Introduction
The word "fascism" originates from the Latin word "fasces", which translates to "wooden rod". This rod was typically accompanied by an axe blade in ancient Rome, where it was held by lictors, or supporters, of magistrates. The fasces symbolizes the power and authority of the magistrate and was adopted by the first European dictator of Italy, Benito Mosolini, to commemorate the grandeur of the Roman empire. As a result, Mussolini's regime required its citizens to be united in a tightly bound state of unity.
Fascism was also associated with the use of fasces in the United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as in France in the nineteenth century, both of which sought to reconcile themselves with the heritage of Rome. By the mid-twentieth century, however, the association of fasces with fascism had become almost exclusive.
Fascism was a political ideology and movement that ruled much of Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe from 1919 to 1945, and had followers in Western Europe, the US, South Africa, and Japan, as well as in Latin America and the Middle East. It was named after a bundle of elms or birch rods, usually with an axe, that was used as a sign of punishment in ancient Rome. Benito Mussolini was Europe's first fascist leader, and his party had many similarities, like extreme militarism, a disdain for electoral democracy, a faith in natural social order and the rule of the elites, and a desire to create a "people's community" where people's interests would be put before the interests of the nation.
The main European Fascist parties splintered at the end of the war and were banned in many countries (Italy, West Germany, etc.). From the late 1940s onwards, many Fascist parties and organizations were established in Europe and Latin America, and in South Africa as well. Some European Fascist groups attracted large numbers of followers, particularly in France and Italy, but none had the power of the major Fascist parties of interwar Germany.
Characteristics of fascist movements
Historians and political scientists differ widely on the nature of Fascism. For instance, some historians view it as a social-wrenching movement with ideological links to the French Revolution's Jacobins, while others view it as a radical form of conservatism born out of the 19th century's backlash against the Enlightenment's ideals. Some view Fascism as deeply irrational, while others marvel at its rationality in serving material interests.
Others try to explain Fascism's demonologies as irrational misdirected rage and frustration, while others focus on the rational ways they were used to promote professional or class interests. Finally, while some view Fascism as motivated primarily by aspirations, such as the desire for cultural "regeneration" and the formation of a "new man," others place greater importance on its "anxieties": fear of Communist revolution, and even fear of left-centre electoral victories.
Opposition to Marxism
Fascists openly declared their hatred of all forms of communism, from communist to democratic socialism. Fascist leaders promised to confront Marxists more firmly than their predecessors, who were more democratic rightists. In 1920–21, Fascist leader Benito Mussolini made a name for himself by sending armed bands of Blackshirts to strike workers and peasants. Many of the first Nazis served in the freikorps (ex-soldiers), a paramilitary group created after World War I to suppress left-wing activity in Germany. Before 1933, German leftists frequently clashed with the Nazis in the streets, and when Fascist leader Adolf Hitler took power, he put hundreds of Communists into concentration camps and terrorized "red" neighbourhoods with police sweeps and beatings.
Despite their violent resistance to Marxism, some critics argue that Fascism and Soviet communism have many similarities. These include the fact that they were mass movements, that they emerged in a period of political instability and economic decline after World War I, that they both sought to establish totalitarian systems (and often did so in secret), and that they both used terror and violence without hesitation when it suited them. Others, however, argue that Fascism (and particularly Nazi Germany) employed terror for different reasons and groups than the Soviets did, and that, unlike Communists, Fascists generally supported capitalism and protected the interests of the economic elite.
Opposition to parliamentary democracy
Fascist movements argued that parliamentary democracy was responsible for the emergence of the Marxist threat. Adolf Hitler argued that democracy distorted the natural selection process of ruling elites, and was nothing more than the systematic breeding of human ills. Josef Mengele, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, asserted that the people could never govern themselves, and asserted that all history was created by the nobility. Pablo Picasso wrote that the future of Spain would not be determined by elections, but would be determined by poets with weapons. The Tojo dictatorship in Japan dissolved political parties, including right-wing ones, and restricted other political freedoms.
Both Hitler and Mussolini were willing to experiment with electoral politics before they came to power. When Hitler was named Chancellor in 1933, he ditched his military uniform in favor of a civilian suit and presented himself in public to bow deeply to then-President Paul von Hindenburg.
