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Fascism in Asia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fascist movements and ideologies gained varying degrees of popularity across Asia during the interwar period (between World War I and World War II). These developments were often characterised by a synthesis of European fascist models – such as Italian fascism and Nazism – with indigenous ultranationalism, traditionalist conservatism, and anti-colonial sentiment. Some movements, such as those in Japan during the Showa era, achieved state power; however, others remained fringe political entities or served as paramilitary adjuncts to broader nationalist fronts.[1]

East Asia

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China

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Similarities between China in the 21st century and classical fascist regimes lie in two areas: their proximity to state capitalism (rather than orthodox communism), and their anti-democratic, anti-labour, and chauvinistic expansionism.[2] However, other authors have called such descriptions of China "superficial".[3] For example, historian John Delury criticised the use of the term fascist to describe contemporary China,[4] and journalist Edward Luce termed such analogies "ahistorical".[5]

Japan

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Emperor-system fascism

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"Emperor-system fascism" (天皇制ファシズム, Tennōsei fashizumu)[6][7] reflects a view that ultranationalistic politics, society, and ideas based on the Empire of Japan's "Emperor system" were a type of fascism lasting until the end of World War II.

Taisei Yokusankai

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The Imperial Rule Assistance Association (大政翼賛会, Taisei Yokusankai) was created by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940. The association evolved into a militaristic and para-fascist[8] political party that aimed to remove sectionalism from the politics and economy of the Empire of Japan. The goal was to create a totalitarian one-party state, in order to maximise the efficiency of Japan's total war effort during World War II.[9]

Tohokai

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Tohokai was a Japanese Nazi party formed by journalist and politician Seigo Nakano.[10]

National Socialist Workers' Party

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The National Socialist Japanese Workers' Party is a small neo-Nazi party that is now classified as an uyoku dantai (a small Japanese ultranationalist far-right group).[11]

South Asia

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India

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Image
Once the flag of the historical Maratha Empire, the Bhagwa Dhwaj (saffron flag) has since been appropriated as a symbol of the Hindutva ideology.

Hindutva is a far-right Hindu nationalist ideology. Inspired by the rise of fascist movements in Interwar Europe, Hindutva was formulated by politician and ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1922.[12][13] The ideology is championed by several organisations: the Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),[14][15] and other organisations – collectively called the Sangh Parivar. Hindutva has been described as "almost fascist in the classical sense", following a concept of homogenised majority and cultural hegemony.[16][17] Some analysts dispute the "fascist" label and suggest that Hindutva is an extreme form of conservatism or ethno-nationalism.[18] Some Hindutva organisations advocate the irredentist concept of Akhand Bharat (unified Greater India).[19] Since the 2014 general election and the subsequent prime ministership of Narendra Modi, India has seen a significant mainstreaming of Hindutva within state discourse.[20][21]

Indian independence activist and militant nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose insisted on the union of Nazism and communism, in what he termed "Sāmyavāda".[22]

Pakistan

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Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party is considered fascist by some analysts because of its engagement in Islamic extremism and militant terrorism.[23][24]

West Asia

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Iran

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Fascism in Iran was represented by the SUMKA (Hezb-e Sosialist-e Melli-ye Kargaran-e Iran; transl. National Socialist Workers Party of Iran), a neo-Nazi party founded by the former SS member Davud Monshizadeh in 1952. SUMKA copied not only the ideology of the Nazi Party but also that group's style – adopting the swastika, the black shirt and the Hitler salute. At the same time, Monshizadeh sought to cultivate an appearance like that of Adolf Hitler.[25] The group became associated with opposition to Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and the Tudeh Party.[25] The Azure Party and the Aria Party were other fascist groups in Iran. In addition, the contemporary Pan-Iranist Party is a right-wing group that has been viewed as fascist because it adhered to chauvinism and irredentism.[26] After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, right-wing populist politician and former ultraconservative ("deviant current") Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was suspected of being a "fascist".[27][28][29]

Iraq

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The Al-Muthanna Club (Arabic: نادي المثنى, Nadi al-Muthanna) was an influential pan-Arab fascist society established in Baghdad c. 1935–1937; it remained active until May 1941, when the coup d'état of pro-Nazi Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Gaylani failed. The society was named after al-Muthanna ibn Haritha, an Iraqi Muslim Arab general who led forces that helped to defeat the Persian Sassanids at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (in 636 CE). Later known as the National Democratic Party, Nadi al-Muthanna was influenced by European fascism and controlled by radical Arab nationalists; according to political scientist Eric Davis, these nationalists "formed the core of new radicals" for a combined pan-Arab civilian and military coalition.[30]

