Fascist movements in Europe were the set of variousfascist ideologies which were practiced by governments and political organizations in Europe during the 20th century.Fascism was born inItaly followingWorld War I, and other fascist movements, influenced byItalian fascism, subsequently emerged across Europe. Among the political doctrines which are identified as ideological origins of fascism in Europe are the combining of a traditionalnational unity and revolutionaryanti-democratic rhetoric which was espoused by theintegral nationalistCharles Maurras^[1] and therevolutionary syndicalistGeorges Sorel.

The earliest foundations of fascism in practice can be seen in theItalian Regency of Carnaro,^[2] led by the Italian nationalistGabriele D'Annunzio, many of whose politics and aesthetics were subsequently used byBenito Mussolini and hisItalian Fasces of Combat which Mussolini had founded as theFasces of Revolutionary Action in 1914. Despite the fact that its members referred to themselves as "fascists", the ideology was based aroundnational syndicalism.^[3] The ideology of fascism would not fully develop until 1921, when Mussolini transformed his movement into theNational Fascist Party, which then in 1923 incorporated theItalian Nationalist Association. The INA established fascist tropes such ascolored shirt uniforms and also received the support of important proto-fascists like D'Annunzio andnationalist intellectualEnrico Corradini.

The first declaration of the political stance of fascism was theFascist Manifesto, written by national syndicalistAlceste De Ambris andfuturist poetFilippo Tommaso Marinetti and published in 1919. Many of the policies advanced in the manifesto, such as centralization, abolition of the senate, formation of national councils loyal to the state, expanded military power, and support for militias (Blackshirts, for example) were adopted by Mussolini's regime, while other calls such asuniversal suffrage and a peaceful foreign policy^[4] were abandoned. De Ambris later became a prominentanti-fascist. In 1932, "The Doctrine of Fascism", an essay by Mussolini andGiovanni Gentile, provided an outline of fascism that better represented Mussolini's regime.

Political parties in Europe often described as fascist or being strongly influenced by fascism include:^[5]

• TheNational Fascist Party/Republican Fascist Party in theKingdom of Italy and theItalian Social Republic underBenito Mussolini (1922–1945);
• TheNational Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) inNazi Germany underAdolf Hitler (1933–1945) – Based on the ideology ofNational Socialism, much of which was heavily influenced or taken wholesale from Italian Fascism;
• The National Union in Portugal under António de Oliveira Salazar and Marcelo Caetano (1933–1974) Salazar always rejected the label of fascist criticizing the "exaltation of youth, the cult of force through direct action, the principle of the superiority of state political power in social life, [and] the propensity for organising masses behind a single leader" as fundamental differences between fascism and the Catholic corporatism of the Estado Novo, however his regime adopted many fascist characteristics with the Legião Portuguesa and Mocidade Portuguesa being the most prominent examples, however these institutions were a little more than window dressing and had no political influence; after the end of the Spanish Civil War Salazar distanced his regime from fascism due to its pro-British orientation^[6][7]
• TheFatherland Front inAustria underEngelbert Dollfuss andKurt Schuschnigg (1934–1938) – Based on the ideology ofAustrofascism, which was heavily influenced byItalian fascism.
• The4th of August Regime inGreece underIoannis Metaxas (1936–1941) – The Metaxist regime adopted many fascist characteristics with theEON being an example of this. The regime was based aroundMetaxism, which was influenced by fascism.
• TheFalange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS inSpain underFrancisco Franco (1939–1975). – After1945, Franco's regime distanced itself from fascism; however, it remained highly authoritarian and nationalist, still maintaining someFalangist principles.

There weremultiple regimes in theKingdom of Romania that were influenced by fascism. These include theNational Christian Party underOctavian Goga (1938),Party of the Nation underIon Gigurtu (1940), and theNational Legionary State which was led by theIron Guard underHoria Sima in conjunction with the Romanian military dictatorship underIon Antonescu (1940–1941). The first two of these regimes were not completely fascist however used fascism to appeal to the growing far-right sympathies amongst the populace.^[8] The military dictatorship ofIon Antonescu (1941–1944) is also often considered fascist.

