1938: Fascism

Archives consist of articles that originally appeared in Collier's Year Book (for events of 1997 and

earlier) or as monthly updates in Encarta Yearbook (for events of 1998 and later). Because they were

published shortly after events occurred, they reflect the information available at that time. Cross

references refer to Archive articles of the same year.

1938: Fascism

During 1938 Fascism has been considered by many to have made great forward strides, to have

entirely eclipsed Communism and to have put democracy definitely on the defensive. This view

does not correspond entirely with the facts. Undoubtedly Communism is on the wane and has

ceased to be a danger to democracy, and undoubtedly democracy has lost somewhat in her

international position and prestige, for the victories of Fascism have been international. They can

be easily explained by the concerted cooperation and the resolute energy of the Fascist powers,

Japan, Italy and Germany, who are united in the so-called Anti-Comintern Pact. Their strength

was augmented by the disunity of the democratic countries and the weak leadership of

democratic statesmen who made one concession after another to Fascist demands and

surrendered one strategic position after another.

Although the prestige of Fascism increased during the year, and many democrats began to doubt

the vitality of democracy and its ability to survive, as an actual fact Fascism was not

strengthened in the Fascist countries themselves. The economic situation in the three Fascist

countries, Japan, Italy and Germany, showed increasing signs of strain, and many observers

believed that the financial and economic structure of these countries was nearing a breakdown,

and was only being maintained by diverting public attention from the difficulties of the internal

situation to successes in the field of foreign policy. Fascist groups operating in the fundamentally

democratic countries met nowhere with success; on the contrary wherever they found a resolute

opposition on the part of democracy they not only lost in their position but in several cases were

practically wiped out.

Fascist Triple Alliance.

The year 1938 strengthened the Rome-Berlin Axis, the name of the alliance between Fascist Italy

and National Socialist Germany, and also the ties with Japan, the Far-Eastern partner in the so-

called Anti-Comintern Pact. This Pact is ostensibly directed against the Communist

International, or the Comintern, but in reality it is a basis for the close cooperation of the Fascist

Triple Alliance in extending their territory and spheres of political, economic and cultural

hegemony, at the expense of the democracies and the League of Nations. Through this close

cooperation and the weak opposition offered by the democracies, all three Fascist powers scored

great diplomatic and strategic victories during the year 1938.

Germany.

Germany annexed Austria, in March 1938, and by the Pact of Munich at the end of September

not only increased her territory by the annexation of the Sudeten provinces of Czechoslo vakia,

but forced the whole of remaining Czechoslovakia into her political, economic and strategic

orbit. She established her undoubted hegemony over all of Central and Central Eastern Europe,

over the Danubian basin and the Balkan Peninsula. Fascist Germany thus gained a position

superior to that held by Bismarck's Germany, and the influence of democracy and of the Western

democratic powers ceased entirely in these regions. Germany also scored a decisive victory over

France whose international prestige has been, at least for the time being, gravely damaged. That

France has been put entirely on the defensive is shown by the Franco-German declaration of

non-aggression signed at the end of November in Paris. The end of the year saw France encircled

by Fascist Powers which were established beyond the Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees

Mountains where more and more Spanish territory had passed under the control of General

Franco and his German and Italian allies. At the end of the year Nazi Germany, having

supposedly settled her relations with Great Britain and France in such a way as to assure for

herself a free hand for expansion in the East, made preparations for an advance into Rumania and

the Ukraine, using Czecho-Slovakia and Hungary as stepping stones on the march to the Black

Sea.

Italy.

