

World War II[]

During World War II, first Canada and then the United States came into conflict with the Axis powers, and as part of the war effort they suppressed the fascist movements within their borders, which were already weakened by the widespread public perception that they were fifth columns. This suppression consisted of the internment of fascist leaders, the disbandment of fascist organizations, the censorship of fascist propaganda, and pervasive government propaganda against fascism. In the US this culminated in the Great Sedition Trial of 1944 in which George Sylvester Viereck, Lawrence Dennis, Elizabeth Dilling, William Dudley Pelley, Joe McWilliams, Robert Edward Edmondson, Gerald Winrod, , and, in absentia, Ulrich Fleischhauer were all put on trial for aiding the Nazi cause.

Notable neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups[]

United States[]

  • American Front: an umbrella organisation.
  • American Nazi Party: Founded by George Lincoln Rockwell in 1959, this group was central to the foundation of the World Union of National Socialists.
  • Aryan Brotherhood: a prison gang.
  • Aryan Nations: a Christian Identity organization founded by Richard Girnt Butler.
  • Atomwaffen Division: a neo-Nazi paramilitary terrorist organization which is infamous for its killing of 8 people most notably the murder of Blaze Bernstein.
  • The Base (hate group): a neo-Nazi, white supremacist and accelerationist paramilitary hate group and training network, formed in 2018 by Rinaldo Nazzaro and active in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Europe
  • Creativity Movement: a White separatist religion.
  • National Alliance: founded in 1974 by William Luther Pierce, the author of The Turner Diaries.
  • National Renaissance Party: of occultist James H. Madole.
  • National Socialist Movement: formed in 1974.
  • National Socialist Party of America: founded in 1970 by Frank Collin.
  • National States' Rights Party: founded in 1958 by J. B. Stoner.
  • New Order: led by Matt Koehl with the goal of developing a religion based on Nazism.
  • The Order: a revolutionary group established in 1983 by Robert Jay Mathews
  • Patriot Front: an alt-right American nationalist movement founded by Thomas Rousseau as an offshoot of Vanguard America.
  • Proud Boys: a far-right militant group with ties to white nationalism.[38][39][40]
  • Stormfront: a white nationalist website.
  • Universal Order: founded by James Mason and heavily influenced by Charles Manson.
  • Vanguard America: founded by Dillion Irizarry, part of the Nationalist Front and the alt-right.
  • Volksfront: a white power skinhead group led by Randall Krager.
  • White Aryan Resistance: a highly racist organization led by Tom Metzger.
  • White Patriot Party: a group founded in 1980.

