Romania's Legion of the Archangel Michael (1922-1938)
EUROPEAN FASCISTS AND LOCAL ACTIVISTS: ROMANIA’S LEGION OF THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL (1922-1938) by Roland Clark BA (Hons), University of Sydney, 2002 MA, University of Pittsburgh, 2007 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2012 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Roland Clark It was defended on February 27, 2012 and approved by William Chase, Professor, Department of History, University of Pittsburgh Árpád von Klimó, DAAD Visiting Professor, Department of History, University of Pittsburgh John Markoff, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh Lara Putnam, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Pittsburgh Dissertation Advisor: Irina Livezeanu, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Pittsburgh ii Copyright © by Roland Clark 2012 iii EUROPEAN FASCISTS AND LOCAL ACTIVISTS: ROMANIA’S LEGION OF THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL (1922-1938) Roland Clark, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2012 In interwar Europe, “fascism” referred to a diffuse collection of independent movements and regimes that used similar symbols, gestures, and activities to pioneer a distinctive style of politics. The Legion of the Archangel Michael, also known as the Iron Guard, was one of the largest fascist social movements in interwar Europe. This dissertation examines how rank and file Legionaries experienced and articulated their political affiliations as members of the Legion, and more broadly as part of a global fascist network. Official repression, fascist aesthetics, and the demands of Legionary activism meant that becoming a Legionary involved far more than giving intellectual assent to a clearly articulated set of ideas.
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