Fascism (/fæʃɪzəm/) is a form of radical authoritarian nationalism[1][2] that came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.
Influenced
by national syndicalism, fascism originated in Italy during World War I, in opposition to liberalism, Marxism, andAnarchism. Fascism is
usually placed on the far-right within the traditional left–right spectrum.[3][4]
Fascists saw World War I as a revolution. It brought revolutionary changes in the nature of war, society, the state, and technology. The
advent of total war and total mass mobilization of society had broken down the distinction between civilian and combatant. A "military
citizenship" arose in which all citizens were involved with the military in some manner during the war. [5][6] The war had resulted in the rise of a
powerful state capable of mobilizing millions of people to serve on the front lines or provide economic production and logistics to support
those on the front lines, as well as having unprecedented authority to intervene in the lives of citizens. [5][6] Fascists view World War I as having
made liberal democracy obsolete, and regard total mobilization of society under atotalitarian single-party state as necessary to prepare a
nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic difficulties. [7]Such a state is led by a strong leader — such as a dictator and
a martial government composed of the members of the governing fascist party — to forge national unity and maintain a stable and orderly
society.[8] Fascism rejects assertions of violence automatically being negative in nature and views political violence, war, and imperialism as
means that can achieve national rejuvenation.[9][10][11][12]
Fascists advocate a mixed economy, with the principal goal of achieving autarky through protectionist and interventionist economic policies.
[13]
Following World War II, few parties have openly described themselves as fascist, and the term is usually used pejoratively by political
opponents. The terms neo-fascist or post-fascist are sometimes applied more formally to describe parties of the far right with ideologies
similar to, or rooted in, 20th century fascist movements
Fascism: A Political Ideology of the Past
What is Fascism?
Fascism believes in the superiority of the nation. “The nation” refers to a collection of people bound together by race, ethnicity, or culture.
Germans and Italians are examples of nations. The way to achieve national superiority is through the state. The ultimate goal of the major
1
fascist regimes that have existed, like the regimes of the Italian Fascist Party and the German Nazi Party, was to pursue national greatness.
Mussolini intended to “guide the material and moral progress of the [Italian] community.” Hitler planned to return the German nation to its
2
position as “the culture-founder of this earth.” Hitler and Mussolini wanted to place the nation above all other bases of loyalty, including class
3
relations and religion. 4
The type of state needed to fulfill this goal is anti-democratic and totalitarian. Such a state is anti-democratic because it eliminates
democratic institutions, like the electoral, parliamentary, and multiparty systems, that frustrate this goal of national greatness.
Democratic elections are problematic because the masses elect candidates who appeal to the masses’ self-interest. This does not guarantee
that the candidates have the nation’s interest in mind. This weakens the state and, ultimately, the nation. Parliament is problematic because
5
the parties in it spend more time arguing than implementing policies. Indeed, Hitler referred to Parliament as a “twaddling shop” for this
reason. Other parties are problematic because, by competing with fascist parties to gain power, they prevent fascist parties from pursuing
6
the ultranationalist goal. The state is totalitarian because it controls aspects of citizens’ lives, such as their leisure time, education, and
political activity, to ensure that the citizens support the regime’s goal. Fascism, as defined in this paper, is the ideology ofnationalism upheld
7
by an anti-democratic and totalitarian state.
Some Enabling Conditions for Fascism
Fascism generally flourishes in countries with strong nationalism and weak democracies. Strong nationalism attracts people to fascism’s
ultranationalist goals. “Weak democracy” has two meanings, both of which enable fascism to flourish. A democracy is weak in that it is
8
incompetent and unresponsive. Consequently, citizens become disenchanted with it and are willing to abandon it for another regime type. A
weak democracy also refers to a democratic tradition that is fairly new and not strongly entrenched. This also enables fascism to flourish
9
because it is easier to replace this type of democracy with another regime.
