February 9, 2018

How the New York Times Covered the Rise and Fall of Fascism

The New York Times on the Rise of Fascism in Europe
Protesters march in New York against fascism, 1934 (Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy)
Featured here are articles and editorials published in The New York Times between 1922 and 1945. They chronicle the spread of fascism throughout Europe and the resulting upheaval, beginning with Benito Mussolini taking power in Italy. As time progressed and dictatorships proliferated across the continent, journalists and politicians wondered whether another world war was approaching.
1922 - 1929

31 October 1922 – Mussolini Forms Cabinet for Italy With Fascisti Aids

1 November 1922 – 'Black Shirts' Hold a Roman Triumph in Assuming Power

21 November 1922 – New Popular Idol Rises in Bavaria

7 December 1922 – Threat to Muzzle the Italian Press Is Made in Mussolini's Milan Paper

21 January 1923 – Hitler New Power in Germany

22 July 1923 – The Swashbuckling Mussolini: Latest Heir of the Caesars Has Conquered Because His Countrymen Understand Arrogance

10 November 1923 – Hitler an Alien Agitator: A Sign Painter from Austria, He Built Up Bavarian Fascisti

13 October 1924 – All Italy With Him, Mussolini Asserts: After Contact With the "People's Naked Soul" He Scorns Infinitesimal Opposition

6 February 1927 – "What is Fascism — and Why?" by H. G. Wells

3 March 1928 – Mussolini Rejects Democratic Rule

15 April 1928 – Mussolini Says Fascism Will Live Long After He is Gone

16 March 1929 – Trotsky Sees Us Causing World War: He Says Power of America Will Bring a Conflict That Will Dwarf the Last Great War

18 August 1929 – The Future of Europe's Nine Dictatorships
"Dr. Goebbels, through his control of the press, 'whipped the German people into that fanatical frenzy necessary to the savage purposes of the Nazi dictator'" (March 11, 1945)
1930 - 1932
15 September 1930 – Fascists Glorify Pan-German Ideal: Stand for Ultra-Nationalism, Restrictions on Foreigners and Anti-Semitism

21 September 1930 – Hitler, Driving Force in Germany's Fascism: His Fiery Oratory Has Won Men of All Classes to Support Doctrine of "National Bolshevism"

26 September 1930 – Hitler Would Scrap Versailles Treaty and Use Guillotine

26 September 1930 – Hitler's Outburst Stirs British Press: German Fascist Chief is Called 'Feather-Headed Demagogue' — Hope Put in Hindenburg

27 September 1930 – Hitler's Rhetoric

28 December 1930 – German Leaders Divided on Nazis: Middle Party Leaders Favor Forcing Fascists Into Cabinet as Means of Curbing Them

20 September 1931 – Leaderless Youth of Germany: Cut Adrift From the Old Authority Symbolized by the Throne and the Army and Discontented With Things as They Are, They Turn, Says Ludwig, to Radicalism Both Left and Right

13 December 1931 – Tactics of Hitler: His Self-Assurance a Source of His Power

20 December 1931 – Herr Hitler Replies to Some Fundamental Questions

3 January 1932 – The Nazi Mind: A Study in Nationalism

29 February 1932 – Hitler Protests Alarmist Charges: Complains to Hindenburg About Forecasts of Disturbance if Nazis Win Elections

2 March 1932 – Thyssen Prefers Hitler to the Reds: Ruhr Industrialist, Backer of Nazis, Sees Choice Between Fascism and Communism

10 July 1932 – The Battlecries of Hitlerism Modified as Election Nears

18 September 1932 – Fascism Defined by Mussolini as the Creed of the Century
Map featured in The New York Times on March 27, 1938
1933 - 1934
7 April 1933 – Hitler Challenges American Protests: Asserts We Have Least Right to Attack Anti-Semitism in View of Our Ban on Yellow Race

9 April 1933 – Europe's Propaganda Mills Keep Busy: The Boom in Nationalism Finds Them Influencing Opinion, Often in Opposite Directions, at Home and Abroad

16 April 1933 – Sforza Deplores 'Saber-Rattling': Ex-Foreign Minister of Italy Says Neither Mussolini Nor Hitler Really Wants War

30 April 1933 – Revision of Europe's Treaties a Leading and Baffling Issue

8 May 1933 – Germans Belittle Our 'Dictatorship': Enjoy Comparing Nazis' Rule With Roosevelt's, Wholly to American Disadvantage

23 June 1933 – Hitler Compares His Curbs to Ours: Chancellor Says in Interview that United States Restricts Immigration of Jews; Denies Terror in Reich

22 August 1933 – Germans Anxious Over Our Attitude: Hostility of Other Nations to Nazi Measures Begins to Trouble Them

17 September 1933 – Fascism's Inroads in Europe: A Movement of Many Shades

6 October 1933 – Reich Press Loses Last of Its Rights; Must Serve State

3 December 1933 – [Dr. Earle B. Babcock] Finds War Less Expected In Europe Than We Think — [He] Declares No Government or Responsible Statesman Wants It and Reports Gains in Organizing Peace

8 January 1934 – Nazis Building up Propaganda Here

2 March 1934 – Nazis Now Strive to Propitiate Us: Heed Experts' Advice to Placate American Big Business by Dropping Propaganda Here

