Fascist Ideology is a comparative study of the expansionist foreign policies of fascist Italy and Nazi Germany from 1922-1945.
Fascist Ideology provides a comparative investigation of fascist expansionism by focusing on the close relations between ideology and action under Mussolini and Hitler. With an overview of the ideological motivations behind fascist expansionism and their impact on fascist policies, this book explores the two main issues which have dominated the historiographical debates on the nature of fascist expansionism: whether Italy's and Germany's particular expansionist tendancies can be attributed to a set of generic fascist values, or were shaped by the long term, uniquely national ambitions and developments since unification; whether the pursuit of expansion was opportunistic or followed a grand design in each case.
Introduction The validity of a comparative approach to fascism: Italy and Germany 1 Italian and German expansionism in the longue durée 2 Fascist ideology and territorial expansion 3 Foreign policy decision-making processes under fascist rule 4 Fascist expansionism in practice: foreign policy making (1922-39) 5 Between co-operation and rivalry: relations between the two regimes 6 Fascist expansionism and war (1939-45) Conclusions