Mussolini introduced an electoral reform in 1923 called the Acerbo Law that gave the party with the most seats in Parliament two-thirds of all seats in Parliament. Despite Mussolini's claims that he was trying to save parliament rather than destroy it, the law allowed the Fascists to seize control of parliament the following year and establish a dictatorship.
Opposition to political and cultural liberalism
While political liberalism was sometimes necessary in certain circumstances, fascists denounced this doctrine as placing the individual's rights above the Volk's needs, promoting "divisiveness," tolerating "decadent values," and reducing the state's power. Fascists accused liberal "fellow travellers" of aiding communism, either consciously or unconsciously. The 1935 Cross of Fire accused "moderates" - i.e. democratic conservatives - of aiding the communists by their taste for "compromise" and "shirking responsibility."
La Rocque called on the French to resist revolution and its "dreadful ally" moderation, and warned that on the last day of reckoning complicit moderates - "guards who are not loyal to their charge" - would be "at the top of the list."
In addition, cultural liberalism was attacked by fascist propagandists, who argued that it promotes moral vacuity, materialism without God, and individualism, and thus undermines traditional morality. Anti-Semitic fascists also linked liberalism to Jews; indeed, one of the most prominent neo-Nazis, Theodor Fittsch, famously said that to give in to a liberal thought is to give in to the Jew in you.
Totalitarian ambitions
Although Hitler did not reveal the full scope of his plans for totalitarianism prior to his rise to power, as leader of the Third Reich he sought not only to monopolize all political power, but also to monopolize numerous institutions and organizations that had previously been autonomous from the state, including courts, religious organizations, universities, and social clubs, as well as veterans, sports, and youth organizations. The German family was also targeted, with the Hitler Youth being instructed that it was their "patriotic duty" to inform the anti-Nazi parents of their members.
Similarly, in Italy, Mussolini assumed the title of "duce" and his regime erected billboards with slogans such as "Il Duce is sempre ragione" and "Believe, obedience, combattere". Despite their considerable efforts, both Hitler and Mussolini were unable to create a truly totalitarian regime, as both regimes were characterized by competing and diverse power groups (with Hitler and Mussolini playing off against each other). Furthermore, the Fascists were significantly constrained by the wishes of the traditional elites, including, but not limited to, the Catholic Church.
Corporatism
Corporatism was the economic theory of the Fascists. It was based on the idea that each of the major industries, agriculture, occupations, and the arts should be organized into state or management-controlled unions and employers' associations, or "corporations," which would negotiate labour agreements and working conditions, and represent the common interests of their occupations in a larger collection of corporations, known as "corporatist parliament." The corporatist institutions would take the place of independent organizations of workers' and employers' organizations, while the corporatist parliaments would replace or at least co-exist with the traditional representative and legislative institutions. The corporatist model proposed a "third way" between capitalism and communism in which workers and employers would work together in harmony for the common good of the nation. In practice, the Fascists used corporatism to destroy labour movements and suppress political opposition.
The French Social Party's economic program in 1936 called for shorter working hours, shorter vacations, and pay for "loyal" workers, but not for "disloyal" ones. Benefits were to be provided by the employers, not by the government. Similarly, the Nazi "Strength Through Joy" program provided subsidies for vacations and other leisure programs for workers.
Imperialism
Fascist movements also had imperial objectives. Hitler wanted to demonstrate the superiority of the Aryans over the Slavs by conquering Eastern Europe and Russia. He hoped that by conquering these countries, he would be able to obtain enough plunder and lebensraum (living space) to overcome ongoing economic hardship at home.
Mussolini wanted to conquer North Africa. In 1935, his armies invaded Abyssinia. In Poland, he wanted to reclaim all the land that had been ruled by the Polish kings (including East Prussia). Finnish fascists wanted to establish a "Greater Finland" to replace Russia. Croatian fascists wanted a "Greater Croatia" to replace Serbia.
Japanese fascists were all about military conquest in pursuit of their dream of a "Greater East Asia Cooperation Sphere." French fascists were big supporters of the French Empire in Indochina, North Africa, and in the interwar years, they had a lot of support from the ruling European minority in Algiers. Portuguese fascists fought colonial wars with Guineas, Angolans, and Mozambicans. Syrian, Iraqi, and Egyptian fascists were also big supporters of territorial expansionism. But there were also some "peace Fascisms" that weren't so imperial, like the Integralist action movement in Brazil.