Prior to and during the Second World War,Nazi Germany and itsallies imposed numerousanti-democratic regimes andcollaborationistdictatorships acrossGerman-occupied Europe, whose characterization was authoritarian, nationalist, anti-communist, and staunchly pro-Axis powers:^[5]

• TheNational Partnership inCzechia underEmil Hácha (1939–1945)
• TheSlovak People's Party inSlovakia underJozef Tiso (1939–1945)
• TheVichy Regime supported by collaborationist parties (Marcel Bucard'sMouvement Franciste,Jacques Doriot'sFrench Popular Party,Marcel Déat'sNational Popular Rally), andJoseph Darnand'sMilice inFrance underPhilippe Pétain andPierre Laval (1940–1944)
• TheUstaše inCroatia underAnte Pavelić (1941–1945)
• The Collaborationist government supported byNational Union of Greece andGreek National Socialist Party inGreece underGeorgios Tsolakoglou,Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, andIoannis Rallis (1941–1944)
• The Collaborationist government supported byDimitrije Ljotić'sYugoslav National Movement inSerbia underMilan Nedić (1941–1944)
• TheNasjonal Samling inNorway underVidkun Quisling (1942–1945)
• TheArrow Cross Party inHungary underFerenc Szálasi (1944–1945)
• Konrad Henlein'sSudeten German Party,Anton Mussert'sNSB,Léon Degrelle'sRexist Party, andStaf De Clercq'sVNV were also given significant power in occupied Europe.

There were also a number of political movements active in Europe that were influenced in part by some features of Mussolini's regime. These include:Le Faisceau,British Fascists,British Union of Fascists,Imperial Fascist League,Blueshirts,French National-Collectivist Party,Breton National Party,Falange Española,Black Front,National Syndicalist Movement,Verdinaso,Nationale Front,Greek National Socialist Party,Vlajka,National Fascist Community,ONR-Falanga,Patriotic People's Movement,Pērkonkrusts,Union of Bulgarian National Legions,Ratniks and theRussian Fascist Party (based in Manchuria).^[5]

Prominent figures associated with European fascism outside of the Axis includeOswald Mosley,Rotha Lintorn-Orman,José Antonio Primo de Rivera,Joris Van Severen,Corneliu Zelea Codreanu,Francisco Rolão Preto,Hristo Lukov,Aleksandar Tsankov,Bolesław Piasecki,Radola Gajda,Eoin O'Duffy,Sven Olov Lindholm,Vihtori Kosola, andKonstantin Rodzaevsky.

Other right-wing/far-right political parties such as theGerman National People's Party,CEDA,Danish Unity,^[9]Zveno,Party of Hungarian Life,Union of Mladorossi and theFatherland League^[9] lacked the ideology of fascism but adopted some fascist characteristics. Far-right politicians likeAlfred Hugenberg,José María Gil-Robles, andGyula Gömbös represent fascism's influence on the right with these leaders adopting an ultra-nationalist and authoritarian rhetoric influenced by Mussolini and later Hitler's successes.

The nationalism espoused by these groups contrasted theinternationalist focus ofcommunism; there was little coordination between fascist movements prior to the Second World War; however. there was an attempt at unifying European fascists. The1934 Montreux Fascist conference was a meeting held by members of a number of European fascist parties and movements and was organised by the Comitati d'Azione per l'Universalità di Roma, which received support from Mussolini. The first conference was open to many perspectives and failed to develop any unity amidst the many ideological conflicts among the delegates. The second conference was equally ineffective and more meetings were attempted.^[10]

In theaftermath of World War II, most fascist regimes or regimes influenced by fascism were dismantled by theAllied forces, with only those inSpain andPortugal surviving, both of which remained neutral during the war.^[a][b] Parties, movements or politicians who carried the label "fascist" quickly became political pariahs with many nations across Europe banning any organisations or references relating to fascism and Nazism. With this came the rise ofNeo-Fascism, movements like theItalian Social Movement,Socialist Reich Party andUnion Movement attempted to continue fascism's legacy but failed to become mass movements.

