Facism

Intro• Appears in 1890s-Fascia as political

• Given more solid meaning by Mussolini

• Strong Unified Community

• Revolt against western ideas from French Revolution onward

• Focus on Struggle, Leadership, Power, Heroism, and War

Bullet 1-Found in Italy, revolutionary socialistsBullet 2-Paramilitary Armed SquadsBullet 3- “Strength through unity” Individual must be absorbed completelyBullet 4-Popular Sov., Logic, Rationalism

Origins• Appear during the

World Wars

• Appears during 19th Century

• Democracy collapsed, replaced by fascism

Bullet 1- Germany and ItalyBullet 2- Fused by WWI

Origins• No single factor in creation

• New Democracy

• Society disrupted by industrialization

• Propertied class afraid of revolution

• WWI doesn’t fix things

• WWII overthrows fascist governments

Bullet 1b-Lower middle class hurt, membership drawBullet 1c-Blame the Russians Bullet 2-People are afraid of too much freedom, seeks stability in times of trouble

Core Themes

• Hard to define, no rational and coherent core

• Complex phenomenon to nail own due to short lived

• 5 Core themes have been agreed upon

1. Anti-Rationalism• Counter enlightenment/French

Revolution

• Vitalism- Character comes from “life force;” emphasis on instincts and impulse

• Fascism gives voice to anti-rationalism

Bullet 1-Human reason is limited, focus on more powerful urges/emotions

Anti-Rationalism• Anti-Intellectual-No abstract thinking

• Clear in what they oppose, not support

• Without reason, faith is placed elsewhere

• Strength of nation or race is reflection of moral and cultural unity

Bullet 1-“Action not talk” or “Inactivity is death.” MussoliniBullet 2- Link to conservatism. Could also be viewed as extreme nihilism Bullet 3- History, culture, and organic community

2. Struggle

• Social Darwinism places a role

• Only way the best will survive and prosper

• View war as good

Bullet 1- Human existence is based on competition and struggle (Leads to WWI)Bullet 3- “war is to men what maternity is to women” Mussolini

Struggle• Victory is worshiped, weakness is

despised

• Seen in eugenics

• Germany starting in 1939

• Life is a never ending struggle

• Goal of World Domination

Bullet 1- Rid society of the weak, Sacrifice for the common goodBullet 2- Selective Breeding for desirable traitsBullet 2b-forced sterilization, then exterminationsBullet 3- National qualities can only appear through struggle and victory

3. Leadership and Elitism

• Leadership and Elitism are naturally occurring

• Rare Quality

Bullet 1-Some lead, some follow

Leadership and Elitism• 3 Types of people in society

• Supreme Ruler

• Warrior Elite

• Masses

• Supreme leader is unquestionable

Bullet 1a- All seeing, unrivaled authorityBullet 1b- All male and distinguished by heroismBullet 1c- Weak, inert, and ignorant. Bullet 2-Adopts name like Fuhrer, Il Duce

Leadership and Elitism• Leader is viewed as uniquely gifted

• All authority comes from the leader

• All other forms were abolished

• Totalitarian Democracy

• Awaken people to their destiney

Bullet 1- Hitler’s speeches to the massesBullet 2- Guiding principleBullet 2a- No legislature or judiciaryBullet 3- People do hold elections

4. Socialism• Some socialist ideals work with fascism

• Socialists traditionally absorbed to court businesses

• Anti-communism more popular

• Solidarity is important unless it goes against the country

Bullet 1- Capitalism is bad, Collectivism is best, Policies to regulate or control economy.

5. Ultranationalism• Strongly expansionist

• States are not equal

• Intense sense of national identity

• Phoenix rising from the ashes

• Autarky is vital

Bullet 3-Integral Nationalism-BRING BACK NATIONAL PRIDEBullet 4- Reject modernness and bring back greatness of beforeBullet 5-Complete economic self sufficiency, requires expansion

Fascism and the State

• Germany and Italy best examples

• Two very different versions

• Statism vs Racism

Bullet 2- Statism-Italy, Racism-Germany

Totalitarian Ideal• Reached height during Cold War

• Extreme Collectivism

• Leader with unlimited authority

• Monistic System

• Unquestioning obedience and constant devotion

Bullet 2- Loyal, dedicated, and utterly obedient to the stateBullet 3- Politicize the masses (Active Participation and total commitment)Bullet 4-Single Value System and Single Truth

Totalitarian Ideal

• State is ethical

• State views as the means to an end

• Often control all parts of culture

Bullet 1- German Philosopher Hegel, Sympathy of its membersBullet 2- Power comes from the people, not the stateBullet 3- Media, art, education, youth groups, etc.

Corporatism

• Split between Capitalism and Socialism

• No free market, and no central planning

• Belief in business and labor are bound together

• Class relations mediated by state

Bullet 1- 3rd wayBullet 2- Unrestrained pursuit of profit and class warBullet 3- Social classes don’t conflict, work together towards common good of stateBullet 4- National interest takes priority and precedence

Modernization

• State viewed as a way to modernize

• All fascism looks backwards

• Italian Fascism looked towards the future

• Italian Fascism influenced by futurism

Bullet 1- Italy/MussoliniBullet 2- Italy, Imperial RomeBullet 3- Technology, Industrialization, etcBullet 4- Factories, machines, industry glorified

Fascism and Racism• Not all fascism is

racist

• Italy adopted voluntaristic views

• Racist ideas generally coincides

Bullet 1- Nazi Germany best exampleBullet 2- Loyalty to state more important than anything

Politics of Race• Focus on race appears during 19th

Century

• Most racist policies have anomalies

• Idea that there is innate differences in the races

• Imperialism justified by superiority

Bullet 1- Comes with imperialism. No scientific foundationBullet 2- Hitler wasn’t Aryan

Nazi Race Theories• Combo of anti-

semitism and Darwinism

• Nationalism and Imperialism increases Anti-semitism

Bullet 1-Anti-Semitism rooted in 19th Century Christian Europe

Nazi Race Theories• Jews viewed as race rather than

religious group

• Hierarchy of Races

• Different Qualities and Characteristics

• Aryans are most creative and developed

Bullet 2- Developed by Joseph-Arthur GobineauBullet 2b-Fundamentally basic and uncreative

Nazi Race Theories• Nazi’s blamed everything on the Jews

• Nazism broke races into 3 worlds

• Aryans

• Bearers of culture

• Jews

Bullet 1- WWI Loss, Jewish ran banks and caused problems economically, etcBullet 2a-Master CultureBullet 2b-Could use german stuff, but overall uncreativeBullet 2c-Destroyers of culture

Nazi Race Theories• Hitler held a

Manichaean worldview

• Germany could never be safe until Jews were gone

• Holocaust-6 million Jews

Bullet 1- Persian religions of good vs evil. Aryan good, Jews evil

Peasant Ideology• German

philosophy anti-modern

• Germans were suited to live on the land and physical labor

Peasant Ideology• Cities had undermined German spirit and

weakened racial stock

• Germans encourage traditions and craft skills

• Expansion needed to to give German people room

• Deep contradiction in reality

Bullet 4-Constantly bombard with technology and industry

Fascism in Global Age• In traditional sense, didn’t survive the

second half of 20th Century

• As economy stabilized and grew, Fascism disappeared

• Fascism did grow out of fall of communism

• Modern fascism may prosper if disavowing traditional elements

Bullet 1- Modernization and Globalization hurt severelyBullet 3- Yugoslavia and Genocide of MuslimsBullet 4- Overt Racism, totalitarianism, and absolute leadership