![An Italian partisan in Florence, 14 August 1944](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/An_Italian_partisan_in_Florence%2C_14_August_1944._TR2282.jpg)
Anti-fascism is a
political movement
A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...
in opposition to
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, where the
Axis powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
were opposed by many countries forming the
Allies of World War II
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. ...
and dozens of
resistance movement
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...
s worldwide. Anti-fascism has been an element of movements across the political spectrum and holding many different political positions such as
anarchism
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...
,
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
,
pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
,
republicanism
Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...
,
social democracy
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
,
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
and
syndicalism
Syndicalism is a Revolutionary politics, revolutionary current within the Left-wing politics, left-wing of the Labour movement, labor movement that seeks to unionize workers Industrial unionism, according to industry and advance their demands t ...
as well as
centrist
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...
,
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
,
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
and
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
viewpoints.
Fascism, a
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
ultra-nationalistic
Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an Extremism, extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, Supremacism, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coerc ...
ideology best known for its use by the
Italian Fascists and the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
, became prominent beginning in the 1910s while organization against fascism began around 1920. Fascism became the state ideology of Italy in 1922 and of Germany in 1933, spurring a large increase in anti-fascist action, including
German resistance to Nazism
Many individuals and groups in Germany that were opposed to the Nazi Germany, Nazi regime engaged in active resistance, including assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler, attempts to remove Adolf Hitler from power by assassination or by overthro ...
and the
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
. Anti-fascism was a major aspect of the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, which foreshadowed World War II.
Prior to World War II,
the West
West is a cardinal direction or compass point.
West or The West may also refer to:
Geography and locations
Global context
* The Western world
* Western culture and Western civilization in general
* The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...
had not taken seriously the threat of fascism, and anti-fascism was sometimes associated with communism. However, the
outbreak of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
greatly changed Western perceptions, and fascism was seen as an existential threat by not only the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
Soviet Union but also by the
liberal-democratic United States and United Kingdom.
The Axis Powers of World War II were generally fascist, and the fight against them was characterized in anti-fascist terms.
Resistance during World War II
Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation to propaganda, hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns. In many countries, r ...
to fascism occurred in every occupied country, and came from across the ideological spectrum. The defeat of the
Axis powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
generally ended fascism as a state ideology.
After World War II, the anti-fascist movement continued to be active in places where organized fascism continued or re-emerged. There was a resurgence of
antifa in Germany
Antifa is a political movement in Germany composed of multiple far-left, autonomous, militant groups and individuals who describe themselves as anti-fascist. According to the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the ...
in the 1980s, as a response to the invasion of the
punk scene
The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom ...
by
neo-Nazis
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...
. This influenced the
antifa movement in the United States
Antifa () is a left-wing anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement in the United States. It consists of a highly decentralized array of autonomous groups that use both nonviolent direct action and violence to achieve their aims. Most an ...
in the late 1980s and 1990s, which was similarly carried by punks. In the 21st century, this greatly increased in prominence as a response to the resurgence of the
radical right, especially after the
election of Donald Trump
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...
.
Origins
With the development and spread of
Italian Fascism, i.e. the original fascism, the
National Fascist Party
The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...
's ideology was met with increasingly militant opposition by Italian communists and socialists. Organizations such as ''
Arditi del Popolo
The ''Arditi del Popolo'' (''The People's Daring Ones'') was an Italian militant anti-fascist group founded at the end of June 1921 to resist the rise of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party and the violence of the Blackshirts (''squadris ...
''
[Gli Arditi del Popolo (Birth)]
and the
Italian Anarchist Union emerged between 1919 and 1921, to combat the nationalist and fascist surge of the post-World War I period.
In the words of historian
Eric Hobsbawm
Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. A life-long Marxist, his socio-political convictions influenced the character of his work. H ...
, as fascism developed and spread, a "nationalism of the left" developed in those nations threatened by Italian
irredentism
Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...
(e.g. in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, and
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
in particular). After the outbreak of World War II, the
Albanian
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
**Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
**Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
and
Yugoslav resistances were instrumental in antifascist action and underground resistance. This combination of irreconcilable nationalisms and
leftist
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
partisans constitute the earliest roots of European anti-fascism. Less militant forms of anti-fascism arose later. During the 1930s in Britain, "Christians – especially the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
– provided both a language of opposition to fascism and inspired anti-fascist action".
Michael Seidman argues that traditionally anti-fascism was seen as the purview of the
political left
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
but that in recent years this has been questioned. Seidman identifies two types of anti-fascism, namely revolutionary and counterrevolutionary:
* Revolutionary anti-fascism was expressed amongst communists and anarchists, where it identified fascism and capitalism as its enemies and made little distinction between fascism and other forms of authoritarianism. It did not disappear after the Second World War but was used as an official ideology of the Soviet bloc, with the "fascist" West as the new enemy.
* Counterrevolutionary anti-fascism was much more conservative in nature, with Seidman arguing that Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill represented examples of it and that they tried to win the masses to their cause. Counterrevolutionary antifascists desired to ensure the restoration or continuation of the prewar old regime and conservative antifascists disliked fascism's erasure of the distinction between the public and private spheres. Like its revolutionary counterpart, it would outlast fascism once the Second World War ended.
Seidman argues that despite the differences between these two strands of anti-fascism, there were similarities. They would both come to regard violent expansion as intrinsic to the fascist project. They both rejected any claim that the
Versailles Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
was responsible for the rise of Nazism and instead viewed fascist dynamism as the cause of conflict. Unlike fascism, these two types of anti-fascism did not promise a quick victory but an extended struggle against a powerful enemy. During World War II, both anti-fascisms responded to fascist aggression by creating a cult of heroism which relegated victims to a secondary position.
