Copyright by Alexander Paul Lang 2017 The Dissertation Committee for Alexander Paul Lang Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Imperial Fascism: Ideology, Practice, and Transmission in the Mediterranean, 1934-1943 Committee: Benjamin C. Brower, Supervisor Yoav Di-Capua Federico Finchelstein Tracie M. Matysik Imperial Fascism: Ideology, Practice, and Transmission in the Mediterranean, 1934-1943 by Alexander Paul Lang Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2017 Dedication To my parents, for all their support Acknowledgements This project began as a senior thesis at Rutgers, when I began to question and think about the relationship of the far-right and empire. For their help advising me during that year, I would like to thank Temma Kaplan and Rudy Bell. I would also like to thank Julian Wright at Durham University for his role in advising my M.A. thesis on the French- Algerian right. At the University of Texas-Austin, I have had the pleasure of working with many professors who have helped inform the final project. I would like to particularly thank Antony Hopkins, Gail Minault, and Mark Metzler. A series of generous grants from the university also enabled me to do extensive archival research and to concentrate on my writing. Visiting scholars like Jocelyne Dakhlia and Enzo Traverso offered suggestions and words of encouragement. Of course, I am especially grateful to the members of my committee, Benjamin C. Brower, Tracie Matysik, Yoav Di-Capua, and Federico Finchelstein. Finally, I would like to thank my family- my parents were always ready to help, and my brother offered a perfect writing-space to make great progess over the summer. Their support made the whole experience much more bearable. v Imperial Fascism: Ideology, Practice, and Transmission in the Mediterranean, 1934-1943 Alexander Paul Lang, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2017 Supervisor: Benjamin C. Brower This study seeks to explore the nature of imperial fascism, particularly those projects carried out by Italian and French fascists and authoritarians in North Africa from 1934 to 1943. In the wake of world war and a worldwide depression, these fascists were mindful of the limitations of the territorial nation-state, and believed that imperial structures would have to be created and maintained in order to protect the sovereignty of their nations. A shared set of ideas about the past and future of the Mediterranean provided French and Italian rightists an ideological opportunity to cooperate, but geopolitical differences and national egoism ensured that each would go their own way. With the failure of the so-called “Latin union”, both the French and Italian rightists sought to convince North Africans that only the far-right could bring about modernity while protecting Islam from secularism and communist atheism. While most North Africans rejected the fascist advances, some responded positively for a variety of reasons, though generally in ways that failed to correspond to the fascist visions of a new geopolitical order. In a bid to show their respect for Islam, fascists also employed several strategies to govern North African Muslims; foremost of these were the attempts to integrate the elites into youth vi organizations and a greater involvement in supporting Islamic practices in ways that depoliticized religion and linked it to the state. The governing techniques, despite attenuating some critiques of colonialism, did little to stem the growing desire for independence. Furthermore, the fascist rejection of liberal norms and values was unacceptable to most North Africans who hoped to either greatly reform colonial structures or to gain self-determination. Though French and Italians failed to legitimize their imperial projects, studying their attempts highlights the various ways in which fascists adjusted their ideas and practices in order to carry out transnational and imperial politics. vii Table of Contents Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 The Friend-Enemy Distinction .......................................................................6 Ambiguous Friends: From the Worker to the Colonial Subject .....................8 The Great-Space as a Political Solution........................................................14 Chapter Organization ....................................................................................22 Chapter One: A Latin Sea? Rightist Mediterraneans in Theory and Latin Unity in Practice ..........................................................................................................26 Introduction ...................................................................................................26 The Mediterranean in Italian Rightist Thought ............................................42 The Failure of Franco-Italian Rightist Cooperation in the Mediterranean ...64 Chapter Two: Transmitting Italian Fascism in the Mediterranean: Egypt and Tunisia .......................................................................................................................96 Introduction ...................................................................................................96 Egypt ...........................................................................................................101 I. Egypt and the West ...................................................................101 II. Egyptians in Contact with Fascism ...........................................109 II. Institutional Borrowings ...........................................................116 IV. Seeking Help from Italians: Students and Journalists...............125 Tunisia.........................................................................................................136 Conclusion ..................................................................................................155 Chapter Three: Courting Muslims: The Parti Populaire Français in French Algeria .....................................................................................................................157 Introduction .................................................................................................157 French Algeria at a Crossroads: The Crisis of the 1930s............................160 The Parti Populaire Français Makes its Case to Algerians .........................166 Algerian PPF Leaders .................................................................................178 The PPF’s Pro-Algerian Politics at the Local Level ...................................190 The Far-Right and Algerians in France ......................................................196 viii Conclusion ..................................................................................................204 Chapter Four: Governing Muslims I: Incorporating Libyans into the Fascist Mediterranean Empire ................................................................................206 Introduction .................................................................................................206 A Menace and an Opportunity: Libyans Abroad ........................................211 I. Policing Libyan Migrants .........................................................211 II. Turning the Libyan Hajj into pro-Italian Propaganda ...............223 The Failure of Social and Political Integration ...........................................236 I. Inquadramento Strategies..........................................................238 II. Debates over Libyan Citizenship ..............................................245 Protecting or De-politicizing Islam? ...........................................................259 I. Legitimizing Italian Rule ..........................................................260 II. Friend or Enemy? Italian Debates on Arabs and Muslims .......274 III. Consuming Libyan Traditions ..................................................284 Conclusion ..................................................................................................293 Chapter Five: Governing Muslims II: The Failure of Reform Projects in Vichy-Era French Algeria ............................................................................................295 Introduction .................................................................................................295 A Failed “Politics of Respect” ....................................................................300 Reactions to the Strategy of Respect and Contact ......................................306 Approaching Islam ......................................................................................310 Hardy’s Rural Education Centers ...............................................................320 Controlling Algerian Nationalism: The Scout Movement ..........................326 Training Youth: The Chantiers de Jeunesse ..............................................332 Conclusion ..................................................................................................343 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................345 Bibliography ........................................................................................................348 Archives ......................................................................................................348