The Distinct Characteristics of Fascism and Prominant Fascist Leaders

The etymology of “fascism” is denotative of power and dominance. For example, the term derived from the Roman fasces which were bundles of rods bound to each other, carried in advance of Roman magistrates. The rods were symbolic of power to punish through severe beating and the axes which extended from the center were symbolic of punishment by death (Grolier Education p.110).

Fascism is one type of political system based on the notion that some races are superior to others. Something that seems ridiculous in to enlightened modern day thinkers, which unfortunately makes it all the more difficult to try and understand for someone who has not experienced it. However by looking through history and taking into account some of the results of practised fascism, we can maybe begin to understand why so many people took up, and are still taking up fascism. Hopefully then we can understand exactly what we should learn from it, and possibly understand how we can prevent it appearing on the scale it did in the Second World War.

Benito Mussolini and his creation of Fascism was the glue that held Italy together. Fascism promised national unity and condemned the Socialist party. To understand how Fascism became powerful within Italy, it is imperative to acknowledge the driving force behind this regime. To put it bluntly, violence played an essential role in the development of the Fascist party. Mussolini’s practice of fierceness was able to create a formidable system of government that did not tolerate weakness. In 1919, Benito Mussolini give an Afternoon speech, where he stressed the difference between Socialism and Fascism. Here, he states, “We declare war, against socialism, not because it is socialism, but because it opposes nationalism” (Stone 2013, 38).

Fascism values human nature in a group for the benefit of the community. The group as a whole is called the human will, which is ruled by a select group or one leader, with the power being passed down from top to bottom. Fascism seeks to organize an organization led mass movement in an effort to capture the state power. When the power is in the firm grip of the ruler, or IL Duce, the government will be used to control the population and everything in it so the community will be

Benito Mussolini outlines several essential characteristics of his preferred political ideology, Fascism, in what has become known as the Doctrine of Fascism. In this paper, Mussolini outlines his vision of the ideology, and explains the major issues that Fascism will address once it becomes the leading political system in Italy. Mussolini’s major points as outlined in the Doctrine included an extreme emphasis on nationalism, organization and modernization of the state, persistent focus on religion, life as a struggle, and the notion that individuals exist only for the improvement of society as a whole. Wolfgang Schieder, after reviewing the Doctrine of Fascism, explains Mussolini’s success based on it and

Because fascism has been practiced in a variety of locations, at differing points in history, with no specific guidelines, every seemingly practical definition of fascism is simply too limiting to serve as a proper definition. Furthermore, to speak of fascism in generalizations prohibits one from truly understanding the completely confused concept. To avoid such generalizations, one must look at fascism as it was found in specific examples. Such examples include, Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany. Although these two instances are not all encompassing of the ideology, they exhibit fascism to the greatest proportions. Additionally, these instances allow one to get a vivid and practical notion to what fascism truly is.

“Fascism has as an underlying economic purpose the preservation of Capitalism and the prevention of Socialism. To prevent even the discussion of Socialism or Communism all democratic liberties are destroyed. The most influential profit makes form a partnership with the Fascist politicians for the complete control of the state so that the power of police and soldiers may be used to punish all dissenters.” (Miller, p.74)

Fascism is the philosophy of government that glorifies the state and nation and assigns control to the state. Mussolini believes that "the foundation of Fascism is the conception of the State, its character, its duty, and its aim." While the state is responsible for organizing the nation, there is a sufficient amount of liberty for the individual. Under Fascism, an Empire is able to lead other nations without conquering them. It resembles Social Darwinism closely. The idea of the survival of the fittest means that the strong nation comes out ahead, and Mussolini promises to become the strongest. With a strong dictatorial leader, wants can be achieved through obtaining strong military and brute force alone. It promoted masculine heroism, militarism, and discipline. Enormous amounts of money were dedicated to military, and to serve in the military was an honor. It proved successful in the

"Fascism." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by William A. Darity, Jr., 2nd ed., vol. 3, Macmillan Reference USA, 2008, pp. 102-105. World History in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3045300802/WHIC?u=idaho_s_borah&xid=b2913fd0. Accessed 4 May 2017.

The primary ideology of fascism, founded by Benito Mussolini, is nationalism: They believe that their nation (of which fascism is incorporated) is above all, and is the most worthy thing one could fight for. In terms of foreign affairs, the fascist nation should always be put first. Within a fascist country, the people are obligated to be obedient to the state and that the state should have complete power, as the good of the nation is held above the good of individuals. Militarism is also valued by the fascist ideology as a strong military represents strength within rule and enforcement. Furthermore, fascism is openly anti-democratic as it equates a nation to the majority, thus lowering totalitarian control and power. In addition, fascism believes all classes within a country should collaborate for the good of the nation, therefore opposing the ideology of communism. However, as fascism was enforced by both Italian and German governments, the differences between the two remain existent. As Italian fascism deems true to traditional values of nationalism (in terms of acquiring Rome), it is not valued as radical if compared to Nationalism Socialism (Nazism), a profound form of fascism. Unlike Italian fascism and emphasis on the nation, Nazism comprehends the nation and race as inseparable, stressing white supremacy and the philosophy of the Aryan Race. The rejection of the concept of race is what primarily differentiated Italian Fascism and Nazism, as Mussolini never fully

Fascism started out of political, social and economic destruction after the First World War - WWI (1914-1918) and the Russian Revolution (1917), reaching its peek between 1922 and 1939. Fascism officially started in Italy by Benito Mussolini, who controlled Italy between 1922 and 1945. Mussolini started his political party after being expelled from the Socialist party in 1915 and fighting in WWI. During WWI, Mussolini got injured which forced him to return to Italy, after his return, he started a new political party, the Fascist party. Fascist party was named after “fasces” – an ancient Roman

Fascism such as that displayed in post-World War 1 Italy was in many ways a contradictory ideology; anti-modernism contrasted with technological obsession and anti-democratic views paired with capitalism. Despite this ambiguity of the fascist ideology, one clear characteristic among almost all fascists throughout history has been a heavy focus on militarism – an aspect of Mussolini’s Italy which was intrinsically tied to his use of terror and force to achieve fascist political agendas.

When looking at the nature of fascism, we have to look to how it originated. The social strata in the inter-war period and its structure and general opinion were a product of both direct factors and long-term factors. The 19th century was the century of the Liberalism as ‘the ideology’ in juxtaposition to the form of governance of the absolutist monarchies

Fascism, before its rise to power in 1922, was an amorphous collection of often contradictory influences, ideologies, and backgrounds. World War I provided ties between the hyper-masculine and hyper-violent ideals of the movement. The growth of Fascism was slow immediately after the war, but that time was when many of the institutions of Fascism were founded. After 1919 through 1922 Fascism grew even more, but contradictions remained. R.J.B Bosworth argues in his book, Mussolini’s Italy: Life Under the Fascist Dictatorship, 1915-1945, that the early period of fascism was defined by earlier movements, the glorification of war, nebulous ideologies, slow growth, and contradictions.

     When the word “fascism” is mentioned people usually associate the word with German Nazis’. There is more to fascism than just German Nazis.’ Fascism is an interesting topic that should be further examined and explained so it is no longer simply associated with German Nazis’. This essay will explain what fascism is (definition), how fascism groups are run, the ideology of fascism, and some past examples of how fascist governments operated.