Mandatory Palestine

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During the interwar period in Mandatory Palestine, a short-lived fascist-inspired ideology known as Revisionist Maximalism emerged within the broader Zionist Revisionist Movement (ZRM). Formed in 1930 by Abba Achimeir – a self-described fascist who rejected liberalism and humanism – this ideology served as the foundation for the radical underground faction Brit HaBirionim.[31][32] Driven by a rejection of British colonial rule and rising regional tensions following riots in 1929, the maximalists advocated an integralist, militant nationalism modelled on Italian fascism; this included a demand in 1932 for the ZRM to adopt dictatorial policies "in the spirit of complete fascism". This demand was fiercely resisted by moderate democratic revisionists such as Yaacov Kahan.[33] Despite opposing Nazi anti-Semitism, Achimeir briefly and controversially praised the Nazi Party in early 1933 for its anti-Marxist core and its rejection of Jewish assimilation.[34] This stance provoked swift, overwhelming condemnation across the Zionist spectrum, causing a rapid collapse in internal support; the faction reversed its position to militantly oppose Nazi Germany by mid-1933 before completely disintegrating later that year.[35]

Lebanon

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In Lebanon, before World War II, two groups emerged who drew inspiration from the fascist movements which were active in Europe at that time:[36][37]

Both groups remain active, although neither demonstrates the characteristics of fascism.[citation needed]

The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP; French: Parti populaire syrien [PPS]) was founded in Beirut in 1932 as a Greater Syrian enterprise; it has been influential in Lebanon and beyond. The party has faced accusations of having a fascist-like ideology.[43]

Syria

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The SSNP was founded in 1932 by Antun Saadeh to restore independence to Syria from France; the party took its lead from Nazism and fascism.[44] This group used the Roman salute and a symbol similar to the swastika.[45][46][47] Saadeh borrowed elements of Nazi ideology, notably a cult of personality and a yearning for a mythical, racially pure golden age.[48] In addition, a youth group – modelled on the Hitler Youth – was organised.[49]

In 1952, the Syrian dictator and military officer Adib Shishakli founded the Arab Liberation Movement, based on the idea of a "Greater Syria" (like the SSNP, Shishakli's former party) and Arab nationalism, but with additional fascistic elements.[citation needed] After the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, the Arab Liberation Movement was banned.[citation needed]