Enabling Conditions Applied to Italy and Germany
All these conditions apply to the political and social situations in post- World War One Germany and Italy. Nationalism, in the form of national
resentment, was potent. Italians and Germans believed that their national pride had been humiliated. Italians felt this way because they
believed their country had not been awarded the amount of territory it should have been awarded after World War One ended. Germans felt 10
this way because their government had accepted the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty required Germany to accept the blame for starting
World War One and imposed harsh reparations, as well as substantial territorial concessions, on Germany. The Fascist and Nazi parties
11
were appealing because they promised to restore the national greatness that citizens felt was lacking.
Italian and German democracies, and democratic traditions, were weak. Both countries had unified and become democracies relatively late.
Italy unified between 1860 and 1870, and Germany unified around 1870. Their parliaments were rather unresponsive to citizens’ needs. For
12
example, neither the German nor Italian parliament was able to stem the post-World War One economic crises, and rises in unemployment,
in their countries. As a consequence of all these factors, Italian and German citizens were willing to support fascism.
13
Extreme Right Parties and Fascism
Extreme right parties in Europe share ideological aspects with fascism. For this reason, they are sometimes considered neofascist parties:
parties that are the contemporary incarnation of fascism. For instance, the extreme right parties desire to advance the nation by getting rid of
14
all immigrants. The parties believe that immigration ruins the nation. The parties contend that immigrants cause citizens of the host country
15
to become unemployed. As Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the FN (Front National) in France, once said, “1 million unemployed- this means 1
million foreigners too many.” Immigrants also allegedly ruin national culture by preserving their own customs instead of adopting those of
16
their host country. Ridding the country of immigrants will stop these problems and ultimately benefit the nation.
17
Immigration engenders a condition that enables fascism to arise: national resentment. The extreme right parties’ unfavorable views regarding
immigrants reflect the citizens’. In addition, many citizens believe that immigrants appropriate welfare benefits that should go to citizens
instead. Immigrants are also commonly believed to commit crimes against citizens. 18
Indeed, the national resentment directed towards
immigrants is a combination of indignation and fear. It should be noted, however, that the condition of national resentment by itself is not
sufficient to engender fascism. The combination of national resentment and weak democracy offer a better opportunity for fascism to rise.
The democratic conditions within which these parties operate ultimately do not allow fascism to flourish. Democracy is more deeply
entrenched during the contemporary era than it was in the post-World War One era. While Nazis and Fascists managed to overthrow the
democratic regimes in their countries, there are now supranational and national barriers that discourage this from happening. Many extreme
right parties operate in countries that are part of the European Union: the FN of France, the AN (Alleanza Nationale) of Italy, the BNP (British
National Party) of the United Kingdom, and the FPO (Austrian Freedom Party) of Austria (among others). As members of the European
19
Union, these countries are required to have, and maintain, a democratic regime. Moreover, the general mindset within many of these
20
countries is democratically predisposed. Indeed, the extreme right has “sought to render [itself] acceptable in an age assumed to be
democratic.” The extreme right parties have had to conform to citizens’ expectations of their governments in order to gain electoral support.
21
Democracy prevents fascism. In order to implement fascism, a state needs to be anti-democratic. However, given supranational and national
conditions, the state in European countries is democratic. If fascism were to adapt to these democratic conditions, it would cease to exist.
Indeed, it would become a new ideology: national-populism. National-populism results from “a conscious effort to update fascism and render
it viable in changed [democratic] conditions.” The AN exemplifies this transformation. Before it became the AN, this party was called the MSI
22
(Movimento Sociale Italiano). The MSI was considered neofascist because it was a descendant of an earlier, quasi-fascist party. However, 23
once the MSI “accepted democracy as a system of values,” it morphed into the AN, a national-populist party. The extreme right parties,
24
which are often called neofascist, are actually national-populist.
Moreover, democracy changes the nature of the goal that national-populist parties and fascism share in common. According to fascism, the
way to advance the nation is to have a leader who embodies the will of the people. This person, not the people themselves, knows best what
is in the nation’s interest. National-populist parties do not take this approach. Instead, they advocate direct democracy initiatives, such as
25
the referendum, because such initiatives enable citizens’ preferences to be heard. However, from a fascist perspective, these preferences
26
only take into account the citizens’ individual interests, not the collective interests of the nation. Individual interests are different from the
national interest. 27
So national-populists are not advancing the nation when they advocate direct democracy. Ultimately, then, they are not
fascist in practice or in theory.
