Umstrittene Geschichte

This article traces the complexity of anti- and post-colonial answers to Fascism and Nazism by looking at debates about fascism in India. By avoiding the often employed Euro-centrist approach of a generic concept of fascism, it tries to decentralize European experience. After reconstructing those post-colonial historiographical arguments which use the term ‘fascism’, we examine the historical reception of Fascism and Nazism in the anti-colonial movement. In doing so, the article first outlines the debates about Hindutva as a Fascist ideology and subsequently analyses Indian discussions about Italy, Germany and European Fascism in the 1930ies.