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Fascism Vs Fascism

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Plato once wrote, “The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself”. It would be impossible for him to guess this quote would be taken very literally among ruler after ruler in history. Unfortunately, not every person who took this piece seriously was the best choice in leadership. Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy were leaders who used elements of fascism in order to promote their vision of a new world. Although they both had similarities in their regimes, they also had great differences in leading their country.
The term fascist is thrown around in politics and heated debates without much respect for how heavy the term truly is. Before diving into the different extents to which fascism was carried out in Italy and Germany, it is important to take a moment and discuss what the term is. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, fascism is a, “political philosophy, movement, or regime… that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition”, as well as, “a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control”. With such a harsh definition, some would believe it would be simple to create a framework for all fascist dictators, yet that could not be further from the truth. Although it may be difficult to define fascism to a

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