Outline and Discuss the Main Concepts of Political Fascist Thought.

In Germany, fascism began in a different way. Hitler learnt from Karl Leuger, an orator who had supported the Christian Social Party in Vienna, that nationalist and anti-Semitic propaganda were essential in the dismissal of the current trend of socialism. In 1920 Hitler encouraged the German Worker’s Party to change its name to “the National Socialist German Workers’ Party” (often referred to as the “Nazi Party”). With this change came the new swastika logo which later became the most recognised symbol of the holocaust. As the Great Depression took hold after the 1929 Wall Street Crash the German economy had collapsed and crisis took hold. Germans were thought to have turned to Nazism in desperation and their position in government grew rapidly. Hindenburg in 1933 took a risk and made Hitler Chancellor.

Within both Italy and Germany are a number of ideas and features that are became enshrined in their fascist regimes. An example of this is that fascism has often been linked to totalitarianism in that both violence and terror are seen to be strong features of a fascist regime. For instance, in the case of “Mein Kampf”- Hitler’s “Struggle” whilst in prison in Bavaria, Hitler stated that for “the need of the people to acquire foreign territory. The plough is then the sword; and the tears of war will produce the daily bread for the generations to come” enforcing the idea that only through war and violence by means of a “sword” and the acquisition of foreign territory, can the futures of generations to come be secured in the same way that to produce bread to feed the nation, one must first plant seeds and plough the ground for bread to be made.

Mussolini too, had some of the core foundations of his fascist state based upon violence and terror. Mussolini was quoted as stating that, “Peace is absurd: fascism does not believe in it” which suggests that the military and war itself is given a priority over peace ideologically as well as financially and politically within the nation. This balance can be seen to be disproportionate to the government funding prioritised for other activities such as for social welfare, shown by the breakdown of communal organisations that had supported everything from those in jobs to marriage partners. That both Italy and Germany place a huge reliance upon both violence and terror supports our argument that there are a main set of features that belong to fascist ideology which can be identified as being “fascist”.

Propoganda played a huge part in the prominence of both violence and war, for instance in Italy slogans such as  “War is to man as childbirth is to woman” and “Better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep” were used to actively promote the state’s actions and defend the state’s actions as well as to ensure that their countries domination of other territories was seen as a crusade rather than simply a war. They also served as a method of promoting masculinity amongst males and making violence and war appeal to men as their natural duty. Due to this, males within fascist regimes almost always take the senior roles within both industry as well as government. Only from 1919 did Italy start to publicise greater equality for women in the form of voting and general social equality however this did little to increase the influence of women in politics and men remained the leaders in almost all respects.

Mussolini also used slogans such as “Believe, Obey, Fight” and “Order, Authority, Justice” which represented this new political movement and replaced previous more liberal ideologies after 1922. These phrases featured heavily throughout the state in schools, government offices, and as banners in the streets so that wherever a person was to go, the ideologies of their leader were present. These ideologies represented an overarching policy that in effect was included within all government policy and law. In the same way, flags were also seen everywhere including on clothing to increase the already strong Nationalist ideas that represented much of the core thought behind fascism.

In Germany to, such propaganda was used to create the idea a close community within the nation that the people must be loyal to. For instance, “One People, One Nation, One Leader!” was used within a poster of Hitler in 1938. Posters such as this were often used to make Hitler appear mystical to the public which in turn established Hitler as the clear leader of both the government and the nation as a whole. This propaganda was used to encourage the nation to work harder and do more for their mystical leader. Concepts such as “elite, authority, instinct, vital forces, will to power, nature” were also deemed to be central to fascist thought in that their frequent use in propaganda such as posters, speeches, and radio broadcasts imbedded the nation’s fascist principles into the minds of its people. Both Mussolini and Hitler were well aware that if the public were to stop believing in what their leaders were telling them, then their state could not survive and so in order to nationalise the people, the leaders needed to ensure that the working class at least thought that they were once again as much a part of the nation as the bourgeoisie even if in reality, they simply were not. Due to this, trade unions were seen to be a credible threat to the nations. For instance in Italy, a growth of “Fascist trade unions also began to emerge”, which resulted in a reduction, and in some cases elimination of Socialist and Catholic unions. Fascist trade unions were far less of a potential problem for Mussolini because their ideologies stemmed from his government’s own, however the suppression of other trade unions was of vital importance if the Mussolini was to maintain his tight hold on the nation.

As well as through trade unions, Catholics and Socialists in Italy and Jews in Germany were made to be scape goats. Much of Germany’s success has often been attributed to its anti-Semitic ideology, especially in the case of Jews which were identified as a perceived threat of which the nation needed to be rid of in that “the Nazis are said to have tapped into some kind of popular vein of resentment and encouraged the scapegoating”. Hitler used the Jews as scapegoats in order to justify much of his ethnic cleansing programmes as well as for his reasoning for censoring the media including the limiting of books that were allowed to be published, newspapers sold, and radio broadcasts.

Another feature of fascism, and a similarity between fascist Germany and Italy, is the concept of Elitism. “Fascists argue that the inevitable differences in talents and abilities between the leaders and the masses are primarily genetically determined” this in turn, suggests that the leaders of a fascist state must have been born into an elite class and it would therefore be natural for them to become a leader. It was argued by some fascists “that liberal democratic politicians had been responsible for defeat in the 1st World War” and that the elites were needed to ensure that the nation prospered both socially and economically.

Fascist leaders rely heavily upon the leaders of the industrial and business sectors. This led to both parties working closely together in a way which was beneficial for them both with government playing a huge role within the economy. This was done through “higher tariffs, lower corporate taxes and government contracts” in Italy which were far more beneficial for big businesses which received the help they needed within the Great Depression in the early 1930’s however smaller businesses did not which resulted in the closure of many smaller businesses. In Germany at the time, although not under Hitler, unemployment was rocketing and so there was huge pressure on the state to find a solution for everyone. Later, it was clear that Nazi economic policy was being “was either largely controlled by big business or at least operated in the interests of business”. This policy showed a clear direction for businesses in line with what the government wanted which made it extremely difficult, and in some cases impossible, for some businesses to operate outside of the government’s way of thinking.

Although there were strong similarities between the German and Italian fascist regimes, there were also differences. Many of these differences can be difficult to define in that it can be argued that these differences are not differences in fascism, but that they are the differences between fascism and Nazism. The strongest of which arguably being that Italy at the time was not fundamentally racist or anti-Semitic unlike Germany under Hitler, which was persecuting the Jews and any other minority group that it made into scapegoats however later through the 1938 Italian “Manifesto of the Race”, even Italy began to introduce anti-Semitic measures. 

Overall, although fascist regimes vary in their operation, hence the difficulty in identifying exactly what a fascist regime is, I believe that both Italy and Germany shared a common set of features that identified their regimes as being fascist and of which have been present in other fascist regimes. This conclusion is supported by the similarities in their leadership in terms of their nationalist approach within propaganda and speeches as well as their government’s strong interference in the economy. The prominence of both violence and terror in both Italy and Germany again highlights the reliance of the leaders on their people fearing them. Most of the differences between these states at the time can be attributed to there being a difference between Germany’s fascist actions rather than their fascist regime rather than them being a direct comparison.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/images/nazi_propaganda_ein_volk.jpg

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