#fall of fascist italy

[memecucker]

While it might be surprising to some, the conference and its offensive guest list are not out of place within Zionist history. In fact, at the very dawn of Zionism itself, founder Theodor Herzl wrote in his diary that “the anti-Semites will become our most dependable friends, the anti-Semitic countries our allies.” And this is indeed how history played out. 

  Such alliances took place on various occasions throughout Zionist history, for various specific agendas. Such agendas included the “Transfer agreement” between the Zionist Yishuv (the Jewish polity in Palestine) in the years 1933-39, under which the 1937 Berlin meeting between Adolf Eichmann and the Jewish Zionist and Haganah agent Feivel Polkes took place. The meeting included a discussion of the possibility that the Nazis might supply weapons for the Zionist fight against the British Mandate in Palestine. The same year Eichmann visited Palestine, hosted by Polkes. 

Another example was when the Stern Gang (or LEHI, an offshoot of the Irgun, led by Yaakov Stern) attempted to forge an alliance with Nazi Germany in 1940-41. Their proposals to Hitler offered “active participation in the war on Germany’s side,” citing a “partnership of interests” between “the German worldview and the true national aspirations of the Jewish people.” They claimed that  “the establishment of the historical Jewish state on a totalitarian national basis, in an alliance relationship with the German Reich, is compatible with the preservation of German power.”

The Irgun and Stern Gang were both ideological descendants of Vladimir Jabotinsky and his “Iron Wall,” which is also the founding ideology of the Likud party. Leaders of these paramilitary groups, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, went on to become prime ministers of Israel. Of course, the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is also an heir to this ideology. In the 1930s, Jabotinsky’s people trained in Italy under Mussolini, and his fascist government noted:   “In agreement of all the relevant authorities it has been confirmed that the views and the political and social inclinations of the Revisionists are known and that they are absolutely in accordance with the fascist doctrine. Therefore, as our students they will bring the Italian and fascist culture to Palestine.” Years later, alliances with far-right governments have only been strengthened by Netanyahu, who has thrown Jews and the history of Jewish persecution history under the bus. He did this when he whitewashed Hungarian President Victor Orban just as Orban praised Nazi collaborators and attacked George Soros with an antisemitic campaign, and when he helped Poland in its Holocaust-revisionist, ultra-nationalist attempt to whitewash its own Holocaust history. This history highlights how Zionists and antisemites have often found common political ground, precisely as Herzl had predicted. For the antisemites, the idea of the “Jewish State” represents something they can identify with – brute, ultra-nationalist power against a non-white oppressed population (dovetailing with their ultra-nationalist anti-immigrant policies), and Zionist approval has also been used to cleanse their own records – if the Jewish State blue-stamps them, they couldn’t be racist. 

[djuvlipen]

i'm so shook on your rick riordan rb whaaaat. i didn't know aaany of this shit. defending arranged marriage is crazy

the rr crit tag is a very interesting rabbit hole to fall into if you have time, here is a masterpost

the thing with rick (i'm calling him by his first name, in true former pjo fan fashion) is that he doesn't do research when it comes to representation. like he doesn't even do the bare minimum. so samirah (the muslim character in Magnus Chase) is pretty religious but she takes her hijab off in front of the thousands of men who live in walhalla because she "considers them as her relatives". this doesn't make sense. another example; he has a native american character in Heroes of Olympus (piper) and she wears a feather in her hair to "reconnect with her heritage". she's literally just wearing a feather in her hair. and another third example; in Magnus Chase (again), there is a deaf character who is constantly described as being super expressionless (in terms of facial expression), and hard-of-hearing readers have constantly explained why this literally made no sense as being expressive is a p important part of sign language (if i remember correctly)

it is lazy representation, and he is only including it because it gives him some clout among the liberal audience. you can tell it's lazy writing and lazy character work because he never really thinks about how being from [insert ethnic group / sexual orientation / religion] might impact a character's life. example 1: hazel (in HoO) is a 13yo african-american girl who was born in 1928. she dies and comes back to life in the 2010s. it is said she faced horrific racial abuse in the 1930s but this somehow had no real psychological impact on her character, she isn't really shown (although it's stated, but once again that's lazy imo) to be struggling adapting to the 2010s, and like. the massive discrepancy between life as an african-american girl in the 30s and the life of an african-american girl in the 2010s isn't even mentioned. not even once. even though many things happened in the USA between the 1920s and the 2010s wrt civil rights for black people

second example; nico was born in the 1930s fascist italy, his mother fled to the US with him at the start of wwii, then he got stuck in a time loop of which he got out in the 2000s/2010s. he is gay. the impact that growing up in 1930s italy (a fascist and v catholic country) had on his relationship with his sexuality isn't ever brought up. like with hazel, it's vaguely stated but this doesn't have any real impact on his character, it didn't really shape him in any way shape or form. that's unrealistic as fuck

(nico and hazel are canonically hitler's half-siblings. rick didn't really think about how this would have impacted their life or their relationship with hades (hades is hitler's dad). but also he backtracked on demigod!hitler and implied he meant hirohito or mussolini instead. who knows. maybe all three are demigods)

third example; lavinia (in Trials of Apollo) is a jewish roman demigoddess. jewish people were systematically discriminated against in the roman empire. but this is never addressed. and if you're wondering how lavinia and samirah factor in their monotheist religion with the fact that ancient gods exist... this is not explored! they don't have a problem with it, it's barely even addressed!

he just writes straight, white characters and then slap an "oppressed" label on their forehead without really thinking about the implications of what he is writing. he doesn't even google the basic stuff. a lot of his characters are walking stereotypes (leo is the one that comes to my mind rn)

his retelling of greek myths brings nothing to the table. he doesn't bring out new, interesting takes on greek mythology (the way the musical Hadestown does for example). but his goal isn't to depict ancient greek culture and mythology as accurately as possible either (we don't hear about ancient greek cultural holidays, about ancient greek sports, about the olympics, about the tragedies, about the philosophy. misogyny, homophobia and slavery in ancient greece aren't ever brought up. and obviously he did not have to bring it up BUT if he had wanted to actually advocate for women and minorities' rights, as he so often says, i think it's a road he could have easily taken if he had given it just a little thought). so instead we are stuck in a weird limbo where we don't learn anything new but we are also NOT being presented with another perspective on what we already know. it's lazy.

and the misogyny. hera is one of the recurring villains of the books; she is portrayed as the literal embodiement of the "bitch wife/evil stepmother" stereotype, and all the aphrodite children are presented as shallow. the one i'm the most pissed off about is artemis. she requires her hunters to be single and kills the ones who break the rule. in Trials of Apollo, it's revealed this rule ALSO applies to lesbian relationships. so you have this elderly lesbian couple who had to flee from the hunters otherwise they would have been killed. lesbians having to flee their community because they might be killed is a very important conversation to be had but the fact it's treated so lightly (it's mentioned a few times, the lesbian couple feels grateful because artemis actually "let them live" and this whole experience didn't really traumatize them in any way) is a pretty flippant way to handle lesbophobia and femicide. the fact that the perpetrator of lesbophobic violence is artemis (and that it's implied that she has killed lesbians in the past!!) is also particularly distasteful. artemis has long been associated with the feminist movement for refusing to partner with men, for running a female-only group of hunters and being the goddess-protector of pregnant women, mothers and women fleeing male violence. this also erases the fact that the biggest perpetrators of sexist and lesbophobic violence are men.

