Roger Griffin adopted a Weberian ideal-type methodology to define the nature of Fascism. On this basis he criticized the typological definition of Fascism put forward by Payne. Adopting Georges Sorel's theory of political myth, Griffin argued that Fascism can be defined in terms not of a common ideological component, but of a common mythic core. According to Griffin, "Fascism is a genus of political ideology whose mythic core in its various permutations is a palingenetic form of populist ultra-nationalism."
                This definition combines two central components; first the palingenetic myth of rebirth and regeneration defined as "the vision of a revolutionary new order which supplies the effective power of an ideology". Second Fascism as "Ultranationalism" referring to a form of nationalism that explicitly rejects liberal institutions and the humanist legacy of enlightenment. Fascism thus emerges when populist ultra-nationalism combines with the myth of a radical crusade against decadence and for renewal in every sphere of national life . The result is an ideology which operates a mythic core celebrating the unity and sovereignty of the whole people in a specifically anti-liberal and anti-Marxist sense.
             The mythic core that forms the basis of Griffin's generic fascism is the vision of the percieved crisis of the nation as indicating the birth-pangs of a new order. The idea that 'nation' is an entity which can decay and be regenerated, implies something diametrically opposed to what libearals understand by it. According to Griffin, Fascists felt he had been fatefully born at a watershed between national decline and national regeneration, a feeling that alchemically converted all pessimism and cultural despair into a manic sense of purpose and optimism. His task it was to prepare the ground for the new breed of men, the homo fascists, who would instinctively form part of the revitalized national community without having first to purge himself of the selfish reflexes inculcated by a civilization sapped by egotism and materialism.

               Anti-liberal   -    Griffin propounded that Fascism's call for the regeneration of the national community through a heroic struggle against its alleged enemies and the forces undermining it. It involves the radical rejection of liberalism in all its aspects ; pluralism, tolerance, individualism, pacifism, parliamentary democracy, the separation of powers, egalitarianism etc.

                Anti-conservative   -  For Griffin,   The centrality to fascism is a myth of the nation's regeneration within a new order implies a rejection of illiberal conservative politics, as well as of liberal and authoritarian conservative solution to the current crisis. In other words, in the context of fascism 'rebirth' means 'new birth' , 'a new order', one which might draw inspiration from the past but doesn't seek to turn the clock back. However two factors have obscurred fascism's revolutionary, forward looking thrust. First, in order to achieve power in the inter-war period fascism was forced to ally itself with conservative force on the basis of common enemies and common priorities.                Second fascist ideologues frequently attach great importance to allegedly glorious epochs in the nation's past and the heroes which embody them. They do so not out of nostalgia, but to remind the people of the nation's 'true' nature and its destiny to rise once more to historical greatness.

                         Charismatic form of Politics  -   Since to use Weberian terminology, fascism rejects both the traditional politics of the ancien regime and the legal rational politics of liberalism and socialism, it follows charismatic form of politics. This doesn't necessarily involve the epitome of such politics, the leader cult.                 All political ideologies are prone to assume a charismatic aspect when they operate as revolutionary forces - liberalism did, for eg ; in French Revolution. It is significant, though, that fascism remained a charismatic form of politics in the two cases where it managed to install itself in power.

               Fascist Socialism  -   Griffin argued that, if it is core mobilizing myth of the imminent rebirth of the nation that forms the definitional core of fascism, it follows that the various fascist negations(anti-communism, anti-liberalism etc) are corollaries of this positive belief not definitional components. The same myth explains the recurrent claim by fascist ideologues that their vision of the new order is far from anti-socialist. Hitler had a shadow of left way thinking.

              Link to Totalitarianism   -   In the words of Griffin, Also implicit in fascism's mythic core is the drive  towards totalitarianism. For from being driven by Nihilism or Barbarism, the convinced fascist is a Utopian, conceiving the homogeneous, perfectly co-ordinated national community as a total solution to the problems of modern society. Fortunately for humanity only two fascist movements have been in a position to attempt to implement their total solutions to society's alleged woes, namely Fascism and Nazism.

            Heterogeneity of fascism's social support  -   Griffin is of the view that, Fascism has no specific class basis in its support. If middle class were over represented in the membership of Fascism and Nazism. This is because specific socio-political conditions made a significant percentage of them more susceptible to a palingenetic form of Ultranationalism than to a palingenetic form of Marxism or liberalism.

             Fascist racism -     For Griffin, By its nature, fascism is racist, since all ultra nationalism are racist in their celebration of the alleged virtues and greatness of an organically concieved nation or culture. Fascism is also intrinsically anti-cosmopolitan, axiomatically rejecting as decadent liberal vision of the multicultural, multi-religious, multi-racial society. This type of fascism thus tends to produce an apartheid mentality calling for ethnically pure nation states, for foreigners to go back, or be returned, to 'where they belong' , and a vitriolic hatred of 'mixed marriages' and 'cultural bastardization'.
     