Compared with Germany, Italy gained relatively little during 1938. The war in Spain, in which

she was most interested, dragged on, and the expectation that General Franco who was backed

by Italy and richly supplied with Italian arms and men would win the war during the early

summer of 1938 proved futile. Italy secured a treaty of friendship with Great Britain in April

1938, a treaty based upon the expectation, then jointly shared by Mussolini and Chamberlain, of

Franco's early victory. Although this victory did not materialize, the Anglo-Italian Pact went into

effect in November 1938, and at the end of the year General Franco was reported to be launching

a great decisive offensive against Valencia and Barcelona. This was to furnish Chamberlain, at

his forthcoming visit to Italy on January 11, 1939, with an accomplished fact and so remove the

main obstacle to Anglo-Italian friendship, which was Italian intervention in Spain. Italy herself

was most eager for the victory of General Franco as she hoped that his Government would allow

her to use certain islands and ports as strategic positions in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, to

establish Italian hegemony in the Mediterranean against France and Great Britain and to threaten

communications with their overseas empires. A similar hope was held by Germany with regard

to Spanish islands and ports on the Atlantic.

In spite of these advantages, Italy had not expanded her territory during 1938 as Germany and

Japan had done. On the contrary, Italy had to register a definite loss in Central Europe and in the

Balkans. Austria had been practically an Italian protectorate since 1934; now it had passed

definitely from Italian control into German possession. German troops stood guard on the

Brenner Pass, commanding the descent into Italy, and were within easy reach of Trieste which

had been for many centuries the Adriatic port of Germanic Central Europe. A few years earlier,

Italian influence had been predominant in Hungary and in the Balkan countries. As the result of

the annexation of Austria by Germany and of the Pact of Munich, Italy found herself losing her

position of dominance to Germany. Therefore the eyes of Italy were directed more and more

from the Adriatic and the Balkans to the Mediterranean and Northern Africa. At the end of 1938

Italy started a campaign for the conquest of a number of French possessions: Tunisia, a French

protectorate in Northern Africa and the seat of ancient Carthage; the Island of Corsica.

Napoleon's birthplace; the two French Southeastern Districts of Savoy and Nice; and French

Somaliland with the port of Djibouti which Italy wished to annex to her Ethiopian Empire. At the

same time Italy demanded a large share in the private Suez Canal Company, of which the

majority of stock is in French hands. Italy thus hoped to gain a decisive influence on the

administration of the Canal and its tariffs, which would facilitate for her the exploitation and

aggrandizement of her African Empire and make her position in the Mediterranean and in the

Red Sea equal, at least, to that of Great Britain.

The Italian demand for expansion in the Mediterranean which was held, at least officially, in

abeyance before the fateful day of the Pact of Munich, was voiced publicly for the first time on

November 30th, when all the deputies in the Italian Chamber shouted for several minutes in a

great frenzy for the annexation of Tunisia, Corsica, Nice and Savoy. Experienced observers

described the enthusiasm shown by the deputies as reminiscent of the day of Italy's declaration of

war against Austria-Hungary in 1915. The manifestation occurred during the speech of Foreign

Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano, the youthful son- in-law of Mussolini, when he spoke of Italy's

still unsatisfied aspirations. This patriotic fervor, in which not only the deputies but all present in

the Chamber had participated, was kept alive for many following days by numerous street

demonstrations of Italian students and by the Italian press which persisted in stressing the deep

and fundamental hostility existing, according to the Fascists, between Italy and France, and the

decay and cowardice into which French democracy had sunk and which was making it

impossible for her, to resist the demands of virile Italy. Thus the repeated declarations of Hitler

and Mussolini to the effect that Germany and Italy would march on to the very end together, and

that there could be no standstill in the unceasing struggle of nations and continents for dominion,

seemed to drive both Fascist countries to further conquests and far-off goals.

Japan.

The same spirit of unlimited expansion animated the third partner in the Fascist International,

Japan. The Far Eastern Island Empire established, during 1938, her grip on the Asiatic continent

in a much more extensive way than had been expected at the beginning of the year. She was not

only able to conquer Hankow and dominate the Yangtze Valley, but also to conquer Canton in

southern China and render the situation of the British stronghold of Hongkong most precar ious.

Japan openly proclaimed her intention of subjugating the whole of China as she had done

previously with Korea and Manchuria. A much discussed question was whether Japan after the

conquest of China would turn to the North and, in cooperation with Germany, fight Russia and

try to gain control of Mongolia and Eastern Siberia, or whether she would turn southward toward

French Indo-China, British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.