(and don't get me started on reyna's character)

oh, also. in Heroes of Olympus, Amazon (yes, Jeff Bezos' company) turns out to be actually owned by the Amazons, who are portrayed as a group of female supremacists who wear tight leather clothing and whips. they keep men in cages and use them as slaves. yes, this sounds like the plot of a female supremacy fetishist porn movie

also also. the age gaps. hazel is 13 and in a love triangle with frank (16) and leo (15). now i know three years age gap are not that crazy but i do think a 16yo boy and a 13yo girl are at two very different stages of their life (emotionally, physically, sexually) and when i was in high school, my friends and i always gave our male classmates who dated middle school girls side-eyes. anyway, that's hazel. but there's also sadie (from the Kane Chronicles), a 13yo girl who is in a love triangle with walt (16) and anubis (the god) (> 5000yo. he presents as a teenager though). and you know how this ends? that's right. she dates them both. they are a throuple. this doesn't make sense

anyway i don't agree with all the anti-rick criticism, some stuff that ppl criticize about his books make me roll my eyes bc i think they are really not that big of a deal. but these are the things that i do find pretty problematic. i also wouldn't care that much but i find him (and his fans) very hypocritical. he has vocally criticized jkr many times in the past and he is always presenting himself as the representation writer who actually cares about minorities (like, that's his whole pr), but some of the stuff he has written would definitely have gotten jkr a few dozen of thousands of death threats

[bitchymanlet]

Is Erwin Leftist or Fascist?

I'm basically expanding on what I've already posted on twitter about this.

The fandom seems to be pretty split on whether Erwin would be a Jaegerist or not—I've even seen fans going so far as to say he'd be a Trump supporter in the modern day. These could just be trolls or ignorant teenagers (both?) spewing this bs, but let's be clear,

Overthrowing the government does not indicate leftist or right-wing policy.

One of the most common rebuttals I see to the argument that Erwin is fascist is: "But he overthrew the government!" My guess is they think of revolutions by the people, such as the French and Russian ones, which were progressive, left-wing. But fascists do hostile takeovers too, such as the Blackshirts in Italy, and the January 6th Insurrection (the latter being a failed attempt at one).

Instead of using Erwin's staged coup as evidence that he is leftist, let's look into the reasons why he's Not Fascist.

He values intellectualism. We see in the text that Erwin supports and sees the value in Hange's titan research, and he believes the people deserve to know the truth, ie freedom of press—he was kept in the dark about the truth of their world, and he spent his whole life seeking the truth so that it could be shared with everyone. Fascists don't want thinkers, they want obedience.

Erwin allows those below his station to speak and think freely. We see how Levi, his subordinate, speaks to him informally and to other high-ranking military officials right in front of Erwin, but Erwin doesn't reprimand him or even punish him for his transgressions, because he respects him (an uneducated riffraff from the underground) as an equal. He allows 15 year old fresh out of the Cadet Corps Armin to speak up about his hunches, make suggestions, and he even let Armin give more experienced Scouts orders during their most pivotal battle in the history of the Survey Corps. He encourages his Scouts to question what they're fighting for and who their true enemies are rather than flat-out telling them. Unlike Fascists, he doesn't seem to enforce social hierarchy or genetic superiority of any kind.

He doesn't demonize The Other or motivate his soldiers with fear. He's doesn't rally his soldiers by proclaiming that humans are superior to titans and that they must crush them to assert humanity's dominance and superiority—he doesn't possess a hatred for titans like Eren does. He sees them more as obstacles to finding the truth. A core belief to fascists is proving that they are the chosen ones who will beat down the inhuman degenerates beneath them. He shows no sense of innate superiority.

We can't say for sure if he would be a Jaegerist because he died before all of that, but it is extremely unlikely given his aforementioned anti-fascist qualities. Why would he ever fall for Eren and Zeke's plot? Erwin is certainly smarter than Eren, but Zeke is a competent leader and strategist himself. However, what Zeke lacks that Erwin didn't is Hope. Erwin didn't give up on humanity like Zeke did, instead he valued and sought after knowledge. He saw failures and tragedies as learning opportunities and steps to a better outcome. Suffice it to say, he's not hateful or nihilistic enough to be on either of the Jaeger brothers' side, he'd think of a better solution than revenge or no babies.

So we can deduce that he is not a Fascist.

But is he a Leftist?

Back to the coup de'tat, Erwin staged it not to subjugate civilians, execute his opposers and instate military rule (what fascists do), but to live on to find the truth. That was it. Being a Scout granted him the freedom to venture outside of the walls and to learn more about their world and about the titans. If the Survey Corps dissolved and he got hanged, then the truth would possibly never come to light. The previous government would execute people for trying to leave and seek the truth. Erwin elevating Historia as the rightful monarch and, as a result, the people learning that the former monarch was a fake and that they have been lied to was just a nice bonus. Not why he did it.

There's little evidence for his personal political beliefs, as much of his character arc revolves around him Getting Closer To The Truth. If he were a leftist, he would show support for the common man's struggle and a disdain for the ruling class (like woke class-conscious king Levi). If his coup were politically motivated (in a progressive way), he would have started a revolution to free the people from the king's tyranny, he might have even called for the eradication of the crown altogether and touted democracy and the redistribution of wealth. Instead, he showed uncertainty and remorse for his coup, not confidence that he'd done the right thing for humanity's sake.

Again, Erwin was only saving his own skin so that he could find out what was in Eren's basement. He didn't feel strongly about dismantling the system and creating a more equitable government, which would be leftist. Rather, he feels more comfortable with upholding the status quo while also maintaining individual liberty.

Ergo, based on canon events, I don't think Erwin is a leftist or a fascist, I think he's a liberal.

[mesetacadre]

apologies if this isn't really your area of interest, but how would you describe the relationship between fascism and (anti-) imperialism? (asking because my far-right father just watched a video about Kamala Harris right next to me which had very similar points to what I've seen on Tumblr; specifically how liberals/democrats will even ally with their "enemies" if it means they can keep the war machine going)

One way to understand fascism that's very common in the imperial periphery has been to conceptualize it as colonialism/imperialism turned inwards, it ramps up exploitation by any means necessary. This does two things, it curbs worker organization by exerting more violence, and it increases capitalist profits. This last thing is also related to the tendency of the rate of profit to fall, since fascists in power tend to be destructive towards capital, especially to human capital, and the rate of profit can only be increased considerably through the destruction of capital. As for the more specific aspects of fascism in power; forced labor, concentration camps, the trampling of any kind of liberties, mass political repression, etc. were already established in the colonized world well before any fascist you can think of was even born.