Canada[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ The Canadian Encyclopedia article on fascism
  2. ^ Le Falange en Cuba
  3. ^ Gunther, Inside Latin America, p. 467
  4. ^ Gunther, Inside Latin America, pp. 434-5
  5. ^ Colin Grant (2008). Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey and His Dream of Mother Africa. p. 440.
  6. ^ Grant, Negro with a Hat, p. 441
  7. ^ Gunther, Inside Latin America, p. 129
  8. ^ Gunther, Inside Latin America, p. 125
  9. ^ Gunther, Inside Latin America, pp. 141-2
  10. ^ "AFEHC : articulos : Antisemitismo en Costa Rica: una comparación con Alemania : Antisemitismo en Costa Rica: una comparación con Alemania". afehc-historia-centroamericana.org.
  11. ^ a b "El fantasma nazi - ÁNCORA". nacion.com.
  12. ^ a b "Preludios de miedo y violencia - ÁNCORA". nacion.com.
  13. ^ Duncan, Quince. "Génesis y evolución del racismo real-doctrinario" (PDF). enlaceacademico.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  14. ^ "Arnulfo Arias, 87, Panamanian Who Was President 3 Times". The New York Times. August 11, 1988.
  15. ^ Franco Savarino, "The Sentinel of the Bravo: Italian Fascism in Mexico, 1922-35." Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions 2.3 (2001): 97-120.
  16. ^ Roger Griffin (1993). The Nature of Fascism. p. 149.
  17. ^ Payne. A History of Fascism 1914-45. pp. 342–3.
  18. ^ A. Hennessy, "Fascism and Populism in Latin America", W. Laqueur, Fascism: A Reader's Guide, Harmondsworth: Pelican, 1979, p. 283
  19. ^ John Gunther, Inside Latin America, 1941, p. 113
  20. ^ John P. Diggins, Mussolini and Fascism: The View from America (Princeton University Press, 1972).
  21. ^ Francesca De Lucia, "The Impact of Fascism and World War II on Italian-American Communities." Italian Americana 26.1 (2008): 83-95 online.
  22. ^ Michael E. Birdwell (2001). Celluloid Soldiers. p. 45.
  23. ^ Stanley G. Payne (2001). A History of Fascism 1914-45. pp. 350–1.
  24. ^ G. Kabaservice (2012). Rule & Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to The Tea Party - Studies in Post War US Political Development. Oxford Press. p. 169.
  25. ^ Stanley, Jason (2018) How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. New York: Random House. p.13. ISBN 978-0-52551183-0
  26. ^ Kagan, Robert (May 18, 2016). "This is how fascism comes to America". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  27. ^ McGaughey, Ewan (2018). "Fascism-Lite in America (or the Social Ideal of Donald Trump)". British Journal of American Legal Studies. 7 (2): 291–315. doi:10.2478/bjals-2018-0012. S2CID 195842347. SSRN 2773217.
  28. ^ Stanley, Jason (October 15, 2018). "If You're Not Scared About Fascism in the U.S., You Should Be". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  29. ^ Snyder, Timothy (October 30, 2018). "Donald Trump borrows from the old tricks of fascism". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  30. ^ Gordon, Peter (January 7, 2020). "Why Historical Analogy Matters". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  31. ^ Szalai, Jennifer (June 10, 2020). "The Debate Over the Word Fascism Takes a New Turn". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  32. ^ Cummings, William; Garrison, Joey; Sergent, Jim (January 6, 2021). "By the numbers: President Donald Trump's failed efforts to overturn the election". USA Today. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  33. ^ a b Matthews, Dylan (January 14, 2020). "The F Word: The debate over whether to call Donald Trump a fascist, and why it matters". Vox. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  34. ^ Calabresi, Steven G. (July 20, 2020). "Trump Might Try to Postpone the Election. That's Unconstitutional". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  35. ^ Gerson, Michael (February 1, 2021). "Trumpism is American fascism". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  36. ^ Paxton, Robert O. (January 11, 2021). "I've Hesitated to Call Donald Trump a Fascist. Until Now". Newsweek. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  37. ^ Evans, Richard J. (January 13, 2021). "Why Trump isn't a fascist". The New Statesman. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  38. ^ Lemire, Jonathan; Kunzelman, Michael; Jalonick, Mary Clare (2020-10-01). "Trump Proud Boys remark echoes Charlottesville". Associated Press. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  39. ^ Solomon, Molly (2018-11-20). "FBI Categorizes Proud Boys As Extremist Group With Ties To White Nationalism". NPR. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  40. ^ Templeton, Amelia; Wilson, Conrad (2018-12-05). "Portland FBI Head Clarifies Statement On Proud Boys". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Portland, Ore. Retrieved 2020-12-13.

Further reading[]

  • Betcherman, Lita-Rose. The swastika and the maple leaf: Fascist movements in Canada in the thirties (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1978).
  • Cassels, Alan. "Fascism for export: Italy and the United States in the twenties." American Historical Review 69.3 (1964): 707-712 online.
  • Horne, Gerald. The color of fascism: Lawrence Dennis, Racial passing, and the rise of right-wing extremism in the United States (NYU Press, 2009).
  • Pinto, António Costa. Latin American Dictatorships in the Era of Fascism: The Corporatist Wave (Routledge, 2019).
  • Santos, Theotonio Dos. "Socialism and fascism in Latin America today." Insurgent Sociologist 7.4 (1977): 15-24.


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