Transatlantic Fascism (cid:6) Transatlantic Fascism (cid:32) Ideology, Violence, and the Sacred in Argentina and Italy, 1919–1945 federico finchelstein Duke University Press Durham and London 2010 ∫ 2010 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper $ Designed by Katy Clove Typeset in Dante by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Finchelstein, Federico Transatlantic fascism : ideology, violence, and the sacred in Argentina and Italy, 1919–1945 / Federico Finchelstein. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-8223-4594-7 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-8223-4612-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Fascism—Argentina—History—20th century. 2. Fascism—Italy—History—20th century. 3. Fascism and the Catholic Church—Argentina—History—20th century. 4. Fascism and the Catholic Church—Italy—History—20th century. I. Title. f2848.f566 2010 320.53%30982—dc22 2009037181 Para Lauri y Gabriela Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 F 1 f Transnational Fascism 15 F 2 f The Argentine Road to Fascism 42 F 3 f Fascism Discovers the Americas 79 F 4 f A ‘‘Christianized Fascism’’ 118 F 5 f Debating Global Totalitarianism 138 Epilogue 163 Notes 179 Bibliography 285 Index 321 Acknowledgments I want to thank Dominick LaCapra for his support and encouragement. Dominick was the ideal advisor when this book began its journey as a doctoral dissertation. It was he who suggested, in 2001, that Argentina should remain a central part of my research on fascism. I would also like to thank the other members of my doctoral committee: Vicki Caron, Tulio Halperín Donghi, Mary Roldán, and Michael Steinberg. Each of them added significant meaning to my work, and each, in his or her own way, influenced my historical thinking. I wish to say muchísimas gracias to Sandy McGee Deutsch, the foremost expert on the Argentine (and Latin American) Right, for her encouragement and advice over the years. My gratitude to Enzo Traverso is, as always, significant. I enjoy and learn from our dialogical transatlantic friendship. I would like to thank Ben Brower and Ray Craib for their critical insights and friendship. My colleagues Chris Bilodeau, Chris Cantwell, and Will Harris read and corrected countless versions of my work, suggesting ideas and endowing me with their friendship. The list of colleagues who discussed my research in Ithaca is extensive. From Cornell, I want to thank Ed Baptist, Holly Case, and Derek Chang. In addition, I thank Oren Falk, María Cristina Garcia, Karen Graubart, Mary Gayne, Franz D. Hofer, Isabel Hull, Alison Kallet, Taran Kang, Steve Kaplan, Emma Kuby, Tracie Matysik, Yael Nadav-Manes, John M. Najemy, Ryan Plumley, Camille Robcis, Richard Schaefer, Peter Staudenmaier, Barry Strauss, Eric Tagliacozzo, and Adelheid Voskuhl. Also at Cornell, I thank