INTS 320*

Fascism in Europe: From Napoleon to Hitler

Please note that INTS 320 is not offered this adacemic year

Instructor: Dr. David Pugh
Office: Department of German, Kingston Hall 413
Office hours:

Telephone: 613-533-2071
Email: pughdv@queensu.ca

Electronic version of the syllabus (PDF, 98.1 KB)

Description:

The course is designed as a treatment of fascism on a broad historical and interdisciplinary basis. The chronological frame begins with Napoleon, in order to highlight the origin of modern nationalism, of which fascism is the extreme expression, in his era. The main focus, however, will fall on the interwar period between the two World Wars, since the ascendancy of fascism throughout Europe is tied to the disruptions caused by the end of World War I. The course is conceived on an interdisciplinary basis in order to take account of the multiple nature of its object, for example, as a sequence of events taking place in historical time, as a body of ideas, as a movement aimed at acquiring power, as a system of government, as a means of controlling populations, and as a way of life. Time will also be devoted to considering some of the most prominent interpretations of fascism, for example, the Marxist, the psychological, the cultural and the modernization theses.

Required texts:

Robert Paxton, Anatomy of Fascism; Kevin Passmore, Fascism: A Very Short Introduction; Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain; Course reader, available from PCC. It is recommended that you read Paxton and Passmore carefully during the first half of the term, taking careful notes. Note that Paxton's Anatomy of Fascism is an expanded version of his article "The Five Stages of Fascism" in Journal of Modern History 70 (1998): 1-23. This is available on line via QCAT. You may find it useful to read it.

N.B.: Regarding The Magic Mountain, you should be familiar with the characters Settembrini and Naphta, who respectively embody the liberal and anti-liberal mentalities. They introduced at pp. 54-62 and 362-80. Their most important debate is at 380-404. Other relevant sections are: 146-57, 237-47, 432-60. For the end of the story, see pp. 683-96. For students who are interested in reading the whole novel, it is guaranteed that there will be question about it on the final exam

Recommended:

Issue of Journal for Contemporary History, 1,1 (1966), available electronically, devoted to fascism in different countries. Issue of Journal for Contemporary History, 31,2 (1996) devoted to the aesthetics of fascism.

Other standard works:

Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951); Fritz Stern, The Politics of Cultural Despair (1961); Ernst Nolte, Three Faces of Fascism (1963); Eugen Weber, Varieties of Fascism (1964); George Mosse, The Crisis of German Ideology(1964); Walter Laqueur (Ed.), Fascism: A Reader's Guide (1976); Roger Griffin, The Nature of Fascism (1991); Stanley Payne, History of Fascism 1914-1945 (1995); Roger Eatwell, Fascism: A History (1995). All are in Stauffer, some in multiple copies

Evaluation:

Midterm 20%;
Term paper 30%;
Final (2 hours) 40%;
Participation 10%.

Term paper:

2,000-2,500 words, due Monday, 18 April, 2011 by 12.00. The paper may be on a fascism-related topic of your choice but it must contain references to the textbooks of either Paxton or Passmore and also to at least one of the texts in the course reader. I am prepared to look through a 1-page précis of the paper if it is submitted by 8 April 2011.

Participation:

Attendance will not be taken. Students can obtain 1 mark up to the maximum of 10 by submitting a note each week summarizing the five salient points of that week's reading (i.e., the reading for the second hour). These points must be submitted as hard copies, and in person.

Mid-term:

You will be required to show knowledge of the readings and films to that point in the term.

Structure:

The course meets once a week for three hours. A normal class will include one hour of lecture, one hour discussing a text from the course reader, and one hour viewing a film. A provisional timetable for the course is as follows:

Week	Lecture	Reading	Film
I	Introduction	Kant	WWI
II	Ideas	Herder	Italian Fascism in Color 1
III	Ideas	Sorel	Nazis Warning 1
IV	Ideas	Marinetti	Nazis Warning 2
V	Narrative	Mann- Magic Mountain	Italian Fascism in Color 2
VI	Narrative	Moeller	Triumph of the Will
VII	Mid-term	Mussolini	Olympia
VIII	Interpretations (Parsons)	Gentile	Architecture of the Doom 1
IX	Interpretations (Fromm)	Schlotz-Klink	Architecture of the Doom 2
X	Government	Brancati (story)	Wannsee Conference
XI	Culture (Heidegger)	Fühmann (story)	Wannsee Conference
XII	Culture	Mann- Germany	Amarcord