Alternatives to Democracy in Twentieth-Century Europe examines the historical examples of Soviet Communism, Italian Fascism, German Nazism, and Spanish Anarchism, suggesting that, in spite of their differences, they had some key features in common, in particular their shared hostility to individualism, representative government, laissez faire capitalism, and the decadence they associated with modern culture. But rather than seeking to return to earlier ways of working these movements and regimes sought to design a new future – an alternative future – that would restore the nation to spiritual and political health. The Fascists, for their part, specifically promoted palingenesis, which is to say the spiritual rebirth of the nation. The book closes with a long epilogue, in which Ramet defends liberal democracy, highlighting its strengths and advantages. In this chapter, the author identifies five key choke points, which would-be authoritarians typically seek to control, subvert, or instrumentalize: electoral rules, the judiciary, the media, hate speech, and surveillance, and looks at the cases of Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, Jarosław Kaczyński’s Poland, and Donald Trump’s United States.

The increasing radicalization of political life in most countries in Europe lends special relevance to studies of the antifascist legacies on the continent. This insightful collection of essays is an in-depth review of antifascism in Slovenia, setting it in the context of related movements elsewhere in Europe. The period treated by the 19 essays comprises the interwar period, World War Two, and the post-war decades. The comparative and transnational perspectives advanced by the volume change our understanding of antifascism. The essays deal with the right-wing but also left-wing instrumentalization of antifascism, with a particular focus on the communist and post-communist periods. The authors point out that antifascism comes in various strains, whether inspired by liberalism, social democracy, communism, monarchism, anarchism, or even Christian conservatism. The contributors bring to light several overlooked antifascist actors, campaigns, and organisations, mostly in Slovenia and the Adriatic area.

Transatlantic democracy in the 20th century - this concept goes beyond the idea of an American civilizing mission in Europe after two World Wars, and certainly beyond the notion of re-educating Germans, and making them fit for Western institutions after Nazism. As democracy is being contested anew in the beginning of the 21st century, a much more complicated landscape of democracy since 1900 emerges. Transfer was not a one-way-street, and patterns of conflict and transformation affected both American and European political societies. American democracy may not be reduced to a resilient defense of original traditions, while the narrative of German democracy is more than redemption from catastrophe. The essays in this volume contribute to a new history of transatlantic democracy that accounts for its manifold experiences and constant renegotiations, up to the current challenges of American and European populism.

Europeanization is a term at the centre of contemporary political debate. In this innovative study, a team of British and German historians present the findings of their research project into how the concept and content of Europeanization needs to be understood as a historical phenomenon, which has changed its meaning during the twentieth century.

A major new history of how democracy became the dominant political force in Europe in the second half of the twentieth century What happened in the years following World War II to create a democratic revolution in the western half of Europe? In Western Europe's Democratic Age, Martin Conway provides an innovative new account of how a stable, durable, and remarkably uniform model of parliamentary democracy emerged in Western Europe—and how this democratic ascendancy held fast until the latter decades of the twentieth century. Drawing on a wide range of sources, Conway describes how Western Europe's postwar democratic order was built by elite, intellectual, and popular forces. Much more than the consequence of the defeat of fascism and the rejection of Communism, this democratic order rested on universal male and female suffrage, but also on new forms of state authority and new political forces—primarily Christian and social democratic—that espoused democratic values. Above all, it gained the support of the people, for whom democracy provided a new model of citizenship that reflected the aspirations of a more prosperous society. This democratic order did not, however, endure. Its hierarchies of class, gender, and race, which initially gave it its strength, as well as the strains of decolonization and social change, led to an explosion of demands for greater democratic freedoms in the 1960s, and to the much more contested democratic politics of Europe in the late twentieth century. Western Europe's Democratic Age is a compelling history that sheds new light not only on the past of European democracy but also on the unresolved question of its future.

By assessing totalitarianism in a more deeply historical way, this study suggests how we might learn further lessons from this troubling phase of modern political development."--Jacket.

By developing a long-term supranational perspective, this ambitious, multi-faceted work provides a new understanding of ‘totalitarianism’, the troubling common element linking Soviet communism, Italian fascism and German Nazism. The book’s original analysis of antecedent ideas on the subject sheds light on the common origins and practices of the regimes. Through this fresh appreciation of their initial frame of mind, Roberts demonstrates how the three political experiments yielded unprecedented collective mobilization but also a characteristic combination of radicalization, myth-making, and failure. Providing deep historical analysis, the book proves that 'totalitarianism' best characterizes the common features in the originating aspirations, the mode of action and even the outcomes of Soviet communism, Italian fascism and German Nazism. By enhancing our knowledge of what ‘totalitarianism’ was and where it came from, Roberts affords important lessons about the ongoing challenges, possibilities, and dangers of the modern political experiment.

Social justice has returned to the heart of political debate in present-day Europe. But what does it mean in different national histories and political regimes, and how has this changed over time? This book provides the first historical account of the evolution of notions of social justice across Europe since the late nineteenth century. Written by an international team of leading historians, the book analyses the often-divergent ways in which political movements, state institutions, intellectual groups, and social organisations have understood and sought to achieve social justice. Conceived as an emphatically European analysis covering both the eastern and western halves of the continent, Social Justice in Twentieth-Century Europe demonstrates that no political movement ever held exclusive ownership of the meaning of social justice. Conversely, its definition has always been strongly contested, between those who would define it in terms of equality of conditions, or of opportunity; the security provided by state authority, or the freedom of personal initiative; the individual rights of a liberal order, or the social solidarities of class, nation, confession, or Volk.

The first comprehensive account of civil liberties activism throughout twentieth-century Britain, focusing primarily on the National Council for Civil Liberties.

Exam Board: Edexcel Level: AS/A-level Subject: History First Teaching: September 2015 First Exam: June 2016 Endorsed for Edexcel Enable your students to develop high-level skills in their Edexcel A level History breadth and depth studies through expert narrative and extended reading, including bespoke essays from leading academics - Build a strong understanding of the period studied with authoritative, well-researched content written in an accessible and engaging style - Ensure continual improvement in students' essay writing, interpretation and source analysis skills, using practice questions and trusted guidance on successfully answering exam-style questions - Encourage students to undertake rolling revision and self-assessment by referring to end-of-chapter summaries and diagrams across the years - Help students monitor their progress and consolidate their knowledge through note-making activities and peer-support tasks - Provide students with the opportunity to analyse and evaluate works of real history, with specially commissioned historians' essays and extracts from academic works on the historical interpretations