Fascism in Asia

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This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (February 2022)

Fascist movements gained popularity in many countries in Asia during the 1920s.^[1]

The Kuomintang, a Chinese nationalist political party, had an alleged history of fascism under Chiang Kai-shek's leadership.^[2][3]

The Blue Shirts Society has been described as one of the most relevant fascist groups in China at the time. It began as a secret society in the KMT military before being reformed within the party.^[4] By the 1930s, it had influence upon China's economy and society.^[5][6] Historian Jeffrey Crean notes, however, that the Blue Shirts impacted only elite politics, not the vast majority of China's population.^{[7]: 64–65} The Blue Shirts held contempt for liberal democracy and stressed the political usefulness of violence.^[7]: 64 They were influenced by KMT contact with Nazi advisors and inspired by the German Brownshirts and the Italian Blackshirts. Unlike those organizations, however, the Blue Shirts were composed of political elites, not the popular masses.^[7]: 64

Close Sino-German ties also promoted cooperation between the Nationalist Government and Nazi Germany in the early-to-mid 1930s. However, despite early diplomatic honeymoon between Nationalist China and Nazi Germany, the Sino-German relationship rapidly deteriorated as Germany failed to pursue a detente between China and Japan, which led to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. China later declared war on fascist countries, including Germany, Italy, and Japan, as part of the Declarations of war during World War II and became the most powerful "anti-fascist" nation in Asia.^[8]

The New Life Movement was a government-led civic movement in 1930s China initiated by Chiang Kai-shek to promote cultural reform and Neo-Confucian social morality, and to ultimately unite China under a centralised ideology following the emergence of ideological challenges to the status quo. The Movement attempted to counter threats of Western and Japanese imperialism through a resurrection of traditional Chinese morality, which it held to be superior to modern Western values. As such the Movement was based upon Confucianism, mixed with Christianity, nationalism and authoritarianism that had some similarities to fascism.^[9] It rejected individualism and liberalism, while also opposing socialism and communism. Some historians regard this movement as imitating Nazism and being a neo-nationalistic movement used to elevate Chiang's control of everyday lives. Frederic Wakeman suggested that the New Life Movement was "Confucian fascism".^[10] The New Life Movement drew inspirations from the Blue Shirts Society, although some historians are reluctant to define them as fascist.^[4]

Wang Jingwei, a right-wing nationalist and anti-communist member of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China), and in particular the left-wing nationalist Kai-tsu p'ai (Reorganization) faction, was originally hostile towards fascism in Europe. Still, it gradually drifted into supporting fascism, especially the economic policies of Nazism in the late 1930s.^[11][12] Wang Jingwei's visit to Germany in 1936 changed his views on fascism, and afterward he spoke positively about European fascist states, saying, "Several advanced countries have already expanded their national vitality and augmented their people's strength, and are no longer afraid of foreign aggression."^[13] Publicist T'iang Leang-Li of the People's Tribune newspaper associated with the Kai-tsu p'ai promoted fascism in Europe while attempting to distance Kai-tsu p'ai from its overtly negative aspects, and wrote in 1937: "Whatever we may think about fascist and Nazi methods and policies, we must recognize the fact that their leaders have secured the enthusiastic support of their respective nations."^[13] T'iang Leang-Li claimed that the "foolish, unwise, and even cruel things" done in fascist states had been done positively to bring about "tremendous change in the political outlook of the German and Italian people".^[13] T'iang Leang-Li wrote articles that positively assessed the "socialist" character of Nazism. Similarly, Shih Shao-pei of the Kai-tsu p'ai rebuked Chinese critics of Nazism by saying, "We in China [...] have heard too much about the 'national' and other flagwaving activities of the Nazis, and not enough about the 'socialist' work they are doing."^[13] Shih Shao-pei wrote about reports of improved working conditions in German factories, the vacations given to employees by Kraft durch Freude, improved employer-employee relations, and the public service work camps for the unemployed.^[13] Other works in the People's Tribune spoke positively about Nazism, saying that it was bringing the "integration of the working classes ... into the National Socialist state and the abolition of ... the evil elements of modern capitalism".^[13]

Neoauthoritarianism is a current of political thought that advocates a powerful state to facilitate market reforms.^[14] Some critics have pointed out that Chinese neoconservatism is "fascistic".^[15]

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Statism in Shōwa Japan
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Shōwa Statism (國家主義, Kokkashugi) is the nationalist ideology associated with the Empire of Japan, particularly during the Shōwa era. It is sometimes also referred to as Emperor-system fascism (天皇制ファシズム, Tennōsei fashizumu),^[16][17] Japanese-style fascism (日本型ファシズム, Nihongata fashizumu)^[17] or Shōwa nationalism. Developed over time since the Meiji Restoration, it advocated for ultranationalism, traditionalist conservatism, militarist imperialism and a dirigisme-based economy.