                         Fascist Internationalism -  Fascism, anti-internationalist in the sense of regarding national distinctiveness and identity as primordial values, is quite capable of generating its own form of universalism or internationalism by fostering a bond with fascists in other countries engaged in an equivalent struggle for their own nation's palingenesis, often againts common enemies(e.g. liberals, communists). In Europe, this may well lead to a sense of fighting for a common European homeland on the basis of Europe's alleged cultural, historical, or even genetic unity in contrast to non-Christian, non-Indo European(e.g. Muslims, Asian Soviet, Chinese Communists) or degenerated ones. Within such a Europe, national or ethnic identities would, according to the fascist blueprint, be strengthened, not diluted.

             Fascist eclecticism  -   For Griffin, an important feature of this charismatic and identificatory form of nationalism is its eclecticism: it can be rationalised through a wide variety of regenerationist myth drawing on historical or pseudoscientific facts. Inevitably each fascism will be made in the image or imagining of a particular national culture, but even within the same movement or party its most influential ideologues will inevitably represent a wide range of ideas and theories sometimes quite incompatible with each other except at the level of a shared mythic core of palingenetic Ultra-nationalism. Fascism is thus inherently syncretic, bringing heterogeneous current of ideas into a loose alliance united only by the common struggle for a new order. As a result there is in fascist thought a recurrent element of synthesis.

                  Griffin argued that it is worth adding that , in its self-creation through synthesis, fascist ideology can draw just an early on right-wing forms of thought as on forms of left wing thought. It is also implicit in what has been said that fascism is not necessarily confined to inter-war Europe, but can flourish wherever the stability of Western style liberal democracy is threatened by a particular conjuncture of destabilising forces.

The International Brigades

Introduction

                     

The Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936-1939, is often thought of as a prelude to the Second World War, a testing ground used by the Great Powers in the great war to come. Spain had seen some major political, social and economic turmoil during the first few decades of the 20th century. Catalonian and Basque nationalism, rise of socialist and anarchist groups, a costly war in North Africa, a short lived dictatorship from 1923-30 led by General Primo de Rivera, end of monarchy, failure of second republic  all contributed to the turmoil. After gaining majority by leftist coalition in 1936 election, the situation became unstable politically, and anarchy broke out in many parts of the country , with the burning of churches and violence on the streets. The right became convinced that they were in the midst if a revolution and began to plan a counter-revolution with the military. The murder of a prominent member of the CEDA (a right wing party) on the 13th of July set off the Civil War .
          
                The country was soon split between Nationalist and Republican (Popular Front) strongholds. North Africa and northern Spain were soon under Nationalist control. Already in the early stages of the war, General Franco and his force were transported with the help of tge Germans and Italians over from N. Africa to Spain. Without their help , Franco would not have been able to move his troops. Italy and Germany were main backers of Nationalist Spain, as the stated some ideological similarities, and Spain provided good testing grounds for their new weaponry and tactics.

Western Democracies and Non-Intervention Policies

          

  The Western Democracies involved in the Civil War were mainly fueled with motives in regards to the benefits of their own countries.
               
        In France, the popular front was seen as a natural ally to Spain.However, it did not offer much support because it still wanted to remain close allies with UK who wanted to prevent the possible confrontation with Italy and Germany. Initially, the French Prime Minister, Leon Blun, agreed to help the Popular Front by sending artillery and aircraft to their aid. However, after coming under pressure from the British and the more right-winged members of his cabinet, Leon Blum withdraw his support from popular front.
            Britain, led by a conservative government in 1936, feared the spread of international communism, and was partially sympathetic to the Nationalist uprising in Spain. The Labour party also originally supported the policy of non-intervention, but when it became apparent that Italy and Germany were determined to help the Nationalist triumph, they urged for British aid to be sent to the Popular Front.
However, Britain did not send any aid to Spain.
            Britain and France set up a Non-Intervention Neutrality Act in 1936, which was to deny both participants military aid, even the legitimate government. The committee consisted of 27 members including Italy, Germany, and the USSR, which all sent military aid to the warring parties in the civil war. Initially , Hitler tried to disguise his aid to Nationalist forces by sending them via Portugal.

Soviet Union

              J. Briones. The Republican Left Thank the Russian People for Help.

         

  Comintern (Communist International) had control over the Communist Party in Spain. The Spanish Communist Party had 38,000 members in spring 1936; increased to 200,000 at the end of 1936. Subsequently, the membership grew up to 300,000 by March 1937.

         The motive behind Stalin's aid to Spain was to haul the progress of the war and to weaken Italy and Germany so the USSR would gain military advantage when a possible war between USSR and the two nations occurs. Stalin was worried by the spread of fascism in Europe and the thread it posed to the Soviet Union , was willing to send aid in order to stop the Nationalists from gaining power.The Communist takeover of Spain largely contributed of the collapse of Republican Government. The Comminst party required total loyalty to the party and accordance to authorities in Moscow. In fact, such party accordance and advantage was what the Republicans lacked. Due to deprivations caused by war, the Republicans lost the momentum and will to continue on.

