Three New Deals: Reflections on Roosevelt's America, Mussolini's Italy, and Hitler's Germany, 1933-1939

by Wolfgang Schivelbusch

Book Overview

From a world-renowned cultural historian, an original look at the hidden commonalities among Fascism, Nazism, and the New Deal

Today Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal is regarded as the democratic ideal, the positive American response to an economic crisis that propelled Germany and Italy toward Fascism. Yet in the 1930s, shocking as it may seem, these regimes were hardly considered antithetical. Now, Wolfgang Schivelbusch investigates...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312427433
• ISBN13: 9780312427436
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Thought-provoking analysis although strained at times

As others have pointed out, this is a well-researched, thoughtful and provocative analysis of the similarities (as well as some of the differences) between the Three New Deals. Potential readers may benefit from first reading Folsom's new book: New Deal or Raw Deal to get a more filled out picture of the fascist aspects of the New Deal. On the whole the author's thesis is well argued and illustrated less with political and economic analysis than with cultural and architectural analysis. The weakness of the book lies in some of the inferences the author jumps to at times. For instance, on page 106 the author makes the somewhat dubious point that "the end of liberal economy's foundation on gold triggered the search for the new "ground"....the search generated the myth of the land: from a literal point of view, the soil on which man lived." I found this point unconvincing and there are many other examples of cultural and architectural 'psycho-analysis', some of which are more compelling than others. In my eyes the book's aim in comparing the Three New Deals is important in understanding our governments' reactions to the current financial crises. Will democracies begin to move towards, socialism or fascism? The author concludes that the U.S. didn't make the total move towards either extreme during the New Deal because of the lack of class consciousness in America in the 30s. I'm not entirely convinced by this argument and certainly if you read some of FDR's speeches, he tried to stoke class warfare and take advantage of it. Similarly, there is a whiff of it in the air today in the U.S. This book serves as a guide of what to watch out for, that is some of the signposts along the way to either extreme. In this regard he quotes one John T. Flynn who described the New Deal as follows: "It is born in crisis, lives on crisis and cannot survive the era of crisis. By the very law of its nature it must create for itself if it is to continue, fresh crises from year to year. Mussolini came to power in the postwar crisis...Hitler's story is the same. And our future is all charted upon the same turbulent road of permanent crisis." As we are confronted with one "crisis" after another (global warming, peak oil and now financial crises that "demand" government's involvement and expansion, that quote sounds very prescient.

Excellent and informative book

"Three New Deals" is an interesting book about the similarities and differences between FDR's New Deal, Mussolini's fascism, and Hitler's fascism. Certainly all three were different from one another. But it's quite an eye-opener to read about the mutual admiration across the three in the 1930s, particularly between some of FDR's advisors and the Mussolini camp. This is also a relatively short book; a quick read that doesn't belabor the point or wear out its welcome. Those with an interest in politics or WWII history will be interested in at least checking this out from the library.

A truly brilliant book!

This is a truly brilliant book. It highlights the fact that political and economic crises often produce similar results, specifically a centralization of state power. Some people may not like this book because it suggests similarities between Roosevelt's New Deal and Fascism. However, the point here is not to suggest Roosevelt was racist or antisemitic (a totally idiotic notion) but to focus on the much larger issue of the use of state power in a crisis. The book has important lessons for the future. The current world order is doing a very poor job is dealing with deadly threats like the global environmental crisis. In a new series of world crises there is likely to be a huge centralization of power. Albert Speer once observed that when fascism comes back, it will come back as anti-fascism. The larger issue here is totalitarianism and its potential role in the world future.

Honest, Insightful and Thought Provoking

Mr. Schivelbusch, in this remarkably well researched and startling book draws parallels between the programs and leadership styles of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Franklin Roosevelt. He shows how many similarities there were to be found between each of these very different men. His purpose is not to demonize FDR, excuse the Nazis and Fascists or even to mitigate the failure of the average German and Italian to stand up their leaders. It is, rather, to provide a warning to the future that populism can shift from the benign to the monstrous. It is must reading for the general reader. Having been a fan of Mr Schivelbusch's varied work for many years, I recently had the opportunity to dine with him at the home of friends of mine. I was interested to learn that he was a man of the Left, whose views were very different from mine. It is a tribute to his ability as a scholar that I never would have guessed his affiliations. He follows the truth where he finds it and never lets his own biases seep into his work. He is a careful and diligent researcher. By way of example, T. Harry Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Huey Long merely casts doubt on those who attribute to Long the most famous of his quotes to the effect that "when Fascism comes to America, it will come in the guise of anti-Fascism." Williams does not make any serious attempt to track down the origin of the attribution, something you would expect from the author of a nearly 1000 page biography. In this short work, in a learned and careful footnote, Schivelbusch offers a variety of possible sources for this quote. THAT is careful research! I highly recommend Three New Deals.