Radical Islam and Fascism
The conditions within which the extreme right/national-populist parties operate are not identical to those in which the Fascist and Nazi parties
operated. However, the conditions are at least comparable. This is not the case for radical Islamic movements and the Fascist and Nazi
parties. Religion was not a significantly important issue during the time the Fascist and Nazi parties of Italy and Germany were active.
Although the Nazi Party’s extermination of Jewish people appears to be religious persecution, being Jewish was considered a racial, rather
than a religious, trait. To determine whether radical Islam is a manifestation of fascism, one must analyze its ideology.
Radical Islam is similar to fascism in terms of the type of state it envisions. The radical Islamic state is anti-democratic. The state imposes
28
sharia, or Islamic law, rather than democratic laws. Theoretically, the two sets of laws can overlap, in that sharia principles are also
democratic principles. For example, “the Qur’an insists on mutual consultation in deciding communal affairs which includes choosing leaders
to represent and govern on the community’s behalf.” 29
This is consistent with the notion of democratic elections. However, in practice these
shared principles are usually violated. In an extreme example, the Taliban of Afghanistan claimed to adhere to sharia. Yet the Taliban regime
refused to allow democratic elections to take place while it was in power and still tries to stop them, even after being deposed. 30
The radical Islamic state is also totalitarian. The state is holistic and has control over every facet of life. 31
Hezbollah, for example, wants to
establish an Islamic regime in Lebanon. It believes that all aspects of people’s lives, such as the social, cultural, economic, and political
aspects, should serve this end. Hezbollah also believes that the state should be used to ensure that these aspects of life fulfill Hezbollah’s
32
vision. 33
Yet the goal of radical Islam differs from the goal of fascism. Whereas fascism strives to advance the nation, radical Islam wants to spread
Islamic belief and establish Islamic societies. Moreover, while fascism endeavors to place the nation above all else, radical Islam endeavors
34
to place Islam above all else. For example, Hamas’ slogan is: “Allah is [Hamas’] target, the Prophet(P.B.U.H) is its model, the Koran is its
constitution, Jihad is its path, and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.” Islam is so important that it even takes priority over
35
life. In contrast, Hitler states that a German “willingly subordinates his own ego to the life of the [national] community and, if the hour
demands, even sacrifices it.” The sense of importance in Hitler’s and Hamas’ statements is the same, but the object of importance is
36
different.
Another way to understand fascism and radical Islam’s beliefs on what takes ultimate precedence is to look at what they think is the most
important quality in an individual or group. Since the nation takes ultimate precedence for fascists, national origin is the defining quality of an
individual. Fascism led people to believe that their job position or social rank was not fundamentally important. Whether or not they were
German or Italian, however, was crucial. The same pattern applies to radical Islamic groups. Since Islam is paramount, Muslim identity is
37
the defining quality. Hamas, for example, claims to welcome “every Muslim who embraces its faith, ideology, [and] follows its program.” The 38
Muslim Brotherhood works “to achieve unification among the Islamic countries and states.” The fact that the nationality of Muslims who can
39
join Hamas, or of the countries the Muslim Brotherhood wants to unite, is not specified suggests that it is not as important as the religion.
Given the goal of the radical Islamic movements, as well as the relative unimportance of national origin, radical Islamic movements are not
fascist.
However, there is a subset of fascism called clerical fascism. Clerical fascist movements are as religious as they are nationalistic. The
Hungarian Arrow Cross, which was active during the 1930’s, can be considered a clerical fascist group, in that it believed religion and
nationalism were equally important. Indeed, the Arrow Cross believed that religion was a pillar of the nation. Ferencz Szalasi, the leader of
the Arrow Cross, explained that “when the Army sees that in the nation the three pillars of Religion, Patriotism, and Discipline have been
shaken, then it is the duty of the Army to force the nation back on to these pillars.” The Iron Guard, a Romanian group that operated around
40
the 1930’s, is also thought to be clerical fascist. The Iron Guard “saw the Romanian Orthodox religion as coterminous with Romanian
nationality….” Although these groups gave equal priority to both nationalism and religion, they are still generally considered fascist. Are
41
radical Islamic movements examples of clerical fascism?
