16.5: Fascism

Fascism centered on the glorification of the state, the rejection of liberal individualism, and an incredible emphasis on hierarchy and authority. (The term 'fascism' was invented by the Italian Fascist Party, and came from the word fascii: a bundle of sticks with an axe embedded in the middle. In ancient Rome, the bodyguards of the ancient Roman consuls carried fascii as a badge of authority over war, peace, law, and death, and that symbolism appealed to the Italian Fascists.)

Fascism was a twentieth-century phenomenon, but its ideological roots were firmly planted in the nineteenth century. Fascism was an extreme form of nationalism. The nation was not just the home of a “people”, it was everything. The nation became a mythic entity that had existed since the ancient past. Fascists claimed that the cultural traits and patterns of the nation defined who a person was and how they regarded the world.

We often hear the terms used interchangeably today, but Fascism and Nazism were, and are, not the same.

Nazi ideology emphasized biology. The Nazis believed that races were biological entities. Something in the blood of each "race" could create or destroy something as vague as “true culture.” Only the so-called Aryan race had ever created culture or been responsible for scientific progress. Other races, including some non-European groups like the Persians and the Japanese, were considered “culture-preserving” races who could at least enjoy the benefits of true civilization. At the bottom end of this invented hierarchy were “culture-destroying” races, such as the Jews and Slavs, like Russians and Poles.

Italian Fascism was essentially ideological and emotional: it glorified the idea of the Italian people and in turn, many actual Italians did come to feel great national pride, even if they were working in difficult conditions in a stagnant economy. Fascist propaganda tried to instill Italian pride and Fascist identity among Italian citizens. Meanwhile, Fascist-led police forces targeted would-be dissidents, sentencing thousands to prison terms or in closed prison villages (not unlike some of the Russian gulags).