Take a look at this map:

This is a propaganda piece [the title says "Portugal is not a small country"] from 1934 during Portugal's Salazar dictatorship, one of the forgotten fascist states of Europe during this time, along with Austria and Spain. When fascists do have colonies and would be considered an empire, they do not really differ from non-fascist imperialism. This integralist notion shown by the poster really isn't that far from the integration attempted by France on Algeria, and Italy had similar rhetoric when it came to Libya and East Africa. What I mean to say is that fascists do not have that special a relationship when it comes to "normal" imperialism (apart from that internal imperialism I mentioned), and it therefore does not have that special a relationship with anti-imperialism. Nazi-fascists did not inherit any colonies from the Weimar Republic, but their ambitions in the east (look up generalplan-ost) and for the Balkans were also extremely similar to most colonial projects you can find for Africa and Asia in the 19th and early 20th century.

Fascism is an imperialist ideology, not because of any inherent quality, but because it is the most destructive and exploitative elements of liberal democracy emphasized and expanded. It was, after all, birthed by the moribund corpse of European imperialism, as it entered a general crisis that spelled its end (in the form imperialism took at this time, of course imperialism mutated and transformed to a system that doesn't require a direct administrative control of colonies), and this crisis was only delayed by WW2.

Fascists nowadays protect imperialism insofar as they protect capitalism. Fascists are only really enemies with liberalism when it comes to parliamentarism and its socially progressive elements, but we can't forget that any liberal party, whether it's republican or democrat or third party, ultimately only serves to manage capitalism in the country they administer. I'm not really sure what's the point that that video was making, but I don't think it's this. Fascists are not the enemies of a capitalist state, imperialist or otherwise, they're the most extreme, violent and repressive expression of what's already present in liberal democracy. If usamerican fascists take the position of a "great america" and support the continuation of its interference worldwide, and the democrats or republicans also do, this is a case of fascism reflecting liberalism, not the other way around. Fascism is not an evil entity one candidate chooses to ally with or not. It always represent the most extreme needs of capital, and in every case that it has taken power, it has happened once those necessities were widespread enough and they recieved ample support from those capitalists.

[your-local-depressed-fangirl]

dearest followers

feast your eyes on some old solangelo fanfiction i’m re writing for valentines

Will had dragged Nico out of his dark cabin into the sunny strawberry fields of Camp Half-Blood. 

They were picking strawberries as a favor for Mr. D.

Nico wouldn't admit it but he was actually enjoying Spending time out in the sun with his boyfriend. They'd been dating for 1.5 months but Nico still hadn't told Will he loved him or kissed him on the lips. Nico was still trying to get over his internal homophobia he gained from his childhood in fascist Italy. What better way to finally be free from his past then to finally accept himself and the fact he is attracted to men by admitting to Will Solace that he was in love with him? Nico swallowed and spoke...

"Hey Will...?" Nico prompted.

"Mhm? Yes Nico?" Will asked smiling and wiping sweat off of his brow.

"Ti amo..." Nico whispered a slight light blush brushing his face. Y'know what? Nico thought to himself close enough.

Will smiled a little brighter and chuckled. "What does it mean? 'Ti amo'?" Will asked.

Nico blushed a little bit more. "Ehmmmm... um... Nothing Will." Nico said getting cold feet and not wanting to repeat himself.

Will looked down and continued picking strawberries. "Nico darlin'?" Will asked.

"Mhm Sunshine...?" Nico asked blushing at Will calling him 'Darlin''. 

Will smiled still picking strawberries and not making eye contact with Nico. "Ti amo anch'io." Will said looking up with dilated blue eyes, filled with love, at Nico.

Nico's knees buckled suddenly becoming weak almost causing Nico to fall over. Nico's face became as red as a Roma tomato with blush. "Parli italiano...?" Nico questioned.

"Si amore..." Will said, setting down the partially full basket of strawberries on the ground and grabbing a hold of Nico's hand, the BIGGEST smile on his face. 

Will gently pulled Nico into his embrace and Nico simply melted into Will's arms.

The two boys were basking in each other's embrace when suddenly Will seemed a bit sad.

"What's wrong Will." Nico asked.

"You said I love you first... I wanted to say it..." Will murmured.

Nico smiled a faint smile. "Well..." Nico swallowed and grabbed Will by the collar of his shirt yanking Will down to his level and kissing him to make Will feel a bit better.

Will melted into the kiss for a few seconds before they pulled apart, "Okay don't get me wrong I love you but I wanted to give the first kiss..." 

"Sounds like a you problem..."  Nico said smirking.

Will bent down and grabbed a strawberry and threw it a Nico's face and smushed a strawberry on Nico's mouth.

"What the hell?!" Nico questioned his lips now covered in strawberry juice.

"Sounds like a you problem..." Will said smirking. 

Nico glared at an unfazed Will.

Will kissed the strawberry juice off Nico's lips, "Yum." Will said casually before continuing to pick strawberries.

*END FIC*

I think I could make it fluffier…

And longer as well

[helpmeimblorboing]

The fact that Nico never got to choose anything in his life - not his parentage, not his sexuality, not being dragged out of his time , not even being established as an ambassador to Camp Jupiter and certainly not being dragged through Tartarus- except who he fell in love with

The fact that Nico has been rejected from the very beginning - for being gay (he came from Fascist Italy, something tells me they weren’t very supportive of him), for being the son of Hades, for being darker and broodier than most people like - except by this one person, this one person willing to shoulder the weight of the world to stop it from falling on his shoulders, who sees Nico as his responsibility, unlike everyone else who simply sees him as an annoyance at best and a liability at worst.

Will is great and all, and y’all already know that Solangelo is my jam, but there’s something so sweet about Percico. Real “Like Real People Do” vibes

[aficionadoenthusiast]

will showing nico camp's library because his boy is sad and needs a hobby

nico figuring out he can actually read books in greek when he couldn't get through italian or english as a kid

nico falling in love with 20th century lit and using it as a coping mechanism for his time displacement

i really think he'd love the catcher in the rye and the great gatsby

nico and will visiting naomi in texas and nico learning about modern book bans

nico being horrified because he literally lived through ww2 and fascist italy

nico getting really into the 'i read banned books' movement

nico spreading it to camp. camp gets it's own banned books club

nico wearing readstricted and I read banned books pins to pride with his gay flag because he still remembers exactly what books the nazis burned

nico going for a literature degree on a whim while will is in medical school

nico realizing he can use his love of books to help kids like him who are lonely and lost (maybe he saw dps. I don't make the rules)

nico becoming a literature teacher

his students trying really hard to figure out their strange lit teacher that keeps making them read these old books and has a weird grudge against anything from ancient greece

they somehow figure out he's from the 30s

banned books week being a whole ass celebration in the solangelo house

nico spreads his love of banned books to his students and accidentally starts a movement

idk where to go from here

i need to write this

i just really love the idea of nico getting into english lit and banned books

[curtwilde]

sorry if this ask sounds ignorant, i am getting familiar with south asian politics

So, India is democracy and the leaders are elected by people right? The system is a bit different than in the States. I have been seeing posts about south asian politics on my feed and wanted to learn more, hence researched a bit.

