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Lozano Chester
Yasmin Lozano Chester

I.D. : 000098510

PLT 3100

Professor Pivovarova

Friday 29th November

Is Fascism A Totalitarian Ideology?

Fascism and totalitarianism are intricately intertwined. They are both different forms

of government that hold several similar characteristics plus authoritarian aspects. Fascism is a

totalitarian ideology as it has the character of anti-philosophy. This goes perfectly in

conjunction with the politics of struggle that actually glorifies violence and further highlights

exaggeration and impression over truth. These exaggerations are often presented in mass

meetings, in film, architecture and sport. There are many outstanding characteristics that

prove fascism is a totalitarian ideology, many of which will be explored in this essay. There

is no existing set of arguments that dictate that that fascism is a totalitarian ideology but there

are many characteristics of both ideologies that can be used in compare and contrast to

identify this. For the purpose of further understanding and knowledge, there will be an

assessment of these identifying characteristics regarding two case studies: the totalitarian

regime in the USSR under Joseph Stalin as General Secretary of the Communist Party and

the fascist regime in Francoist Spain under Generalisimo Francisco Franco as leader of the

Partido de la Falange Española Tradicionalista de las JONS.

Before beginning to analyze there must be a stern set of evaluations of what these

political ideologies are and what defines them. In a totalitarian state, the state’s power is

unlimited and controls virtually all aspects of public and private life. This utmost control

extends further into all political and financial matters. This control is also present in attitude,
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morals and beliefs of the people of said state. Totalitarianism emerged promptly in the 1920s

in fascist Italy. Its fountainhead was this, Italian fascism. Totalitarianism is described by

Arendt as “the essence of totalitarian government, and perhaps the nature of every

bureaucracy, is to make functionaries mere cogs in the administrative machinery out of men,

and thus to dehumanize them. And one can debate long and profitably on the rule of Nobody,

which is what the political form known as bureaucracy truly is…we have become very much

accustomed by the modern psychology and sociology, not to speak of modern bureaucracy, to

explaining away the responsibility for the door for his deed in terms of this or that kind of

determinism.” This quote serves to demonstrate the dehumanizing properties of

totalitarianism where the state is seen as just that and not something compromised of citizens.

In both the USSR and Spain there was an intense dehumanization of man in a way that

human rights where being restricted if not taken away. In totalitarianism there is the existence

of an explicit or implied national ideology, which is a set of belief intended to give meaning

and direction to entire society. However intended it is, it causes more fear than meaning and

direction. The national political ideology of Francoist Spain was falangism (falangismo in

Spanish). Falangism was a sort of subcategory of fascism (just as fascism is totalitarian but

totalitarianism is not fascism), it became an authoritarian conservative ideology. National

ideology in Spain also revolved around a Catholic religious identity. Falangism is derived

from fascism in a way that it is anti-communist, anti-democratic, anti-liberal though they did

abandon their anti-capitalist tendencies after Generalisimo Francisco Franco came into office.

Extremely unlike the USSR which, during its totalitarian regime, lived under communism, a

blunt and direct opposite of capitalism. Spanish fascism promoted the revival of the Spanish

Empire and was alluding to adding Portugal and Gibraltar as additional provinces in Spain.

This rings similar and true with the USSR, where they were attempting to expand their

“sphere of influence” as much as they could.

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Benito Mussolini, the fascist Italian Prime Minister, summarized the basis of

totalitarianism as “everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the

state.” Fascism is a form of government that holds its political ideologies in totalitarianism. It

combines the most extreme and radical aspects of totalitarianism and authoritarianism.

(Authoritarianism here refers to a state characterized by a strong central government that

allows people a limited degree of political freedom. Political process and individual freedoms

controlled by government with no constitutional accountability.) Fascism is considered to be

at the far-right end of the political spectrum along the side of other totalitarian ideologies.