[Seidman, Michael. Transatlantic Antifascisms: From the Spanish Civil War to the End of World War II. Cambridge University Press, 2017, pp.1-8] However, after the war, conflict arose between the revolutionary and counterrevolutionary anti-fascisms; the victory of the Western Allies allowed them to restore the old regimes of liberal democracy in Western Europe, while Soviet victory in Eastern Europe allowed for the establishment of new revolutionary anti-fascist regimes there.
History
![101st with members of dutch resistance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/101st_with_members_of_dutch_resistance.jpg)
Anti-fascist movements emerged first in Italy during the rise of
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
, but they soon spread to other European countries and then globally. In the early period, Communist, socialist, anarchist and Christian workers and intellectuals were involved. Until 1928, the period of the
United front
A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...
, there was significant collaboration between the Communists and non-Communist anti-fascists.
In 1928, the
Comintern
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
instituted its
ultra-left
The term ultra-leftism, when used among Marxist groups, is a pejorative for certain types of positions on the far-left that are extreme or uncompromising. Another definition historically refers to a particular current of Marxist communism, where ...
Third Period
The Third Period is an ideological concept adopted by the Communist International (Comintern) at its Sixth World Congress, held in Moscow in the summer of 1928. It set policy until reversed when the Nazis took over Germany in 1933.
The Comint ...
policies, ending co-operation with other left groups, and denouncing social democrats as "
social fascists
Social fascism (also socio-fascism) was a theory that was supported by the Communist International (Comintern) and affiliated communist parties in the early 1930s that held that social democracy was a variant of fascism because it stood in the way ...
". From 1934 until the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
, long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
, image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg
, image_width = 200
, caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...
, the Communists pursued a
Popular Front
A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault".
More generally, it is "a coalition ...
approach, of building broad-based coalitions with liberal and even conservative anti-fascists. As fascism consolidated its power, and especially during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, anti-fascism largely took the form of
partisan
Partisan may refer to:
Military
* Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon
* Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line
Films
* ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film
* ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...
or
resistance movements.
Italy: against Fascism and Mussolini
![Flag of the Arditi del Popolo Battalion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Flag_of_the_Arditi_del_Popolo_Battalion.svg)
In Italy, Mussolini's
Fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
regime used the term ''anti-fascist'' to describe its opponents. Mussolini's
secret police
Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...
was officially known as the
Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism
The OVRA, whose most probable name was Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism ( it, Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo), was the secret police of the Kingdom of Italy, founded in 1927 under the ...
. During the 1920s in the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
, anti-fascists, many of them from the
labor movement
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
* The trade union movement ...
, fought against the violent
Blackshirts
The Voluntary Militia for National Security ( it, Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts ( it, Camicie Nere, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the Natio ...
and against the rise of the fascist leader Benito Mussolini. After the
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country.
Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...
(PSI) signed a
pacification pact with Mussolini and his
Fasces of Combat on 3 August 1921, and trade unions adopted a legalist and pacified strategy, members of the workers' movement who disagreed with this strategy formed ''
Arditi del Popolo
The ''Arditi del Popolo'' (''The People's Daring Ones'') was an Italian militant anti-fascist group founded at the end of June 1921 to resist the rise of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party and the violence of the Blackshirts (''squadris ...
''.
The
Italian General Confederation of Labour
The Italian General Confederation of Labour (; CGIL) is a national trade union based in Italy. It was formed by agreement between socialists, communists, and Christian democrats in the "Pact of Rome" of June 1944. In 1950, socialists and Christi ...
(CGL) and the PSI refused to officially recognize the anti-fascist militia and maintained a non-violent, legalist strategy, while the
Communist Party of Italy
The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current ...
(PCd'I) ordered its members to quit the organization. The PCd'I organized some militant groups, but their actions were relatively minor. The Italian anarchist
Severino Di Giovanni
Severino Di Giovanni (17 March 1901 – 1 February 1931) was an Italian anarchist who immigrated to Argentina, where he became the best-known anarchist figure in that country for his campaign of violence in support of Sacco and Vanzetti and anti ...
, who exiled himself to Argentina following the 1922
March on Rome
The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, Fa ...
, organized several bombings against the Italian fascist community. The Italian liberal anti-fascist
Benedetto Croce
Benedetto Croce (; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952)
was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician, who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography and aesthetics. In most regards, Croce was a lib ...
wrote his ''
Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals
The Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals, written by Benedetto Croce in response to the Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals by Giovanni Gentile, sanctioned the irreconcilable split between the philosopher and the Fascist government of B ...
'', which was published in 1925. Other notable Italian liberal anti-fascists around that time were
Piero Gobetti
Piero Gobetti (; 19 June 1901, Turin – 15 February 1926, Neuilly-sur-Seine) was an Italian journalist, intellectual and radical liberal and anti-fascist. He was an exceptionally active campaigner and critic in the crisis years in Italy after ...
and
Carlo Rosselli
Carlo Alberto Rosselli (Rome, 16 November 1899Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, 9 June 1937) was an Italian political leader, journalist, historian, philosopher and anti-fascist activist, first in Italy and then abroad. He developed a theory of reformist, ...
.
Concentrazione Antifascista Italiana
(CAI; Italian Anti-Fascist Concentration), officially known as (Anti-Fascist Action Concentration), was an Italian coalition of anti-fascist groups which existed from 1927 to 1934. It was formed in Paris on 27 March 1927 with the purpose of the ...