I couldn't find India having dubious national election scam record in last two decades unlike Bangladesh. And neither does India have army controlled proxy government like Pakistan. And in latest national elections, Indian opposition seems to have come out stronger than previous elections relatively.

my doubt is if people did elect the BJP government and the opposition isn't suppressed, isn't it counterintuitive to deem India as BJP controlled fascist state for following outcome of a democratic election? I say this on basis of posts in recent months I've seen on tumblr.

I highly recommend you read the essay The Fascism of our Times by Prabhat Patnaik.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Fascism as a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition.

The process by which that particular government came to power is not relevant to this definition. Hitler, too, rose to power with a free and fair legislative election in a democratic republic.

Fascism is characterized by

1. A national identity usually based on racial or religious identities - aryan christian for Hitler, sanatani hindu for BJP. This identity is presented to be superior to others - Hitler considered Aryans to be the ultimate Master race, BJP considers Hinduism to be the ultimate and ideal religion with no faults.

2. Nationalism based on this identity, catered to serve the fascist ideology, aggressively propagated by the fascist party in question - the aryan christian for Hitler, the sanatani hindu for BJP. As far as BJP is concerned they see no difference between being hindu by faith and being indian by nationality; and Indians who fall outside of their ideal of the sanatani hindu christian - especially muslims - are considered to have lesser rights than hindus, to be second class citizens who must live on the hindu's pity and generosity.

3. A designated Other community residing in the country that they perceive to be outsiders - Jews for Hitler, Muslims for BJP, who they use as a scapegoat for their own failures at governing, and ultimately, want to annihilate.

4. The superior race/community/religion presented as long-suffering hapless victims of this other community/race/religion ("hinduphobia")

5. A Übermensch like leader who is presented as a somewhat superhuman saviour of the currently suffering victim race/religion (our prime minister has on occasion claimed that he was born non-biologically).

The ideological propagators of Hindutva were admirers of Hitler and the Nazi ideology. Even if hindutva is not directly modeled after it, the ideological similarities are too obvious, and too dangerous to be ignored.

We have not descended into a full Nazi-Germany fascist mode yet only and only because we have a well-crafted Constitution, the makers of which, having lived through the fascist regimes in Germany and Italy, may have foreseen something like this happening. But what else would you call a country where muslim activists are jailed for years on false charges, where atleast 2-3 cases of muslim citizens being lynched to death are registered every month, where individuals and media houses that are critical of BJP have their websites and pages randomly removed or deleted?

To come back to your question, it is possible for two or more countries with bad governments to exist alongside each other, and it is a bit weird that you would think that I support Pakistan or Bangladesh governments just because I criticise the Indian government. Pakistan has had its share of military takeovers and increasingly ludicrous Prime Ministers, Bangladesh's current government is too new and unstable for me to have an opinion about it. However, I must say purely from an ideological point of view: a political party that, through its indoctrination, red-pilling, and propaganda - has in 10 years managed to convince entire groups that the people they have peacefully lived alongside in the past is suddenly to be dehumanised; is able to manufacture consent to oppress, violate, and annihilate them without repercussions; and is able to publicly propagate this hatred for a particular community and still win through a majority in democratic elections - is infinitely more dangerous.

[pixigels]

On your Romerica rambling post, you said that their situationship was off during the 30's and 40's, and that it deserved it's own post because of the complexities of the time period. I actually share this same hc!!

Tho I was wondering if u were ever gonna follow up on dat w another text post?

HIII ! actually I'm glad you asked! honestly I've spent a long time thinking about their dynamic so anyone asking is like "neuron activated" after months of college work and psychological torture. whoa that txt post is like a year and a half overdue since. So I'll use this ask as an excuse to elaborate on my thoughts

DISCLAIMER i do go down the historical route as a way to elaborate how events would impact their dynamic and then into how it shapes the two individuals as symbolic to their nations. My intention is not to water down historical events to ships. Also I've always been really into history as a personal hobby even before hetalia so I will geek out.

During the 30s envisioned them as having a natural falling out as a result of them no longer living together. Adding to that how they both had bigger issues to deal with in their own home countries. Up to then maybe some feelings of fondness for what was until there wasn't.

Now the 40s is very interesting to me because I rarely see people mention it but i think its important because of Operation Husky 1943 aka the anglo-american offense on southern Italy and Operation Underworld 1942 since it is related with espionage in ports that led up to Operation Husky.

To put it frankly I don't think any characters had a "truly healthy" relation with each other during ww2 even those that were allies of each other in general (but that's just my opinion). Now considering the first strong interaction they have after like a a decade of a falling out is being on "opposite" sides of a war, that's quite a lot already. I say ""opposite"" in air quotes simply because at the same time historically Italy is divided in civil war between the fascists and resistance. I personally see romano as symbolic to the resistance (idk if this even qualifies as a hc bcs i think its kind of implied in canon hetalia).

dynamic wise its bittersweet. i find that in terms of the characters its like reuniting with someone you spent time with a lot and maybe you do hold some fondness even after falling out. but like its under the worst circumstances. Where it is way more bitter than sweet as a result of conflicts where as a nation one is very weak at least compared to the other side. On romano's end i've hc that despite collaborating with the anglo-american forces against the axis. It wouldn't warrant full immediate trust. Because by all means they could be taking advantage of you. To an extent my hc is that he is partially right, at least in the way America could use their past bond as an advantage. I don't believe the transition was easy for either to get back to "trusting each other" like before. However, it makes sense for me that around the 50s it's different. (I would like to do another deepdive into their dynamic in this era as well)

I think its important to mention how the US' role in WW2 (historically) isn't simply that of the "hero." (yes unfortunately a lot of people in the hetalia fandom have a very usamerican washed version of history where ppl think they can just repeat the "america is just doing his best bcs he wants to be a hero " sentiment uncritically simply because they like the character (I already have my issues with this in canon at times). i might sound like I'm making this too deep but I find it to be an important disclaimer just in case to not conflate hetalia characters with the countries in a way that makes people uncritically look into a country's role in history.