European fascism influenced movements in the Americas. BothNorth America andSouth America would develop fascistic political groups rooted in the local European descended communities. These included theChilean Nacistas,Brazilian Integralist Action,Argentine Civic Legion,Peruvian Revolutionary Union,National Synarchist Union,Revolutionary Mexicanist Action and theSilver Legion of America along with figures likePlínio Salgado,Gustavo Barroso,González von Marées,Salvador Abascal,Nicolás Carrasco,William Dudley Pelley andAdrien Arcand. Some historians also consider Argentine presidentJuan Perón and his ideology,Peronism as being influenced by European fascism,^[30] however, this has been disputed. Brazilian president,Getúlio Vargas, and his corporate regime known as the"New State" was also influenced by Mussolini's rule. European fascism was also influential in the European diaspora elsewhere in the world, in AustraliaEric Campbell'sCentre Party and the South African fascist movement, which includedOswald Pirow, being examples of this.

The rise of fascist activities and violence across Europe prompted governments to enact regulations to limit disturbances caused by fascists and other extremists. In a 1937 study,Karl Loewenstein provides the following list of examples:

1. Use of existing criminal codes
2. A ban on subversive movements
3. A ban on para-military wings of parties and political uniforms
4. A ban on offensive weaponry
5. New statutes that ban abuse of parliamentary procedures
6. Bans on incitement and agitation of violence
7. Bans on attempts to wreck meetings and assemblies
8. Prohibitions on certain forms of speech, such as false rumor, disparagement of institutions
9. Bans of publicly exalting criminals
10. Bans on subversive propaganda aimed at the national armed forces
11. Bans on anti-constitutional activities of public officials
12. Creation of police forces that work to suppress anti-democratic movements
13. Bans on secret foreign financial support for extremist parties and foreign propaganda^[31][32]

In the interwar period many parties which in historiography are referred to as fascist, proto-fascist, para-fascist, quasi-fascist, fascist-like, fascistic, fascistoid or fascistized participated in general elections organized in their respective countries. Though in numerous cases the fascist denomination is doubted (e.g. in case of the BelgianChristus Rex or the GreekNational Union), electoral results obtained demonstrate their scale of popular support among the population. The best-ever performance of such parties in specific countries is given in the below table.

Outcome of theoretically multi-party elections which were clearly manipulated is ignored as unrepresentative for genuine support which the party enjoyed, e.g. the result ofPartito Nazionale Fascista inItaly of 1924.

In case of some countries the lifetime of a fascistoid party did not overlap with reasonably free general elections, though the party might have fared well in other elections, e.g. in local elections in Bulgaria of 1934Народно социално движение gained 12% of the votes, in local elections of Estonia in 1934Eesti Vabadussõjalaste Kesklii won absolute majority of seats in 3 largest cities, while in local elections of France in 1938–1939Parti Social Français garnered some 15% of the votes. Some parties, likeNational Corporate Party in Ireland orLe Faisceau in France existed so briefly that they hardly managed to take part in any type of elections.

In some countries fascist parties ignored electoral competition, likeBritish Union of Fascists did in case of theUK elections of 1935. At times fascist parties abstained since elections were considered manipulated, like in case ofObóz Narodowo-Radykalny inPolish elections of 1935.

Mussolini andAdolf Hitler were not always allies. While Mussolini wanted the expansion of fascist ideology throughout the world, he did not initially appreciate Hitler and theNazi Party. Hitler was an early admirer of Mussolini and asked for Mussolini's guidance on how the Nazis could pull off their ownMarch on Rome.^[61] Mussolini did not respond to Hitler's requests as he did not have much interest in Hitler's movement and regarded Hitler to be somewhat crazy.^[61] Mussolini did attempt to readMein Kampf to find out what Hitler's Nazism was, but he was immediately disappointed, saying thatMein Kampf was "a boring tome that I have never been able to read" and claimed that Hitler's beliefs were "little more than commonplace clichés".^[61]

Hitler and the Nazi Party in 1922 had praised the rise to power of Mussolini and sought a German-Italian alliance.^[62] Upon Mussolini's rise to power, the Nazis declared their admiration and emulation of the Italian Fascists, with Nazi memberHermann Esser in November 1922 saying that "what a group of brave men in Italy have done, we can also do in Bavaria. We've also got Italy's Mussolini: his name is Adolf Hitler".^[62]

The second part of Hitler'sMein Kampf ("The National Socialist Movement", 1926) contains this passage:

I conceived the profoundest admiration for the great man south of theAlps, who, full of ardent love for his people, made no pacts with the enemies of Italy, but strove for their annihilation by all ways and means. What will rank Mussolini among the great men of this earth is his determination not to share Italy with theMarxists, but to destroyinternationalism and save thefatherland from it.