In spite of the immense financial and economic strain under which Japan suffered as a

consequence of her expansionist militarism, much as did Germany and Italy, Japan continued her

war-time spending. At the beginning of December the new budget for the financial year starting

on April 1st. 1939, was announced as totalling almost 4,000,000,000 yen, an increase of

380,000,000 yen over the current budget, and the highest ever reached by Japan. The

expenditures for the war are met by supplementary appropriations which amounted, by the end

of 1938, to about 7,000,000,000 yen and which are expected to amount for the new year to about

5,000,000,000 yen. Under these circumstances, which find their parallel in the present budgetary

expansion of Italy and Germany, it is easy to understand that the Fascist countries are looking to

Great Britain and to the United States for loans and credits to avoid their own financial and

economic breakdown.

Germany's Leadership.

In Japan.

An interesting development in Fascism during 1938 has been the fast growth of the influence of

Germany and her Nazi ideology in both Japan and Italy. Japan had until recently preserved all

the external forms of modern progressive states which she had acquired in her period of

Europeanization. Toward the end of 1938 the Japanese press insisted more and more upon a

fundamental transformation of the still-existing pseudo-democratic Constitution and of the

existing parties. It was proposed to form a single party under the leadership of Prime Minister

Prince Kohoye, or a more openly Fascist successor; this single party to replace all existing

parties and also to transform Japan externally into a totalitarian one-party state. The Japanese

Parliament, the influence of which has constantly been on the wane since 1931, would sink into

complete insignificance, thus preparing the way for its later total abolition.

In Italy.

A similar development has taken place in Italy during the past year. On October 8th the Grand

Council of Fascism decreed the abolition of the Chamber of Deputies, which met for the last

time on November 30. With its death, all elections and all last vestiges of Italy's democratic past

came to an end. The place of the Chamber of Deputies will be taken by the Chamber of the

Fasces and Corporations, a body which will be composed exclusively of appointees by the

Government and the Fascist Party. This new Chamber will not be renewed at fixed intervals by

elections or by nominations, but will be a perennial institution. As soon as a new man is

appointed to the National Council of the Fascist Party or the National Council of Corporations he

will automatically become a member of the Chamber, and on the termination of his appointment

he will cease to be a member.

The growing Nazi influence in Italy expressed itself also during 1938 in the introduction of the

Prussian goose-step, under the name of passo Romano, into the Italian army, and in the order that

henceforth all officials and servants of the State in Italy must wear uniforms instead of civilian

clothes, as heretofore. In November 1938 cultural agreements were concluded between Germany

and Italy, and between Germany and Japan, to provide for the coordination of all intellectual and

artistic activities in these countries with the aim of creating 'the necessary basis for a real mutual

understanding.' This cultural pact will extend to the schools and universities of the three

countries, to a regular exchange of professors and students, to a study of their respective cultures

and languages, to a revision of textbooks in the new spirit and to all activities in the realm of the

radio, cinema, literature, and music. 'Repressive measures to be used against the politically

mendacious literature of political exiles, directed against the institutions and regimes of the

Fascist countries' are as much envisaged as 'efficacious collaboration of these countries for

international scientific meetings and congresses.' In the words of the leading Italian newspaper

commenting on the Italo-German pact, 'the forces of the two peoples are now coordinated to

make their common culture the exemplar of the new world civilization itself.'

Anti-Semitism.

In Italy.