19 March 1934 – 60-Year Plan for Italy: Mussolini Says 21st Century Will Be 'Blackshirt Era'

24 April 1934 – Fascists Plan Corporate State In Britain, Mosley Declares

6 May 1934 – Has Democracy Met the Test?

22 June 1934 – Goebbels Berates 'Gentlemen' Critics: Should Have Put Them 'Behind Bars,' He Tells Cheering Workers Outside Berlin

14 August 1934 – Vast New Empire Held Hitler Ideal: He Aims at a Holy Roman Nation of All Germans With Vienna Capital, Says Bérenger

19 August 1934 – Hitler Now World's Supreme Autocrat; Legally Answerable to Nobody for Acts

20 August 1934 – Hitler Endorsed by 9 to 1 Poll on His Dictatorship, but Opposition Is Doubled

7 October 1934 – Concept of Third Reich Begins to Take Reality

10 October 1934 – Outbreaks Greet Fascist Students: Visiting Group Ushered Out of City College Hall After Free-for-All Begins

11 October 1934 – Italian Students Defy N. Y. U. Protest: No Disorder at Hall of Fame as Visitors, Shouting 'Il Duce!' Confront Anti-Fascists
1935 - 1939
13 June 1935 – Mussolini Bars New York Times Because of Criticism in Editorial

1 September 1935 – The Man the World Watches: How Does Mussolini's Mind Work? An Effort to Penetrate Behind the Dictator's Mask

29 September 1935 – Mussolini Seeks Advice From None: He Tends More to Isolation and Depends Largely on His Own Judgments — Relies Much on Press

13 October 1935 – Italy Dreams of Empire: Il Duce's Propaganda Campaign Has Turned All Minds to Visions of Old Greatness

5 April 1936 – Is Today Like 1914? The Leaders Upon Whom The World Has Rendered Its Verdict Are Contrasted With Those Who Face the Present Crisis

31 May 1936 – Europe in Propaganda War: Mussolini Seeking to Undermine Britain's Prestige by Means of Radio Broadcasts

22 February 1937 – Change in Hitler's Position is Proceeding Rapidly

2 May 1937 – Can It Happen Here as It Happened Abroad?

26 September 1937 – Mystic and Realist — A Fateful Meeting: Conference of Hitler and Mussolini Brings Together Strongly Contrasting Characters

30 November 1937 – America's Aloofness

26 December 1937 – L'Affaire Mickey Mouse: An Inquiry Into a Plot of World-Wide Scope

15 January 1939 – Channeling the News for Nazis: How the Government, Through the Press, Influences Thought in a Common Direction

21 January 1939 – French in Uproar on Nazism Charge: Rightists in Chamber Resent Ex-Air Minister Cot's Hint of German Propaganda

5 February 1939 – U. S. Urged to Join Anti-Hitler Bloc

23 July 1939 – A Midwest View of the World

From the article "First-Hand Report on the German Soldier," February 18, 1945
1939 - 1945
4 October 1939 – Trotsky Says U. S. Will Join Conflict: Asserts Only Washington Can Get Russia to Shift From Supporting Germany

10 October 1939 – Soviet Editorial on Hitler Peace

19 May 1940 – Italy Dreams of Empire: Street Demonstrators Hope for Colonies as Rome's Reward for Helping Germany

26 May 1940 – Guesses at a German Peace — If Hitler Wins He Is Expected to Make Terms to Satisfy His Many Grudges

2 June 1940 – If Hitler Wins: What It Might Mean to Us

9 June 1940 – U. S. Policy an Enigma, Say Nazis: Claim Amazement at 'Failure' Here to See Their Viewpoint

23 June 1940 – The Battle of Britain: How Will It Be Fought?

30 June 1940 – Reich Plans 'New Order' — Berlin Projects From the Compiegne Armistice a Europe Nazi-Controlled and Directed

31 October 1940 – [Democratic National Committee Chair Edward J. Flynn] Accuses [Wendell Willkie] of Causing South Americans to Fear We Cannot Protect Them — Says He Gets Fascisti Aid

3 November 1940 – Eyes of the World Turn to America's Election — Our Decisive Power in Both War and Peace Fully Recognized Abroad

25 March 1941 – Political Victory Held Hitler's Aim: He Is Believed to Desire to Confront Britain With Peace Consolidating 'New Order' — World Dominion His Goal

6 June 1941 – Hitler Ridicules U. S. Fears, Holds Nazi Attack Wild Idea

9 June 1941 – Hitler on Americas: LIFE Correspondent Interviews Führer on War and the Future (Life magazine)

6 July 1941 – The Growing Union of Hate: As Hitler Extends His Conquests the Continent Is Reduced More and More to Primitive Cruelty

14 December 1941 – World War II: America Enters It

30 January 1943 – Ten Years of Hitler

2 August 1943 – Fall of the Duce — Duce Out, Italy Becomes Prey of Nazis as Well as Allies (Newsweek magazine)

18 February 1945 – First-Hand Report on the German Soldier

11 March 1945 – To Prevent War — No News Blackout

29 April 1945 – Rise and Decline of Hitler — A Cartoon History

5 May 1945 – Montgomery Scorns Nazis, Exults, 'This Is the Moment' (by Bill Downs)