— Adolf Hitler,Mein Kampf, p. 622

In a 1931 interview, Hitler spoke admirably about Mussolini, commending Mussolini's racial origins as being the same as that of Germans and claimed at the time that Mussolini was capable of building anItalian Empire that would outdo theRoman Empire and that he supported Mussolini's endeavors, saying:

They know that Benito Mussolini is constructing a colossal empire which will put the Roman Empire in the shade. We shall put up ... for his victories. Mussolini is a typical representative of ourAlpine race...

— Adolf Hitler, 1931.^[63]

Mussolini had personal reasons to oppose antisemitism as his longtime mistress and Fascist propaganda directorMargherita Sarfatti was Jewish. She had played an important role in the foundation of the fascist movement in Italy and promoting it to Italians and the world through supporting the arts. However, within the Italian fascist movement there were a minority who endorsed Hitler's antisemitism asRoberto Farinacci, who was part of the far-right wing of the party.

There were also nationalist reasons why Germany and Italy were not immediate allies.HabsburgAustria (Hitler's birthplace) had an antagonistic relationship with Italy since it was formed, largely becauseAustria-Hungary had seized most of the territories once belonging to Italian states such asVenice. Italianirredentist claims sought the return of these lands to Italian rule (Italia irredenta). Although initiallyneutral, Italy enteredWorld War I on the side of theAllies against Germany and Austria-Hungary when promised several territories (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol,Trieste,Istria andDalmatia). After the war had ended, Italy was rewarded with these territories under the terms of the 1919Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

In Germany and Austria, the annexation of Alto Adige/South Tyrol was controversial as the province was made up of a large majority of German speakers. While Hitler did not pursue this claim, many in the Nazi Party felt differently. In 1939, Mussolini and Hitler agreed on theSouth Tyrol Option Agreement. When Mussolini's government collapsed in 1943 and theItalian Social Republic was created, Alto Adige/South Tyrol was annexed to Nazi Greater Germany, but was restored to Italy after the war.

The most striking difference between fascist ideologies is theracialist ideology which was thecentral priority ofNazism, but was not a priority of the other fascist ideologies. Fascism was founded on the principle ofnationalistunity which opposed the divisionistclass war ideologies ofMarxist socialism andcommunism; therefore, the majority of the regimes viewed racialism as counterproductive to unity, with Mussolini asserting: that "National pride has no need of the delirium of race".^[64]Nazism differed from Italian fascism in that it had a stronger emphasis on race in terms of social and economic policies. Though both ideologies denied the significance of the individual, Italian fascism saw the individual as subservient to the state whereas Nazism saw the individual as well as the state as ultimately subservient to the race.^[65] However, subservience to the Nazi state was also a requirement on the population. Mussolini's fascism held that cultural factors existed to serve the state and that it was not necessarily in the state's interest to interfere in cultural aspects of society. The onlypurpose of government in Mussolini's fascism was to uphold the state as supreme above all else, a concept which can be described asstatolatry.

Unlike Hitler, Mussolini repeatedly changed his views on the issue of race according to the circumstances of the time. In 1921, Mussolini promoted the development of the Italian race such as when he said this:

The nation is not simply the sum of living individuals, nor the instrument of parties for their own ends, but an organism comprised of the infinite series of generations of which the individuals are only transient elements; it is the supreme synthesis of all the material and immaterial values of the race.

— Benito Mussolini, 1921^[66]

Like Hitler, Mussolini publicly declared his support of a eugenics policy to improve the status of Italians in 1926 to the people ofReggio Emilia:

We need to create ourselves; we of this epoch and this generation, because it is up to us, I tell you, to make the face of this country unrecognizable in the next ten years. In ten years comrades, Italy will be unrecognizable! We will create a new Italian, an Italian that does not recognize the Italian of yesterday...we will create them according to our own imagination and likeness.