The Taisei Yokusankai (大政翼賛会, Imperial Rule Assistance Association) was created by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940. It evolved into a "militaristic" political party, which aimed to remove sectionalism from the politics and economics of the Empire of Japan to create a totalitarian one-party state, to maximize the efficiency of Japan's total war effort in World War II.^{[citation needed]}

Tohokai was a Japanese Nazi party formed by Seigo Nakano.^{[citation needed]}

The National Socialist Japanese Workers' Party was a small neo-nazi party which is now classified as an uyoku dantai, a small Japanese ultranationalist far-right group.^{[citation needed]}

Brian Reynolds Myers judged that North Korea's dominant ideology was not communism, but nationalism derived from Japanese fascism. Some scholars point out that North Korea's Juche ideology has a far-right and fascist element, but it is debated whether Juche ideology is a far-right ideology.

Lee Bum-seok, a Korean independence activist and South Korean national-conservative politician, was negative about Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire, but positively evaluated their strong patriotism and fascism based on ethnic nationalism. Along with South Korea's right-wing nationalist Ahn Ho-sang, he embodied the One-People Principle, a major ideology of the Syngman Rhee regime.^[18]

Some South Korean liberal-left media have defined Park Chung-hee administration as an anti-American, Pan-Asian fascist and Chinilpa regime influenced by Ikki Kita's "Pure Socialism" (純正社会主義, Korean: 순정 사회주의).^[19][20][21]

Indian independence activist Subhas Chandra Bose insisted on the union of Nazism and communism. He was also a supporter of Shōwa Statism.

Hindutva is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India and was mainstreamed into the politics of India with Narendra Modi's election as prime minister in 2014.^[22][23] As a political ideology, the term Hindutva was articulated by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923.^[24] It is championed by the Hindu Nationalist volunteer organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)^[25][26] and other organisations, collectively called the Sangh Parivar. The Hindutva movement has been described as a variant of "right-wing extremism"^[22] and as "almost fascist in the classical sense", adhering to a concept of homogenised majority and cultural hegemony.^[27][28] Some analysts dispute the "fascist" label, and suggest Hindutva is an extreme form of "conservatism" or "ethnic absolutism".^{[citation needed]} Hindutva organizations are mainly for nationalism and peace. They also want Akhand Bharat, or greater India, which includes India's historical boundaries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Some people also include Iran, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and more.^[29]

In 1933, in the Dutch East Indies, the Javanese politician Notonindito created the short-lived Indonesian Fascist Party. He had previously participated in the political party of Sukarno, the Indonesian National Party.

There also existed a branch of the Dutch National Socialist Movement (NSB) in Indonesia, namely the Indo NSB. It mainly consisted of Indos, who were of mixed Dutch and Indonesian descent.

It is well known that the Thai Prime Minister during the Second World War, Plaek Phibunsongkhram, was inspired by Benito Mussolini.

A constitutional framework that elevated Malay Supremacism had as its basis a series of Malay congresses culminating in the formation of a right-wing nationalist party called the United Malays National Organization (UMNO). It was founded on 10 May 1946 at the Third Malay Congress in Johor Bahru, with Datuk Onn Jaafar as its founder with the slogan "Long Live Malays" and "Malaya For Malays". After that, the (United Malays National Organization) party joined together with two other right-wing parties from the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA), which represented the Chinese ethnic group and the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) which represented the Indian ethnic group who agreed in fighting for the ideology of nationalism to form a new alliance of three parties from UMNO, MCA and MIC jointly on 30 October 1957 which was named (Parti Perikatan) or Alliance Party and replaced and reformed the party on 1, January 1974 which was named as the BN Party (Barisan Nasional) or Front National to continue the ideology of Racial Supremacism according to their respective ethnic parties to bring a combination of right-wing ideology.

Fascism in Iran was adhered to by the SUMKA (Hezb-e Sosialist-e Melli-ye Kargaran-e Iran or the Iran National-Socialist Workers Group), a neo-Nazi party founded by Davud Monshizadeh in 1952. SUMKA copied not only the ideology of the Nazi Party but also that group's style, adopting the swastika, the black shirt and the Hitler salute. At the same time, Monshizadeh even sought to cultivate an appearance similar to that of Adolf Hitler.^[30] The group became associated with opposition to Mohammad Mosaddegh and the Tudeh Party while supporting the Shah over Mossadegh.^[30] The Pan-Iranist Party is a right-wing group that has also been accused of being fascist due to its adherence to chauvinism^[31] and irredentism, along with the rise of Zoroastrian nationalism among many Iranians due to the decline of Islam in the country.^[32]

The Al-Muthanna Club was a pan-Arabist fascist political society established in Baghdad in 1935.