(Italian Anti-Fascist Concentration), officially known as Concentrazione d'Azione Antifascista (Anti-Fascist Action Concentration), was an Italian coalition of Anti-Fascist groups which existed from 1927 to 1934. Founded in
Nérac
Nérac (; oc, Nerac, ) is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department, Southwestern France. The composer and organist Louis Raffy was born in Nérac, as was the former Arsenal and Bordeaux footballer Marouane Chamakh, as was Admiral Francois Dar ...
, France, by expatriate Italians, the CAI was an alliance of non-communist anti-fascist forces (republican, socialist, nationalist) trying to promote and to coordinate expatriate actions to fight fascism in Italy; they published a propaganda paper entitled ''La Libertà''.
Between 1920 and 1943, several anti-fascist movements were active among the
Slovenes
The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovene as their n ...
and
Croats
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...
in the territories annexed to Italy after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, known as the
Julian March
Venezia Giulia, traditionally called Julian March (Serbo-Croatian, Slovene: ''Julijska krajina'') or Julian Venetia ( it, Venezia Giulia; vec, Venesia Julia; fur, Vignesie Julie; german: Julisch Venetien) is an area of southeastern Europe wh ...
. The most influential was the militant insurgent organization
TIGR
TIGR, an abbreviation for ''Trst'', ''Istra'', ''Gorica'', and ''Reka'', full name Revolutionary Organization of the Julian March T.I.G.R. ( sl, Revolucionarna organizacija Julijske krajine T.I.G.R.), was a militant anti-fascist and insurgent or ...
, which carried out numerous sabotages, as well as attacks on representatives of the Fascist Party and the military. Most of the underground structure of the organization was discovered and dismantled by the
Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism
The OVRA, whose most probable name was Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism ( it, Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo), was the secret police of the Kingdom of Italy, founded in 1927 under the ...
(OVRA) in 1940 and 1941, and after June 1941 most of its former activists joined the
Slovene Partisans
The Slovene Partisans, formally the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Slovenia, (NOV in POS) were part of Europe's most effective anti-Nazi resistance movement Jeffreys-Jones, R. (2013): ''In Spies We Trust: The Story of Western ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, many members of the
Italian resistance
The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
left their homes and went to live in the mountains, fighting against Italian fascists and
German Nazi
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
soldiers during the
Italian Civil War
The Italian Civil War (Italian language, Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian resistance movement, Italian partisans (mostly politically ...
. Many cities in Italy, including
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
,
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, were freed by anti-fascist uprisings.
Slovenians and Croats under Italianization
The anti-fascist resistance emerged within the
Slovene minority in Italy (1920–1947)
The Slovene minority in Italy (1920–1947) was the indigenous Slovene population—approximately 327,000 out of a total population of 1.3Lipušček, U. (2012) ''Sacro egoismo: Slovenci v krempljih tajnega londonskega pakta 1915'', Cankarjeva zalo ...
, whom the Fascists meant to
deprive of their culture, language and ethnicity. The 1920 burning of the
National Hall in Trieste, the
Slovene center in the multi-cultural and multi-ethnic
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
by the Blackshirts,
was praised by Benito Mussolini (yet to become Il Duce) as a "masterpiece of the Triestine fascism" ().
The use of Slovene in public places, including churches, was forbidden, not only in multi-ethnic areas, but also in the areas where the population was exclusively Slovene. Children, if they spoke Slovene, were punished by Italian teachers who were brought by the Fascist State from
Southern Italy
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
. Slovene teachers, writers, and clergy were sent to the other side of Italy.
The first anti-fascist organization, called
TIGR
TIGR, an abbreviation for ''Trst'', ''Istra'', ''Gorica'', and ''Reka'', full name Revolutionary Organization of the Julian March T.I.G.R. ( sl, Revolucionarna organizacija Julijske krajine T.I.G.R.), was a militant anti-fascist and insurgent or ...
, was formed by Slovenes and Croats in 1927 in order to fight Fascist violence. Its guerrilla fight continued into the late 1920s and 1930s.
[Cresciani, Gianfranco (2004]
Clash of civilisations
, Italian Historical Society Journal, Vol. 12, No. 2, p. 4 By the mid-1930s, 70,000 Slovenes had fled Italy, mostly to
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
(then part of Yugoslavia) and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
.
The Slovene anti-fascist resistance in
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
during World War II was led by
Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
The Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation ( sl, Osvobodilna fronta slovenskega naroda), or simply Liberation Front (''Osvobodilna fronta'', OF), originally called the Anti-Imperialist Front (''Protiimperialistična fronta'', PIF), was a Slovene ...
. The
Province of Ljubljana The Province of Ljubljana ( it, Provincia di Lubiana, sl, Ljubljanska pokrajina, german: Provinz Laibach) was the central-southern area of Slovenia. In 1941, it was annexed by Fascist Italy, and after 1943 occupied by Nazi Germany. Created on May ...
, occupied by Italian Fascists, saw the deportation of 25,000 people, representing 7.5% of the total population, filling up the
Rab concentration camp
The Rab concentration camp ( it, Campo di concentramento per internati civili di Guerra – Arbe; hr, Koncentracijski logor Rab; sl, Koncentracijsko taborišče Rab) was one of several Italian concentration camps. It was established during World ...
and
Gonars concentration camp
The Gonars concentration camp was one of the several Italian concentration camps and it was established on February 23, 1942, near Gonars, Italy.