Historically, the primary functions of fascist regimes is to maintain the state in a constant

readiness for war. Fascism grew out of the viewing of mass military mobilizations during

World War 1 that blurred the linens between civilians and combatants. They also viewed

democracy and the electoral process as an obsolete and unnecessary obstacle to maintaining

constant military readiness. Fascist adopt a totalitarian government as they consider their one-

party state system as the key to preparing the nation for war and its resulting economic social

hardships.

Fascism is characterized by the imposition of dictatorial power. This characteristic of

imposition is held to be true in both Francoist Spain and the USSR. This certain characteristic

was even present in industry and commerce. The secret police and the military would be used

to forcibly suppress the opposition that arose against the regime. In Spain the secret police

were the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI) and in the USSR it was the Committee for

Safe Security (KGB). Fascism is a political ideology that is always ready for war, so it is

militarily active. By using the secret police to forcibly suppress opposition fear is created.

(Both these ideologies rely heavily on fear by the citizens of the government and even

sometimes the state.) Whereas Spain under Franco was a fascist and totalitarian regime, the

USSR under Stalin was only a totalitarian regime. Their characteristics intertwine and
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entangle and here we can truly begin to analyze if fascism is really as a totalitarian ideology.

Spain under Franco can definitely be seen as a fascist regime in terms of its anti-democratic

tendencies and its adaptation of some of the formal, rhetorical and institutional characteristics

of it, including those related to social control. Nevertheless, it is also seen as a totalitarian

state because the rule is enforced by one single dictator of a one-party system. In Spain it was

Generalisimo Francisco Franco, who was the head of the FET de las JONS.

Fascism and totalitarianism have characteristics that dictate what they are.

Totalitarianism tends to be characterized by a single dictator leading a single ruling political

party. The government formed by these lead a strict censorship if not total control of the

press. With this control of the press they disseminate pro-government propaganda and

prohibit any forms of government criticisms and laws are enforced by a secret police force or

the military. These aspects are present in both Francoist Spain and the USSR. Fascism and

totalitarianism are not interchangeable. Nevertheless, one falls into the subcategory of the

other.

Within the fascist regime there is a severe disdain for the recognition of human rights.

This disdain for human rights goes hand in hand with their strategies of fear. Through

continuing and powerful nationalism. They tend to use the identification of enemies and/or

scapegoats as a unifying cause. Intense supremacy of the military is prominent in fascism

since the whole mind-set behind it is the readiness for war, this leads to an obsession with

national security. Rampant sexism is prevalent in society too. There is an extreme obsession

with crime and punishment which leads to strict control of mass media. Cronyism and

corruption are deeply embedded in society both governmentally and businessly. There is

always an established religion by the regime, this leads religion and government to be

intrinsically intertwined. There is a strong protection of corporate power by the government

while the labor power is suppressed. Fascist mentality is incredibly anti-liberal, this created a
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disdain for the intellectuals and the arts. There is also façade they pose where they hold

fraudulent elections to give the population the illusion that they have any control or freedom.

Where these characteristics describe Francoist Spain to perfection, they do not exactly fit the

totalitarian model of the USSR. Regardles, there is a very apparent overlapping that does

indicate that fascism is a totalitarian ideology.

The characteristics aforementioned regard fascism. Nevertheless, we can clearly

observe that the USSR falls under many of these categories. This serves to demonstrate the

obvious links between totalitarianism and fascism and how they interact, more often than not

in the same regime. Most fascist regimes are totalitarian but not at all totalitarian regimes are

fascist. Fascism is a form of government that is a type of one-party dictatorship, they work

for a totalitarian one-party state.

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Bibliography

Ismael Saz Campos, “Fascism, Fascistization and Development in Franco’s

Dictatorship”, Social History Vol.29 No.3 pg.342-357, Taylor and Francis Ltd, 2004.

Robert Longley, “Totalitarian, Authoritarianism and Fascism”, ThoughCo., 2019.

Jay Bergman, “Was the Soviet Union Totalitarian?”, Studies in East European

Thought Vol.50 No.4 pg. 247-281, Springer, 1998.