Neo-fascism

The term neo-fascism defines primarily those political and ideological groups and parties that operated after 1945, especially in Europe, and which were directly inspired by the experience of the inter-war fascist and Nazi regimes in Germany, Italy, and other European countries. These groups were often made up of remnants of fascist and Nazi activists who were not prepared to give up their political militancy or indeed to renounce their ideologies despite military defeat. Many held radical and uncompromising views, emphasizing the revolutionary nature of fascism rather than its more 'reassuring'nationalist or statist version. This article analyses neo-fascism after the Second World War; neo-fascism and anti-communism in the United States; neo-fascism during the Cold War; the second-generation neo-fascists after 1968; the extreme right today; and the neo-fascist legacy.