Many internees were transferred to this camp from the other Italian concentration camp, Rab concen ...
as well as other
Italian concentration camps
Italian concentration camps include camps from the Italian colonial wars in Africa as well as camps for the civilian population from areas occupied by Italy during World War II. Memory of both camps were subjected to "historical amnesia". The repr ...
.
Germany: against the NSDAP and Hitlerism
![3arrows Anti-fascist](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/3arrows_Anti-fascist.png)
The specific term anti-fascism was primarily used by the
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
(KPD), which held the view that it was the only anti-fascist party in Germany. The KPD formed several explicitly anti-fascist groups such as ''
Roter Frontkämpferbund
The (, translated as "Alliance of Red Front-Fighters" or "Red Front Fighters' League"), usually called (RFB), was a far-left paramilitary organization affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during the Weimar Republic. It was off ...
'' (formed in 1924 and banned by the
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
in 1929) and ''Kampfbund gegen den Faschismus'' (a ''de facto'' successor to the latter). At its height, ''Roter Frontkämpferbund'' had over 100,000 members. In 1932, the KPD established the
Antifaschistische Aktion
''Antifaschistische Aktion'' () was a militant anti-fascist organisation in the Weimar Republic started by members of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) that existed from 1932 to 1933. It was primarily active as a KPD campaign during the ...
as a "red united front under the leadership of the only anti-fascist party, the KPD".
Under the leadership of the committed
Stalinist
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...
Ernst Thälmann
Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann (; 16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was a German communist politician, and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933.
A committed Marxist-Leninist and Stalinist, Thälmann played a major r ...
, the KPD primarily viewed fascism as the final stage of
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
rather than as a specific movement or group, and therefore applied the term broadly to its opponents, and in the name of anti-fascism the KPD focused in large part on attacking its main adversary, the centre-left
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
, whom they referred to as
social fascists
Social fascism (also socio-fascism) was a theory that was supported by the Communist International (Comintern) and affiliated communist parties in the early 1930s that held that social democracy was a variant of fascism because it stood in the way ...
and regarded as the "main pillar of the dictatorship of Capital."
The movement of
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
, which grew ever more influential in the last years of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
, was opposed for different ideological reasons by a wide variety of groups, including groups which also opposed each other, such as social democrats, centrists, conservatives and communists. The SPD and centrists formed ''
Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold
The (, ''"Black, Red, ndGold Banner of the Reich"'') was an organization in Germany during the Weimar Republic, formed by members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the German Centre Party, and the (liberal) German Democratic Par ...
'' in 1924 to defend
liberal democracy
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into diff ...
against both the Nazi Party and the KPD, and their affiliated organizations. Later, mainly SPD members formed the
Iron Front
The Iron Front (german: Eiserne Front) was a German paramilitary organization in the Weimar Republic which consisted of social democrats, trade unionists, and liberals. Its main goal was to defend liberal democracy against totalitarian ideol ...
which opposed the same groups.
The name and logo of ''Antifaschistische Aktion'' remain influential. Its two-flag logo, designed by and , is still widely used as a symbol of militant anti-fascists in Germany and globally, as is the Iron Front's
Three Arrows
The Three Arrows (german: Drei Pfeile) is a social democratic political symbol associated with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), used in the late history of the Weimar Republic. First conceived for the SPD-dominated Iron Front as a ...
logo.
Spain: Civil War against the Nationalists
![Barcelone 19 juillet 1936](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Barcelone_19_juillet_1936.jpg)
The historian
Eric Hobsbawm
Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. A life-long Marxist, his socio-political convictions influenced the character of his work. H ...
wrote: "The
Spanish civil war
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
was both at the centre and on the margin of the era of anti-fascism. It was central, since it was immediately seen as a European war between fascism and anti-fascism, almost as the first battle in the coming world war, some of the characteristic aspects of which – for example, air raids against civilian populations – it anticipated."
![Strijdlustige_vrouw_-_Woman_ready_to_fight_(3334194838)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Strijdlustige_vrouw_-_Woman_ready_to_fight_%283334194838%29.jpg)
In Spain, there were histories of popular uprisings in the late 19th century through to the 1930s against the deep-seated military dictatorships. of General Prim and the Primo de la Rivieras These movements further coalesced into large-scale anti-fascist movements in the 1930s, many in the Basque Country, before and during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
. The
republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
government and army, the
Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias
{{anti-fascism sidebar, Interwar anti-fascism
The Antifascist Worker and Peasant Militias ( es, Milicias Antifascistas Obreras y Campesinas, MAOC) were a militia group founded in the Second Spanish Republic in 1934. Their purpose was to protect l ...
(MAOC) linked to the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
(PCE),
[De Miguel, Jesús y Sánchez, Antonio: ''Batalla de Madrid,'' in his ''Historia Ilustrada de la Guerra Civil Española.'' Alcobendas, Editorial Libsa, 2006, pp. 189–221.] the
International Brigades
The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...
, the
Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM),
Spanish anarchist
Anarchism in Spain has historically gained some support and influence, especially before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, when it played an active political role and is considered the end of the golden age of cl ...
militias
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
, such as the
Iron Column
The Iron Column ( ca, Columna de Ferro, es, Columna de Hierro) was a Valencian anarchist militia column formed during the Spanish Civil War to fight against the military forces of the Nationalist Faction that had rebelled against the Second ...
and the autonomous governments of
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
and the
Basque Country, fought the rise of
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
with military force.
