Stanley George Payne (born September 9, 1934) is an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

of modern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and European

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. He retired from full-time teaching in 2004 and is currently

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

at its Department of History.

Early life

Stanley Payne was born on September 9, 1934, in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

. His father and mother were living in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

before moving to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. His father found work as a carpenter after losing his job to the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, and eventually became the foreman of a planing mill. His mother completed two years of nurse's training at a sanitarium in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, but was forced to drop out due to lack of support from her family. She was a Seventh Day Adventist. The family moved to

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, when Stanley was twelve and Stanley's parents divorced soon after.

Work

Known for his typological description of fascism, Payne is a specialist in the Spanish fascist movement and has also produced comparative analyses of Western European fascism. He asserts that there were some specific ways in which

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

paralleled Russian communism to a much greater degree than Fascism was capable of doing. Payne does not propound the theory of " red fascism" or the notion that

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

and

are essentially the same. He states that Nazism more nearly paralleled Russian communism than any other noncommunist system has. In the 1960s, his books were published in Spanish by ''Éditions Ruedo ibérico (ERi)'', a publishing company set up by Spanish Republican exiles in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, to publish works forbidden in Spain by the Francoist regime ruling the country at the time. He has been referred to by some historians as a revisionist due to his views. One of his more famous books is ''Spanish Civil War, The Soviet Union and Communism'', which analyzes

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and the Soviet government's intervention in Spain. He also wrote ''The Franco Regime'', ''The Spanish Civil War'' and ''A History of Fascism 1914–1945''. Payne uses a lengthy itemized list of characteristics to identify fascism, including the creation of an authoritarian state; a regulated, state-integrated economic sector;

fascist symbolism Fascist symbolism is the use of certain images and symbols which are designed to represent aspects of fascism. These include national symbols of historical importance, goals, and political policies. The best-known are the fasces, which was the or ...

; anti-

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

;

anti-communism Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...

, and anti-

conservatism Conservatism is a Philosophy of culture, cultural, Social philosophy, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, Convention (norm), customs, and Value (ethics and social science ...

. He sees elimination of the autonomy or, in some cases, complete existence of large-scale

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

as the common aim of all fascist movements. In 2014 he published ''Franco. A Personal and Political Biography'' with Jesús Palacios, who during his youth had been a member of the now-banned group CEDADE. Since then, he has been considered an iconic figure in Francoist revisionism.

Education

Payne received his bachelor's degree from Pacific Union College in 1955. He went on to earn a masters from Claremont Graduate School and University Center in 1957 and a doctorate (Ph.D.) from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1960.

Books

* ''Falange: A History of Spanish Fascism'', 1961 * ''Politics and the Military in Modern Spain'', 1967 * ''Franco's Spain'', 1967 * ''The Spanish Revolution'', 1970 * ''A History of Spain and Portugal'' (2 vol 1973
full text online free vol 1 before 1700
standard scholarly history * ''Basque Nationalism'', 1975 * ''La revolución y la guerra civil española'', 1976 * ''Fascism: Comparison and Definition'', 1980 * ''Spanish Catholicism: An Historical Overview'', 1984 * ''The Franco Regime 1936–1975'', 1988 * ''Franco: El perfil de la historia'', 1992 * ''Spain's First Democracy: The Second Republic, 1931–1936'', 1993 * ''A History of Fascism 1914–1945'', 1996 * ''El primer franquismo, 1939–1959: Los años de la autarquía'', 1998 * ''Fascism in Spain 1923–1977'', 2000 * ''The Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union, and Communism 1931–1939'', 2004 * ''El colapso de la República: Los orígenes de la Guerra Civil 1933-1936'', 2005 * ''The Collapse of the Spanish Republic, 1933–1936'', 2006 * ''40 preguntas fundamentales sobre la Guerra Civil'', 2006 * ''Franco and Hitler: Spain, Germany, and World War II'', 2008 * ''¿Por qué la República perdió la guerra?'', 2010 * ''Spain: A Unique History'', 2011 * ''Civil War in Europe, 1905-1949'', 2011 * ''La Europa revolucionaria: Las guerras civiles que marcaron el siglo XX'', 2011 * ''The Spanish Civil War'', 2012 * ''Franco: A Personal and Political Biography'', 2014, with Jesús Palacios * ''Franco: Una biografía personal y política'', 2014, with Jesús Palacios * ''El fascismo'', 2014 * ''La Guerra Civil Española'', 2014 * ''El camino al 18 de julio: La erosión de la democracia en España, diciembre de 1935 - julio de 1936'', 2016 * ''365 momentos clave de la historia de España'', 2016 * ''En defensa de España : desmontando mitos y leyendas negras'', 2017 * ''La revolución española, 1936-1939: Un estudio sobre la singularidad de la Guerra Civil'', 2019

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, Stanley G. 1934 births Living people 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Academics and writers on far-right politics American Hispanists Claremont Graduate University alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Historians of fascism Historians of Francoist Spain Historians of the Second Spanish Republic Historians of the Spanish Civil War Historical revisionism Pacific Union College alumni People from Denton, Texas University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Corresponding members of the Real Academia de la Historia American academic journal editors Historians of Carlism Historians from Texas Historians from California American male non-fiction writers