Fascism: A Political Ideology of the Past

What is Fascism?

Fascism believes in the superiority of the nation. “The nation” refers to a collection of people bound together by race, ethnicity, or culture. Germans and Italians are examples of nations. The way to achieve national superiority is through the state.1 The ultimate goal of the major fascist regimes that have existed, like the regimes of the Italian Fascist Party and the German Nazi Party, was to pursue national greatness. Mussolini intended to “guide the material and moral progress of the [Italian] community.”2 Hitler planned to return the German nation to its position as “the culture-founder of this earth.”3 Hitler and Mussolini wanted to place the nation above all other bases of loyalty, including class relations and religion.4

The type of state needed to fulfill this goal is anti-democratic and totalitarian. Such a state is anti-democratic because it eliminates democratic institutions, like the electoral, parliamentary, and multiparty systems, that frustrate this goal of national greatness. Democratic elections are problematic because the masses elect candidates who appeal to the masses’ self-interest. This does not guarantee that the candidates have the nation’s interest in mind. This weakens the state and, ultimately, the nation.5 Parliament is problematic because the parties in it spend more time arguing than implementing policies. Indeed, Hitler referred to Parliament as a “twaddling shop” for this reason. 6 Other parties are problematic because, by competing with fascist parties to gain power, they prevent fascist parties from pursuing the ultranationalist goal. The state is totalitarian because it controls aspects of citizens’ lives, such as their leisure time, education, and political activity, to ensure that the citizens support the regime’s goal.7 Fascism, as defined in this paper, is the ideology of nationalism upheld by an anti-democratic and totalitarian state.

Some Enabling Conditions for Fascism

Fascism generally flourishes in countries with strong nationalism and weak democracies. Strong nationalism attracts people to fascism’s ultranationalist goals.8 “Weak democracy” has two meanings, both of which enable fascism to flourish. A democracy is weak in that it is incompetent and unresponsive. Consequently, citizens become disenchanted with it and are willing to abandon it for another regime type. A weak democracy also refers to a democratic tradition that is fairly new and not strongly entrenched.9 This also enables fascism to flourish because it is easier to replace this type of democracy with another regime.

Enabling Conditions Applied to Italy and Germany

All these conditions apply to the political and social situations in post- World War One Germany and Italy. Nationalism, in the form of national resentment, was potent. Italians and Germans believed that their national pride had been humiliated. Italians felt this way because they believed their country had not been awarded the amount of territory it should have been awarded after World War One ended.10 Germans felt this way because their government had accepted the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty required Germany to accept the blame for starting World War One and imposed harsh reparations, as well as substantial territorial concessions, on Germany.11 The Fascist and Nazi parties were appealing because they promised to restore the national greatness that citizens felt was lacking.

Italian and German democracies, and democratic traditions, were weak. Both countries had unified and become democracies relatively late. Italy unified between 1860 and 1870, and Germany unified around 1870.12 Their parliaments were rather unresponsive to citizens’ needs. For example, neither the German nor Italian parliament was able to stem the post-World War One economic crises, and rises in unemployment, in their countries.13 As a consequence of all these factors, Italian and German citizens were willing to support fascism.

Extreme Right Parties and Fascism

Extreme right parties in Europe share ideological aspects with fascism. For this reason, they are sometimes considered neofascist parties: parties that are the contemporary incarnation of fascism.14 For instance, the extreme right parties desire to advance the nation by getting rid of all immigrants.15 The parties believe that immigration ruins the nation. The parties contend that immigrants cause citizens of the host country to become unemployed. As Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the FN (Front National) in France, once said, “1 million unemployed- this means 1 million foreigners too many.”16 Immigrants also allegedly ruin national culture by preserving their own customs instead of adopting those of their host country.17 Ridding the country of immigrants will stop these problems and ultimately benefit the nation.

Immigration engenders a condition that enables fascism to arise: national resentment. The extreme right parties’ unfavorable views regarding immigrants reflect the citizens’. In addition, many citizens believe that immigrants appropriate welfare benefits that should go to citizens instead. Immigrants are also commonly believed to commit crimes against citizens. 18 Indeed, the national resentment directed towards immigrants is a combination of indignation and fear. It should be noted, however, that the condition of national resentment by itself is not sufficient to engender fascism. The combination of national resentment and weak democracy offer a better opportunity for fascism to rise.

The democratic conditions within which these parties operate ultimately do not allow fascism to flourish. Democracy is more deeply entrenched during the contemporary era than it was in the post-World War One era. While Nazis and Fascists managed to overthrow the democratic regimes in their countries, there are now supranational and national barriers that discourage this from happening. Many extreme right parties operate in countries that are part of the European Union: the FN of France, the AN (Alleanza Nationale) of Italy, the BNP (British National Party) of the United Kingdom, and the FPO (Austrian Freedom Party) of Austria (among others).19 As members of the European Union, these countries are required to have, and maintain, a democratic regime.20 Moreover, the general mindset within many of these countries is democratically predisposed. Indeed, the extreme right has “sought to render [itself] acceptable in an age assumed to be democratic.”21 The extreme right parties have had to conform to citizens’ expectations of their governments in order to gain electoral support.

Democracy prevents fascism. In order to implement fascism, a state needs to be anti-democratic. However, given supranational and national conditions, the state in European countries is democratic. If fascism were to adapt to these democratic conditions, it would cease to exist. Indeed, it would become a new ideology: national-populism. National-populism results from “a conscious effort to update fascism and render it viable in changed [democratic] conditions.”22 The AN exemplifies this transformation. Before it became the AN, this party was called the MSI (Movimento Sociale Italiano). The MSI was considered neofascist because it was a descendant of an earlier, quasi-fascist party.23 However, once the MSI “accepted democracy as a system of values,” it morphed into the AN, a national-populist party.24 The extreme right parties, which are often called neofascist, are actually national-populist.

Moreover, democracy changes the nature of the goal that national-populist parties and fascism share in common. According to fascism, the way to advance the nation is to have a leader who embodies the will of the people. This person, not the people themselves, knows best what is in the nation’s interest.25 National-populist parties do not take this approach. Instead, they advocate direct democracy initiatives, such as the referendum, because such initiatives enable citizens’ preferences to be heard.26 However, from a fascist perspective, these preferences only take into account the citizens’ individual interests, not the collective interests of the nation. Individual interests are different from the national interest. 27 So national-populists are not advancing the nation when they advocate direct democracy. Ultimately, then, they are not fascist in practice or in theory.