Clearly, the notion that Fascism and Communism were in opposition to each was not going to be disputed by exponents of either political philosophy because they could use it to their advantage. It wouldn’t be too far a stretch to argue that both Hitler and Stalin fostered the myth that they represented different political systems as a means to gain and maintain power. The 20th century Capitalist philosopher, Ayn Rand, explains the practical usage of the Fascism/Communism dichotomy in the following manner:
It is obvious what the fraudulent issue of fascism versus communism accomplishes: it sets up, as opposites, two variants of the same political system; it eliminates the possibility of considering capitalism; it switches the choice of “Freedom or dictatorship?” into “Which kind of dictatorship?”–thus establishing only a choice of rulers.
Ayn Rand goes on to say that the fraud collapsed during the Second World War because it became far too obvious that Fascism and Communism were identical. The total suffocating lack of freedom, the reckless expansionism, the tireless pursuit of power by the ruling party, and the mass murder of large segments of the population was a trade mark of both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. For all of Hitler’s talk about the importance of the Aryan race, and Stalin’s about the Proletarian struggle, it made no difference to the citizens of either country; their conditions were identical. In practical terms, Fascism is Communism and Communism is Fascism. A more recent look at 20th century history by the historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto supports this conclusion.
The politics of twentieth-century Europe were horseshoe-shaped, and the extremists at both ends seemed close enough to touch.... Individuals moved between fascism and militant socialism as if by connecting channels. Mussolini was a socialist youth leader before he became a fascist duce.... Many Nazis tried to make the party conform to its name: the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Britain's fascist leader, Oswald Mosley, was a socialist cabinet minister before he took to the streets.... My father... carried a communist card and wore a fascist Falangist uniform in Spain at different moments in the 1930s.
A historical example of the similarities Fernandez-Armesto is talking about can be found by comparing Hitler’s rule in Nazi Germany and Stalin’s rule in Soviet Russia. Both Hitler and Stalin shared the goal of attaining power. To this end, they quickly set about redirecting all the power that existed in the country and centering it in themselves. The press along with the education system was transformed into a propaganda machine. To maintain complete control over the populace secret police were established. The SS of Germany and the NKVD of Soviet Russia terrorized the populace into submission. All the property of the state became the property of the party. Stalin seized all private property while Hitler simply enslaved the individuals that owned private property as he explains:
Of what importance is all that, if I range men firmly within a discipline they cannot escape? Let them own land or factories as much as they please. The decisive factor is that the State, through the Party, is supreme over them regardless of whether they are owners or workers. All that is unessential; our socialism goes far deeper. It establishes a relationship of the individual to the State, the national community. Why need we trouble to socialize banks and factories? We socialize human beings.
Both established youth wings of the Nazi and Communist party. The youth parties, along with the education system, focused on creating a group of people who were ultra loyal to Hitler/Stalin. Eventually both leader’s power over the individual citizenry had reached the point that people were a resource to be exploited. Conscription became common place along with summary executions, beatings, and torture at the hands of the government. No resistance met either ruler because the political machinery of the country had been subverted. Elections were occasionally held but most of the people were intimidated into voting the right way. Even when intimidation was not used the result of the election was still the same. Stalin has been quoted as saying: "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything." Even if political rivals had not been outright killed censorship was common place in Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. New publications were edited to ensure that they were devoid of criticism towards the government and reflected the values of the party. In the Soviet Union this was accomplished by in the following manner:
The Communist government abolished all independent literary groupings and replaced them with a single, centralized Union of Soviet Writers. Independent journals and publishing houses also disappeared. At the first Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934, socialist realism was introduced as the only approved artistic method. Socialist realism meant, in practice, the portrayal of Soviet reality from the viewpoint of the Communist Party.
Old publications that did not meet the party’s standards were disposed off. Libraries were purged, history texts were rewritten, and book burnings like this one became popular.
“On 10 May 1933… books burnt in the city of Berlin. Students from the Wilhelm Humboldt University, all of them members of right-wing student organizations… proceeded to toss thousands of titles, by writers famous and obscure, foreign and native, into the flames of an already ignited bonfire. The egregiously primitive act lasted for hours, interrupted only by the incantation of Nazi songs and a speech by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels.”
Through amazingly similar tactics like the use of propaganda and censorship Stalin and Hitler managed to maintain a firm group over the entire population. For two men of supposedly different philosophy’s who supposedly hated each other, they are incredibly alike.
Not only were the tactics used by Stalin and Hitler alike, but the consequences of those tactics were also. At the root of Fascism and Communism is the idea that the group is superior to the individual. Morality was reduced to a question of whether or not a particular action benefited the group. In the name of the Aryan Race, or the Proletariat, anything, or anyone, could be sacrificed to the cause. Entire segments of the population was wiped out in both nations. The Kulaks of Russia and the Jews of Germany were all but eliminated. Mass murder was also used during the purges of both nations. The death toll of Stalin’s regime is measured at 42 million of his own citizens. Hitler murdered 20 million during his reign. By looking at their regimes it should be quite clear that there is no difference between Communism and Fascism, the only thing both have to offer is a blood bath.
While many historians are recognizing the similar nature of Fascism and Communism even today two systems of government are still thought of as differing significantly. With the events of World War 2, and the years preceding it, an ever fading memory to the public at large the Fascism/Communism dichotomy is bound to be revived. It is, therefore, important to recognize that the only alternative to Communism, or Fascism, is freedom, not a different kind of dictator.
