Nabil Saeed
Political Ideologies
Essay 2.
Main Features of Fascism
There are many ideologies that people have adopted through out time and Fascism is one of the many ideologies I have learnt about. It is considered to be an extreme right wing ideology. Fascism was an authoritarian political movement that developed in Italy and several other European countries after 1919. Fascist ideology was largely the work of Giovanni Gentile. It emphasized the subordination of the individual to a totalitarian state that was to control all aspects of national life. Violence as a creative force was an important characteristic of the Fascist ideology. A special feature of Italian Fascism was the attempt to eliminate the class struggle from history through nationalism and the corporate state. Fascism believes that communities should be of the same race or nationality regardless any other form of entity. It can be associated with Hitler or Mussolini who they believed in Fascism as the best way to raise a society, but it ended by the end of the Second World War 1945. Fascism does not believe in individualism and materialism and they call for a spiritual revolution against these morals of individualism and materialism and fight against threats and groups that threaten the organic community that they believe in.
Fascism tends to embrace the idea of masculinity, mystical unity, youth and the power of violence. It promotes a lot of ideas to the community living with in like ethnic persecution, genocide (holocaust in Germany against Jews) and also imperialist expansion by spreading the idea of their ideology and has influence on other countries. In fascism ideology leaders tend to activate the people as a group against enemies or elitist. It usually seeks to organize mass movements which they believe is the most influential way and give the state its power. As a regime and a movement fascism uses mass organization as their system of integration and control, while still using violence at the same time to stop any opposition influence. One of the main fascist’s rejections is the idea of class struggle and workers’ internationalism as it might cause threat to national or racial unity. It rejects the idea of individual autonomy and rights and representative government which liberals believe in. At the same time fascism might use parliamentary channels and politics in the drive to its influential power. Fascism often uses the past as an inspiration for national rebirth.
