Trenches of Totalitarianism: World War I and the Rise of Fascism

• In Event: Long-Term Social and Political Consequences of World War I and II

Abstract

How do wars shape citizens' support for extreme right-wing parties? Regions that are strongly affected by wartime losses may a) be more likely to experience economic hardships caused by the war; b) have their social fabric destroyed; or c) be more receptive for right-wing nationalist propaganda and mobilization. We test these propositions in in the context of the “the great seminal catastrophe”. We link spatially disaggregated information on the birth places of over 7 million German casualties in WW1 to a range of economic outcomes, digitized historical measures of social capital, and county-level voting results for the NSDAP. To trace mechanisms, we further explore the differential effect of drafted vs. non-drafted cohorts on NSDAP membership as well as on individual-level preferences for Nazi ideology expressed in autobiographical sketches written by members of the Nazi Party. Combining cross-sectional analyses, difference-in-difference models, and regression discontinuity designs, we document a strong and substantial effect of wartime casualties on Nazi vote share. Our additional analyses suggest this effect is likely driven by the NSDAP's better ability to mobilize young voters in war-affected regions. These findings advance our understanding of the wartime effects on nationalism and right-wing extremism and provide novel insights into an underappreciated aspect of the rise of Fascism in Weimar Germany.

Authors

• Felix Haass, University of Oslo

• Alexander De Juan, Osnabrück University

• Carlo Koos, University of Bergen

• Thomas Tichelbaecker, Princeton University

• Sascha Riaz, Harvard University