Resisting the Nazis: Fascism and its Opponents - MHIS327
More than seventy years after the end of the Second World War, fascism and Nazism continue to fascinate. In this course, we will explore Italian fascism and German Nazism as broadly understood in Europe and globally to better understand the appeal of their conservative, reactionary, and militaristic ideology. We will read the key literature on definitions of fascism in order to understand the concept as more than a pejorative. Through a close examination of the governments of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany we will investigate how fascist regimes controlled everyday life, mobilized political support, shaped men and women’s bodies, built cults of personality around their leaders, silenced the press, defeated leftist student organizations and unions, and organized repressive systems of militaristic expansion. We will also concentrate on the way that people learned to resist, survive, and even thrive under fascism through the formation of armed bands, clandestine intellectual networks, and organizations for non-violent struggle.
Course structures, including unit offerings, are subject to change.
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