This cultural pact between Italy and Germany was also declared to be an effort at 'training

popular mentality along parallel lines in order to make the Italo-German Association on

instinctive national reaction.' This is also the main reason for the introduction into Italy during

1938 of anti-Semitism after the German-Nazi model. The transformation in this respect of the

Italian governmental attitude, the press and public opinion within a very short time is one of the

most astonishing facts of contemporary history. Italy until 1938 had been remarkably free of any

anti-Semitism. The number of Jews in Italy is insignificant, little more than one tenth of one

percent. Italy had never known a Jewish problem, nor had the Fascist Party. There had been

many Jews in leading positions in the Fascist Party until the middle of 1938, and many Jews had

formed part of Mussolini's personal entourage. Fascism had not laid any stress upon race and

racial factors. As recently as February 16, 1938, the official Italian Informazione Diplomatica

declared in an official statement that 'the Fascist government had never thought, nor will it ever

think, of introducing political, economic or moral measures against the Jews, except so far as

individuals are concerned who are opposed to the régime.'

But the visit of Hitler to Rome in May, 1938 produced a surprisingly quick and radical about-

face in Italy. On July 15th a declaration of ten Fascist university professors, few of them well-

known in their field and most of them of the rank of assistant-professor or lecturer, was

published in the Italian press, defining the position of Fascism with regard to the problem of

race. According to them a pure Italian race now existed and it was time that the Italians frankly

proclaimed themselves racialists. 'The conception of racialism in Italy must be essentially Italian

and Aryan-Nordic in trend.' From that time on a violent anti-Semitic campaign was started in the

Italian press. The Jews were depicted as enemies of Italy and of Fascism, both in Italy and in the

whole world. The first official measures against the Jews in Italy were taken on September 5.

According to the new laws all Jews, who had established themselves after the World War in

Italy, or her possessions, had to leave within six months; they were forbidden to make their

permanent abode there in the future, and all grants of Italian citizenship to Jews since the World

War were revoked. The Italian Jews themselves were excluded both as teachers and as pupils,

from all Italian state or private schools, Jews were dismissed from all teaching positions as well

as from membership in academies and associations of science, literature and art.

These measures were only the beginning. Decree followed decree and in November new 'racial

laws' had aggravated the situation in Italy so much that conditions resembled those which had

existed in Germany at the beginning of 1938. Jews were excluded from membership in the

Fascist Party, from the possession of real estate above a very moderate value, from all

professions, and from participation in commerce and industry. Racial laws after the German

model prohibited intermarriage. Thus Fascism had fallen entirely in line with the Nazi

intellectual goose-step. Mussolini had derided anti-Semitism on several occasions and had

declared in 1927 that anti-Semitism and Fascism were incompatible. 'Fascism means unity; anti-

Semitism means destruction and discord. We in Italy find it utterly ridiculous when we hear how

the anti-Semites in Germany seek to flourish in the midst of Fascism. Anti-Semitism is a product

of barbarism.' As recently as 1932 he had his official biography written by the Jewish writer

Emil Ludwig, and was as friendly to Ludwig as the latter was to him. Now, on the contrary,

Mussolini has become the second leader in the world crusade started by the National Socialists

against Judaism, a crusade directed primarily against liberalism, democracy, and the spirit of

Christian brotherhood.

The Catholic Church immediately protested against the Italian racial decrees. Pope Pius XI

several times expressed his disagreement with Mussolini's new policy. Even before the Italian

Government decided upon any measures against the Jews, Pope Pius XI delivered on July 28 a

remarkable address in which he declared that the word Catholic means universal, not racial or

nationalistic in the separatist sense of these two terms. 'Catholic life means activity on the basis

of charity. Catholicism repudiates every separatism, it does not wish to separate the members of

the one human race. Men should never forget that all men form primarily a great and united

family, so that the whole human species is a single, world-embracing Catholic race.' The Pope

asked how it could happen that 'unfortunately Italy was imitating Germany.' 'The human reality

consists in the fact that we all are human beings, not wild beasts; human dignity consists in the

fact that we all form a single great family.' Later the Vatican tried again and again to war n Italy

against the introduction of racial theories, and also to protest against interference with the

marriage laws of the Church, but all these efforts proved in vain. They led, rather, to attacks by

the extremely Fascist press against the Catholic Church. The sudden rise of anti-Semitism in

Italy may be partly explained as an effort of the Italian Government to expropriate Italian Jews to

the profit of the Italian State, to counteract the Italian feeling of inferiority by the new racial

theory, and to lessen the growing discontent among the middle and professional classes by the

prospect of eliminating their Jewish competitors. However it is due primarily to an effort at

complete coordination with Nazi Germany and can be viewed as one of the symptoms of the

subordination of Italian Fascism to German National Socialism.

