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Fascism, afar-right,authoritarian, andultranationalist political ideology and movement, has a long history inNorth America, with the earliest movements appearing shortly after the rise offascism in Europe.[1]
In Canada, fascism was divided between two main political parties, theWinnipeg-basedCanadian Union of Fascists and theParti national social chrétien, later renamed the Canadian National Socialist Unity Party. The Canadian Union of Fascists was modelled after theBritish Union of Fascists and led byChuck Crate. The Canadian National Socialist Unity Party was founded byAdrien Arcand and inspired byNazism. The Canadian Union of Fascists inEnglish Canada never reached the level of popularity that the Parti national social chrétien enjoyed inQuebec.[2] The Canadian Union of Fascists focused oneconomic issues, while the Parti national social chrétien concentrated on racist themes. The influence of the Canadian fascist movement reached its height during theGreat Depression and declined from then on.[3]
As a minor movement, theNazi Party was active among German immigrants inEl Salvador, where the government cracked down on activity,[4] andGuatemala, which outlawed the Nazi Party and theHitler Youth in May 1939.[5] They also organised inNicaragua, althoughFalangism was more important, especially in theColegio Centro América inManagua, where this brand of fascism flourished in the 1930s.[6]
The existence of figures who were sympathetic to Nazism in high political positions has been pointed out in the administrations ofLeón Cortés Castro andRafael Ángel Calderón Guardia. Cortés, being a presidential candidate and having spent some time in Nazi Germany, was publicly viewed as a sympathizer.[7][8]
In the 1930s, a movement which was sympathetic to Nazism developed among a large community of Germans.[9] Supporters of Nazism met in a local German Club.[9]
DuringCalderón Guardia's presidency, Costa Rica declared war on theThird Reich, leading to the imprisonment of many German and Italian citizens and residents. Their properties werenationalized, despite the fact that the vast majority had no links with Nazism or Fascism.[8] The doctrinal origins of racism and theallegations of European racial superiority in Costa Rica predated this event. For instance, Costa Rican scientistClodomiro Picado Twight published racist writings that contributed to these ideologies.[10]
The Central American leader who came closest to being an important domestic fascist wasArnulfo Arias ofPanama who during the 1940s, became a strong admirer and advocate ofItalian fascism following his ascension to presidency in 1940.[11]
Fascism was rare in Caribbean politics, both for the same reasons as those in Central America as well as due to the continuation ofcolonialism into the 1950s. However,Falangist movements have been active inCuba, notably under Antonio Avendaño and Alfonso Serrano Vilariño, from 1936 to 1940.[12] A Cuban Nazi Party was also active and attempted to change its name to the 'Fifth Column Party', but it was ultimately banned in 1941.[13] As in Cuba,Falangist groups have beenactive inPuerto Rico, especially duringWorld War II, when an 8,000 member branch came underFBI scrutiny.[14]
In 1922, theMexican Fascist Party was founded byGustavo Sáenz de Sicilia. Italian fascists strongly disapproved of the new party, and in 1923, the Italian ambassador stated, "This party was not anything else than a bad imitation of ours".[15]
TheNational Synarchist Union was founded in 1937 byJosé Antonio Urquiza. The group espoused some aspects of thepalingenetic ultranationalism, a core tenet of fascism, as it aimed to bring about a societal rebirth, distancing itself fromanarchism,communism,socialism,liberalism,Freemasonry,secularism andAmericanism,which it believed was prevalent in Mexico. However, it differed from European fascism in that it was veryRoman Catholic in nature.[16] Although supportive ofcorporatism, the National Synarchist Union was arguably toocounterrevolutionary to be considered truly fascist.[17]
A similar group, theGold Shirts, founded in 1933 byNicolás Rodríguez Carrasco, also bore some of the hallmarks of fascism.
AFalange Española Tradicionalista was also formed in Mexico by the Spanish merchants who were based there and opposed the consistent level of supportLázaro Cárdenas gave to theRepublicans during theSpanish Civil War. However, the group was peripheral because it did not seek to acquire any amount of influence outside this immigrant population.[18] APartido Nacional Socialista Mexicano was also active, with most of its 15,000 members having aGerman background.[19]
A more modern group, theNationalist Front of Mexico was founded in San Luis Potosí in 2006 by Juan Carlos López Lee. It strongly promoted theReconquista ideology.