Turkey

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In Turkey, the group known as the Grey Wolves is widely regarded as neo-fascist; they are understood to operate as a paramilitary group and are famous for a salute known as the wolf salute. The Grey Wolves are regarded as a terrorist group in Austria, Kazakhstan and France.[50]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Thomas David DuBois (25 April 2011), Religion and the Making of Modern East Asia, Cambridge University Press, pp. 176–, ISBN 978-1-139-49946-0
  2. ↑ "Is China a fascist state?". openDemocracy. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  3. ↑ Dessein, Axel (5 March 2021). "National Socialism in China: Rejuvenating the Nation, Socialist Modernisation, and the Mistaken Comparison with Nazism". Monde Chinois. 62 (2): 72–87. doi:10.3917/mochi.062.0072. ISSN 1767-3755.
  4. ↑ Tatlow, Didi Kirsten (31 October 2012). "Can China Be Described as 'Fascist'?". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  5. ↑ Luce, Edward (20 September 2019). "The fraught debate about the nature of China". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  6. ↑ Kasza, Gregory (2006). Blamires, Cyprian; Jackson, Paul (eds.). World Fascism: A-K. ABC-CLIO. p. 353. ISBN 9781576079409.
  7. ↑ Tansman, Alan (2009). The Culture of Japanese Fascism. Duke University Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780822390701.
  8. ↑ The Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right. Routledge. 16 August 2005. ISBN 978-1-134-60952-9. Para-fascist 'single-party' organisation established in Japan in 1940.
  9. ↑ Wolferen, The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation, page 351
  10. ↑ ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典の解説 [The Encyclopædia Britannica: Micropædia's explanation]. kotobank.jp (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun Company. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  11. ↑ Bacchi, Umberto (8 September 2014). "Japanese Minister Sanae Takaichi in Neo-Nazi Photo Controversy". International Business Times. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  12. ↑ Leidig, Eviane (17 July 2020). "Hindutva as a variant of right-wing extremism". Patterns of Prejudice. 54 (3): 215–237. doi:10.1080/0031322X.2020.1759861. hdl:10852/84144. ISSN 0031-322X.
  13. ↑ Ross, M.H. (2012). Culture and Belonging in Divided Societies: Contestation and Symbolic Landscapes. Book collections on Project MUSE. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-8122-0350-9.
  14. ↑ The Hindutva Road, Frontline, 4 December 2004
  15. ↑ Krishna 2011, p. 324.
  16. ↑ Prabhat Patnaik (1993). "Fascism of our times". Social Scientist. 21 (3/4): 69–77. doi:10.2307/3517631. JSTOR 3517631.
  17. ↑ Frykenberg 2008, pp. 178–220: "This essay attempts to show how — from an analytical or a historical perspective — Hindutva is a melding of Hindu fascism and Hindu fundamentalism."
  18. ↑ Chetan Bhatt; Parita Mukta (May 2000). "Hindutva in the West: Mapping the Antinomies of Diaspora Nationalism". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 23 (3): 407–441. doi:10.1080/014198700328935. S2CID 143287533. Quote: "It is also argued that the distinctively Indian aspects of Hindu nationalism, and the RSS's disavowal of the seizure of state power in preference for long-term cultural labour in civil society, suggests a strong distance from both German Nazism and Italian Fascism. Part of the problem in attempting to classify Golwalkar's or Savarkar's Hindu nationalism within the typology of 'generic fascism', Nazism, racism and ethnic or cultural nationalism is the unavailability of an appropriate theoretical orientation and vocabulary for varieties of revolutionary conservatism and far-right-wing ethnic and religious absolutist movements in 'Third World' countries".
  19. ↑ Chetan Bhatt; Parita Mukta (May 2000). "Hindutva in the West: Mapping the Antinomies of Diaspora Nationalism". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 23 (3): 407–441. doi:10.1080/014198700328935. S2CID 143287533.
  20. ↑ Hansen, Thomas Blom; Roy, Srirupa (2022). Saffron Republic: Hindu Nationalism and State Power in India. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781009100489.
  21. ↑ Varshney, Ashutosh; Staggs, Connor (2024). "Hindu Nationalism and the New Jim Crow". Journal of Democracy. 35. Johns Hopkins University Press: 5–18. doi:10.1353/jod.2024.a915345.
  22. ↑ Tumiotto, Maria (16 November 2023). "Strategy or Fascination? Subhas Chandra Bose's Relations with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, and the Making of Sāmyavāda (1930s–1940s)". Global Intellectual History. 11: 30–50. doi:10.1080/23801883.2023.2278785.
  23. ↑ Ammar Ali Jan (29 November 2017). "Seven theses on the rise of fascism in Pakistan". The News International.
  24. ↑ Radicalization in Pakistan: A Critical Perspective, Muhammad Shoaib Pervez, p.2, Routledge
  25. 1 2 Hussein Fardust, The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty: Memoirs of Former General Hussein, p. 62
  26. ↑ Azimi, Fakhreddin (2008). Quest for Democracy in Iran: A Century of Struggle Against Authoritarian Rule. Harvard University Press. p. 253. ISBN 978-0674027787.
  27. ↑ Golnaz Esfandiari (22 June 2006). "Iran: Mahmud Ahmadinejad -- Fascist, Or Man Of The People?". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  28. ↑ Victor Davis Hanson (30 April 2006). "The End of Days". Hoover Institute.
  29. ↑ Patrick Clawson (30 June 2005). "Next Generation". Archived from the original on 14 May 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  30. ↑ Davis, Eric (2005). Memories of State. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520235465.
  31. ↑ Kaplan, Eran (2005). The Jewish Radical Right. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0299203801.
