Fascist League of North America
Encyclopedia
The Fascist League of North America (FLNA) was an umbrella group for fascist
Italian-American organizations founded in 1924. With the rise of fascism in Italy, grassroots Fasci clubs started to form in Italian-American communities in the United States. Despite hostility from the Italian diplomatic officialdom, nearly forty such groups had been organized by mid-1923. In 1924, the groups came together under the umbrella of the FLNA.
During the early years of Benito Mussolini
's rule, when the fascist dictatorship had not yet been consolidated, and there were still outstanding diplomatic questions between the US and Italy regarding war debts and emigration, the National Fascist Party
did not seek an official connection with the American fascists. However, by the mid-to late 1920s the party decided to extend its suzerainty over the foreign fascist groups through the Fascio d'estra, or Fascists Abroad organization. Ignazzo Thaon di Revel was sent to the US to organize the Fasci into the FLNA.
Despite the continuing hostility of the Italian diplomatic corps, the FLNA had the support of Fascist ideologues on both sides of the Atlantic. The United States Department of State
was ambivalent, initially viewing the FLNA as a group committed to law and order and anti-communism, and seeing no reason to ask for its disestablishment, despite this being offered by the Italian ambassador.
The presence of the FLNA provoked a counter-response by Italian-Americans of liberal, socialist, communist and anarchist persuasion, and an Anti-Fascist Alliance of North America was formed as early as 1923 and continued into the 1930s. Clashes between pro- and anti-fascist Italian Americans became more common, ending in at least a dozen fatalities evenly divided between the two factions.
The final death knell was a sensational article published by Harper's Magazine
, "Mussolini's American empire" by Marcus Duffield, that claimed the FLNA was part of Mussolini's plot to control the Italian-American community in the US and raise "soldiers for Fascism". Using the public outcry as a pretext, the Italian ambassador ordered the FLNA disbanded.
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
Italian-American organizations founded in 1924. With the rise of fascism in Italy, grassroots Fasci clubs started to form in Italian-American communities in the United States. Despite hostility from the Italian diplomatic officialdom, nearly forty such groups had been organized by mid-1923. In 1924, the groups came together under the umbrella of the FLNA.
During the early years of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's rule, when the fascist dictatorship had not yet been consolidated, and there were still outstanding diplomatic questions between the US and Italy regarding war debts and emigration, the National Fascist Party
National Fascist Party
The National Fascist Party was an Italian political party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of fascism...
did not seek an official connection with the American fascists. However, by the mid-to late 1920s the party decided to extend its suzerainty over the foreign fascist groups through the Fascio d'estra, or Fascists Abroad organization. Ignazzo Thaon di Revel was sent to the US to organize the Fasci into the FLNA.
Despite the continuing hostility of the Italian diplomatic corps, the FLNA had the support of Fascist ideologues on both sides of the Atlantic. The United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
was ambivalent, initially viewing the FLNA as a group committed to law and order and anti-communism, and seeing no reason to ask for its disestablishment, despite this being offered by the Italian ambassador.
The presence of the FLNA provoked a counter-response by Italian-Americans of liberal, socialist, communist and anarchist persuasion, and an Anti-Fascist Alliance of North America was formed as early as 1923 and continued into the 1930s. Clashes between pro- and anti-fascist Italian Americans became more common, ending in at least a dozen fatalities evenly divided between the two factions.
The final death knell was a sensational article published by Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
, "Mussolini's American empire" by Marcus Duffield, that claimed the FLNA was part of Mussolini's plot to control the Italian-American community in the US and raise "soldiers for Fascism". Using the public outcry as a pretext, the Italian ambassador ordered the FLNA disbanded.
External links
- The Roman accord by Beniamino De Ritis. A pamphlet published by the FNLA about the Lateran Treaty.