In Other Lands.

Under similar circumstances anti-Semitic legislation has been introduced in Hungary. There,

under the influence of growing Fascism, the Hungarian Parliament adopted in May 1938 a law

enacting sweeping restrictions on the economic, cultural and social position of the Jews. In

commerce, industry, banking, the press, stage and cinema and in all the liberal professions, their

number was strictly limited. Practically all liberal professions were closed to Jews in the future.

A very large number of Jews were deprived of their livelihood. Towards the end of 1938 further

sweeping restrictions against the Jews were announced. The growing influence of Nazi Germany

after the Pact of Munich was responsible for this aggravation of the situation. A similar

development had already taken place after the Pact of Munich in Slovakia where the local

government introduced a radical, anti-Semitic policy based on the plan of Nazi Germany.

Fascism in Democratic Countries.

As against the gains of Fascism in the international field may be set the losses of Fascism in

practically all of the democratic countries, in spite of frenzied Nazi and Fascist propaganda

generally carried on by residents of German and Italian nationality or descent within these

countries. This decline of Fascism was even noticed in some of the semi-Fascist countries. In

Yugoslavia, where the Government pursued a distinctly pro-Fascist policy in foreign affairs, the

election of December 11 practically wiped out the only Fascist party which went openly to the

polls, the Zbor. In Rumania, the end of the year witnessed resolute action by the Government to

suppress the Fascist Iron Guard whose leader Codreanu, was killed by Government force s.

In Poland the efforts of Colonel Koc to make the Government Party, or Camp of National

Concentration, into a totalitarian single party of the Fascist system, met with a complete failure.

The Polish workers, and especially the Polish peasants who form the large majority of the nation,

remained untouched by Fascist propaganda. The Polish Peasant Party remained loyal to its exiled

leader, the former Premier Vincent Witos, and did not cease to claim complete democracy in

Poland and cooperation with the left democratic opposition. New Parliamentary elections were

held in Poland in November, but as they were held according to the existing anti-democratic

electoral law, the opposition parties boycotted the elections. The newly elected Parliament had

the task of democratizing the electoral law. Meanwhile in December municipal elections were

held in the Polish cities on a democratic basis and resulted in a sweeping victory for the left-wing

opposition parties, thus proving that the general sentiment in the country, both in the cities and in

the villages was strongly anti-Fascist. In Estonia the new Constitution which came into effect in

1938 reintroduced certain democratic elements, and the Fascist movement of the 'Fighters for

Freedom,' which had seemed so strong in 1934, has lost all influence.

In the smaller democratic countries of Europe the Fascist parties everywhere practically

disappeared during 1938. In Belgium the Fascist group, the Rexists under the leadership of Leon

Degrelle, were completely eclipsed. In Switzerland the Federal Council prohibited in November

the further publication of three Nazi papers in Switzerland, Angriiy, Schucizerdegen, and

Schucizervolk, and dissolved the three pro-Nazi organizations, the Volksbund, Bund Treuer

Eidgenossen, and the ESAP. By the energetic action of the Federal police several centers of Nazi

and Fascist agitation and espionage were discovered. Swiss democracy accepted the slogan of

'moral rearmament' against the influences which penetrated the country from neighboring

Germany and Italy, and, on the whole, the sturdy character of the ancient peasant democracy of

Switzerland proved an unassailable barrier to Fascist influence.

Even more energetic was the action taken by the Finnish Government in the fail of 1938. The

Government forbade and dissolved the Patriotic Popular Movement, a radical right-wing group

under German-Nazi influence. All its eighteen newspapers were suspended, all its branches and

youth organizations, outlawed. The movement had had a certain influence on Finnish students

who had organized a youth militia with blue-black uniforms. The party counted according to its

own records more than fifty thousand registered members. The energetic action of the

Government stopped the growth of Nazi propaganda in Finland. The Finnish Government, in

which the Social Democrats participate, wish to preserve a close cooperation with the

Scandinavian democracies in which the Social Democrats are the leading party and the Fascist

groups have never risen above complete negligibility.