The
Friends of Durruti
The Friends of Durruti Group (in Spanish, ''Agrupación de los Amigos de Durruti'') was an anarchist group in Spain, named after Buenaventura Durruti. It was founded on 15 March 1937, by Jaime Balius, Félix Martínez (anarchist), Félix Martínez ...
, associated with the
Federación Anarquista Ibérica
The Iberian Anarchist Federation ( es, Federación Anarquista Ibérica, FAI) is a Spanish organization of anarchist militants active within affinity groups in the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) anarcho-syndicalist union. It is often ...
(FAI), were a particularly militant group. Thousands of people from many countries went to Spain in support of the anti-fascist cause, joining units such as the
Abraham Lincoln Brigade
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade ( es, Brigada Abraham Lincoln), officially the XV International Brigade (''XV Brigada Internacional''), was a mixed brigade that fought for the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War as a part of the Internationa ...
, the
British Battalion
The British Battalion (1936–1938; officially the Saklatvala Battalion) was the 16th battalion of the XV International Brigade, one of the mixed brigades of the International Brigades, during the Spanish Civil War. It comprised British and ...
, the Dabrowski Battalion, the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, the Palafox Battalion#Naftali Botwin Company, Naftali Botwin Company and the Thälmann Battalion, including Winston Churchill's nephew, Esmond Romilly. Notable anti-fascists who worked internationally against Franco included: George Orwell (who fought in the POUM militia and wrote ''Homage to Catalonia'' about his experience), Ernest Hemingway (a supporter of the International Brigades who wrote ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' about his experience), and the radical journalist Martha Gellhorn.
The Spanish anarchist guerrilla Francesc Sabaté Llopart fought against Franco's regime until the 1960s, from a base in France. The Spanish Maquis, linked to the PCE, also fought the Franco regime long after the Spanish Civil war had ended.
France: against ''Action Française'' and Vichy
![Members of the Maquis in La Tresorerie](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Members_of_the_Maquis_in_La_Tresorerie.jpg)
In the 1920s and 1930s in the French Third Republic, anti-fascists confronted aggressive far-right politics, far-right groups such as the Action Française movement in France, which dominated the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter students' neighborhood. After fascism triumphed via invasion, the French Resistance (french: La Résistance française) or, more accurately,
resistance movement
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...
s fought against the Nazi Germany, Nazi German occupation and against the collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régime. Resistance cells were small groups of armed men and women (called the maquis (World War II), ''maquis'' in rural areas), who, in addition to their guerrilla warfare activities, were also publishers of underground press, underground newspapers and magazines such as ''Arbeiter und Soldat'' (''Worker and Soldier'') during World War Two, providers of first-hand intelligence information, and maintainers of escape networks.
United Kingdom: against Mosley's BUF
The rise of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) in the 1930s was challenged by the Communist Party of Great Britain, socialism, socialists in the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party and Independent Labour Party, anarchism, anarchists, Irish people, Irish Catholic dockmen and working class Jews in East End of London, London's East End. A high point in the struggle was the Battle of Cable Street, when thousands of eastenders and others turned out to stop the BUF from marching. Initially, the national Communist Party leadership wanted a mass demonstration at Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park in solidarity with Republican Spain, instead of a mobilization against the BUF, but local party activists argued against this. Activists rallied support with the slogan ''They shall not pass,'' adopted from Republican Spain.
There were debates within the anti-fascist movement over tactics. While many East End ex-servicemen participated in violence against fascists, Communist Party leader Phil Piratin denounced these tactics and instead called for large demonstrations. In addition to the militant anti-fascist movement, there was a smaller current of liberal anti-fascism in Britain; Sir Ernest Barker, for example, was a notable English liberal anti-fascist in the 1930s.
United States, World War II
![Woody Guthrie NYWTS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Woody_Guthrie_NYWTS.jpg)
Anti-fascist Italian expatriates in the United States founded the Mazzini Society in Northampton, Massachusetts in September 1939 to work toward ending Fascist rule in Italy. As political refugees from Mussolini's regime, they disagreed among themselves whether to ally with Communists and anarchists or to exclude them. The Mazzini Society joined with other anti-Fascist Italian expatriates in the Americas at a conference in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1942. They unsuccessfully promoted one of their members, Carlo Sforza, to become the post-Fascist leader of a republican Italy. The Mazzini Society dispersed after the overthrow of Mussolini as most of its members returned to Italy.
During the McCarthyism, Second Red Scare which occurred in the United States in the years that immediately followed the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the term "premature anti-fascist" came into currency and it was used to describe Americans who had strongly agitated or worked against fascism, such as Americans who had fought for the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, before fascism was seen as a proximate and existential threat to the United States (which only occurred generally after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and only occurred universally after the attack on Pearl Harbor). The implication was that such persons were either Communists or Communist sympathizers whose loyalty to the United States was suspect. However, the historians John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr have written that no documentary evidence has been found of the US government referring to American members of the
International Brigades
The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...
as "premature antifascists": the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Office of Strategic Services, and United States Army records used terms such as "Communist", "Red", "subversive", and "radical" instead. Indeed, Haynes and Klehr indicate that they have found many examples of members of the XV International Brigade and their supporters referring to themselves sardonically as "premature antifascists".
Burma, World War II
The Anti-Fascist Organisation (AFO) was a
resistance movement
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...
which advocated the independence of Burma and fought against the Japanese occupation of Burma during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was the forerunner of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League. The AFO was formed during a meeting which was held in Bago, Burma, Pegu in August 1944, the meeting was held by the leaders of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), the Burma National Army (BNA) led by General Aung San, and the People's Revolutionary Party (PRP), later renamed the Burma Socialist Party.