A balance between nation and religion in radical Islamic movements is difficult to discern. Religion is paramount for the radical Islamic
movements. For example, although the Muslim Brotherhood operates in Egypt, its mission statement hardly ever refers to Egyptians. When it
does implicate Egyptians, it refers to them as Muslims, not as Egyptians. The mission statement says, “Indeed, the present atmosphere of
suppression, instability, and anxiety has forced many of the young men of [Egypt] to commit acts of terrorism….we request all Muslims to
abandon such actions and return to the right way.” Moreover, some radical Islamic movements operate in different states simultaneously. Al
42
Qaeda, for example, is active in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. It is difficult for such a widespread movement to
43
claim that its religion, like the Romanian Orthodox religion, is uniquely coterminous with a particular nationality. Ultimately, then, these radical
Islamic movements are neither fascist nor clerical fascist.
Conclusion
Neither extreme right parties, nor radical Islamic groups, are fascist. Indeed, in regards to the extreme right, or nation-populist, parties,
democracy appears to be an effective antidote to fascism. However, just because democracy has proven to be successful against fascism in
this particular situation, it does not guarantee that democracy will always be successful. One cannot predict with certainty what democratic
conditions will be like in the future or what types of political parties will exist. Similarly, while the ideology of radical Islamic groups is not
currently compatible with fascism, or even clerical fascism, there is always a possibility that the radical Islamic paradigm will evolve so that it
does become fascist in some way. Ultimately, just because fascism does not presently exist in these scenarios does not mean it never will.
Emergence after World War I
The Russian Revolution (1917), the collapse of the Central Powers in 1918, and the disorders caused by Communist attempts to seize power in
Germany, Italy, Hungary, and other countries greatly strengthened fascism's appeal to many sections of the European populace. In Italy, particularly,
social unrest was combined with nationalist dissatisfaction over the government's failure to reap the promised fruits of victory after World War I. The
action of Gabriele D'Annunzio in seizing Fiume (Rijeka) was one manifestation of the discontent existing in Italy. Appealing to the masses and
especially to the lower middle class through demagogic promises of order and social justice, the fascists could depend upon support, financial and
otherwise, from vested interests, who could not muster such popularity themselves.
Governmental paralysis enabled Mussolini in 1922 to obtain the premiership by a show of force. As leader of his National Fascist party, he presented
himself as the strong-armed savior of Italy from anarchy and Communism. Borrowing from Russian Communism a system of party organization based
on a strict hierarchy and cells, which became typical of fascism everywhere, he made use of an elite party militia—the Black Shirts—to crush opposition
and to maintain his power.
In Germany at about the same time a fascist movement similar to that in Italy steadily gathered strength; it called itself the National Socialist German
Workers' party (Nazi party). Its leader, Adolf Hitler, won support from a middle class ruined by inflation, from certain elements of the working class,
especially the unemployed, and from discontented war veterans; he also gained the backing of powerful financial interests, to whom he symbolized
stability and order. However, it was not until 1933 that Hitler could carry through his plans for making Germany a fascist state and the National
Socialists the sole legal party in the country.
The military aggression so inherent in fascist philosophy exploded in the Italian invasion (1935) of Ethiopia, the attack (1936) of the Spanish fascists
(Falangists) on their republican government (see Spanish civil war), and Nazi Germany's systematic aggression in Central and Eastern Europe, which
finally precipitated (1939) World War II.
Fascism since World War II
The Italian Social Movement (MSI), a minor neofascist party, was formed in Italy in 1946. It won wider support when the pervasive corruption of the
governing parties was exposed in the early 1990s, and it became a partner in the conservative government formed after the 1994 elections. In 1995,
however, the MSI dissolved itself as it was transformed into a new party headed by former MSI leader Gianfranco Fini and including the majority of
former MSI members. Fini's right-wing National Alliance rejected fascist ideology, including anti-Semitism, and embraced democracy as one of its
principles and has participated in center-right governing coalitions.
