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Fascist movements gained popularity in many countries in Asia during the 1920s.[1]
The Blue Shirts Society has been described as one of the most relevant fascist groups in China at the time. It began as a secret society in the KMT military before being reformed within the party.[4] By the 1930s, it had influence upon China's economy and society.[5][6] Historian Jeffrey Crean notes, however, that the Blue Shirts impacted only elite politics, not the vast majority of China's population.[7]: 64–65 The Blue Shirts held contempt for liberal democracy and stressed the political usefulness of violence.[7]: 64 They were influenced by KMT contact with Nazi advisors and inspired by the German Brownshirts and the Italian Blackshirts. Unlike those organizations, however, the Blue Shirts were composed of political elites, not the popular masses.[7]: 64
Close Sino-German ties also promoted cooperation between the Nationalist Government and Nazi Germany in the early-to-mid 1930s. However, despite early diplomatic honeymoon between Nationalist China and Nazi Germany, the Sino-German relationship rapidly deteriorated as Germany failed to pursue a detente between China and Japan, which led to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. China later declared war on fascist countries, including Germany, Italy, and Japan, as part of the Declarations of war during World War II and became the most powerful "anti-fascist" nation in Asia.[8]
The New Life Movement was a government-led civic movement in 1930s China initiated by Chiang Kai-shek to promote cultural reform and Neo-Confucian social morality, and to ultimately unite China under a centralised ideology following the emergence of ideological challenges to the status quo. The Movement attempted to counter threats of Western and Japanese imperialism through a resurrection of traditional Chinese morality, which it held to be superior to modern Western values. As such the Movement was based upon Confucianism, mixed with Christianity, nationalism and authoritarianism that had some similarities to fascism.[9] It rejected individualism and liberalism, while also opposing socialism and communism. Some historians regard this movement as imitating Nazism and being a neo-nationalistic movement used to elevate Chiang's control of everyday lives. Frederic Wakeman suggested that the New Life Movement was "Confucian fascism".[10] The New Life Movement drew inspirations from the Blue Shirts Society, although some historians are reluctant to define them as fascist.[4]
Wang Jingwei, a right-wing nationalist and anti-communist member of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China), and in particular the left-wing nationalist Kai-tsu p'ai (Reorganization) faction, was originally hostile towards fascism in Europe. Still, it gradually drifted into supporting fascism, especially the economic policies of Nazism in the late 1930s.[11][12] Wang Jingwei's visit to Germany in 1936 changed his views on fascism, and afterward he spoke positively about European fascist states, saying, "Several advanced countries have already expanded their national vitality and augmented their people's strength, and are no longer afraid of foreign aggression."[13] Publicist T'iang Leang-Li of the People's Tribune newspaper associated with the Kai-tsu p'ai promoted fascism in Europe while attempting to distance Kai-tsu p'ai from its overtly negative aspects, and wrote in 1937: "Whatever we may think about fascist and Nazi methods and policies, we must recognize the fact that their leaders have secured the enthusiastic support of their respective nations."[13] T'iang Leang-Li claimed that the "foolish, unwise, and even cruel things" done in fascist states had been done positively to bring about "tremendous change in the political outlook of the German and Italian people".[13] T'iang Leang-Li wrote articles that positively assessed the "socialist" character of Nazism. Similarly, Shih Shao-pei of the Kai-tsu p'ai rebuked Chinese critics of Nazism by saying, "We in China [...] have heard too much about the 'national' and other flagwaving activities of the Nazis, and not enough about the 'socialist' work they are doing."[13] Shih Shao-pei wrote about reports of improved working conditions in German factories, the vacations given to employees by Kraft durch Freude, improved employer-employee relations, and the public service work camps for the unemployed.[13] Other works in the People's Tribune spoke positively about Nazism, saying that it was bringing the "integration of the working classes ... into the National Socialist state and the abolition of ... the evil elements of modern capitalism".[13]
Neoauthoritarianism is a current of political thought that advocates a powerful state to facilitate market reforms.[14] Some critics have pointed out that Chinese neoconservatism is "fascistic".[15]
Brian Reynolds Myers judged that North Korea's dominant ideology was not communism, but nationalism derived from Japanese fascism. Some scholars point out that North Korea's Juche ideology has a far-right and fascist element, but it is debated whether Juche ideology is a far-right ideology.