In hetalia, interestingly enough the only mention of romano + america during ww2 in hetalia is in this specific moment. where romano is kinda terrified. which is veryyyy surface level bcs yk its hetalia. Still I feel like this decade is something that can offer a lot in terms of exploring their dynamics if you aren't bound by canon/

I'm always a 50/50 believer when it comes to the "hetalia characters as personifications of their government" vs the "hetalia characters represent their people" because governments impact people and nations relations and people impact government. So yes I did go very historical. If you know me, I'm pretty big into highlight the importance of at least having a grip of the history to understand why certain characters act the way they do in canon. (even though its fair to say fuck canon a good amount of the time)

I hope I was able to elaborate the complexities with the right amount enough nuance :) let me know if you would like me to clarify any hcs

[kvetchlandia]

So...

The racist, nationalist, Islamophobic and antisemitic National Front (or whatever stupid, slightly less terrifying name they're giving themselves this month) is set to be the largest single party in the French parliament after next week's final round of elections. Italy is already governed by a party that's the direct descendant of Mussolini's Fascists. The neo-fascist Alternative for Germany was the second largest block in the recent German elections to the European Parliament and is expected to grow significantly in next year's elections to the Bundestag. Geert Wilders's reactionary party in the Netherlands took nearly 50% of the Dutch seats in the European Parliament (6 of 14). In the 2023 national elections in the Netherlands, Wilders' party took a whopping 37 seats in the Dutch House of Representatives, making it the largest single party in the Dutch legislature. Fortunately for the Dutch, they don't have another national election scheduled until 2028, but one could be held earlier should the government fall. It's hard for me to grasp that these countries, each of which was either conquered and occupied by the nazis and betrayed by collaborators, or was directly governed by nazis and fascists, is now electing precisely those same nazis and collaborators. Of course, we here in the United States, are facing the bizarre choice in the two "official" parties of American capitalism, of one candidate who's clearly cognitively impaired and another who is a dictator wannabe; a man already convicted of numerous felony charges and facing many, many more; a racist and misogynist; a man millions of dollars in debt on account of the fines levied against him after he was found liable for the civil sexual abuse of a woman and then libeling his victim and a man who has made it clear that if/when he's re-elected he's going to go after his political opponents and that he's also going to dismantle what little bit of social safety net we have in the United States. It looks as though Mushroom Dick, as Stormy Daniels referred to this monster, with whom she shared a brief and forgettable sexual encounter, is going to win the election in this country. This world is rapidly becoming an even sicker and sadder place than it's long been. I guess we should take a teensy bit of hope that Britain is bucking the trend and that Labour is expected to trounce the Tories in the upcoming election. Of course, this doesn't reflect that Britain is immune to the tide of the racist fear of immigrants that's sweeping over the rest of Europe and the United States but rather, it reflects the fact that the tide hit Britain first and that the British people have been suffering under the effects of Brexit for several years already, and that the long-term rule by the Tories has devastated the British working class and sucked much of the life out of the National Health System, which used to be a model for the world until the Tories slashed its budget to the bone. I guess all I can say is we're really screwed. The world is entering an ugly time and things are going to get worse before they get better.

OK, now I've totally depressed myself. I'm gonna pour myself a stiff drink and then stick a pillow over my head and try to go to sleep. I'm not in the mood to engage in my usual late night Tumblr silliness. Maybe I'll get back to posting tomorrow?

[mlmxreader]

Three Brazilian Heroes: More Likely For a Snake to Smoke a Pipe

Very few groups of soldiers get the recognition that they deserve, even fewer are the men of colour who fought, bled, and died for the end of genocide and fascism.

It was said that it would be more likely for a snake to smoke a pipe than it was for the Brazilian Expeditionary Force to go into combat, but when they did, they left with a legacy that would last a lifetime, even if they are pushed aside and pushed down in favour of more white groups. The names of Geraldo Baeta Da Cruz, Arlindo Lúcio Da Silva and Geraldo Rodrigues de Souza swept under the rug and forgotten.

November of 1944 brought the Allied plans to liberate Italy from fascist rule for the second year in a row; for months, the fighting had resulted in pushing back the Nazis. The Allied forces had been made up of three dozen different nationalities - including British, Indian, Greek, South African, Canadian, and Nepalese (specifically, Gurkhas). However, one of the three dozen was one that nobody had expected, or even considered to think about: Brazilian.

25, 000 Brazilians had made up the soldiers and pilots of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, originally made for political necessity but now thrown into a war on foreign lands; they were the Smoking Snakes, named such after a popular saying: "Mais fácil à uma cobra um cachimbo fumar, do que à FEB embarcar", which translates to "It is more likely for a snake to smoke a pipe than for the FEB to go into combat."

In 1939, nobody thought that President Getúlio Vargas would be a key allied leader; originally, Brazil had possessed a largely outdated military, as well as a very active community of Nazi sympathisers and a lot of tension with Argentina. Vargas, however, wanted to turn Brazil into a unified power, and in 1942, thanks partially to Pearl Harbour and Franklin's pressure on other nearby countries to join the U.S.'s fight, Vargas made the decision that "Brazil must now stand or fall with the United States".

Vargas would offer Brazil's resources and land at first, and eventually, would create a combat force to be sent to Europe; at the time, Brazil was not prepared or able to cope with a war, but Franklin's pressure and iron fist had proved too much, and Vargas had caved.

General João Batista Mascarenhas de Morais was in charge of the Brazilian Expedition Force (the F.E.B.), and at 61, was the oldest divisional commander on the Allied Force's side in Europe; the F.E.B. was soon brought to American standards, and because it took so long for them to recruit, organise, train and negotiate overseas deployment, a new saying was brought up: "a cobra vai fumar" - "when snakes smoke".

Outdated equipment, reserve officers who weren't tested, and outdated half-learned French doctrine, the Americans turned their nose up at the F.E.B.; they hoped to stash them away somewhere quiet, instead of offering them a chance to show their metal. But Vargas had a secured promise that his men would see combat, and would be sent to war; the first batch of troops left Rio de Janeiro shortly after D-Day in 1944, brandishing the smoking snake on their uniforms.

The North African campaign had ended shortly before they could get to Naples, but by then, the Americans had found a quiet spot to hide the Brazilian forces; fascist Italy was ready to be collapsed, and the Nazis were localised to the North. The Americans thought, if they hid the Brazilians there, then they could continue serving as tokens and little else.

A baptism of fire was about to begin, and in September of 1944, the Brazilians were encroaching on Tuscany at the Arno River; it was here that they would truly show what they were made of. Not many men had served before, and even fewer officers had seen combat since the Brazilian Revolution; from September until the harsh winter set in, the Brazilians fought the Nazis and the Italian fascists as hard and as fierce as they possibly could.

At the same time, the other Allied high command was trying to find a way to make a push on Northern Italy in Spring 1945, hoping that they would take control of Bologne and capture it; in order to do so, it would mean having to secure northern Tuscany for its high ground. In the winter of 1944, going into 1945, the Brazilians were sent off to fight in the mountains; with temperatures going below -20°c, it was a harsh battle to even consider fighting, and with the added pressure of some of the soldiers never experiencing snow before, it was a fight that most would give up immediately.