In postwar West Germany, neofascism appeared in the form of the temporary growth of the nationalistic National Democratic party in the mid-1960s.
Following German reunification, neo-Nazi groups in the country gained increased prominence, with new members being drawn to the organization as a
result of social upheaval and economic dislocation, and the nation experienced an increase in related violence, especially attacks on immigrants and
foreigners. Neo-Nazi groups also exist on a small scale in the United States, and right-wing nationalistic movements and parties in countries such as
France, Russia, and some republics of the former Yugoslavia have political groups with elements of fascism. For many of these parties, however,
ethnic and racial animosity is often more significant than fascist philosophy.
Tenets of fasicm
Nationalism
Nationalism is the main foundation of fascism.[148] The fascist view of a nation is of a single organic entity that binds people together by their
ancestry, and is a natural unifying force of people.[149] Fascism seeks to solve economic, political, and social problems by achieving
amillenarian national rebirth, exalting the nation or race above all else, and promoting cults of unity, strength, and purity. [33][150][151][152]
[153]
European fascist movements typically espou se a racist conception of non-Europeans being inferior to Europeans.
Totalitarianism
Fascism promotes the establishment of a totalitarian state.
Fascist states pursued policies of social indoctrination through propaganda in education and the media and regulation of the production of
educational and media materials.[158][159] Education was designed to glorify the fascist movement and inform students of its historical and
political importance to the nation. It attempted to purge ideas that were not consistent with the beliefs of the fascist movement and to teach
students to be obedient to the state.[160]
Fascism opposes liberal democracy. It rejects multi-party systems, and supports a single party state. However it has claimed it supports a
variant of democracy. Benito Mussolini in an interview with the British newspaper the Sunday Pictorial stated: "Fascism is a method, not an
end; an autocracy on the road to democracy".[161] Italian Fascist theorist and policymaker Giovanni Gentile in theDoctrine of
Fascism described fascism as an authoritarian democracy.[162] Gentile explicitly rejected the conventional form of democracy, parliamentary
democracy for being based on majority rule and thus an inherent assumption of the equality of citizens, while fascism rejects the concept of
universal egalitarianism.[163]
Economy
Fascism presented itself as a viable alternative to the two other major existing economic systems – liberal capitalism and Marxist socialism
Fascist economics supported a state-controlled economy that accepted a mix of private and public ownership over the means of production.
[174]
Economic planning was applied to both the public and private sector, and the prosperity of private enterprise depended on its acceptance
of synchronizing itself with the economic goals of the state. [175] Fascist economic ideology supported the profit motive, but emphasized that
industries must uphold the national interest as superior to private profit. [175]
While fascism accepted the importance of material wealth and power, it condemned materialism, which it identified as being present in
both communism and capitalism, and criticized materialism for lacking acknowledgement of the role of the spirit.[176] In particular, fascists
criticized capitalism not because of its competitive nature nor support of private property, which fascists supported—but due to its
materialism, individualism, alleged bourgeois decadence, and alleged indifference to the nation. [177] Fascism denounced Marxism for its
advocacy of materialist internationalist class identity, which fascists regarded as an attack upon the emotional and spiritual bonds of the
nation and a threat to the achievement of genuine national solidarity. [178]
Economic self-sufficiency, known as autarky, was a major goal of most fascist governments.[
Action
Fascism emphasizes direct action, including supporting the legitimacy of political violence, as a core part of its politics.[11][182] Fascism views
violent action as a necessity in politics that fascism identifies as being an "endless struggle". [183] This emphasis on the use of political violence
means that most fascist parties have also created their own privatemilitias (e.g. the Nazi Party's Brown shirts and Fascist Italy's Blackshirts).
Criticism of fascism
Fascism has been widely criticized and condemned in modern times since the defeat of the Axis Powers in World War II.
Fascism as anti-democratic and as a form of tyranny
Unprincipled opportunism
Ideological dishonesty