Whilst in Insein prison in July 1941, CPB leaders Thakin Than Tun and Thakin Soe had co-authored the ''Insein Manifesto'', which, against the prevailing opinion in the Burmese nationalist movement led by the ''Dobama Asiayone'', identified world fascism as the main enemy in the coming war and called for temporary cooperation with the British in a broad allied coalition that included the Soviet Union. Soe had already gone underground to organise resistance against the Japanese occupation, and Than Tun as Minister of Land and Agriculture was able to pass on Japanese intelligence to Soe, while other Communist leaders Thakin Thein Pe and Thakin Tin Shwe made contact with the exiled colonial government in Shimla, Simla, India. Aung San was War Minister in the puppet administration which was set up on 1 August 1943 and included the Socialist leaders Thakin Nu and Thakin Mya.
During a meeting which was held between 1 and 3 March 1945, the AFO was reorganized as a multi-party front which was named the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League.
Poland, World War II
![Odezwa Bloku Antyfaszystowskiego z 15 maja 1942](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Odezwa_Bloku_Antyfaszystowskiego_z_15_maja_1942.jpg)
The Anti-Fascist Bloc was an organization of Polish Jews formed in the March 1942 in the Warsaw Ghetto. It was created after an alliance between Left Zionism, leftist-Zionist, communist and socialist Jewish parties was agreed upon. The initiators of the bloc were Mordechai Anielewicz, Józef Lewartowski (Aron Finkelstein) from the Polish Workers' Party, Josef Kaplan from Hashomer Hatzair, Szachno Sagan from Poale Zion-Left, Jozef Sak as a representative of socialist-Zionists and Izaak Cukierman with his wife Cywia Lubetkin from Habonim Dror, Dror. The General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland, Jewish Bund did not join the bloc though they were represented at its first conference by Abraham Blum and Maurycy Orzech.
After World War II
![Vlepa antify, Warszawa (2020)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Vlepa_antify%2C_Warszawa_%282020%29.jpg)
The anti-fascist movements which emerged during the period of classical fascism, both liberal and militant, continued to operate after the defeat of the
Axis powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
in response to the resilience and mutation of fascism both in Europe and elsewhere. In Germany, as Nazi rule crumbled in 1944, veterans of the 1930s anti-fascist struggles formed ''Antifaschistische Ausschüsse'', ''Antifaschistische Kommittees'', or ''
Antifaschistische Aktion
''Antifaschistische Aktion'' () was a militant anti-fascist organisation in the Weimar Republic started by members of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) that existed from 1932 to 1933. It was primarily active as a KPD campaign during the ...
'' groups, all typically abbreviated to "antifa". The socialist government of East Germany built the Berlin Wall in 1961, and the Eastern Bloc referred to it officially as the "Anti-fascist Protection Rampart". Resistance to fascists dictatorships in Spain and Portugal continued, including the activities of the Spanish Maquis and others, leading up to the Spanish transition to democracy and the Carnation Revolution, respectively, as well as to similar dictatorships in Armed resistance in Chile (1973–1990), Chile and elsewhere. Other notable anti-fascist mobilisations in the first decades of the post-war period include the 43 Group in Britain.
With the start of the Cold War between the former World War II allies of the United States and the Soviet Union, the concept of totalitarianism became prominent in Western anti-communist political discourse as a tool to convert pre-war anti-fascism into post-war anti-communism.
[Siegel, Achim (1998). ''The Totalitarian Paradigm after the End of Communism: Towards a Theoretical Reassessment''. Rodopi. p. 200. . "Concepts of totalitarianism became most widespread at the height of the Cold War. Since the late 1940s, especially since the Korean War, they were condensed into a far-reaching, even hegemonic, ideology, by which the political elites of the Western world tried to explain and even to justify the Cold War constellation."][Guilhot, Nicholas (2005). ''The Democracy Makers: Human Rights and International Order''. Columbia University Press. p. 33. . "The opposition between the West and Soviet totalitarianism was often presented as an opposition both moral and epistemological between truth and falsehood. The democratic, social, and economic credentials of the Soviet Union were typically seen as 'lies' and as the product of a deliberate and multiform propaganda. [...] In this context, the concept of totalitarianism was itself an asset. As it made possible the conversion of prewar anti-fascism into postwar anti-communism."][Reisch, George A. (2005). ''How the Cold War Transformed Philosophy of Science: To the Icy Slopes of Logic''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 153–154. .]
Modern antifa politics can be traced to opposition to the infiltration of Britain's Punk rock, punk scene by white power skinheads in the 1970s and 1980s, and the emergence of neo-Nazism in Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall. In Germany, young leftists, including anarchists and punk fans, renewed the practice of street-level anti-fascism. Columnist Peter Beinart writes that "in the late '80s, left-wing punk fans in the United States began following suit, though they initially called their groups Anti-Racist Action (ARA) on the theory that Americans would be more familiar with fighting racism than they would be with fighting fascism".
Germany
The contemporary antifa movement in Germany comprises different anti-fascist groups which usually use the abbreviation antifa and regard the historical ''
Antifaschistische Aktion
''Antifaschistische Aktion'' () was a militant anti-fascist organisation in the Weimar Republic started by members of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) that existed from 1932 to 1933. It was primarily active as a KPD campaign during the ...
