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What is Fascism?
This video examines fascism’s defining characteristics. Fascism rose most
prominently in Italy and Germany between the two world wars. Benito
Mussolini rose to power as a fascist in the 1920s. His movement violently
seized power and defined the Italian nation in racial terms. This example was
soon followed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, which seized power in
Germany in the 1930s. Utilizing extreme forms of nationalism, these leaders
pushed their citizens to expel or murder those deemed an enemy of the
state. The video compares these examples with the KKK in the United States.
What is Fascism? Timing and description Text
Amy Elizabeth Robinson, PhD Photo of a guitarist; the guitar has a tag on it that says “This machine kills fascists” In this unit, we need to go into some difficult territory. We are going to talk about fascism. Fascism was probably the most explosive and damaging political phenomenon of the 20th century, and it is also an explosive and misunderstood word. Have you heard people use this word? It is often thrown around as a way of denouncing a political system, movement, or leader one fears or doesn’t like.
Images of Fascist Italy and Germany Political images of bundles of sticks Fascism is a definable thing. And in some places—most notably Italy and Germany—it was a system of government. It is extremely important to understand the meaning and history of fascism, so that we can all notice when it is beginning to appear and when fascists are beginning to acquire power. The word “fascism” comes from the Italian word “fascio,” which just means a bundle or sheaf. It had long been used as a political image in Europe. Because a bundle of sticks is hard to break, this image was used by late-19th-century Italian revolutionaries to symbolize their commitment to each other and to militant action.
Photos of men that would become part of the National Fascist party The symbol: A bundle of sticks and an axe, over the Italian flag Then, in 1914, a copy editor and former socialist named Benito Mussolini, having turned his back on socialism, was looking for a name for his new political group. He chose Fascio Rivoluzionario d’Azione Interventista—Revolutionary League for Interventionist Action. Later, in 1919, Mussolini created the Fasci di Combattimento, or Fraternities of Combat. In this simple name, he managed to capture the sense of exclusive community they were trying to create, the male-dominated nature of the organization, and the glorification of aggression that lies at the heart of fascism. Eventually, Mussolini founded the National Fascist Party. And this was its symbol.
Definition: Fascism is a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass- based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints, with the goals of internal cleansing and external expansion. So, now we have a better understanding of where the word “fascism” came from. But what is fascism? Historian Robert O. Paxton, in his book “The Anatomy of Fascism,” came up with this definition. That’s a long paragraph, so let’s take it one bit at a time. First, Paxton calls fascism a “form of political behavior.” He is telling us that it is important to pay attention to what fascists do, and not just what they say. Fascist leaders like Mussolini and Adolf Hitler gave dramatic speeches and produced manifestos, but these do not tell us much about how they actually acquired and used power. Fascist behavior aims to bring together different groups of angry, discontented extremists and to figure out how to get them to work with each other. Fascists have to form alliances with existing elite groups and individuals and to figure out how to get ordinary people’s cooperation.
What is Fascism? Timing and description Text considered to be outside the nation. One last thing that did not make it into Paxton’s definition, but that is prevalent in all fascist movements, is the use of symbolic imagery, staged events, and propaganda.
Photo of the Ku Klux Klan in a march Fascist movements always use local symbols and myths in order to increase their appeal. In order to make this more clear, we will leave the well-known cases of Italy and Germany and consider one other example: the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s United States. You might think of the United States as a country that fought fascism in World War II. But fascism has come in waves inside the U.S., too, starting in the late 19th century. Some Americans admired Mussolini, and, for a while, even Hitler. “The Ku Klux Klan,” wrote Charles Edward Jefferson, a pro-Klan minister in 1920s New York, “is the Mussolini of America.”
Photos of Klan members of all ages 1920s Klan members believed that white Protestant Americans were victims of a rapidly changing and diversifying United States. They formed militias, advocated a white nationalism, and claimed that they could cleanse the United States of immigrants and other “un-American” elements. They were anti-Catholic, anti-black, and anti-Semitic, believing that those groups were “outside of the nation.” Their symbols were both political and religious. In their rallies, they flew American, not Confederate, flags, and they burned crosses both as a threat and as a symbol of their militant Christianity.
10:02 Okay, so now we’ve learned where the term “fascism” came from, some ways
that fascism grew under Mussolini and Hitler, and we’ve seen another—maybe unexpected—example of a local fascist movement. Now let’s talk about what fascism is not. Fascism is sometimes used interchangeably with the terms “authoritarianism” and “populism.” Fascism includes elements of both, but they are not identical. Authoritarianism is a basically conservative political stance concerned with maintaining order. Authoritarian rulers often use existing institutions, like the military, the monarchy, or the church, in order to do this.
10:49 1930s Spain under Francisco Franco is often called fascist, but many historians
disagree with this label. When it came to ruling, Franco was authoritarian and extremely conservative, rather than fascist. He was a military general who ignored the demands of his radical fascist allies, and instead worked closely with the existing monarchy, capitalist businessmen, and landowners. His brutal tactics during the Spanish Civil War were used against political and ideological enemies, but not so much racial or national “others.”
11:29 Populism is a political stance that is critical of elites and that claims to fully
represent “the people.” Populists can easily dismiss their opponents by claiming that they do not truly understand or represent the people in an authentic way. But populism does not typically rest on the kinds of obsessive ideas about national or racial purity and aggression that fascism promotes. Juan Perón’s rule in Argentina from 1946 to 1955 is an example of a populist dictatorship that was not fascist. Perón used personal popularity with the people to take and wield power, often against political enemies, but not by singling out a national or racial enemy.
What is Fascism? Timing and description Text
12:21 Fascism, in contrast, embodies a dangerous spiral between conservatism on the
one hand and radicalism on the other. It proclaims the value of “tradition,” using local and sometimes invented images and traditions to represent a “pure” nation, and it hurtles headlong into “modernity” using new technologies and proclaiming the need for radical change at one and the same time. It is often more about power than any real political philosophy. That’s why it is attractive to people who want to take and hold power—individual, national, or racial—and also why it is so dangerous.
