FASCISM

INTRODUCTION
Philosophy of government that stresses the primacy and glory of the state,
unquestioning obedience to its leader, subordination of the individual will to the
state's authority, and harsh suppression of dissent.
Martial virtues are celebrated, while liberal and democratic values are
disparaged. Fascism arose during the 1920s and '30s partly out of fear of the
rising power of the working classes; it differed from contemporary communism
(as practiced under Joseph Stalin) by its protection of business and landowning
elites and its preservation of class systems. The leaders of the fascist
governments of Italy (1922–43), Germany (1933–45), and Spain (1939–75)—
Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Francisco Franco—were portrayed to their
publics as embodiments of the strength and resolve necessary to rescue their
nations from political and economic chaos.
 
ETYMOLOGY
The Italian term fascismo is derived from fascio meaning "a bundle of sticks",
ultimately from the Latin word fasces. This was the name given to political
organizations in Italy known as fasci, groups similar to guilds or syndicates.
 
DEFINITION
One common definition of the term, frequently cited by reliable sources as a
standard definition, is that of historian Stanley G. Payne. He focuses on three
concepts:
 
1. The "Fascist negations": anti-liberalism, anti-communism, and anti-
conservatism;
2. "Fascist goals": the creation of a nationalist dictatorship to regulate
economic structure and to transform social relations within a modern, self-
determined culture, and the expansion of the nation into an empire; and
3. "Fascist style": a political aesthetic of romantic symbolism, mass
mobilization, a positive view of violence, and promotion of masculinity,
youth, and charismatic authoritarian leadership
 
RISE OF FASCISM (the child of first half of 20th century events to place in
Europe)
 
1. Discontentment after the Treaty of Versailles - 
 Italy
Italy joined the Allies in the First World War to gain territories of Turkey
and Germany. However, by the Treaty of Versailles she managed to
secure only Southern Tyrol and Trentino, and the coastal regions of
Dalmatia.
 Germany
The Treaty of Versailles made Germany take on responsibility for the war,
this was known as the war guilt clause or article 231 of the Treaty of
Versailles. The treaty also had other harsh rules and restrictions on
Germany such as:
1. Loosing their colonies in Africa
2. Having to pay reparations of damages caused by the war
3. Returning the Rhineland to France and not being able to put military
troops in that area
4. German territory was taken to give to other countries
 5. This led to increased popularity of extremist parties.
 
2. Economic Crisis
 Italy
Italy suffered heavy losses during the First World War in terms of life and
property. After the war, she faced large scale unemployment, especially
among soldiers. There was also a severe shortage of food grains.
 Germany
Germany was economically devastated after a draining defeat in World
War I. Due to the Versailles treaty, Germany was forced to pay incredibly
sizeable reparations to France and Great Britain. In addition, the Versailles
treaty, which many agreed was far too harsh, forced Germany to give up
thirteen percent of its land. With Germany at its weakest and most
vulnerable point, Hitler took the opportunity to begin his ascent to power.
 
 Political Instability
Despite their long history in European thought, fascist ideas prospered politically
only when perceived economic threats increased their appeal to members of
certain social groups.
 Italy
Democracy was introduced in Italy for the first time in the year 1919.
However, the elections failed to give a clear majority to any one party. As
a result, there was severe political instability in the country and between
the years 1919 and 1922 Italy saw the rule of six coalition governments.
The coalitions had to have several parties within their fold, which in turn
resulted in fragmented policy making and execution. These coalition
governments were not able to deal with crises like unemployment, strikes
and riots that took place during 1921-22. The Fascists under Mussolini
who promised a strong and decisive national government exploited this
situation.
 Germany
The economic anxiety underlying the success of Nazism was reflected to
some extent in party membership, which was drawn disproportionately
from economic elites and other high-status groups—especially for
leadership positions. These posts also contained large numbers of
university professors, high school teachers, higher civil servants, former
military officers, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, and landed aristocrats. In
the lower ranks of the party, white-collar workers were overrepresented
and blue-collar workers were underrepresented.
 
 Class Conflict
In Italy, as historian Charles Maier has shown, fascism originally received most
of its support from large and small landowners who felt beleaguered by landless
farm workers and from businessmen and white-collar workers who felt a similar
threat from industrial workers. In 1927, 75 percent of the membership of
Mussolini’s party came from the middle and lower-middle classes and only 15
percent from the working class. Nearly 10 percent came from Italy’s economic
elites, who represented a much smaller portion of the general population.
 