But they didn't.

Difficult terrain meant that the Brazilians were at a stark disadvantage, but they still went out and fought the Nazis at the heavily defended Monte Castello; they were sent out on combat patrols during the night, where they would infiltrate the Nazi lines and test and probe the defences as well as take prisoners.

In 1945, the campaign begun, and Operation Encore was birthed; combined American and British offensives were tasked with trying to push the 10th and 14th Nazi armies out of Italy for good. The Brazilians, who were there to support the Americans, sent out their entire division for such a daunting task; their target was to attack Montesse, where the Nazis had a strong point in the south of Po Valley. The attack was set for April of 1945, and the Brazilians would take the left flank of the American side.

Before the attack, however, Brazil sent out patrols yet again; they would reconnoitre the heights, and the villages that surrounded the city. On top of that, they would clear minefields and make changes to maps to anything that needed updating; but the Nazis were also planning and were lying in wait.

On the 14th of April, 1945, right before the main attack was to take place, a patrol of three men was sent out; Geraldo Baeta Da Cruz, Arlindo Lúcio Da Silva and Geraldo Rodrigues de Souza were chosen for such a fateful patrol, unaware of what was waiting for them. Part of the Mountain Infantry, Geraldo Baeta, Arlindo and Geraldo Rodrigues were ambushed.

Originally spotted by the Nazi machine guns, they ran for cover and tried to find somewhere to get to safety; knowing that they were heavily outnumbered, they realised that they could not get reinforcements on their side whatsoever, and could not surrender no matter what.

Geraldo Baeta, Arlindo, and Geraldo Rodrigues knew that they only had one choice; they returned fire on the Germans, using everything they could until they had no more left, and the mortars began to drop around them harshly.

Knowing that they could not back down, the three men fixed their bayonets, and advanced; they were all immediately killed.

Geraldo Baeta Da Cruz, Arlindo Lúcio Da Silva and Geraldo Rodrigues de Souza were recognised for their bravery, and although they were not the only Brazilians to die that day, they left behind a fighting spirit; they died to save the lives of others, to end fascism. They fought against Nazism and Nazis with all that they had, and although snakes don't smoke, the three Brazilian heroes most certainly made the ultimate sacrifice for the end of genocide.

[ciaheyhimm]

Galeazzo Ciano & Frau Beetz: Love or Legend?

This love affair is clouded by mystery and a little bit of legend. We actually don't have many proofs to admit that there was actually something romantic going on between the two protagonists of this post. According to the Italian Historian Giordano Bruno Guerri, it's unlikely that there was love brewing between them, but it is certain that Frau Beetz had grown affectionate towards the Fascist Hierarch, causing her to change her initial plans. Even Edda Mussolini, when asked about what she knew and if she believed that they had had an affair, commented: "I don't know if it's true as I have never seen Frau Beetz again after I ran away, but I really hope it happened."

Who was Frau Beetz? How did she and Galeazzo Ciano meet?

Hildegard Burkhardt was a former German spy assigned by the Nazi regime to get hold of Count Galeazzo Ciano's diaries while he was in prison. According to legend, she turned from a spy into the lover of Mussolini's son-in-law, eventually helping Edda Ciano escape to Switzerland, where she managed to secure her husband's diaries. Going down in history as Frau Felizitas (or Felicitas) Beetz, she was secretary to Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm Hottl, head of the German secret service in Italy. A controversial and mysterious character, endowed with excellent culture and a remarkable command of the Italian language (she had graduated from Leipzig University with a degree in Italian literature), she received, at the age of 22, the task of attempting to get Galeazzo Ciano to hand over her diaries, which were considered compromising to senior Nazi hierarchs (particularly Joachim von Ribbentrop and Heinrich Himmler) as well as Adolf Hitler.In order to achieve her goal, Frau Beetz assiduously frequented cell number 27 of the prison where Ciano, who was arrested because he was among the members of the Grand Council of Fascism that brought about the fall of the Fascist regime on July 25, 1943, was imprisoned. Instead of undertaking to find Ciano's diaries, Beetz eventually tried to save Count Galeazzo, husband of Edda, daughter of Benito Mussolini. Felicitas Beetz attended all the hearings of the Verona trial, returning every evening to the Scalzi prison to hearten Galeazzo. She assisted Ciano until the last moment, until the latter was transferred to the Porta Catena range for execution. After Ciano's execution (January 11, 1944), it was Frau Beetz who delivered Ciano's last belongings to his mother - Carolina - who was hospitalized, because she was heart ill, in the "La Quiete" health home in Varese. On the occasion of that meeting, Frau Beetz confided to Carolina Ciano: "I loved Galeazzo, Countess. And I still love him. He was the great love of my life." It seems that Edda Mussolini had seen in the German spy, more than a rival, an ally. This circumstance also appears to be confirmed in her memoirs, as Felicitas, together with Count Emilio Pucci, helped Edda escape with the children to Switzerland. The escape to Switzerland of Edda and her family allowed the explosive diaries of Galeazzo Ciano to be saved and consigned to history. After World War II, Hildegard Burkhardt left Utaly and returned to Germany.

------------

Author's Note: Hello everyone! Sorry about by abroupt absence, but I had very huge family issues that I still have to deal with. Since I missed making posts, I came back with a very interesting topic since I found this page of Galeazzo Ciano's life very interesting.

Tell me what you think! Should I make a post about the Verona Trial?

[chubbybunny25]

for the wip titles: soulmate percico (as I don't think I've heard you talk about that one before)

XD The reason why I don't talk ramble about this as much is because most of the ideas totally came from the amazing @rain-embrace-nymph ^^ The premise is so interesting, so I agreed to write it.

This is an AU where Percy and Nico are still demigods, but both are from 1940's Italy. Here, Poseidon falls in love with rain's OC, named Domenico Fedele, who is best friends with Maria di Angelo. Though, essentially, it's a percico fic, it will also explore the deep platonic bond between Maria (she's bi here) and Domenico (he's ace) and them navigating through fascist Italy where genders have their own roles to play in the society, and where women and men can't be "too close", without getting married. (also poseidon/domenico being sweet and soft and maria/hades being a bit of enemies to lovers XD)

The Great Prophecy happens and Zeus is his still usual as*hole self, so Poseidon and Hades need to protect each of their families, and hide their sons. Canon still happens, and Percy and Nico meet after decades, and ofc they feel the connection (they used to be childhood friends btw, along with bianca 😭). This fic explores how soulmates can be the best of friends or be lovers in the end ✨

[mariacallous]

BRUSSELS (AP) — Far-right parties made major gains in European Union parliamentary elections Sunday, dealing stunning defeats to two of the bloc’s most important leaders: French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

In France, the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen dominated the polls to such an extent that Macron immediately dissolved the national parliament and called for new elections. It was a massive political risk since his party could suffer more losses, hobbling the rest of his presidential term that ends in 2027.

