Nearly everyone these days hates fascists, except Neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers . Fascism is seen today as the Ultra-Right, authoritarian/totalitarian military dictatorship model that effectively caused World War II and the Holocaust. I submit to all of this, except it being a far right ideology. Seeing things in black and white is hardly an objective way to look at the world, however spectrums can sometimes be just as misleading. Fascism and Nazism, its German half brother, are very much in a netherworld of the left-right spectrum, they don’t belong on either side and putting them in between isn’t entirely accurate either. In effect, they are syncretic. The arguments that Fascist ideals of national and racial purity puts them on the right is a tad oversimplified. I could be the most progressive socialist on the planet believing in a three hour work week, universal healthcare, free internet coverage, and free burrito Thursdays, but I could still say “unless you’re from Australia, in which case, you can just f*ck off”. Racism and assorted forms of ignorance are NOT politically dependent. The actions and failures of these political ways of thought do however serve as a testament that extremism in any form is inherently dangerous to society. Fascism is, without a doubt, a stupidly nationalistic , tyrannical, and emotional ideology (by emotional I mean that the base for it must be fanatically devoted zealots). However, certain aspects of Fascism are unknown to the modern world and in order to understand the ideological forces of the time and their effect on history it is important, or at least interesting, to know just what fascism is.
Influences:
Now the racist elements are not that difficult to comprehend and are as simple as most forms of ignorance. Racialism emerged as a pseudo-scientific method of interpreting race. All modern forms of racial superiority come from this basic philosophy. Racial superiority existed as far back as there were distinct races, but the Enlightenment allowed “scientists” to provide “evidence” that other races were inferior and this was obviously sound and objective because they were all rich white dudes. Social Darwinism led nations to believe their national identity was at threat of being selected, naturally, for the rubbish heaps of history. This led countries to exert their cultural dominance over other countries, in movements like Pan-Germanism in which Germans sought unification of the Germanic peoples of Europe. Also, this created a phobia of a fifth column within society that was corrupting and perverting the national identity causing it to crumble. This allowed for the making of scapegoats out of the Jews and many others during the Holocaust and many other unfortunate incidents throughout world history. These racially charged, nationalistic views are not unique to Fascist countries alone, but affected most of the great Western countries of the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth centuries. However, what would become the Fascist nations had the heaviest doses of these cultural misconceptions, which helped drive these nations to commit their many atrocities.
The political wibbly wobbly-ness of Fascism comes from thinkers who identified as socialists, but really had no idea what socialism was. That is not to say all Proto-Fascist thinkers did not know what socialism was, but many took the more extreme methods and rejected many of the classical Socialist tenets. Also many thinkers, ideas were picked over to influence later ideology. Many monarchists and aristocrats believed in a strong nation state, however the views that fit with fascism were kept and the rest was thrown out. In the early 1900’s, many of these pseudo-socialist thinkers saw the failings of the Capitalist and aristocratic system and wanted to change the world for the better. Sounds great… It wasn’t. Most believed in political violence as a direct and legitimate means of seizing power and in arguably one of the most f*cked up, convoluted, but actually partially successful means of seizing power ever they required a majority of people to overthrow bourgeois society, but felt “nothing is more aristocratic than democracy” (Sorel’s The Illusions of Progress). This essentially states that monarchs are grandfathered in and lack the proper credentials to be a successful despotic leader, what we need is a dictator. In World War One, the Italian Socialists were split. Most of the conventional Marxists sought to avoid war because imperialistic grandiosity isn’t really something real socialists care about. However, the conservatives and some socialists, who sought to destroy the oppressive and reactionary empires of Germany and Austria-Hungary, were pro-intervention. These interventionist socialists, championed by Benito Mussolini, came to be called Fascist for the Roman symbol of unity, the fasces which are essentially a bunch of sticks wrapped around an axe and were used as a banner to instill discipline in the legions. These Fascists embodied the ideas of racial nationalism and cultural superiority, as well as some of elements of socialism. National Socialism (Nazism) was also born out of this way of thought and saw the Great War as a struggle against the Capitalist Britain. After, the war with both of their economies in shambles, the Fascist parties slowly rose to power in the Thirties, which eventually culminated in World War Two. The economic hardships of the worldwide Great Depression also required a somewhat “lefty” use of welfare and public works to gain the favour of the electorate.
I didn’t want to get too much in to the history… Oops… That’s what happens when a history nerd with ADD is given creative license.