— Benito Mussolini, 1926^[66]

In a 1921 speech inBologna, Mussolini stated the following: "Fascism was born [...] out of a profound, perennial need of this ourAryan andMediterranean race".^[67][68] In this speech, Mussolini was referring to Italians as being the Mediterranean branch of theAryan race, Aryan in the meaning of people of anIndo-European language and culture.^[66] However, Italian fascism initially strongly rejected the commonNordicist conception of the Aryan race that idealized "pure" Aryans as having certain physical traits that were defined as Nordic such as blond hair and blue eyes.^[69] The antipathy by Mussolini and other Italian fascists to Nordicism was over the existence of the Mediterraneaninferiority complex that had been instilled into Mediterraneans by the propagation of such theories by German and Anglo-Saxon Nordicists who viewed Mediterranean peoples as racially degenerate and thus inferior.^[69] Mussolini refused to allow Italy to return again to this inferiority complex.^[69]

In a private conversation with Emil Ludwig in 1932, Mussolini derided the concept of a biologically superior race and denounced racism as being a foolish concept. Mussolini did not believe that race alone was that significant. Mussolini viewed himself as a modern-dayRoman Emperor, the Italians as a cultural elite and he also wished to "Italianise" the parts of theItalian Empire which he had desired to build.^[70] A cultural superiority of Italians, rather than a view of racialism.^[70] Mussolini believed that the development of a race was insignificant in comparison to the development of a culture, but he did believe that a race could be improved through moral development, though he did not say that this would make a superior race:

Race! It is a feeling, not a reality: ninety-five percent, at least, is a feeling. Nothing will ever make me believe that biologically pure races can be shown to exist today. [...] National pride has no need of the delirium of race. Only a revolution and a decisive leader can improve a race, even if this is more a sentiment than a reality. But I repeat that a race can change itself and improve itself. I say that it is possible to change not only the somatic lines, the height, but really also the character. Influence of moral pressure can act deterministically also in the biological sense.

— Benito Mussolini, 1932.;^[71][72]

Mussolini believed that a biologically superior race was not possible, but that a more developed culture's superiority over the less developed ones warranted the destruction of the latter, such as the culture ofEthiopia and the neighboringSlavic cultures, such as those inSlovenia andCroatia. He took advantage^[how?] of the fact that no undertaking was made with regard to the rights ofminorities (such as those that lived inIstria andTrieste's surroundings) in either theTreaty of Rapallo or theTreaty of Rome; and after 1924'sTreaty of Rome these same treaties did not make any undertaking with regard to the rights of the minorities that lived inRijeka.^{[citation needed]} Croatian, Slovene, German and Frenchtoponyms were systematically Italianized.

Against ethnic Slovenes, he imposed an especially violentfascist Italianization policy. To Italianize ethnicSlovene andCroatian children, Fascist Italy brought Italian teachers fromSouthern Italy to the ex Austro-Hungarian territories that had been given to Italy in exchange for its decision to join Great Britain in World War I such as Slovene Littoral and a big part of westernSlovenia while Slovene and Croatian teachers, poets, writers, artists, and clergy were exiled toSardinia andSouthern Italy. Acts of fascist violence were not hampered by the authorities, such as the burning down of theNarodni dom (Community Hall of ethnic Slovenes) in Trieste, which was carried out at night by fascists with the connivance of the police on 13 July 1920.

After the complete destruction of all Slovene minority cultural, financial, and other organizations and the continuation of violent fascist Italianization policies of ethnic cleansing, one of the firstanti-fascist organizations in Europe,TIGR, emerged in 1927, and it coordinated the Slovene resistance against Fascist Italy until it was dismantled by the fascist secret police in 1941, after which some ex-TIGR members joined theSlovene Partisans.

For Mussolini, the inclusion of people in a fascist society depended upon their loyalty to the state. Meetings between Mussolini andArab dignitaries from the colony ofLibya convinced him that the Arab population was worthy enough to be given extensive civil rights and as a result, he allowed Muslims to join aMuslim section of the Fascist Party, namely theMuslim Association of the Lictor.^[73] However, under pressure from Nazi Germany, the fascist regime eventually embraced a racist ideology, such as promoting the belief that Italy was settling Africa in order to create a white civilization there^[74] and it imposed five-year prison sentences on any Italians who were caught having sexual or marital relationships with native Africans.^[73] Against those colonial peoples who were not loyal, vicious campaigns of repression were waged such as in Ethiopia, where native Ethiopian settlements were burned to the ground by the Italian armed forces in 1937.^[75] Under fascism, native Africans were allowed to join the Italian armed forces as colonial troops and they also appeared infascist propaganda.^{[citation needed]}