Le Pen was delighted to accept the challenge. “We’re ready to turn the country around, ready to defend the interests of the French, ready to put an end to mass immigration,” she said, echoing the rallying cry of so many far-right leaders in other countries who were celebrating substantial wins.

Macron acknowledged the thud of defeat. “I’ve heard your message, your concerns, and I won’t leave them unanswered,” he said, adding that calling a snap election only underscored his democratic credentials.

In Germany, the most populous nation in the 27-member bloc, projections indicated that the AfD overcame a string of scandals involving its top candidate to rise to 16.5%, up from 11% in 2019. In comparison, the combined result for the three parties in the German governing coalition barely topped 30%.

Scholz suffered such an ignominious fate that his long-established Social Democratic party fell behind the extreme-right Alternative for Germany, which surged into second place. “After all the prophecies of doom, after the barrage of the last few weeks, we are the second strongest force,” a jubilant AfD leader Alice Weidel said.

The four-day polls in the 27 EU countries were the world’s second-biggest exercise in democracy, behind India’s recent election. At the end, the rise of the far right was even more stunning than many analysts predicted.

The French National Rally crystalized it as it stood at over 30% or about twice as much as Macron’s pro-European centrist Renew party that is projected to reach around 15%.

Overall across the EU, two mainstream and pro-European groups, the Christian Democrats and the Socialists, remained the dominant forces. The gains of the far right came at the expense of the Greens, who were expected to lose about 20 seats and fall back to sixth position in the legislature. Macron’s pro-business Renew group also lost big.

For decades, the European Union, which has its roots in the defeat of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, confined the hard right to the political fringes. With its strong showing in these elections, the far right could now become a major player in policies ranging from migration to security and climate.

Bucking the trend was former EU leader and current Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who overcame Law and Justice, the national conservative party that governed Poland from 2015-23 and drove it ever further to the right. A poll showed Tusk’s party won with 38%, compared to 34% for his bitter nemesis.

“Of these large, ambitious countries, of the EU leaders, Poland has shown that democracy, honesty and Europe triumph here,” Tusk told his supporters. “I am so moved.”

He declared, “We showed that we are a light of hope for Europe.”

Germany, traditionally a stronghold for environmentalists, exemplified the humbling of the Greens, who were predicted to fall from 20% to 12%. With further losses expected in France and elsewhere, the defeat of the Greens could well have an impact on the EU’s overall climate change policies, still the most progressive across the globe.

The center-right Christian Democratic bloc of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which already weakened its green credentials ahead of the polls, dominated in Germany with almost 30%, easily beating Scholz’s Social Democrats, who fell to 14%, even behind the AfD.

“What you have already set as a trend is all the better – strongest force, stable, in difficult times and by a distance,” von der Leyen told her German supporters by video link from Brussels.

As well as France, the hard right, which focused its campaign on migration and crime, was expected to make significant gains in Italy, where Premier Giorgia Meloni was tipped to consolidate her power.

Voting continued in Italy until late in the evening and many of the 27 member states have not yet released any projections. Nonetheless, data already published confirmed earlier predictions: the elections will shift the bloc to the right and redirect its future. That could make it harder for the EU to pass legislation, and decision-making could at times be paralyzed in the world’s biggest trading bloc.

EU lawmakers, who serve a five-year term in the 720-seat Parliament, have a say in issues from financial rules to climate and agriculture policy. They approve the EU budget, which bankrolls priorities including infrastructure projects, farm subsidies and aid delivered to Ukraine. And they hold a veto over appointments to the powerful EU commission.

These elections come at a testing time for voter confidence in a bloc of some 450 million people. Over the last five years, the EU has been shaken by the coronavirus pandemic, an economic slump and an energy crisis fueled by the biggest land conflict in Europe since the Second World War. But political campaigning often focuses on issues of concern in individual countries rather than on broader European interests.

Since the last EU election in 2019, populist or far-right parties now lead governments in three nations — Hungary, Slovakia and Italy — and are part of ruling coalitions in others including Sweden, Finland and, soon, the Netherlands. Polls give the populists an advantage in France, Belgium, Austria and Italy.

“Right is good,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who leads a stridently nationalist and anti-migrant government, told reporters after casting his ballot. “To go right is always good. Go right!”

[zorya-reads]

Mario and the Magician: Thoughts & Book Review

'Mario und der Zauberer' (German Classic) by Thomas Mann

★★★★☆ 

Should one pack up and leave when things get uncomfortably strange? Mann answers with a shrug: no — stay, endure, and observe. There’s something to be learned, even in discomfort. Especially in discomfort.

I believed that probably mirrors our teacher walking in on a Tuesday morning, handing us a copy of the book, and expecting us to read it in that hour. Well, so I thought—until I actually read it.

Synopsis: The story follows a family’s unpleasant summer vacation in hot southern Italy. But the real heat comes from the political climate: cloying flattery from hotel staff toward royalty and the uptight manners of snobbish suburban and small-town guests. When the children want to attend what’s expected to be a harmless magic show, the magician instead hypnotizes the crowd into humiliating spectacles, wielding control like a drunk puppet master. By the end, the curtain falls not to applause—but to bloodshed and bedlam.

(750 words)

The most interesting character to me was the magician, Cipolla. A man as layered as his name (Italian for “onion”), Cipolla has many contradictory layers hiding underneath. An artist, a tyrant, a Lucifer on stage; His character works as a metaphor for a looming political reality: the magician as a kind of precursor to a dictator, with hypnosis representing the early stages of ideological control. Cipolla shows both the fragile power artists hold over their audiences and the willingness of the crowd to be easily fooled. Mundus vult decipi. — But then the world does want to be fooled.

I loved the prose; Mann’s formal, almost Byzantine style. But honestly, modern readers might struggle with it — at least me and my classmates, feeling trapped inside a single sentence that just refused to end: The word choice is super eloquent. It's like he was fueled by a quirky obsession with inventing new words and neologisms—yes, Shakespeare on a linguistic spree—he made the syntax as convoluted as possible. Still, it’s something you can finish in just an hour or two.

Interestingly, the narrator admits to his own unreliability, confessing that the events are jumbled memories: “I’ve skipped around... My head is still full of memories of the Cavaliere’s feats,” he writes, “though I can’t put them in order anymore.” This self-awareness reminds us that memory— like magic — is always a bit of a trick. Self-censorship and attempts to justify himself are seen as warning signs that he might be trying to shape the story in a way that makes it easier for him to cope with what happened.

And that might be exactly the case: Historically, the novella is rooted in Mann’s own 1926 trip to an increasingly fascist Italy under Mussolini, just as fascism was gaining ground in Germany and Hitler’s rise to power loomed. When he wrote the story in 1929, the hopeful “Golden Twenties” in Germany had ended, replaced by growing radicalism and nationalism. The political climate was even more violent than what Mann had seen in Italy a few years earlier. Therefore, it’s likely Mann drew on his experiences in Italy and Germany for the story.