'' (Antifa) of the early 1930s as an inspiration, drawing on the historic group for its aesthetics and some of its tactics, in addition to the name. Many new antifa groups formed from the late 1980s onward. According to Loren Balhorn, contemporary antifa in Germany "has no practical historical connection to the movement from which it takes its name but is instead a product of West Germany's squatter scene and autonomist movement in the 1980s".
One of the biggest antifascist campaigns in Germany in recent years was the ultimately successful effort to The nazi marches and counter-mobilization in Dresden, block the annual Nazi-rallies in the east German city of Dresden in Saxony which had grown into "Europe's biggest gathering of Nazis". Unlike the original Antifa which had links to the
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
and which was concerned with industrial working-class politics, the late 1980s and early 1990s, Autonomism, autonomists were independent anti-authoritarian libertarian Marxists and anarcho-communists not associated with any particular party. The publication ''Antifaschistisches Infoblatt'', in operation since 1987, sought to expose radical nationalists publicly.
German government institutions such as the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Agency for Civic Education describe the contemporary antifa movement as part of the extreme left and as partially violent. Antifa groups are monitored by the federal office in the context of its legal mandate to combat extremism.
The federal office states that the underlying goal of the antifa movement is "the struggle against the liberal democratic basic order" and capitalism.
In the 1980s, the movement was accused by German authorities of engaging in terrorist acts of violence.
[Horst Schöppner: ''Antifa heißt Angriff: Militanter Antifaschismus in den 80er Jahren'' (pp. 129–132). Unrast, Münster 2015, .]
Greece
In Greece anti-fascism is a popular part of leftist and anarchist culture, September 2013 anti-fascist hip-hop artist Pavlos Fyssas, Pavlos 'Killah P' Fyssas was accosted and attacked with bats and knives by a large group of Golden Dawn (Greece), Golden Dawn affiliated people leaving Pavlos to be pronounced dead at the hospital. The attack lead international protests and riots, the retaliatory 2013 Neo Irakleio Golden Dawn office shooting, shooting of three Golden Dawn members outside of their Neo Irakleio as well as condemnations against the party by politicians and other public figures, including Prime Minister of Greece, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. This episode led to Golden Dawn to being criminally investigated, with the result in sixty-eight members of Golden Dawn being declared part of a criminal organization whilst fifteen out of the seventeen members accused in Pavlos's murder were convicted, "Effectively banning" the party.
Italy
![2013-04-25 Porta san Paolo Roma](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/2013-04-25_Porta_san_Paolo_Roma.jpg)
Today's Italian constitution is the result of the work of the Constituent Assembly of Italy, Constituent Assembly, which was formed by the representatives of all the anti-fascist forces that contributed to the defeat of Nazi and Fascist forces during the
Italian Civil War
The Italian Civil War (Italian language, Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian resistance movement, Italian partisans (mostly politically ...
.
Liberation Day (Italy), Liberation Day is a national holiday in Italy that commemorates the victory of the
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
against Nazi Germany and the Italian Social Republic, puppet state of the Nazis and rump state of the fascists, in the
Italian Civil War
The Italian Civil War (Italian language, Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian resistance movement, Italian partisans (mostly politically ...
, a civil war in Italy fought during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, which takes place on 25 April. The date was chosen by convention, as it was the day of the year 1945 when the National Liberation Committee of Upper Italy (CLNAI) officially proclaimed the insurgency in a radio announcement, propounding the seizure of power by the CLNAI and proclaiming the death sentence for all fascist leaders (including
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
, who was shot three days later).
![ANPI logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/ANPI_logo.jpeg)
''ANPI, Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia'' (ANPI; "National Association of Italian Partisan (military), Partisans") is an association founded by participants of the Italian resistance movement, Italian resistance against the Italian Fascist regime and the subsequent Nazi occupation during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. ANPI was founded in Rome in 1944
while the war continued in northern Italy. It was constituted as a charitable foundation on 5 April 1945. It persists due to the activity of its antifascist members. ANPI's objectives are the maintenance of the historical role of the partisan war by means of research and the collection of personal stories. Its goals are a continued defense against historical revisionism and the ideal and ethical support of the high values of freedom and democracy expressed in the 1948 Constitution of Italy, constitution, in which the ideals of the Italian resistance movement, Italian resistance were collected. Since 2008, every two years ANPI organizes its national festival. During the event, meetings, debates, and musical concerts that focus on antifascism, peace, and democracy are organized.
''Bella ciao'' (; "Goodbye beautiful") is an Italian folk music, Italian folk song modified and adopted as an anthem of the
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...
by the partisans who opposed nazism and fascism, and fought against the occupying forces of Nazi Germany, who were allied with the fascist and collaborationist Italian Social Republic between 1943 and 1945 during the
Italian Civil War
The Italian Civil War (Italian language, Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian resistance movement, Italian partisans (mostly politically ...
. Versions of this Italian anti-fascist song continue to be sung worldwide as a hymn of freedom and resistance. As an internationally known hymn of freedom, it was intoned at many historic and revolutionary events. The song originally aligned itself with Italian partisans fighting against Nazi German occupation troops, but has since become to merely stand for the inherent rights of all people to be liberated from tyranny.
United States
Dartmouth College historian Mark Bray, author of ''Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook'', credits the ARA as the precursor of modern antifa groups in the United States. In the late 1980s and 1990s, ARA activists toured with popular punk rock and skinhead bands in order to prevent Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other assorted white supremacists from recruiting. Their motto was "We go where they go" by which they meant that they would confront
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
activists in concerts and actively remove their materials from public places.