Glorification of youth
Fascists often talked about their cause in terms of generations. "The old ones don't even want to know that we young people exist," Goebbels said. "They resist their power till the end, but one day they'll be beaten. It's time for us to win." De Jouvenel called fascism a "revolution of the body" that spoke to young people's need for discipline, hard work, fighting, and courage. Young people, he said, loved strong and slender bodies, strong and sure movements, and short sentences. Young people hated middle-aged, weed-bellied, and café verbosity.
Fascist parties, partly due to their concerted appeals to youth voters, tended to have more young members than almost any other rightist party. For instance, the Nazi Party leadership was relatively young. In Germany, junior officers often converted to fascism before their senior counterparts. In Romania, the Iron Guard leader, Corneliu Codreanu, was just 31 years old when he established his party in 1930. His top lieutenants, on the other hand, were all in their twenties. Similarly, Falange's founder, primo de Rivera, was only 30 years old when he formed the party in 1930. By 1936, 60-70% of Falange supporters were under 21.
Varieties of fascism
In the same way that Marxists, Liberals, and Conservatives varied within and across nations, so did Fascists. In some countries, nationalist Fascist movements competed with each other for personal reasons, tactical advantages, and other reasons. Fascist movements varied greatly in terms of racism, anti-Semitism, identification with the Christian faith, and support for Nazi Germany.
Acceptance of racism
Not everyone was a fan of biological racism, but it was a big part of what the Nazis did. They were really really racist, especially towards the Jewish people. They accused the Jews of almost everything bad things in Germany, like the Great Depression, Marxism, the rise of capitalism, and even the decadence of art. The Holocaust was the result of this hatred, and between 1933 and 1945, about 6 million Jewish people were killed by gassing, shooting, hanging, and clubbing. Around 3 million Slavs were also killed, along with 400,000 or so Roma.
Croatian Fascists propagandized the notion that Serbs were racially inferior, and by the late 1930s, they had developed a strong anti-Semitic streak. Following Germany's invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, the leader of the Croatian Ustaša, Ante Paulić, was appointed as the leader of a German-sponsored puppet state, the National Democratic Republic of Croatia, which was established as a one-party state. The NDH engaged in a campaign of extermination against the estimated 1 million Orthodox Serbs living in Croatia, some of whom were forced to convert, while others were expelled or killed in campaigns of genocidal violence. Approximately 250,000 Serb citizens in Croatia were eventually exterminated, many of whom were killed in village massacres. Additionally, approximately 40,000 Jews were murdered in concentration camps, including the Jasenovac concentration camp.
Identification with Christianity
Most of the Fascist movements were based on the idea that they were fighting for the Christian faith and the family. This was especially true for the Catholic Fascist movements in Poland and Spain, as well as in Portugal and France. The same was true for the Hungarian, Croatian, Argentine, Chilean, and Brazilian Fascist movements. For example, in Romania, Radu Codreanu was quoted as saying that he wanted to follow the example of Christ, the crucified son of the Orthodox Church. He also called for people to have faith in God and to love one another.
Valois was a Catholic; Taittinger was a Catholic; Renaud was a Catholic; Bucard was a Catholic; La Rocque was a Catholic; and Doriot was a Catholic who had been an atheist before becoming a fascist. Even Maurras, who was agnostic, defended the Catholic Church as the cornerstone of social order. Many of his followers were Catholics. Robert Brasillach, a French fascist intellectual, described the Spanish civil war as a struggle between Catholic Fascism and atheistic Marxism.
While many elements of Nazism were anti-Christian, the majority of Nazis regarded themselves as religious, and the majority of German anti-Semitics supported a purification of the Christian faith from the so-called "Jewish" elements of Nazism.
Pro-Nazism German Christians, affiliated with the Lutheran Church in Germany, believed that Christ was an Aryan, with blond hair and blue eyes, and that male members of the SS were called “SS people for Christ”. In many German households, children would begin their prayers before eating with the phrase “führer” meaning “bequeathed” to them by God.