Fundamentals:
Nationalism. One of those early disputes within the Italian Socialist party was Marxists wanted a “workers of the world unite” scenario opposed to a “workers of the nation unite” (side note: this completely explains one of my favourite rock opera/musical theatre albums Preservation Acts 1 and 2 by The Kinks). If you weren’t Italian, the Fascist Italians could care less. The Nation was believed to be superior to the individual and society in general. Serving one’s nation was seen as the ultimate cause. This Nationalism allowed for the preexisting belief of Euro-dominance over other races to be taken to extremes and provided fodder for clashes of competing Imperial ambitions with other nations.
Economic and some social policies are probably the most confusing elements to Fascism. They saw the class struggle weakened the nation, so worked toward an end to the bourgeois. They had no qualms with private property and yearned for industrious citizens to make the most of themselves and saw the pursuit of capital as a decent incentive. However, they disliked the ostentation of capitalist wealth earning and its promotion of the individual. They believed that Capitalism put the pursuit of wealth in front of the state and that Socialism put the people in front of the state, so opposed both equally. They planned both the private and public sectors of the economy to insure the good of the nation was preserved. Nationalism also promoted a yearning for a self sufficient economy. Hitler’s quest for Lebensraum (Living space for the German people) was to allow for the procreation of future Aryan races and to become self sufficient agriculturally and industrially. Socially, the Dopolavoro in Italy and the KdF in Germany ran recreational programs like sports areas and other cultural significant public areas, such as libraries and cinemas. These programmes not only provided enjoyment to the masses, but also allowed for propaganda issuing and censorship. Nazis were comparatively more conservative with social welfare because they encouraged the weak of society to die off leaving only the strong Aryans to survive. Some have suggested that Völkisch equality (legal equality for all German people) would suggest otherwise, however they seem to have forgotten that the Nazis were also responsibly for killing the mentally ill, physically deformed, and other supposed detriments of society, regardless of German heritage, which is sort of the antithesis of social welfare. The State maintained ultimate control of her citizens via totalitarian methods. State propaganda promoted a system of indoctrination starting at an early age with the state educational system and youth clubs.
As one would imagine, Fascists weren’t big fans of “Deviant Sexual Behaviour” of any sort. No pornography, non-heteronormative relations, and no abortions. With Nazi Eugenics programmes however, abortion was allowed and occasionally compulsory for non-Aryan fetuses. Classical Fascists insisted the woman’s place was in the home, tending to children. The British Union of Fascist did have ties with the Suffragette movement, however most male Fascists were strong supporters of the patriarchy. Even though some supported women’s suffrage it does not mean that their place is outside of the home.
They promoted the use of a vanguard party responsible for upholding a public presence and being politically active in the community. Unfortunately, “politically active” for Fascists means beating the sh*t out of minorities and other political parties and burning down the Reichstag. They believed in this direct political presence in the forms of the Blackshirts (Italy) and Brownshirts (Germany).
They saw art only as beneficial if it promoted or preserved the national identity. They really f*cking despised Cubism. I mean most people did, but they really hated it. Everyone whose seen the best Indiana Jones film (Last Crusade) knows the Nazis burnt books, but they also burnt art, destroyed public records, and music recordings because they caused a degradation of morals and promoted non-German influence.
The main difference between Fascism and Nazism is that Nazism is a branch of Fascism that was able to be manipulated by essentially one individual (Hitler). The tenets of Fascism are a little more broad because there is more range to it. Fascist can essentially be as broad of term as Socialist or Anarchist. Nazism is a specific strain that exemplified Adolf Hitler’s personal beliefs. Neo-Nazi arguments are essentially “This is the vay mein fuhrer liked it”. Neo-Fascist groups like the Golden Dawn in Greece use the arguments and ways of thought I’ve described to convince people in their nationalist struggle. Through this method they are much more likely to be successful, so it is still important to recognise the threat of Fascists.
That concludes my summary of Fascism. I hope you’ve learned something. If you have questions or if I’ve made a mistake, feel free to ask/ point them out. I enjoy a good discussion, even if I’m wrong.
Dear Jerry Seinfeld,
Your “Soup Nazi” wasn’t really a Nazi. He’s obsessed with the materialism of the soup and is discriminatory regardless of race. A “Soup Reactionary Capitalist” would be more appropriate.
A Well Organised Asylum 