At least in its overt ideology, the Nazi movement believed that the existence of a class-based society was a threat to its survival, and as a result, it wanted to unify the racial element above the established classes, but the Italian fascist movement sought to preserve the class system and uphold it as the foundation of an established and desirable culture.^{[citation needed]} Nevertheless, the Italian fascists did not reject the concept ofsocial mobility and a central tenet of the fascist state wasmeritocracy, yet fascism also heavily based itself oncorporatism, which was supposed to supersedeclass conflicts.^{[citation needed]} Despite these differences, Kevin Passmore (2002 p. 62) observes:

There are sufficient similarities between Fascism and Nazism to make it worthwhile by applying the concept of fascism to both. In Italy and Germany, a movement came to power that sought to create national unity through the repression of national enemies and the incorporation of all classes and both genders into a permanently mobilized nation.^[76]

Nazi ideologues such asAlfred Rosenberg were highly skeptical of the Italian race and fascism, but he believed that the improvement of the Italian race was possible if major changes were made to convert it into an acceptable "Aryan" race and he also said that the Italian fascist movement would only succeed if it purified the Italian race into an Aryan one.^[72] Nazi theorists believed that thedownfall of the Roman Empire was due to the interbreeding of different races which created a "polluted" Italian race that was inferior.^[72]

Hitler believed this and he also believed that Mussolini represented an attempt to revive the pure elements of the former Roman civilization, such as the desire to create a strong and aggressive Italian people. However, Hitler was still audacious enough when meeting Mussolini for the first time in 1934 to tell him that all Mediterranean peoples were "tainted" by "Negro blood" and thus in his racist view they were degenerate.^[72]

Relations between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany were initially poor but they deteriorated even further after the assassination of Austria's fascist chancellorEngelbert Dollfuss byAustrian Nazis in 1934. Under Dollfuss Austria was a key ally of Mussolini and Mussolini was deeply angered by Hitler's attempt to take over Austria and he expressed it by angrily mocking Hitler's earlier remark on the impurity of the Italian race by declaring that a "Germanic" race did not exist and he also indicated that Hitler's repression of Germany's Jews proved that the Germans were not a pure race:

But which race? Does there exist a German race. Has it ever existed? Will it ever exist? Reality, myth, or hoax of theorists? (Another parenthesis: the theoretician of racism is a 100 percent Frenchman: Gobineau) Ah well, we respond, a Germanic race does not exist. Various movements. Curiosity. Stupor. We repeat. Does not exist. We don't say so. Scientists say so. Hitler says so.

— Benito Mussolini, 1934^[77]

Italian Fascism wasexpansionist in its desires, it advocated the establishment of a NewRoman Empire. Nazi Germany was even more aggressive in expanding its borders in violation of the 1919Treaty of Versailles. The Nazis murdered theAustrofascist dictator Dollfuss, causing an uneasy relationship in Austria between fascism and Nazism at an early stage.Italian nationalist andpan-German claims clashed over the issue ofTyrol.

In the 1920s, Hitler, with only a small Nazi party at the time, wanted to form an alliance with Mussolini's regime because he recognized the fact that his espousal of pan-German nationalism was seen as a threat by Italy. In his unpublished sequel toMein Kampf, Hitler attempted to address concerns about Nazism which were widespread among Italian fascists. In the book, Hitler puts the issue of Germans in Tyrol aside by stating that overall, Germany and Italy have more in common than not and as a result, the Tyrol Germans must accept the fact that it is in Germany's interests for Germany to be allied with Italy. Hitler claims that Germany, like Italy, was subjected to oppression by its neighbours and he denounces the Austrian Empire by stating that it oppressed Italy by preventing it from completing its national unification just as France oppressed Germany by preventing it from completing its national unification. In the book, Hitler's denunciation of Austria is important because Italian fascists were skeptical of him due to the fact that he was born in Austria, which Italy had considered its primary enemy for centuries and Italy believed that Germany was an ally of Austria. By declaring that the Nazi movement was not interested in the territorial legacy of the Austrian Empire, the Nazi Party was able to assure the Italian fascists that Hitler, the Nazi movement and Germany were not enemies of Italy.

