Tra misticismo ultranazionalista e antiliberalismo

Abstract

The Romanian Iron Guard represented one of the most original and important far-right movements in Inter-war Europe. Racist, xenophobic, definitely against western modernity, with mystical features and, at the same time, endowed with an uncommon charge of violence, the Iron Guard and his leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu were among the undisputed protagonists of the Romanian political life and among those responsible for the weakening of the already fragile Romanian democracy. The aim of the paper is to analyse the main ideological and organisational characteristics of the movement and the reasons for its extraordinary ability to attract young people, intellectuals, the bourgeoisie and the Romanian popular classes.