Democratic Scandinavia found herself, like Switzerland and Holland, on the defensive against

attempts of Nazi Germany to dictate the internal policies of her neighbors. This effort of Nazi

Germany was especially felt after the great triumph at the Conference of Munich. Nazi

propaganda material swept through these countries, and Germany repeatedly exercised pressure

upon their newspapers to refrain from any criticism of Germany. Germany tried to have all

international events presented and commented upon in a way friendly to Germany and Italy and

unfavorable to Great Britain and France. In case of noncompliance with the German demands,

commercial reprisals were threatened against the country, or in minor cases against the

newspaper in the form of the loss of all German advertisements. Thus the democratic press has

been effectively muzzled by the Nazi Government, even in the democracies outside of Germany.

The gradual coordination of democratic countries was due not to the strength of any native

Fascist movements, which are completely negligible, but to the brutal and unscrupulous use of

Germany's power and influence after the peace of Munich.

With her growing influence Germany has tried to enforce her anti-Jewish attitude in the

democratic countries. Sweden's Foreign Minister, Richard Sandler, charged that the Swedish

concerns doing business with Germany have been informed that it is not proper for them to have

'non-Aryan' staffs, and that German subsidiaries of Swedish concerns have been asked to furnish

information on the 'Aryan' character of their staff and capital, not only of the German part of the

concern, but also of the parent company located and registered in Sweden. Thus Fascism tries to

undermine the strong foundations of democracy in traditionally democratic countries.

The same efforts were made, although of course in a much lesser degree, in France and Great

Britain. There, too, the native Fascist movements proved entirely ineffective and did not appeal

to the overwhelming majority of the people. The British Fascist movement under the leadership

of Sir Oswald Mosley, and the two Fascist or semi-Fascist groups in France, the Croix de Feu

under the leadership of Colonel La Rocque, and the French Social Party under the leadership of

Jacques Doriot, made no headway whatsoever. But since the Pact of Munich the weakness of

democratic leadership has been a stimulant to Fascist propaganda. The Nazis have tried to

impose restrictions upon the freedom of the press and upon public utterances which criticized the

Nazi régime, and also to propagate anti-Semitism. It should be said, however, that Colonel La

Rocque has frequently and officially repudiated anti-Semitism and all racial theories. Now

however anti-Semitism, under Nazi propaganda and Nazi pressure, has found entrance into

France as well.

Fascism in South America.

There has been much talk lately of the invasion of Latin America by Fascist propaganda. There

is no doubt that Fascism has made strenuous efforts at political, economic and cultural control of

the Latin-American countries. Japanese, German, and Italian propaganda have cooperated in the

closest way, and their propaganda has been supported by the large German and Italian colonies

in the Latin-American countries. The local newspapers were provided with articles, news and

pictures stressing the Fascist view and praising Fascist achievements. The radio and the moving

pictures have reflected the same influence. The system of economic penetration used so

successfully by Germany in the Balkans has been repeated in Latin America, and barter

agreements with these countries have provided the necessary raw materials for Germany and

flooded the Latin-American countries with German exports, followed by German engineers and

technicians.

The propaganda in these countries was not only pro-Fascist, it was, at the same time, anti-

democratic. It tried to convince the Latin Americans of the decay of democracy and the

democratic countries, and to instill in them a deep dislike and distrust for France, Great Britain

and especially for the United States. The Latin Americans were told not to believe in the Good-

Neighbor policy of the great North American brother and to see in its appeal for cooperation

nothing but a veiled imperialism. The Pan-American Conference at Lima. Peru, in December

1938 furnished the United States with an opportunity to reaffirm her Good-Neighbor policy. At

the conference, the United States tried to establish a common front of all the Americas against

the menace of Fascism. But Fascist counter-propaganda was active before and during the

Conference, and induced a number of South American states, especially Argentina, to offer

strong opposition to any far-reaching declaration of solidarity.