Despite Hitler's public attempts to display goodwill towards Mussolini, Germany and Italy came into conflict in 1934 whenEngelbert Dollfuss, the Austrofascist leader of Italy's ally Austria, was assassinated by Austrian Nazis on Hitler's orders in preparation for a plannedAnschluss (annexation of Austria). Mussolini ordered troops to the Austrian-Italian border in readiness for a war against Germany. Hitler backed down by deferring his plans to annex Austria.

When Hitler and Mussolini first met, Mussolini referred to Hitler as "a silly little monkey" before theAllies forced Mussolini to form an alliance with Hitler. Mussolini also reportedly askedPope Pius XII toexcommunicate Hitler. From 1934 to 1936, Hitler continually attempted to win the support of Italy and the Nazi regime endorsed theItalian invasion of Ethiopia (leading toEthiopia's annexation asItalian East Africa) while theLeague of Nations condemned Italian aggression. With other countries opposing Italy, the fascist regime had no choice but to draw closer to Nazi Germany. Germany joined Italy by supporting theNationalists underFrancisco Franco with forces and supplies during theSpanish Civil War.

Later, Germany and Italy signed theAnti-Comintern Pact which obligated the two regimes to oppose theComintern and Sovietcommunism. By 1938, Mussolini allowed Hitler to carry out the Anschluss in exchange for an official German renunciation of claims to Tyrol. Mussolini supported theannexation of theSudetenland during theMunich Agreement talks later that year.

In 1939, thePact of Steel was signed, officially solidifying an alliance between Germany and Italy. The official Nazi newspaperVölkischer Beobachter contained articles which extolled the mutually beneficial results of the alliance:

Firmly bound together through the inner unity of their ideologies and the comprehensive solidarity of their interests, the German and the Italian people are determined also in future to stand side by side and to strive with united effort for the securing of theirLebensraum [living space] and the maintenance of peace.

— Völkischer Beobachter (May 23, 1939)

Hitler and Mussolini recognized the fact that there were commonalities in their politics and the second part of Hitler'sMein Kampf ("The National Socialist Movement", 1926) contains this passage:

I conceived the profoundest admiration for the great man south of theAlps, who, full of ardent love for his people, made no pacts with the enemies of Italy, but strove for their annihilation by all ways and means. What will rank Mussolini among the great men of this earth is his determination not to share Italy with theMarxists, but to destroyinternationalism and save thefatherland from it.

— Mein Kampf (p. 622)

Both regimes despisedFrance (seen as an enemy which held territories claimed by both Germany and Italy) andYugoslavia (seen by the Nazis as a racially degenerate Slavic state and holding lands such asDalmatia claimed by the Italian fascists). Fascist territorial claims on Yugoslav territory meant that Mussolini saw the destruction of Yugoslavia as essential for Italian expansion. Hitler viewed Slavs as racially inferior, but he did not see importance in an immediate invasion of Yugoslavia, instead focusing on the threat from the Soviet Union.

Mussolini favored using the extremistCroatian nationalistUstaše as a useful tool to tear down the Serbian-ruled Yugoslavia. In 1941, the Italian military campaign inGreece (theGreco-Italian War, called theBattle of Greece for the period after the German intervention) was failing. Hitler reluctantly began theBalkan Campaign with theinvasion of Yugoslavia. German, Italian, Bulgarian,Hungarian and Croatianinsurgents (under the AxispuppetIndependent State of Croatia) decisively defeated Yugoslavia.

In the aftermath, with the exception of Serbia andVardar Macedonia, most of Yugoslavia was reshaped based on Italian fascist foreign policy objectives. Mussolini demanded and received much of Dalmatia from the Croats in exchange for supporting the independence of Croatia. Mussolini's policy of creating an independent Croatia prevailed over Hitler's anti-Slavism and eventually, the Nazis and the Ustashe regime of Croatia would develop closer bonds due to the Ustashe's brutal effectiveness at suppressing Serb dissidents.

The question of religion also poses considerable conflicting differences as some forms of fascism, particularly theFatherland Front andNational Union that were devoutlyCatholic. Theoccultist and pagan elements of Nazi ideology were very hostile to the traditional Christianity found in the vast majority of fascist movements of the 20th century.

• Anti-fascism
• Far-right politics
• Fascism in Asia
• Fascism in North America
• Fascism in South America
• List of fascist movements by country
• Post–World War II anti-fascism
• Radical right in Europe

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