A constitutional framework that elevated Malay Supremacism had as its basis a series of Malay congresses culminating in the formation of a right-wing nationalist party called the United Malays National Organization (UMNO). It was founded on 10 May 1946 at the Third Malay Congress in Johor Bahru, with Datuk Onn Jaafar as its founder with the slogan "Long Live Malays" and "Malaya For Malays". After that, the (United Malays National Organization) party joined together with two other right-wing parties from the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA), which represented the Chinese ethnic group and the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) which represented the Indian ethnic group who agreed in fighting for the ideology of nationalism to form a new alliance of three parties from UMNO, MCA and MIC jointly on 30 October 1957 which was named (Parti Perikatan) or Alliance Party and replaced and reformed the party on 1, January 1974 which was named as the BN Party (Barisan Nasional) or Front National to continue the ideology of Racial Supremacism according to their respective ethnic parties to bring a combination of right-wing ideology.
Fascism in Iran was adhered to by the SUMKA (Hezb-e Sosialist-e Melli-ye Kargaran-e Iran or the Iran National-Socialist Workers Group), a neo-Nazi party founded by Davud Monshizadeh in 1952. SUMKA copied not only the ideology of the Nazi Party but also that group's style, adopting the swastika, the black shirt and the Hitler salute. At the same time, Monshizadeh even sought to cultivate an appearance similar to that of Adolf Hitler.[30] The group became associated with opposition to Mohammad Mosaddegh and the Tudeh Party while supporting the Shah over Mossadegh.[30] The Pan-Iranist Party is a right-wing group that has also been accused of being fascist due to its adherence to chauvinism[31] and irredentism, along with the rise of Zoroastrian nationalism among many Iranians due to the decline of Islam in the country.[32]
The Revisionist Maximalist short-term movement formed by Abba Achimeir in 1930 was the ideology of the right-wing fascist faction Brit HaBirionim within the Zionist Revisionist Movement (ZRM). Achimeir was a self-described fascist who wrote a series of articles in 1928 titled "From the Diary of a Fascist".[33] Achimeir rejected humanism, liberalism, and socialism; condemned liberal Zionists for only working for middle-class Jews; and stated the need for an integralist, "pure nationalism" similar to that in Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini.[33][34] Achimeir refused to be part of reformist Zionist coalitions and insisted that he would only support revolutionary Zionists willing to utilize violence.[35] Anti-Jewish violence in 1929 in the British Mandate of Palestine resulted in a rise in support for Revisionist Maximalists and lead Achimeir to decry British rule, claiming that the English people were declining while the Jewish people were ready to flourish, saying:
We fought the Egyptian Pharaoh, the Roman emperors, the Spanish Inquisition, the Russian tsars. They 'defeated' us. But where are they today? Can we not cope with a few despicable muftis or sheiks?... For us, the forefathers, the prophets, the zealots were not mythological concepts...." Abba Achimeir.[36]
In 1930, Achimeir and the Revisionist-Maximalists became the largest faction within the ZRM and they called for closer relations with Fascist Italy and the Italian people, based on Achimeir's claim that Italians were deemed the least anti-Semitic people in the world.[37]
In 1932, the Revisionist Maximalists pressed the ZRM to adopt their policies, titled the "Ten Commandments of Maximalism", made "in the spirit of complete fascism".[35] Moderate ZRM members refused to accept this and moderate ZRM member Yaacov Kahan pressured the Revisionist Maximalists to take the democratic nature of the ZRM and not push for the party to adopt fascist dictatorial policies.[35]
Despite the Revisionist Maximalists' opposition to the anti-Semitism of the Nazi Party, Achimeir was initially controversially supportive of the Nazi Party in early 1933, believing that the Nazis' rise to power was positive because it recognized that previous attempts by Germany to assimilate Jews had finally been proven to be failures.[38] In March 1933, Achimeir wrote about the Nazi party, stating, "The anti-Semitic wrapping should be discarded but not its anti-Marxist core...."[35] Achimeir personally believed that the Nazis' anti-Semitism was just a nationalist ploy that did not have substance.[39]
After Achimeir supported the Nazis, other Zionists within the ZRM quickly condemned Achimeir and the Revisionist Maximalists for their support of Hitler.[40] Achimeir, in response to the outrage, in May 1933 reversed their position and opposed Nazi Germany and began to burn down German consulates and tear down Germany's flag.[40] However, in 1933, Revisionist Maximalist' support quickly deteriorated and fell apart; they would not be reorganized until 1938, after a new leader replaced Achimeir.[40]
Lebanon
Within Lebanon, two pre-war groups emerged that took their inspiration from the fascist groups active in Europe at the time. In 1936 the Kataeb Party was founded by Pierre Gemayel, and this group also took its inspiration from the European fascists, using the Nazi salute and a brown shirted uniform.[41] This group also espoused a strong sense of Lebanese nationalism and a leadership cult. Still, it did not support totalitarianism and as a result, it could not be characterised as fully fascist.[42][43] Both groups are still active, although neither of them demonstrates the characteristics of fascism now.
