Ukrainian president Viktor Iushchenko’s posthumous designation of Roman Shukhevych (1907–1950), the supreme commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( upa ) as a Hero of Ukraine in 2007 triggered intense, and polarized debates in Ukraine and abroad, about Second World War-era Ukrainian nationalism and its place in history. Particularly sensitive are Roman Shukhevych’s whereabouts in 1940–1943, when he served in German uniform, as a Hauptmann , or captain, in the battalion Nachtigall in 1941 thereafter, in 1942–1943 in Schutzmannschaft battalion 201, taking part in ‘anti-partisan operations’ in occupied Belarus. This article analyzes the controversy regarding the memory of Roman Shukhevych.

Abstract ‘Germany: the racial state’ examines Hitler's rise to power. From 1929 on, Nazi propaganda was targeted at conservative voters, and this paid off with electoral breakthrough in 1930. The Nazis engaged in a campaign of intimidation against Socialists, Communists, and Catholics, presenting themselves as the only force able to restore order, the Republic having lost whatever legitimacy it possessed. The elites felt that no government could survive without mass support, and so the Nazis simultaneously adopted an anti-establishment stance, portraying themselves as the real representatives of the people, and denouncing successive conservative governments as unrepresentative. For want of alternatives, the conservatives made Hitler chancellor on 30 January 1933.

Abstract ‘“A and not A”: what is fascism?’ examines how fascism has been defined. Whereas Marxists held capitalists responsible for fascism, Weberians blamed the pre-industrial, or feudal, ruling class. Marxist and Weberian approaches emphasize conservative defence of material interests, while totalitarianism theory focuses on revolutionary ideas. The diversity of fascism is such that any definition soon encounters evidence that does not fit. However sophisticated a definition, it can never explain the history of an individual movement. One must seek the origins of fascism in the specific circumstances of specific groups. The only thing that really distinguishes fascism from other concepts is its enormous negative moral charge.

The conference ‘Revolution and Eternity – Fascism’s Temporality’ discussed the complex and meta-historical topic of ‘time and temporality’ with regards to the fascist experience of time, and ways of temporal thinking and acting with reference to German National Socialism, and fascism in Italy and Romania. The various papers examined specific national forms of fascism from the perspective of the concepts of political order and temporality (e.g. fascist interpretations of temporal dimensions – future, present and past). The conference revealed that the fascist view of time was based on specific (chrono)political practices (archaeology, filmmaking etc.) and that the inhumane politics of fascism were embedded in temporal paradigms that combined contradictory ideas of revolutionary acceleration with the eternal standstill of time.

Based on the example of Russian fascism in Harbin, Manchuria, this paper demonstrates how the concept, ‘transnational’ can relate to fascism in three ways: as a transnational phenomenon, as a transnational movement and in terms of the study of fascism from a transnational perspective, focusing on the relations and exchanges between fascist movements and how fascism crossed borders. One way of approaching implementing this perspective is to focus on the appropriation and adaptation of fascist bodies of thought into various local contexts. This paper argues that in this context the studies in fascism from a transnational perspective can profit from by focusing on a contemporary understanding of fascism instead of a priori academic definitions. Harbin fascists perceived fascism as a universal idea, which assumed distinct manifestations depending on the particularities of each nation. Therefore in the view of contemporaries fascism also constituted a transnational movement. In a second step this paper reflects on the question to what extend fascist studies could also benefit from the extension from a transnational to a transcultural perspective to better grasp the diverse influences on various manifestation of fascism and deepen our understanding of change and entanglements between fascist movements as well as their respective environments on a global scale.

The political transformation in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s was marked by the establishment of a nationalist political mainstream. As a consequence of the Yugoslav wars, nationalism gained broad acceptance in most post-Yugoslav societies. This led to the emergence of many radical right groups, the majority of which support the nationalist policies of the Yugoslav successor states. Since the regime changes in most post-Yugoslav states around the year 2000, the nationalist paradigm has shifted towards a new mainstream, combining the promise of EU accession with neoliberal economic reforms, and slowly abandoning nationalism as a means of political mobilization/demobilization. The radical right groups in the post-Yugoslav area were generally on the right side during the 1990s, but they now face marginalization and even prosecution by state authorities. When pushed to the edge of the political field, however, these groups reorganize themselves. At the same time, several developments are fostering their existence and activities, namely the discursive normalization of nationalism, an unchallenged nationalist revisionism of history, and the reluctance of large parts of society to deal critically with the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. Finally, due to the lack of strong left-wing parties and organizations, the radical right groups represent the only political alternative to the new pro-European mainstream. This article looks at the formation and development of radical right groups in the post-Yugoslav area, and situates this in the political context of the last two decades.