The First World War brought about fundamental and lasting changes in the political, social and economic framework of Europe, contributing greatly to the development of modern mass society. The millions of men and women who went through the war experience would find themselves thoroughly marked by it, whether they took an active part in the fighting itself or were shaped by its shadows cast on the home front.

Whilst many found that the war experience fortified class differences, others saw the war – and especially what they regarded as a “community of the trenches” - as an essentially unifying experience, bringing together the nation across political, social and confessional divides.

Throughout the inter-war era, political movements of the extreme right all over Europe sought to preserve what they considered the good heritage of war (such as national unity, comradeship, bravery, exclusion of aliens) and bring it about into a permanent state by winning political influence: either through a violent overthrow of the democratic order or through semilegal participation in the democratic system. In their view, labour issues and social conflicts – the scourge of modern industrial societies – could be solved through the creation of an “organic state”, i.e. an ordered, harmonious and hierarchical society that was able to overcome class differences through a national or racial community.

We ask for contributions which discuss how the First World War and its aftermath influenced the movements and ideas of the nationalist extreme right in inter-war Europe, in particular their view on how social conflicts were to be resolved. In what ways and to what extent were the nationalist extreme right influenced by the First World War and its aftermath in the shaping of their social policies – and how did they see the solving of social conflicts as paving the way for a new political order?

Interested scholars should send a short abstract (max. 500 words) and a short CV by 1.6.2015 to: Anders G. Kjöstvedt (University of Oslo): andersgk@iakh.uio.no or Alessandro Salvador (University of Trento):
a.salvador.fr@outlook.it

Full articles are expected by the end of summer. The anthology will be published by an international publisher later in 2015.