Whilst this attitude is undoubtedly a long term factor with much of this thinking occuring in the 19th century, the connected role of World War I was to exacerbate these sentiments due to the nationalistic and militaristic sentiments it aroused. As Berdiayev (in Polonsky, 1981, p.6) asserts “The First World War gave rise to a new generation that hated freedom and had a taste for authority and force”. I see the mixing of the educated middle and upper classes with the proletariat in this period as an important factor as to why Fascism emerged in Italy and Germany after World War I. The reason being is because of the binding nationalistic and affect it had. This is reflected by the blaming of the Jewish sector of the population to a considerable extent for defeat in World War I by both the Italians and the Germans, suggesting that race held a central position in politics. It seems no coincidence that the two youngest European states, Italy and Germany, are the two that eventually had the strongest Fascist dictatorships. The desire for identity and purpose in these nations being particularly strong as they lacked cultural and historical untiy. Therefore as has been shown, the political history and thought in Europe in this time was a key factor in the emergence of Fascism.
Having analysed the importance of long term philosophical and political factors to the emergence of Fascism with reference to nationalism, another key long term factor that is closely linked to this, showing that Fascism cannot be explained by any single factor, is the modernisation and industrialisation process of which many of these philosophical ideas were born. This process gave birth to the ideas of Marxism, with the emergence of Fascism being a direct consequence in opposition to these socialist ideals. The rise of Marxism which came from the process of industrialization should be seen as a crucial but not completely isolated factor which led to the emergence of Fascism. As Woolf (1968, p.24) argues little else united Fascism across Europe more than anti Communism. This argument of the role class warfare played in the emergence of Fascism as an ideology is shown in the German election of 1933 where the majority of factory workers voted for the Social Democrats or the Communists, whilst support for Fascism came from the bourgeoisie. Whilst Horkheimer and Adorno (1968, p.21) argue Fascism is a consequence of modernity itself, citing that “the curse of irresistable progress is irresistible regression” into the immorality of fascist ideals. The rise of Fascism is better viewed as being less closely linked to modernisation and more linked as a response to the rise of Socialism. This is reinforced by Trotsky (in Mandel 1995, p.107) who saw both German and Italian fascism as a “battering ram against the organizations of the working class”. This shows how along with nationalist disputes, class disputes are another key factor explaining the rise of Fascism. As Mann (2004, p.91) states along with numerous other factors “Class conflict fuelled by...capitalist crisis fuelled...fascism”.
It was the shattering influence that World War I had on the democracies that were linked to it and the subsequent rapid emergence of Communism in Russia and across Europe that intensified Fascist movements and so should again be seen as a key trigger in the emergence of Fascism. There is little argument amongst scholars that the state of Europe was politically socially and economically altered after World War I with hunger and unemployment widespread. The appeals of ‘peace, land and bread’ echoing from Lenin across Europe created an economic insecurity within the bourgeoisie, leading to calls for a strong leader who could ensure the maintenance of their interests and halt the rise of Communsim. This then can be shown to have a clear link with the issue addressed earlier about the German political trend to desire strong, authoritarian leadership, showing how numerous linked factors need to be taken into account when understanding the emergence of Fascism.
Another crucial factor in explaining the emergence of Fascism showing that it cannot be understood by any single factor, which was affected the most by the short terms effects of World War I was the weakness of democracies in during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Although World War I was pivotal in exaggerating the weaknesses of many European democracies and thus leading to the emergence of fascism, with reference to Italy, the seeds were sewn much earlier. Whilst the significance of the Liberal governments in keeping Italy unified for 40 years, obtaining a limited empire, and fostering mass education should be noted, when compared against development in other European states in the same period it seems unimportant. Moreover the economic backwardness in Italy and the failure of its government to address the core matters of poverty and public welfare led to disillusionment in democracy, this was exacerbated by the fact that under the Italian franchise Parliament comprised of numerous political parties and thus due to ideological differences it was difficult for any significant reform to take place. These pre war parliamentary failures then can help to explain in the case of Italy, why after the war fascism with its political elite emerged as an alternative.
The role that World War I had to play with reference to democracies and the emergence of Fascism was not only to highlight their weaknesses, but also crucially it left the politicians in Italy and Germany with the blame for what the large majority of their populations saw as unfair outcomes from the Treaty of Versailles. Whilst the argument could be made that this is not the case with Italy due to the fact that they were part of the victorious Triple Entente. In reality however, Allies preferrance to Yugoslavia despite pre war promises made to Italy left many Italians ashamed of their status as an unimportant nation. As De Grand (1978, pp.102-114) asserts, this was blamed on decadent liberals and unpatriotic leftists. This weakness of the current system again shows why the emergence of Fascism was an acceptable alternative in Italy during this period. Moreover economically the failures of the Italian government were exposed after World War I as despite the fact inflation increased by 400% destroying people’s savings; the government still cut wages by 25% leading to mass poverty. Such failures in parliamentary politics are important for understanding the emergence of Fascism as an alternative. Similarly the political consequences of World War I in Germany are highly important in understanding the emergence of Fascism in this period. Whilst the argument thatWorld War I should not be seen as a short term factor to the emergence of fascism in Germany is given weight by the fact that the Nazis did not come to hold significant power until 1933. It was the underlying economic instabilities that World War I caused in the Weimar Republic, which ultimately led to popular support for Hitler. Firstly it is also important to analyse the constitutional merits of the Weimar Government in understanding its weaknesses which helped Fascism emerge. Despite the fact that the there was an elected President and an elected Reichstag and the fact that the Reichstag made the laws and appointed the government, there were significant weaknesses in the Weimar government. The Proportional Representation led to what Hamerow (1997, p.166) describes as “musical chairs” in German politics. This is a feature reflected in pre war Italy with 29 Prime Minister between 1870 and 1922. Therefore the weakness of government in both cases can be seen to directly precede the emergence of Fascism. Whilst it could be argued using the exemplification of the Golden Years of 1924-1929 under Gustav Streseman that the Weimar Republic was stable, and so World War I should not be seen of political importance to the emergence of Fascism, this point is outweighed by the fact that financially Germany under the Weimar Republic was never self sufficient, relying essentially on American loans to repay its deficit from World War I. Should that money be withdrawn, as shown in the Wall Street Crash, Germanys first democracy would fail catastrophically. Therefore it is not surprising that the population of Germany saw democracy as something that was bad when comapred with the authoritarian strength of the Kaiser and the General Staff before World War I. As Fischer (2002, p.25) states“The worsening economic situation triggered the slide towards some form or another of authoritarian government”. This worsening economic situation was a product of World War I and so World War I should be seen as a short term trigger which intensified the weaknesses of the Italian and German democracies.
As has been shown through a complex analysis of why Fascism emerged, there are numerous factors each of which contributed significantly to the rise of Fascism and without any one of which the Fascism that we see in Italy and Germany in the inter war years are likely not to have prevailed. Without the class conflict emerging from modernisation Fascism may not have emerged, as its function as a bourgoisie tool was central to its success. Similarly without the nationalist conflict arising from political thought and intensified by World War I Fascism may not have emerged, due to the fact its nationalistic appeal was also central to its success. Finally without the political conflict originating from the weakness of democracies Fascism may not have emerged, as its appeal as a strong and unwavering form of governance was another factor key to its success. Therefore the emergence of Fascism is a phenomenon that should be seen as being contingent on a number of factors, each of which were intensified by World War I, and without any one of these factors, it is unlikely that the European Fascism of the inter war years would have emerged in the same way.
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