A comparative analysis of fascism movements in argentina, brazil, and chile between the great depression and the second world war

The thesis analyses various political movements of the extreme right, which, influenced by the rise of fascism in Europe, began to emerge in Argentina, Brazil and Chile in the early 1930s, at a time of profound political and economic uncertainties brought about by the World Depression. The secondary literature tends to focus on the ideas disseminated by these movements, but pays less attention to their political activities. Programmatic and strategic changes, then, do not receive the necessary attention.

A chapter on theories and concepts of fascism provides the background for the following self-contained case studies, which are mainly based on Argentine, Brazilian, Chilean, German and British archive sources as well as published primary sources. Chapters three and four deal with the Acção Integralista Brasileira, reflecting its significance as the only fascist mass movement that emerged outside Europe in the 1930s. Chapter five looks at the Chilean Movimiento Nacional Socialista, while chapter six discusses the Partido Nacional Fascista, the Movimiento Nacionalista de Chile, the Vanguardia Popular Socialista, and the Union Nacionalista. Chapter seven analyses the Legión Cívica Argentina, the Acción Nacionalista Argentina, and Nacionalista groups in Córdoba, and chapter eight the Alianza de la Juventud Nacionalista.

The research shows that, apart from the organisations discussed in chapter seven, which, because of their ideas and objectives, have to be described as counter-revolutionary, the movements analysed in the case studies can be generally characterised as fascist. Despite the different national settings, these fascist movements propagated similar ideas. They all demanded the abolition of the existing political and socio-economic regimes and strove for the creations of new, revolutionary orders. The varying degree of success of the organisations strongly suggests that generalising explanations fail adequately to consider the peculiar national circumstances. These factors were particularly important during the 1930s, while after the outbreak of the Second World War the international dimension became increasingly significant.