What is Fascism?
Fascism is a form of government that was popular between 1919 and 1945, but became taboo after the Holocaust and the defeat of the Axis powers in 1945. Since 1945, few groups have applied the term to themselves. The term "fascism" has become a universal epithet for anything bad. In 2005, scholar Richard Griffiths stated that the term fascism is the most "misused, and over-used term of our times." In particular, fascism is frequently considered synonymous with white power, though many non-white and racially mixed countries have had fascist governments at one time or another, including Brazil, Mexico, Japan, and Zaire.
Fascism in its original meaning referred to the Italian Fascists under Benito Mussolini. The authoritative document is "The Doctrine of Fascism," which appeared as the entry for fascism in the Italian Encyclopedia published in 1932. The author was listed as Benito Mussolini but the more likely author is the philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who helped Mussolini formulate his political philosophy of fascism.
The defining features of fascism are nationalism (including economic nationalism), corporatism (including economic planning), totalitarianism (including dictatorship and social interventionism), and militarism. According to the Doctrine of Fascism: "The Fascist conception of the State is all-embracing; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist, much less have value. Thus understood, Fascism is totalitarian, and the Fascist State—a synthesis and a unit inclusive of all values—interprets, develops, and potentiates the whole life of a people." The philosophy is summarized by the Italian fascist mottos "Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State," "Believe, Obey, Fight," "The book and the musket - make the perfect Fascist," and "War is to man as motherhood is to woman."
During its heydey, fascism was marketed as the "Third Position" between communism and capitalism. In Italy, the symbol of fascism was a bundle of rods tied around an axe, which symbolizes the solidarity and strength of a fascist state. The word "fascist" comes from the Italian word fascio, which means a bundle or union. Fascist regimes respect power above all else, and rise to political prominence through bullying, threats, and torture.
Most everyone is aware that fascism is a bad political system, but not everyone knows exactly what fascism even is, and consensus on the central elements of fascism was not even reached among scholars until the 1990s. To understand why fascism is bad, one must first understand what exactly fascism is. This is a wide scholarly topic, and there are several other interesting examples of fascism outside of the Axis powers during WWII.
Written by Michael Anissimov