The Syrian Social Nationalist Party was founded in 1932 by Antun Saadeh to restore independence to Syria from France and take its lead from Nazism and fascism.[44] This group also used the Roman salute and a symbol similar to the swastika[45][46][47] while Saadeh borrowed elements of Nazi ideology, notably the cult of personality and the yearning for a mythical, racially pure golden age.[48] A youth group, based on the Hitler Youth template, was also organised.[49]
Turkey
In Turkey, the group known as the Grey Wolves is widely regarded as neofascist; they are understood to operate as a paramilitary group and are famous for their salute known as the Wolf salute. They are regarded as a terrorist group variously in Austria, Kazakhstan, and France.[50]
^ abcCrean, Jeffrey (2024). The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History. New Approaches to International History series. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN978-1-350-23394-2.
^Guido Samarani, ed. (2005). Shaping the Future of Asia: Chiang Kai-shek, Nehru and China-India Relations During the Second World War Period. Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University.
^Wakeman, Frederic, Jr. (1997). "A Revisionist View of the Nanjing Decade: Confucian Fascism." The China Quarterly 150: 395–432.
^Dongyoun Hwang. Wang Jingwei, The National Government, and the Problem of Collaboration. Ph.D. Dissertation, Duke University. UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Michigan. 2000, 118.
^Larsen, Stein Ugelvik (ed.). Fascism Outside of Europe. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. ISBN0-88033-988-8. p. 255.
^"한국의 파시즘은 사라졌나: 일본 극우에 사상적 뿌리둔 박정희의 유산… 무의식에 깔린 잔재마저 청산해야" [Has Korean fascism disappeared?: Park Jeong-hee's legacy is ideologically rooted in the far right of Japan... Even the remnants of unconsciousness must be cleared.]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 18 November 1999. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
^"홍종학, 박정희와 나치 "상당히 유사"…논문서 주장" [Hong Jong-hak argued in his paper that Park Jung-hee and the Nazis are "very similar".]. 이데일리 (in Korean). 24 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
^Frykenberg 2008, pp. 178–220: "This essay attempts to show how — from an analytical or a historical perspective — Hindutva is a melding of Hindu fascism and Hindu fundamentalism."
^Chetan Bhatt; Parita Mukta (May 2000). "Hindutva in the West: Mapping the Antinomies of Diaspora Nationalism". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 23 (3): 407–441. doi:10.1080/014198700328935. S2CID143287533.
^ abHussein Fardust, The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty: Memoirs of Former General Hussein, p. 62
^Azimi, Fakhreddin (2008). Quest for Democracy in Iran: A Century of Struggle Against Authoritarian Rule. Harvard University Press. p. 253. ISBN978-0674027787.
^Weinbaum, Marvin (1973), "Iran finds a party system: the institutionalization of Iran Novin", The Middle East Journal, 27 (4): 439–455, JSTOR4325140
^Reich, Bernard (1990). Political leaders of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa: a biographical dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 203–204 / 557. ISBN9780313262135.
^Entelis, John Pierre (1974). Pluralism and party transformation in Lebanon: Al-Kataʼib, 1936-1970. Social, economic, and political studies of the Middle East. Vol. 10. Brill. pp. 45 / 227. ISBN9789004039117.
^Simon, Reeva S. (1996). Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East. Macmillan Reference USA. ISBN0028960114. The Syrian Social Nationalist party (SSNP) was the brainchild of Antun Sa'ada, a Greek Orthodox Lebanese who was inspired by Nazi and fascist ideologies.
^Ya’ari, Ehud (June 1987). "Behind the Terror". Atlantic Monthly. [The SSNP] greet their leaders with a Hitlerian salute; sing their Arabic anthem, "Greetings to You, Syria", to the strains of "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles"; and throng to the symbol of the red hurricane, a swastika in circular motion.
^Pipes, Daniel (1992). Greater Syria. Oxford University Press. ISBN0195060229. The SSNP flag, which features a curved swastika called the red hurricane (zawba'a), points to the party's fascistic origins.
^Rolland, John C. (2003). Lebanon. Nova Publishers. ISBN1590338715. [The SSNP's] red hurricane symbol was modeled after the Nazi swastika.
^Johnson, Michael (2001). All Honourable Men. I.B.Tauris. ISBN1860647154. Saadeh, the party's 'leader for life', was an admirer of Adolf Hitler and influenced by Nazi and fascist ideology. This went beyond adopting a reversed swastika as the party's symbol and singing the party's anthem to Deutschland über alles, and included developing the cult of a leader, advocating totalitarian government, and glorifying an ancient pre-Christian past and the organic whole of the Syrian Volk or nation.