                       The USSR was the main supporter and also the biggest provider of military material to the Republican forces.During the war , the USSR sent 1000 aircrafts, 350 tanks , 1500 artillery pieces, 300 armoured cars, 15000 machine guns, 30,000 automatic firearms, 30,000 mortars, 500,000 rifles and 30,000 tons of ammunition. Stalin expected to be paid in gold for the aid , as Spain happened to have the world's fourth largest gold reserves, were shipped to the Soviet Union during the conflict.

Germany

                                           Franco and Hitler, 1936

        

       The friendship between the Franco and Hitler started from the 25th of July 1936, when the Hitler agreed to support the nationalists. Immediately after the request, Hitler sent 20 transport planes to Franco. Later in the war , he provided the Nationalists with artillery , small arms, tanks and vehicles. Most importantly, he offered full support by offering the Nationalists the help of the German airforce.

                      Hitler had several far sight policies , which he was able to pursue by aiding Franco's Nationalist forces.The notion of a third fascist or fascist friendly power on France border appealed to him. Hitler also saw an oppurtunity to move closer to Mussolini and Italy by aiding the Nationalists. His aim was to keep Fascist Italy and Britain and France at loggerheads, and , therefore, secure a relatively powerful ideological and military ally. Hitler was also interested insome of the raw materials a Spain under Franco could provide for the German war industry, such as iron, copper, mercury, and pyrites.

                         "A total of 19000 Germans served in the Spanish Civil War. Of these , 298 were lost, with 173 being killed by the enemy. This included 102 aircrews , 27 fighter pilots and 21 anti-aircraft crew. A large number were killed in accidents and other died of illness. the Condor Legion lost 72 aircrafts to enemy section. Another 160 were lost in clying accidents."

                     Germany provide much more than Condor Legion. The Condor Legion represented their direct intervention in the war; the Condor Legion had no control over the armour Germany provided to Spain, which was under control of Spanish officers and staffs. The Germans also provided much of the training staff for newly arrived equipment and for Spanish artillery. It also provided modern aircrafts ( such as ME-109) to the nationalist front which were superior to Soviet aircraft provided to the Republicans.

Italy

             Oliver. The claw of the Italian invader. (Madrid City Council, 1937) 

Mussolini had already had contact with right-wing groups in Spain prior to the war, and had, in 1934, promised immediate aid in the case of a of an uprising. By aiding Nationalist Spain, Mussolini worsened relations between Italy and the western democracies, and was driven closer to Hitler. The western democracies had still hoped that they may improve ties with Italy after the Abyssinian War, but intervention in the Spanish Civil War torpedoed the notion entirely.

As a whole, Mussolini supported the Nationalists from before the Spanish Civil War. At the outbreak of war, Mussolini made a secret agreement with Franco in November 1936. This agreement stated that Italy would have Franco's support in the event of a war with France. In return, Mussolini promised to send aid to the monarchists during the Spanish Civil War.

                         As a result, the government of Italy helped the nationalist forces in Spain by sending resources and personel from the different Italian army corps. Together, they became known as the CTV (Corpo Truppe Volontarie) sending both military volunteers, aircraft and tanks. By 1937, a total of 50,000 Italians were fighting for the Nationalists. By the end of the Spanish Civil War, a total of approximately 75,000 Italians fought in Spain for the Nationalists.

                        However research show that Italy did not join the Nationalist's cause immediately when the war started.  The contacts with Italy which gained their aid during the initial period of war were established after the alzamiento.  The figures for the war material sent to the Nationalists during the war are also terribly wrong. In February 1937 the Italian CTV (Corpo Truppe Volontarie numbered about 49,700 strong; this force was frustrated and defeated at the Battle of Guadalajara. Furthermore, the mechanization offered by Italy during the war was completely inferior compared to Soviet armor (as were the Panzer Is sent by Germany).






  

The International Brigades

 

        Internationalists, unite with Spanish people. (International Brigades, 1937)



          Apart from the aid sent by the Soviet Union, relatively little real military aid came through to Republican Spain, except  in the form of the International Brigades, made up of volunteers who arrived mostly for ideological reasons.  The International Brigades, formed by a the Soviet Union's Comintern, composed of military volunteers supporting the Republicans. The group of volunteers were anti-fascists, spanning from anarchists, socialists and communists. Over the course of the Spanish Civil War, a total of 35,000 men from 53 nations volunteered for the International Brigades. However, there were never more than 800 volunteers present at one time.
                  The recruitment of volunteers of the International Brigades was organized in Paris. Here, the volunteers were organized and separated. Despite their claims of having the volunteers prepared as "properly trained menw ith good rifles, a well-equipped corps", the men who went in to war, were often defenseless, merely knowing the standard procedures of marching and turning.