In spite, however, of all Fascist machinations a declaration o f the solidarity of America, called

the Declaration of Lima, was signed on December 24. (See INTERNATIONAL

CONFERENCES.) Although this declaration did not go nearly as far as the creation of an

American League of Nations or of a Pact of Mutual Assistance, which had been hoped for by

some of the American democracies, it went further in stressing anti-Fascist solidarity between

the United States and Latin America than the stand of Argentina had at first allowed one to hope.

Repression of Fascism in South America.

Fascist movements within the Latin American countries did not fare too well during 1938. In

Brazil President Getulio Vargas introduced an open dictatorship by his coup d’état on Nov. 10,

1933 (see BRAZIL). This dictatorship was regarded by many as the open introduction of

Fascism into the largest South American State. In a similar way the Nazi uprising in Santiago,

Chile, on Sept. 5, 1938, seemed to point toward the domination of Latin America by Fascist

groups. But the régime of President Vargas cannot be called Fascist. At the first anniversary of

the régime. President Vargas declared that Brazil will continue its policy against foreign 'isms'

and for Pan-American collaboration. He stressed that immigration was welcome and that

Brazilians favored no racial prejudice.

There was a native Fascist movement in Brazil, the Integralistas, who tried one uprising during

1938, but this was quickly suppressed by President Vargas. As a consequence of alleged ties

between the Integralistas and official German circles, the Brazilian Government recalled its

Ambassador from Berlin and at the same time asked the German Government not to return the

German Ambassador Dr. Karl Ritter to Brazil. Dr. Ritter had been suspected of close cooperation

with the Integralistas. Since then the Brazilian Government has suppressed with great energy not

only the remnants of the Integralist movement but also all foreign political and cultural activities.

Its measures were especially directed against the very large and very influential German colonies

in Southern Brazil, which had maintained their own German schools and had remained

practically unassimilated to Brazilian life.

The present German Government looks upon these South-American Germans as a national

minority which it wishes to make racially conscious. The Brazilian Foreign Minister Dr.

Oswaldo Aranha, whose sympathies are with the democracies and the United States, has

energetically repudiated all efforts to create a German minority problem in Brazil. In 1938 the

Brazilian Government prohibited the use of pictures of Hitler, of German flags and anthems in

the German schools in Brazil. From now on all text-books and all illustrative material must be in

Portuguese and must express Brazilian mentality and aspirations. No school in Brazil may now

be supported or maintained by a foreign Government or institution. Thus the Brazilian

Government, in a newly awakened Brazilian nationalism, is making a definite effort to assimilate

German and other foreign-born elements and their descendants and to wean them away from

their old loyalties.

Similar efforts are being made in Argentina, where, in the German private schools, the history of

the National Socialist Party was taught more fully than Argentine history or the Spanish

language. The Argentine Government published two decrees in May and July 1938, directing

emphasis, in the whole educational system including private schools, on the national Argentine

character as against all foreign influences. All political propaganda, and especially all racial

doctrine, has been strictly forbidden in Argentine schools. The teachers are ordered to teach

above all a deepened knowledge and understanding of Argentine history and of the Constitution.

All private schools must display only the national symbols and the portraits of national heroes of

Argentina. The curriculum and text-books of all private schools are to be submitted to the

Government for approval. Private schools are licensed only for one year with renewals only

when such schools fulfill all the requirements. In this way it is expected that the great influence

of German and Italian Fascist teachers upon the youth in Brazil and Argentina will quickly

disappear.

In the fall of 1938 Uruguay became more democratic after a dictatorship under former President

Gabriel Terra. The new President, General Baldomir, declared that the democratic spirit has been

the strongest bond between Uruguay and the United States and that it will continue to be so. 'It

would be absurd even to think that exotic and extreme tendencies could filter into America,

where the atmosphere is so propitious for political liberty and respect for human personality.