5. Influence Across Europe
The Nazis drew more support from small towns than they did from large cities.
In rural areas, Protestants were overrepresented in the party, and Catholics
were underrepresented. In less-industrialized countries—such as
Spain, Portugal, Poland, Romania, and Hungary—fascists relied more heavily
on rural support. In Italy Mussolini had a great sway over the collective psyche
of the post First World War generation. He has a charismatic personality, his
speeches glorified the real and imagined past achievements of Italy. Through
such hyperbole, he slowly won over the majority of the Italian population.

TEN FACTS ABOUT FASCISM

 
1. Fascism is the unchecked rule of a class of the privileged, or relatively
rich, in power--a full-scale assault on poor and working
people. Parliamentary institutions are usually set aside, or so demeaned as to
be meaningless. (The Holocaust was legal). Elites issue direct orders, frequently
through a populist leader. Wages, any social safety net, working hour laws,
labor laws; all come under legal (and extra-legal) attack. The stick replaces the
carrot.
Even between capitalists of the same nation, struggle intensifies.
Fascism in its early stages has been popular among masses of people mystified
by nationalism, racism, and sexism. These ideas are key to the construction of
fascism. But, "war means work" for some, which may also explain its historical
popularity.
Fascism requires and is built on the support of capitalist elites. Henry Ford, the
Dulles family, the Catholic Church, and the German Krupps among many
others, were early supporters of fascism in the U.S.
Fascism is an element of the modern era, which carries forward elements of
feudalism. Fascism has taken the form of state capitalism in Japan, Germany,
and in more sophisticated ways, the Soviet Union in the Stalin era. But fascism
has also grown in less developed countries, Romania, Bulgaria, most of Eastern
Europe, Cambodia, Argentina, Guatemala, Chile; and taken significantly
different forms.
 
2. Fascism and capitalism are inseparable. There has never been a form of
capital that was not built on a fascist base--from early British action against the
Chartists to today's varieties of imperialism. All major capitalist nations have
fascist ties.
Hence, while fascism may not be the dominant form of capitalist government,
elements of fascist ideology (biological determinism, rabid nationalism, etc.) and
fascist organizations (sectors of the police, KKK, skinheads, etc.) are always
present. No capitalist government has ever required a revolution to institute
fascism.
Fascism does emerge in capitalist crises, the moments when the struggle for
production reaches a point when the workers can no longer purchase the
products they produce, a crisis of over-production and declining profits and/or
an intense battle for cheaper labor, raw materials, and new markets; that is, war.
However, neither war nor capitalist crisis is a pre-condition of fascism; consider
Saudi Arabia or Kuwait. In addition, it is possible to live under fascism within a
nation that is not itself entirely fascist, that is, to live as a jobless black youth in
Sao Paulo, or Los Angeles.
 
3. Fascism deceptively calls for the national unity of social classes, class-
collaboration, but actually promotes the division of people by race, sex,
culture, nation, or religion. Fascism was, under Mussolini and, later, Hitler,
conceived as the "corporate state", that is, all the resources of the society were
directed toward the support of corporate profits in the name of national unity and
economic development. In order to motivate warriors and bolster profits, fascism
conceals the real and insoluble tensions between those who own and those who
work.
 
4. Fascism frequently is employed as a strategic base for war. Fascist shifts
in government and official ideology grow with war preparations.
 
5. Violence and terror, made tolerable by racism and sexism (ideas which
view people as sub-human) become public policy.
 
6. Fascism relies on mysticism, organized irrationalism, a culture which
turns to superstition, irrationality (extreme religious dogmatism, the fear
of sexuality, celebrations of misogyny, death, and hopelessness--serving
to explain apparent systematic despair), and retards science and social
production in order to mask its own decay. Indeed, fascism is organized decay.
There is a jagged line which runs from conservative Christianity to anti-semitism
to anti-communism which underpins much of fascist writing. But, there is no
consistency to fascist ideology, other than to preserve capitalism. Fascism is
irrationalism organized to sustain inequality and authoritarianism. Even so, the
role of the ideology of irrationalism can become powerful, that is, Nazis
sacrificed the productive work of many Jews in order to kill them.
 