Support for Germany
Fascists from all over the world were just as big of a nationalist as Hitler. A lot of Polish fascists died fighting the Germans in 1939, and some of them were sent to concentration camps after the war. A few Hungarian fascists died after the war. Before his assassination in 1934, Dollfuss, an Austrian Fascist, tried to get Mussolini's help against Hitler. He also got a lot of money from him to form a Fascist government in Austria to fight the Germans.
Prior to 1940, all French fascists were opposed to a German incursion into France. Doriot joined the French military when the war between France and Germany began in September 1939. As a sergeant, he led a unit that held the enemy back for several hours (for which he was later awarded a decoration). After France's military defeat, certain French fascists, such as Doriot, aligned their nationalism with Hitler's anti-bolshevism campaign, as did many non-German fascists from Hungary, Croatia, and other countries. Others, including Philippe Barrès (a former Faisceau member), crossed the English Channel in 1940 to join Charles de Gaulle's Free French movement.
Cagoule leader Eugen Deloncle was killed in a shoot-out with Gestapo agents in 1944. The Cagoule was France’s main right-wing terrorist group in the 1930s. Another of the Cagoulards, Francois Duclos, received the Croix de Guerre for his resistance work. Salazar's Portugal and Franco's Spain remained neutral or non-aligned during World War II despite the fascist nature of their own governments.
Intellectual origins
Fascism was not invented by Mussolini or Hitler. In fact, it was neither a twentieth-century invention nor a uniquely Italian or German phenomenon. Fascism originated in the writings of 19th-century writers from France, Austria, Germany and Italy. These writers included political theorists like theodor fritsch and Paul Anton de Lagarde, the author of the book The Rise of the Fascist Party, as well as artists, writers and journalists like Gabriele d’Anunzio and Richard Wagner, the author of “The Magic Mountain” and the author of the play “The Sting,” among others.
Science and philosophy were also at the heart of the rise of the Fascists. Theodor Fittsch, the author of The German Ideology, was one of the founders of the movement. Other writers include the author Joseph Arthur and the novelist Charles Maurras. Philosophy was also a major influence on the rise of Fascism in France, with writers such as the novelist and historian Joseph Arthur de Goebbels. Gustave Le Bon was one of the most prominent proponents of Fascism.
The roots of many fascist ideas can be traced back to the reaction to the 1789 revolution, the 1818 revolution, the 1848 revolution, and the social radicalism and secular liberalism that followed. De Maistre denounces the Enlightenment of the 18th century as a means of overthrowing the power of religion and the established social hierarchy. Taine celebrates the rise of the working class, which he argues is at a lower level of biological development than that of the nobility. Le Bon offers a primer on turning the barbarianism of the working class from a revolution to a reaction. Barrès combines ethnic roots with authoritarian nationalism. He argues that too much civilization leads to decadence. Hate and violence are healing remedies.
Collaboration and Crossroads: Fascism and Non-Fascist Conservatism
Fascism and non-fascism had fundamental differences, but they also shared some common goals, which sometimes drove non-fascists into collaboration with fascists during times of crisis. As Weiss wrote, “Any study of fascism that focuses exclusively on the Fascists and the Nazis is likely to miss the true importance of the right-wing extremists. Because they did not necessarily become party members or embrace the whole spectrum of party principles, they helped bring the fascists to power by working with the nobility, the army officers, the government and the civil service, and the important industrialists of Italy and Germany.” If it weren’t for the support of President Paul von Hindenburg, Chancellor Franz von Papen and other German conservative leaders, Hitler would never have been made chancellor.
In response to the economic crisis of the 1930s, thousands of working-class Germans who were worried about the increasing influence of the left renounced traditional political parties and embraced the rise of Fascism. At times, the ideological distance between traditional conservatism and Nazism was not very wide, as many of the concepts that Adolf Hitler utilized during the 1930s were staples of the German right-wing discourse.
The Fascists also had the backing of Christian conservatives. In Prussia, many Protestant voters supported Hitler between 1930 and 1932. After 1933, the Catholic Church in Germany basically agreed with the Fascists. The Vatican had previously banned Catholics from joining socialist organizations, but in 1933 they signed an agreement with Germany that prohibited priests from talking about politics and allowed Hitler to appoint bishops.
