School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 2 of 2
-
ItemP. R. Stephensen and Transnational Fascism: From Interwar Adoption to Postwar Survival and Transmission( 2021)This thesis examines Percy Reginald ‘Inky’ Stephensen (1901 – 1965), Australian author, publisher, authors’ agent, and political activist, in relation to the transnational fascist phenomena of the twentieth century. It challenges previous characterisations of Stephensen as an Australian nationalist first and a fascist second, who retired from political activism after the war. It utilizes the historiographical frameworks of transnational fascism and historical network analysis to position Stephensen within the history of fascism: first as it spread over the globe in the interwar period through complex multidirectional processes of transfer, adoption, adaptation, and recontextualization; and then in the survival of fascism, and its transmission to new generations of actors, through marginalized mutually-re-enforcing subcultural networks after 1945. Fascism as it emerged in Europe deeply resonated with Stephensen’s nationalist vision of a racially homogenous white Australia, and his desire for a cultural and political revolution that would rescue European culture from the decadent liberal-democratic forces that were driving its decline. Australia’s history as a British colony, in particular the violent process of colonization, complicated fascist understandings of violence for Stephensen, but Hitler’s self-declared war against a racial Jewish-Communist enemy became a foundational component of Stephensen’s support for the White Australia Policy. After Stephensen’s release from internment, he played a significant role in the survival and transmission of fascism in Australia by providing emotional and ideological encouragement, validation, and support for like-minded actors, and serving as a conduit for material, information, and ideas in an internationally-connected extreme-Right network that existed in the political margins. Stephensen remained committed to the cause he had adopted prior to internment, and demonstrated an ability to edit his message for different post-war audiences, without compromising his belief in an international Jewish-Communist conspiracy that posed an existential threat to white nations. This thesis contributes to understanding not only the impact that fascism had in Australia, but also the processes by which fascism spread in the interwar period and survived in a hostile post-war environment.
-
Item'Experiments in Australianity': The Publicist, Australian nationalism, and the embrace of German National Socialism( 2018)This thesis examines ‘The Publicist: the paper loyal to Australia First’, a monthly newspaper published in Sydney from July 1936 until March 1942 which turned to German National Socialism in its pursuit of an Australian nationalist agenda. The thesis explores why the magazine’s authors embraced German National Socialism and how Nazi ideology interacted with a particular version of Australian nationalism. The two main actors behind ‘The Publicist’, William John Miles and Percy Reginald ‘Inky’ Stephensen, embraced German National Socialism as part of their development of a complex Australian nationalism. In part, this embrace reflected their efforts to distance Australian nationalism from the dominant notion of Australia as a British nation. In the process, elements of National Socialist ideology also influenced Miles’ and Stephensen’s Australian nationalism. Chapter 1 examines the comparison between Stephensen’s belief in ‘Race and Place’ and Nazi ‘blood and soil’ ideology. I argue that Stephensen developed his notion of ‘Race and Place’ independent from his embrace of National Socialism, and specifically disavowed a connection between the two ideologies, preferring to emphasise the distinction between Australia and Britain. Chapter 2 analyses Hitler’s speeches as they were presented in ‘The Publicist’, and Miles’ and Stephensen’s conception of leadership, in order to determine why they embraced Hitler and Nazi Germany. I argue that Miles and Stephensen saw Germany under the Treaty of Versailles as analogous to Australia as a British Dominion, and embraced the leadership style of Hitler because he was a man who led Germany to national resurgence. Chapter 3 examines the anti-Semitism of ‘The Publicist’, mostly through the reaction of Stephensen, Miles, and a third contributor, Martin Watts, to a proposed scheme to establish a settlement in the Kimberley region for Jewish refugees. I argue that Stephensen and Miles combined a version of the White Australia Policy with Nazi-inspired anti-Semitism in a distinctive conceptualisation of the nation and the threats that it faced.