Political Violence and Democracy in Western Europe 1918-1940

The contributions in this collection explore manifestations of political violence in the democracies of interwar Europe. While research in this area usually focuses on the regimes that fell to fascism, Political Violence and Democracy in Western Europe, 1918-1940 demonstrates that violence remained a part of political competition in the democratic regimes of Western Europe too. Left-wing and right-wing ideas and uses of violence are examined in countries such as Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, as well as in Italy and Germany. By assembling the latest research in the field it demonstrates that democracy does not necessarily provide an antidote to violent political conflict.

Chris Millington is Senior Lecturer in History at Swansea University, UK. He is author of From Victory to Vichy: Veterans in Inter-war France (2012) and co-author of France and Fascism: February 1934 and the Dynamics of Political Crisis (2015).

Kevin Passmore is Professor of History at Cardiff University, UK. His most recent publications are The Right in France from the Third Republic to Vichy (2013) and Fascism: A Very Short Introduction (2014).