In 2002, the ARA disrupted a speech in Pennsylvania by Matthew F. Hale, the head of the white supremacist group World Church of the Creator, resulting in a fight and twenty-five arrests. In 2007, Rose City Antifa, likely the first group to utilize the name antifa, was formed in Portland, Oregon.
Other antifa groups in the United States have other genealogies. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, a group called the Baldies was formed in 1987 with the intent to fight neo-Nazi groups directly. In 2013, the "most radical" chapters of the ARA formed the Torch Antifa Network which has chapters throughout the United States. Other antifa groups are a part of different associations such as NYC Antifa or operate independently.
Modern antifa in the United States is a highly decentralized movement. Antifa political activists are anti-racists who engage in protest tactics, seeking to combat fascists and racists such as
neo-Nazis
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...
, white supremacists, and other
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
extremists. This may involve digital activism, harassment, physical violence, and property damage
against those whom they identify as belonging to the far-right. Much antifa activity is nonviolent, involving poster and flyer campaigns, delivering speeches, marching in protest, and community organizing on behalf of anti-racist and anti-white nationalist causes.
A June 2020 study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies of 893 terrorism incidents in the United States since 1994 found one attack staged by an anti-fascist that led to a fatality (the 2019 Tacoma attack, in which the attacker, who identified as an anti-fascist, was killed by police), while attacks by white supremacists or other right-wing extremists resulted in 329 deaths.
Since the study was published, one Killings of Aaron Danielson and Michael Reinoehl, homicide has been connected to anti-fascism.
A United_States_Department_of_Homeland_Security, DHS draft report from August 2020 similarly did not include "antifa" as a considerable threat, while noting white supremacists as the top domestic terror threat.
There have been multiple efforts to discredit antifa groups via hoaxes on social media, many of them false flag attacks originating from alt-right and 4chan users posing as antifa backers on Twitter.
Some hoaxes have been picked up and reported as fact by right-leaning media.
During the George Floyd protests in May and June 2020, the Trump administration blamed antifa for orchestrating the mass protests. Analysis of federal arrests did not find links to antifa.
There had been repeated calls by the Trump administration to designate antifa as a terrorist organization, a move that academics, legal experts and others argued would both exceed the authority of the presidency and violate the First Amendment.
Elsewhere
Some post-war anti-fascist action took place in Romania under the Anti-Fascist Committee of German Workers in Romania, founded in March 1949.
A Swedish group, ''Antifascistisk Aktion'', was formed in 1993. The People's Anti-Fascist Front in Jammu and Kashmir (state), Indian Administered Kashmir was formed after the Indian government led by the far right Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, RSS party attempted an alleged Revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, demographic change in the region.
Use of the term
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany politician Tim Peters (political scientist), Tim Peters notes that the term is one of the most controversial terms in political discourse.
Michael Richter (historian), Michael Richter, a researcher at the Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism, highlights the ideological use of the term in the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc, in which the term ''fascism'' was applied to Eastern bloc dissidents regardless of any connection to historical fascism, and where the term ''anti-fascism'' served to legitimize the ruling government.
See also
* Anti-authoritarianism
* Anti-capitalism
* Anti-Germans (political current)
* Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia
* Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Serbia
* Anti-Fascist Committee of Cham Immigrants
* Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia
* Antifascist Front of Slavs in Hungary
* Anti-Stalinist left
* Denazification
* Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee
* All-Slavic Anti-Fascist Committee
* Laws against Holocaust denial
*
Resistance during World War II
Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation to propaganda, hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns. In many countries, r ...
* Redskin (subculture)
* Slovak National Uprising
* Squadism
Notes
Bibliography
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Further reading
* David Berry
'Fascism or Revolution!' Anarchism and Antifascism in France, 1933–39 ''Contemporary European History'' Volume 8, Issue 1 March 1999, pp. 51–71
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* Brasken, Kasper.
Making Anti-Fascism Transnational: The Origins of Communist and Socialist Articulations of Resistance in Europe, 1923–1924" ''Contemporary European History'' 25.4 (2016): 573–596.
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* Class War/3WayFight/Kate Sharpley Librar
Interview from ''Beating Fascism: Anarchist Anti-Fascism in Theory and Practice'' anarkismo.net
* Copsey, N. (2011) "From direct action to community action: The changing dynamics of anti-fascist opposition", in
* Nigel Copsey & Andrzej Olechnowicz (eds.),
Varieties of Anti-fascism. Britain in the Inter-war Period', Palgrave Macmillan
* Gilles Dauvé
Fascism/Antifascism, libcom.org
* David Featherstone
Black Internationalism, Subaltern Cosmopolitanism, and the Spatial Politics of Antifascism ''Annals of the Association of American Geographers'' Volume 103, 2013, Issue 6, pp. 1406–1420
* Joseph Froncza
"Local People's Global Politics: A Transnational History of the Hands Off Ethiopia Movement of 1935"''Diplomatic History'', Volume 39, Issue 2, 1 April 2015, pp. 245–274
* Hugo Garcia, ed,
Transnational Anti-Fascism: Agents, Networks, Circulations'' ''Contemporary European History' Volume 25, Issue 4 November 2016, pp. 563–572
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* Renton, Dave.
Fascism, Anti-fascism and Britain in the 1940s'. Springer, 2016.
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* Enzo Traverso]
"Intellectuals and Anti-Fascism: For a Critical Historization"''New Politics'', vol. 9, no. 4 (new series), whole no. 36, Winter 2004
External links
Centre for fascist, anti-fascist and post-fascist studies Teesside University
Remembering the Anarchist Resistance to fascism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Fascism
Anti-fascism,
Political movements