The ‘New Catholicity’ of Fascism: Ernesto Giménez Caballero, the Italian Intellectual Network, and the Volta Conference of 1932

Abstract

This article highlights the intellectual trajectory of the Spanish writer Ernesto Gimenez Caballero (1899–1988) as mediator of fascist internationalism during the 1930s. Caballero, a writer and journalists, was known in Italy thanks to important friendships with leading intellectual, diplomatic and political figures of the Fascist regime. His theory of fascist universalism, presented at the Volta Conference of 1932, identified fascism as the true, unifying principle of Europe. He regarded fascism as ‘the new Catholicity’ of Europe. Inspired by ‘the thaumaturgic genius’ of Mussolini, Caballero pointed out that the center of this new Europe was Rome, which he considered had been reborn with the glories of the ancient times after a long period of uncertainty. The article will explore the key features of Caballero’s idea and their origins within his intellectual biography, stressing the role of personal and transnational networking in the construction of his vision.