Because the story ends tragically, many think Mann was warning readers to actively resist dictators, even if it takes drastic action. But in a 1930 letter to Otto Hoerth (a german journalist, publicist, and writer), Mann said the story wasn’t meant as a political statement. While the events of the story are entirely real and parallel to his experience in italy, he explained that only the violent ending was his invention. However, by 1932, Mann didn’t rule out political meanings in his work.

The allegory is clear in hindsight: Cipolla as a precursor to the Führer, the audience as the pliant populace, the stage as the world. It’s about seduction and submission, about charisma weaponized, and about the thin line between spectacle and subjugation.

In the end, when our narrator is asked, “Was that the end?” the answer is yes. Yes, it was the end — a terrifying, liberating, blood-soaked end. The kind of end that leaves you wondering whether it came too soon, or far too late.

To whom would I recommend this book?

Anyone interested in German classics who has read Faust already (because who reads German classics without reading Faust???). It is a quick read—because it is short—and offers some insight into our history while at the same time, does not demand any deep prior knowledge. Its themes are straightforward, making it an excellent introductory work for beginners.

[warningsine]

BRUSSELS (AP) — Far-right parties made such big gains at the European Union parliamentary elections that they dealt stunning defeats to two of the bloc’s most important leaders: French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

In France, the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen dominated the polls to such an extent that Macron immediately dissolved the national parliament and called for new elections, a massive political risk since his party could suffer more losses, hobbling the rest of his presidential term that ends in 2027.

In Germany, Scholz suffered such an ignominious fate that his long-established Social Democratic party fell behind the extreme-right Alternative for Germany, which surged into second place.

Adding insult to injury, the National Rally’s lead candidate, Jordan Bardella, all of 28 years old, immediately took on a presidential tone with his victory speech in Paris, opening with “My dear compatriots” and adding “the French people have given their verdict, and it’s final.”

Macron acknowledged the thud of defeat. “I’ve heard your message, your concerns, and I won’t leave them unanswered,” he said, adding that calling a snap election only underscored his democratic credentials.

The four-day polls in the 27 EU countries were the world’s second-biggest exercise in democracy, behind India’s recent election. At the end, the rise of the far right was even more stunning than many analysts predicted. The French National Rally stood at just over 30% or about twice as much as Macron’s pro-European centrist Renew party that is projected to reach around 15%.

In Germany, the most populous nation in the 27-member bloc, projections indicated that the AfD overcame a string of scandals involving its top candidate to rise to 16.5%, up from 11% in 2019. In comparison, the combined result for the three parties in the German governing coalition barely topped 30%.

Overall across the EU, two mainstream and pro-European groups, the Christian Democrats and the Socialists, remained the dominant forces. The gains of the far right came at the expense of the Greens, who were expected to lose about 20 seats and fall back to sixth position in the legislature.

For decades, the European Union, which has its roots in the defeat of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, confined the hard right to the political fringes. With its strong showing in these elections, the far right could now become a major player in policies ranging from migration to security and climate.

The Greens were predicted to fall from 20% to 12% in Germany, a traditional bulwark for environmentalists, with more losses expected in France and several other EU nations. Their defeat could well have an impact on the EU’s overall climate change policies, still the most progressive across the globe.

The center-right Christian Democratic bloc of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which already weakened its green credentials ahead of the polls, dominated in Germany with almost 30%, easily beating Scholz’s Social Democrats, who fell to 14%, even behind the AfD.

“What you have already set as a trend is all the better – strongest force, stable, in difficult times and by a distance,” von der Leyen told her German supporters by video link from Brussels.

As well as France, the hard right, which focused its campaign on migration and crime, was expected to make significant gains in Italy, where Premier Giorgia Meloni was tipped to consolidate her power.

Voting will continue in Italy until late in the evening and many of the 27 member states have not yet released any projections. Nonetheless, data already released confirmed earlier predictions: the EU’s massive exercise in democracy is expected to shift the bloc to the right and redirect its future.

With the center losing seats to hard right parties, the EU could find it harder to pass legislation and decision-making could at times be paralyzed in the world’s biggest trading bloc.

EU lawmakers, who serve a five-year term in the 720-seat Parliament, have a say in issues from financial rules to climate and agriculture policy. They approve the EU budget, which bankrolls priorities including infrastructure projects, farm subsidies and aid delivered to Ukraine. And they hold a veto over appointments to the powerful EU commission.

These elections come at a testing time for voter confidence in a bloc of some 450 million people. Over the last five years, the EU has been shaken by the coronavirus pandemic, an economic slump and an energy crisis fueled by the biggest land conflict in Europe since the Second World War. But political campaigning often focuses on issues of concern in individual countries rather than on broader European interests.

The voting marathon began in the Netherlands on Thursday, where an unofficial exit poll suggested that the anti-migrant hard right party of Geert Wilders would make important gains, even though a coalition of pro-European parties has probably pushed it into second place.

Casting his vote in the Flanders region, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency until the end of the month, warned that Europe was “more under pressure than ever.”

Since the last EU election in 2019, populist or far-right parties now lead governments in three nations — Hungary, Slovakia and Italy — and are part of ruling coalitions in others including Sweden, Finland and, soon, the Netherlands. Polls give the populists an advantage in France, Belgium, Austria and Italy.

“Right is good,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who leads a stridently nationalist and anti-migrant government, told reporters after casting his ballot. “To go right is always good. Go right!”

After the election comes a period of horse-trading, as political parties reconsider in their places in the continent-wide alliances that run the European legislature.

The biggest political group — the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) — has moved further right during the present elections on issues like security, climate and migration.

Among the most watched questions is whether the Brothers of Italy — the governing party of populist Meloni, which has neo-fascist roots — stays in the more hard-line European Conservatives and Reformists group or becomes part of a new hard right group that could form the wake of the elections. Meloni also has the option to work with the EPP.

A more worrying scenario for pro-European parties would be if the ECR joins forces with Le Pen’s Identity and Democracy group to consolidate hard-right influence.

The second biggest group — the center-left Socialists and Democrats — and the Greens refuse to align themselves with the ECR.

Questions also remain over what group Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party might join. It was previously part of the EPP but was forced out in 2021 due to conflicts over its interests and values. The far-right Alternative for Germany was kicked out of the Identity and Democracy group following a string of scandals surrounding its two lead candidates for the European Parliament.

The election also ushers in a period of uncertainty as new leaders are chosen for the European institutions. While lawmakers are jostling over places in alliances, governments will be competing to secure top EU jobs for their national officials.

Chief among them is the presidency of the powerful executive branch, the European Commission, which proposes laws and watches to ensure they are respected. The commission also controls the EU’s purse strings, manages trade and is Europe’s competition watchdog.

Other plum posts are those of European Council president, who chairs summits of presidents and prime ministers, and EU foreign policy chief, the bloc’s top diplomat.