7. Fascism is virulently anti-communist. Communists (and perhaps some
anarchists), who have been the only consistent and effective anti-fascist
fighters, are the fascist's first targets.
 
8. Fascism has only been defeated internally (primarily by the actions of
indigenous national resistance), perhaps, twice: in Albania and, maybe, China.
However, resistance movements have changed fascism and halted its birth.
 
9. There is evidence that combined theoretical and physical struggle
causes fascism to retreat--in ideology and materially. In ideology, there is a
growing body of research which indicates that vocal and written opposition to
fascist ideas does cause a reevaluation and moderation of thinking in
individuals. In pre-fascist Germany in the 1930's, areas which actively put
people on the streets to fight the Nazis regularly caused Nazi withdrawals--and
minimized fascist group membership. There is nothing inevitable about fascism.
It is a political movement, reaching from production relations into the mass
consciousness, and can be combatted physically and intellectually.
 
10. If these factors are true, then it seems effective resistance to fascism must
be based on a class analysis of society, an internationalist perspective that
attacks imperialist war, a multi-racial, anti-racist/sexist, organized approach (as
opposed to ephemeral coalitions based on sex, race, religion), willingness to
consider violence, and the grasp of the critical role of ideology in combatting
fascist practice.
 
THE 14 CHARACTERISTICS OF FASCISM (Basic Principles)
 
by Dr. Lawrence Britt
Free Inquiry magazine, Spring 2003
 
Dr. Britt, a political scientist, studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany),
Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He
found the regimes all had 14 things in common, and he calls these the
identifying characteristics of fascism.
 
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -- Fascist regimes tend to make
constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other
paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and
in public displays.
 
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -- Because of fear of
enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded
that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The
people tend to 'look the other way' or even approve of torture, summary
executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
 
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause -- The people
are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived
common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists;
socialists, terrorists, etc.
 
4. Supremacy of the Military -- Even when there are widespread domestic
problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government
funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are
glamorized.
 
5. Rampant Sexism -- The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost
exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are
made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and antigay
legislation and national policy.
 
6. Controlled Mass Media -- Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the
government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government
regulation, or through sympathetic media spokespeople and executives.
Censorship, especially in wartime, is very common.
 
7. Obsession with National Security -- Fear is used as a motivational tool by
the government over the masses.
 
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined -- Governments in fascist
nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to
manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from
government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically
opposed to the government's policies or actions.
 
9. Corporate Power is Protected -- The industrial and business aristocracy of
a fascist nation often is the ones who put the government leaders into power,
creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
 
10. Labor Power is Suppressed -- Because the organizing power of labor is
the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated
entirely or are severely suppressed.
 
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -- Fascist nations tend to promote
and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not
uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even
arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often
refuse to fund the arts.
 
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -- Under fascist regimes, the
police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often
willing to overlook police abuses, and even forego civil liberties, in the name of
patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in
fascist nations.
 
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -- Fascist regimes almost always are
governed by groups of friends and associate who appoint each other to
government positions, and who use governmental power and authority to
protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes
for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright
stolen by government leaders.
 
14. Fraudulent Elections -- Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a
complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns
against (or even the assassination of) opposition candidates, the use of
legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and the
manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to
manipulate or control.
 
SOME ENABLING CONDITIONS FOR FASCISM
Fascism generally flourishes in countries with strong nationalism and weak
democracies.
 Strong nationalism
Strong nationalism attracts people to fascism’s ultranationalist goals.
 Weak democracy
 “Weak democracy” has two meanings, both of which enable fascism to
flourish.
o When its is Incompetent
A democracy is weak in that it is incompetent and unresponsive.
Consequently, citizens become disenchanted with it and are willing
to abandon it for another regime type.
o When it is a new tradition
A weak democracy also refers to a democratic tradition that is fairly
new and not strongly entrenched. This also enables fascism to
flourish 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.
 Strong Nationalism
Nationalism, in the form of national resentment, was potent. Italians and
Germans believed that their national pride had been humiliated.
o Italy
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.
o Germany
Germans felt 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 were appealing because they promised to
restore the national greatness that citizens felt was lacking.
 
 Weak Democracy
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 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.