The Revisionist Maximalist short-term movement formed by Abba Achimeir in 1930 was the ideology of the right-wing fascist faction Brit HaBirionim within the Zionist Revisionist Movement (ZRM). Achimeir was a self-described fascist who wrote a series of articles in 1928 titled "From the Diary of a Fascist".^[33] Achimeir rejected humanism, liberalism, and socialism; condemned liberal Zionists for only working for middle-class Jews; and stated the need for an integralist, "pure nationalism" similar to that in Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini.^[33][34] Achimeir refused to be part of reformist Zionist coalitions and insisted that he would only support revolutionary Zionists willing to utilize violence.^[35] Anti-Jewish violence in 1929 in the British Mandate of Palestine resulted in a rise in support for Revisionist Maximalists and lead Achimeir to decry British rule, claiming that the English people were declining while the Jewish people were ready to flourish, saying:

We fought the Egyptian Pharaoh, the Roman emperors, the Spanish Inquisition, the Russian tsars. They 'defeated' us. But where are they today? Can we not cope with a few despicable muftis or sheiks?... For us, the forefathers, the prophets, the zealots were not mythological concepts...." Abba Achimeir.^[36]

In 1930, Achimeir and the Revisionist-Maximalists became the largest faction within the ZRM and they called for closer relations with Fascist Italy and the Italian people, based on Achimeir's claim that Italians were deemed the least anti-Semitic people in the world.^[37]

In 1932, the Revisionist Maximalists pressed the ZRM to adopt their policies, titled the "Ten Commandments of Maximalism", made "in the spirit of complete fascism".^[35] Moderate ZRM members refused to accept this and moderate ZRM member Yaacov Kahan pressured the Revisionist Maximalists to take the democratic nature of the ZRM and not push for the party to adopt fascist dictatorial policies.^[35]

Despite the Revisionist Maximalists' opposition to the anti-Semitism of the Nazi Party, Achimeir was initially controversially supportive of the Nazi Party in early 1933, believing that the Nazis' rise to power was positive because it recognized that previous attempts by Germany to assimilate Jews had finally been proven to be failures.^[38] In March 1933, Achimeir wrote about the Nazi party, stating, "The anti-Semitic wrapping should be discarded but not its anti-Marxist core...."^[35] Achimeir personally believed that the Nazis' anti-Semitism was just a nationalist ploy that did not have substance.^[39]

After Achimeir supported the Nazis, other Zionists within the ZRM quickly condemned Achimeir and the Revisionist Maximalists for their support of Hitler.^[40] Achimeir, in response to the outrage, in May 1933 reversed their position and opposed Nazi Germany and began to burn down German consulates and tear down Germany's flag.^[40] However, in 1933, Revisionist Maximalist' support quickly deteriorated and fell apart; they would not be reorganized until 1938, after a new leader replaced Achimeir.^[40]

Within Lebanon, two pre-war groups emerged that took their inspiration from the fascist groups active in Europe at the time. In 1936 the Kataeb Party was founded by Pierre Gemayel, and this group also took its inspiration from the European fascists, using the Nazi salute and a brown shirted uniform.^[41] This group also espoused a strong sense of Lebanese nationalism and a leadership cult. Still, it did not support totalitarianism and as a result, it could not be characterised as fully fascist.^[42][43] Both groups are still active, although neither of them demonstrates the characteristics of fascism now.

The Syrian Social Nationalist Party was founded in 1932 by Antun Saadeh to restore independence to Syria from France and take its lead from Nazism and fascism.^[44] This group also used the Roman salute and a symbol similar to the swastika^[45][46][47] while Saadeh borrowed elements of Nazi ideology, notably the cult of personality and the yearning for a mythical, racially pure golden age.^[48] A youth group, based on the Hitler Youth template, was also organised.^[49]

In Turkey, the group known as the Grey Wolves is widely regarded as neofascist; they are understood to operate as a paramilitary group and are famous for their salute known as the Wolf salute. They are regarded as a terrorist group variously in Austria, Kazakhstan, and France.^[50]

• Anti-fascism
• Fascism in Europe
• Fascism in North America
• Fascism in South America
• Post–World War II anti-fascism
• Relations between Nazi Germany and the Arab world

• Frykenberg, Robert (2008). "Hindutva as a Political Religion: An Historical Perspective". In R. Griffin; R. Mallett; J. Tortorice (eds.). The Sacred in Twentieth-Century Politics: Essays in Honour of Professor Stanley G. Payne. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 178–200. ISBN 978-0-230-24163-3.
• Krishna, Ananth V. (2011). India since Independence: Making Sense of Indian Politics. Pearson Education India. ISBN 978-8131734650.