Recent world events have fortified even more this natural tendency of our peoples, whose

temperament rejects any solution not based on right and justice. Our peoples have been born only

to understand each other and to progress together under the great banner of democracy, which

covers us all alike.'

In Chile the National Socialist party staged a revolt in September 1938. This National Socialist

Party, under the leadership of Gonzalez von Marecs, wished to give the executive power greater

influence, but it seemed otherwise free of the racial or religious ideologies characteristic of

European Fascism. The uprising was quickly suppressed. In the subsequent presidential elections

this National Socialist Party, which had only a few followers, allied itself with the left-wing

groups, the Radical Liberals, the Socialists and the Communists, to form a Popular Front. This

Popular Front succeeded in electing its candidate. Pedro Aguirre Serda, as President of the

Republic against Gustavo Ross, the candidate of the rightist parties, who was supported by the

Conservatives and the Moderate Liberals. The new president, who took up his office on

December 24, heads the most left-wing government in South America at present. The new

president declared after his election that the Chileans have long been friends of the United States

and that they desire to cooperate with President Roosevelt in making this hemisphere a bulwark

for democracy, thus setting up a barrier to the advances of Fascism.

United States and Fascism.

With the weakening of democracy in Europe, caused by the stand taken by the British and

French Governments at Munich, and with the growing threat of Fascist propaganda in Latin

America and of Japanese domination of the Far East, the center of democracy has definitely

shifted during the last year to the United States. This new situation has not only increased, in an

unprecedented way, the importance of the United States in world politics and in the world

movement of ideas, but has also made the United States the leader in the struggle for democracy.

The Fascist countries have begun to look upon the United States as the main obstacle to Fascist

world domination. They have therefore made it the chief target of frequently violent and

scurrilous attacks. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull have in

many of their speeches and proclamations shown that they regard the United States as

determined to look upon democracy as the only human and reasonable way of national and of

international life.

In spite of vehement Fascist propaganda conducted in this country by small groups, made up

mostly of American citizens of German or Italian descent. Fascism has made little headway in

the United States. Its main agent was the German-American Bund under the leadership of Fritz

Kuhn. Occasionally it has been suggested that the radio addresses and the weekly journal of

Father Coughlin support Fascist tendencies. In general however Fascism has made probably

more progress in certain parts of Canada, especially in French Canada, although it did not

achieve, outside the province of Quebec, any outstanding success. On the whole the people of

North America remained during 1938 not only faithful to the ideas of democracy, but, in face of

growing threats to democracy, they became more conscious of the implications and the dignity

of democracy. Their horror at the excesses of Fascism in Europe and a t the orgy of persecution in

Fascist countries was outspoken. The vacillating and weak attitude of democratic statesmen in

Europe, in the face of bold Fascist aggression, was generally deprecated by the American press

and public. Most Americans probably agree with the declaration which Secretary of State

Cordell Hull made in a remarkable address before the Bar Association of Tennessee in June

1938. There he said, speaking of the situation of democracy and international relations in the

world today:

'There was never a time in our national history when the influence of the United States in the

support of international law was more urgently needed than at present — to serve both our own

best interests and those of the entire human race. The world is today in the grip of a severe

upheaval the outcome of which will affect profoundly the future of mankind. . . . At this crucial

juncture of history, it is our nation's duty to itself to make its appropriate contribution toward

preservation and advancement of the principles of international law and of the orderly and

cooperative processes of international relations, which have evolved with — and have, in turn,

promoted — the development of civilization. In the years which lie ahead, the chances that

international anarchy and lawlessness will be replaced by order under law, largely depend upon

the sincerity and firmness with which some nations, at least, maintain their devotion to the

principles of international law, resting in turn upon the foundation of coopera tion, justice and

morality. I can wish for our country no more glorious course than to be a leader in devotion to

these principles and in service of their preservation and advancement.' See also ITALY;

GERMANY; JAPAN.