The origins of fascism in the United States date back to the late 19th century, during the passage ofJim Crow laws in theAmerican South, the rise of theeugenicist discourse in the U.S., and the intensification ofnativist andxenophobic hostility towardsEuropean immigrants. During the early 20th century, several groups were formed in the United States. Contemporary historians have classified these groups as fascist organizations; one of them being theKu Klux Klan (KKK).[20] During the 1920s, American scholars frequently wrote about the rise ofItalian fascism underBenito Mussolini, but few of them supported it; however, Mussolini's fascist policies did initially gain widespread support amongItalian Americans.[21][22] During the 1930s,Virgil Effinger established the paramilitaryBlack Legion, a violent offshoot of the KKK that sought to establish fascism in the United States by launching a revolution against thefederal government. Although it was responsible for a number of attacks, the Black Legion was small in size and ultimately petered out.[23]
The rise offascism in Europe during theinterwar period raised concerns in the U.S. but European fascist regimes were largely viewed in a positive light by the Americanruling class, including government officials, businessmen, and other members of theelite. This was due to the fact that fascist interpretations ofultranationalism allowed a nation to gain a significant amount of economic influence in theWestern world and permitted a nation's government to destroyleftists andlabour movements.[24]
TheGerman American Bund was the most prominent and well-organizedfascist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1936, following the model ofHitler'sNazi Germany. It appeared shortly after the founding of several smaller groups, including theFriends of New Germany and theSilver Legion of America, founded in 1933 byWilliam Dudley Pelley and theFree Society of Teutonia. After March 1, 1938, membership in the German-American Bund was only open toAmerican citizens of German descent.[25][26] Its main goal was to promote a favorable view ofNazi Germany. The Bund was very active, providing its members with uniforms and encouraging participation in "training camps".[27] The Bund held rallies withNazi insignia and procedures such as theHitler salute. Its leaders denounced the administration of PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt,Jewish-American groups,Communism, "Moscow-directed"trade unions and Americanboycotts of German goods.[28] They claimed thatGeorge Washington was "the first Fascist" because he did not believe that democracy would work.[29]
The high point of the Bund's activities was theirrally atMadison Square Garden in New York City on February 20, 1939, with around 20,000 people in attendance.[30] Theanti-Semitic Speakers repeatedly referred toPresident Roosevelt "Frank D. Rosenfeld", calling hisNew Deal the "Jew Deal", as well as denouncing the supposedBolshevik-Jewish American leadership.[31] The rally ended with violence between protesters and the Bund's "storm-troopers".[32] In 1941, the Bund was outlawed by the U.S. government, and its leader,Fritz Julius Kuhn, fled to Mexico.
DuringWorld War II, Canada and the United States battled theAxis powers. As part of the war effort, they suppressed the fascist movements within their borders, which were already weakened by the widespread public perception that they werefifth columns. This suppression consisted of theinternment of fascist leaders, the disbanding of fascist organizations, thecensorship of fascist propaganda and pervasive government propaganda against fascism. In the U.S., this campaign of suppression culminated in "The Great Sedition Trial" of November 1944, in whichGeorge Sylvester Viereck,Lawrence Dennis,Elizabeth Dilling,William Dudley Pelley,Joe McWilliams,Robert Edward Edmondson,Gerald Winrod,William Griffin, and, in absentia,Ulrich Fleischhauer were all put on trial for aiding the Nazi cause, supporting fascism and isolationism. After the death of the judge however, a mistrial was declared and all of the charges were dropped.[33]
In 1959, theAmerican Nazi Party was founded byGeorge Lincoln Rockwell, a former U.S. Navy commander, who was dismissed from the Navy due to his espousal of fascist political views. On August 25, 1967, Rockwellwas shot and killed inArlington byJohn Patler, a former party member who had previously been expelled by Rockwell due to his espousal of his alleged "Bolshevik leanings".[34] The Party was dissolved in 1983.
Some scholars have drawn comparisons between the political styles ofDonald Trump and fascist leaders. Such assessments began duringTrump's 2016 presidential campaign,[35][36] and continued throughout thefirst Trump presidency as he appeared to court far-right extremists,[37][38][39][40] including hisattempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election after losing toJoe Biden,[41] and culminating in the2021 United States Capitol attack.[42]
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help){{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)Disorders attendant upon Nazi rallies in New York and Los Angeles this week again focused attention upon the Nazi movement in the United States and inspired conjectures as to its strength and influence.
...and in our political life, where a Henry Morgenthau takes the place of men like Alexander Hamilton, and a Frank D. Rosenfeld takes the place of a George Washington.
In 1939, the German American Bund organized a rally of 20,000 Nazi supporters at Madison Square Garden in New York City.