  32. ↑ Larsen, Stein Ugelvik (ed.). Fascism Outside of Europe. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-88033-988-8. pp. 364–365.
  33. ↑ Larsen, p. 377.
  34. ↑ Larsen, pp. 379, 381.
  35. ↑ Larsen, p. 380.
  36. ↑ Larsen, Stein Ugelvik (2001). Fascism Outside Europe: The European Impulse Against Domestic Conditions in the Diffusion of Global Fascism. EEM Social Science Monographs. Social Science Monographs. p. 411. ISBN 9780880339889. Retrieved 22 June 2025. In November, 1936, the Phalanges (Al-Kata'ib) of the Christian Maronites were established by two athletes who returned much impressed from the Berlin Olympic Games. The Muslims in Lebanon soon responded in 1937 by establishing Al-Najada.
  37. ↑ Mideast Mirror. 1962. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2025. The dissolved PPS was one of three political parties with paramilitary formations. The others are the Najada with its paramilitary youth movement, which, led by Adnan Hakim, is Moslem and works for Arab Unity; and the Phalange, which is Christian and led by Pierre Gemayel and advocates Lebanese nationalism as distinct from pan-Arabism. [...] All three were founded in the thirties and their youth movements were based on European Fascist models.
  38. ↑ Fisk, Robert (7 August 2007). "Lebanese strike a blow at US-backed government". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2009. [...] Pierre [Gemayel] - grandfather of the MP murdered last November -[...] founded the Phalange in 1936 after being inspired by the Nazi Berlin Olympics. "I thought Lebanon needed some of this order", he admitted to me shortly before his death; the original Phalange dressed in brown shirts and gave the Hitler salute. But they had turned themselves into a neo-respectable right-wing party by 1982 [...].
  39. ↑ Reich, Bernard (1990). Political leaders of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa: a biographical dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 203–204 / 557. ISBN 9780313262135.
  40. ↑ Entelis, John Pierre (1974). Pluralism and party transformation in Lebanon: Al-Kataʼib, 1936-1970. Social, economic, and political studies of the Middle East. Vol. 10. Brill. pp. 45 / 227. ISBN 9789004039117.
  41. ↑ Rabah Makram Rabah (18 August 2020). Conflict on Mount Lebanon: The Druze, the Maronites and Collective Memory. Alternative Histories. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9781474474207. Retrieved 15 June 2025. In 1943, the Kataeb [...] was one of the main factions that, along with its Muslim equivalent, the al-Najada Party, took to the streets for what is popularly referred to as the 'battle of Lebanese independence'.
  42. ↑ The Lebanon Sample: A Microcosm of the Arab World? :"[...] in 1947 [...] two prominent sectarian movements [...] paraded themselves as social movements: the Falange (1935), a Maronite gathering, and An-Najada (1937), which was Sunni. In 1947, the secular parties were banned; the sectarians were not. Subsequently, sectarianism had the field for itself."
  43. ↑ Zisser, Eyal (15 July 2014). "Memoirs Do Not Deceive: Syrians Confront Fascism and Nazism -- as Reflected in the Memoirs of Syrian Political Leaders and Intellectuals". In Gershoni, Israel (ed.). Arab Responses to Fascism and Nazism: Attraction and Repulsion. Middle Eastern studies / history. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 78. ISBN 9780292757455. Retrieved 22 June 2025. [...] the character of the PPS has been the focus of scholarly debate ever since its founding at the beginning of the 1930s, and certainly since the 1940s, when it became a significant political power in Syria and Lebanon. The PPS is discussed more than any other political party active in the Syrian lands in those days, with the main question being whether the PPS was a Fascist party that drew its inspiration from Nazi Germany or if it perhaps had other roots [...].
  44. ↑ Simon, Reeva S. (1996). Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East. Macmillan Reference USA. ISBN 0028960114. The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) was the brainchild of Antun Sa'ada, a Greek Orthodox Lebanese who was inspired by Nazi and fascist ideologies.
  45. ↑ Ya’ari, Ehud (June 1987). "Behind the Terror". Atlantic Monthly. [The SSNP] greet their leaders with a Hitlerian salute; sing their Arabic anthem, "Greetings to You, Syria", to the strains of "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles"; and throng to the symbol of the red hurricane, a swastika in circular motion.
  46. ↑ Pipes, Daniel (1992). Greater Syria. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195060229. The SSNP flag, which features a curved swastika called the red hurricane (zawba'a), points to the party's fascistic origins.
  47. ↑ Rolland, John C. (2003). Lebanon. Nova Publishers. ISBN 1590338715. [The SSNP's] red hurricane symbol was modeled after the Nazi swastika.
  48. ↑ Johnson, Michael (2001). All Honourable Men. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 1860647154. Saadeh, the party's 'leader for life', was an admirer of Adolf Hitler and influenced by Nazi and fascist ideology. This went beyond adopting a reversed swastika as the party's symbol and singing the party's anthem to Deutschland über alles, and included developing the cult of a leader, advocating totalitarian government, and glorifying an ancient pre-Christian past and the organic whole of the Syrian Volk or nation.
  49. ↑ Becker, Jillian (1984). The PLO: The Rise and Fall of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0297785478. [The SSNP] had been founded in 1932 as a youth movement, deliberately modeled on Hitler's Nazi Party. For its symbol it invented a curved swastika, called the Zawbah.
  50. ↑ "Diese 13 extremistischen Symbole werden verboten". Heute (in German). 12 February 2019. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020.

Works cited

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