Lowe, on the other hand, separated fascism into five different points. A true fascist state must have extreme nationalism, a totalitarian system of government, one party state, economic self-sufficiency and finally military strength and violence. This categorization of fascism can be seen as a very accurate one, since it eliminates many countries, which are thought of as fascist but are not, since it does not follow each point given. Therefore, the fact that very few Historians share the same view of what fascism is, it makes it hard to judge which regimes and parties were truly fascist ones.
If some definitions are too general, it can be understood that every authoritarian right-wing party or regime can be called fascist. This is not correct since there are necessary factors, which a fascist regime must have, and in most cases the differences out-way the similarities. Some still mistakenly state that fascist regimes, which in the past had come to power, include Hitler’s, as well as Franco’s regime and other countries as well. This is not correct because each of these regimes are very different from each other, Franco for example borrowed ideas and techniques from other places, and other regimes did the same but without having exactly the same factors or ideas. In the case of Germany, Hitler practised Anti-Semitism, and racism is not a part of the fascist movement, therefore leaving Germany in the category of national socialists.
Some Historians, to manage to cope with the concept of fascism, since it is very complicated, believe in the theory of Generic Fascism. Stating fascism was not only confined in one country, but was found throughout Europe and even outside it, simplifying matters in one way but on the other hand making the study of fascism a much wider one. Instead of giving each extreme right-wing regime a specific and complicated name, they use the term fascism for each one but specify it by mentioning the name of the country. For example fascism in Italy is referred to as Italian Fascism, in Germany it is known as German Fascism, and respectively with other countries such as Spain and Austria. Still this is a very disputable theory, and to some extent can be considered insufficient, because here we can see that not one exact definition is given to fascism, and the more simplified the term is the less accurate it will be also, not only this but the study of fascism would be an extremely large one since each country would have to be analysed.
There are though, many Historians, who insist that these so-called fascist regimes are merely authoritarian, they cannot all be fascist because they are separate and have many different factors. Some even consider Mussolini’s regime in Italy, as the only true Fascist one. Morris and Murphy state that fascism is “The beliefs of a body of Italian nationalists, which was created in 1919 to oppose Communism in Italy. As part of the partito nazionale fascista, under the leadership of Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)[…]”. As this extract shows quite clearly, Fascism is directly said to be the beliefs of Italians and to have been created there.
The fact that fascism is very tedious to analyse since it cannot be reduced to studying only one country, many countries need to be investigated to formulate a clearer idea of which ones can be considered fascist regimes and which ones cannot. Many regimes were inspired by Mussolini’s rule and drew ideas from it, but never reached to be true fascist regimes.
Portugal may at first be considered a Fascist country around the 1920’s, but it was actually a military dictatorship. It had factors similar to those of a Fascist regime such being right wing and extremely nationalistic, it was also anti-Bolshevik. Still it is not considered to be a Fascist regime, since it sought support from the Church and Catholicism, therefore it was more of a conservative rule.
Spain is another example of what may seem as a Fascist country after its civil war had ended, but again this is not so. It was actually quite a different regime form those that qualify as Fascist. Miguel Primo de Rivera admired Mussolini, but his regime was not cruel like Mussolini’s, he did not kill opponents and did not band trade unions, merely insisted they should not get involved in politics. He didn’t found a political party either and did not, unlike Mussolini, hang on to power until the end; on the contrary he voluntarily resigned.
In Germany, the situation was not as different as in Italy, there were extreme economic problems, communism was threatening to rise and democracy was heading for a disaster. Authorities from neither of these countries stopped violent anti-communism and there were even similarities between Hitler and Mussolini. They both combined left and right wing ideas, emphasised on community and breaking the class barriers, and both were great at creating propaganda for themselves and giving public speeches, lastly, they were both incredibly cruel. It is noticeable that Hitler followed in the footsteps of the Italians to some extent, as he himself said that he deeply admired Mussolini. Other similarities are Germany’s SA, which can be compared to Italy’s Backshirts, they both borrowed symbols and greetings from earlier nationalist groups and Hitler’s March on Berlin can be portrayed as a copy of March on Rome, or what it was shown to be like by propaganda, the outcomes were quite different though since Hitler was not appointed Prime Minister as Mussolini, but imprisoned for five years. Among these there were various other factors which may indicate that Hitler’s regime was Fascist, but one main factor proves the contrary, Anti-Semitism. This was one of the most important aspects of Hitler’s regime, as well as the one that distinguished Germany from the rest of the countries in Europe. It can also be considered racism, and this was not a part of Italy or Mussolini’s regime. This single factor is what makes Hitler a Nazi and not a Fascist.
In the final analysis, the different interpretations given to the term fascism are very noticeable, and how they create controversial issues when it comes to deciding which regimes, both within Europe and outside it, can be truly considered as being Fascists. It is clear that to be fascist a regime, a country must follow certain guidelines and that many, throughout the past, have come close to what could have been a fascist country, but due to several factors did not reach it, unlike Mussolini. Still, all the different definitions and interpretations of the term fascism will most likely never become one alone, therefore Historians will continue having different points of view and ideas about which countries were fascist and which were not. In some cases, some will still resort to the theory of Generic Fascism and others will continue using the term as a simple representation of extreme right-wing regimes.
