25.1 Introduction
- Fascism is a significant twentieth-century political development, originating in Italy and maturing as an operational doctrine in Germany.
- Its core political appeal lies in simplifying complex political life through the dualism of “us” vs. “they” — where “they” are projected as both adversaries and inferiors.
- Hugh Trevor-Roper’s “Epitaph on Fascism” dated it: began 1922–23, came of age in the 1930s, ended in 1945 — but this is considered premature.
- Post-war political formations in western and eastern Europe, unresponsive state authority, hyper socio-cultural polarisation, and rising intolerance in inter-personal and communitarian behaviour all indicate fascism’s continued relevance.
25.2 Fascism — Meaning and Ideational Profile
- Fascism’s meaning is difficult to pin down because its ideas are “untidy and inchoate” (Rick Wilford), drawn from varied sources and socio-cultural traditions.
- No single classical text (like Marx’s Das Capital) authoritatively defines fascism.
- Fascism’s “chemical indifference to intellectual honesty” (George H. Sabine) further makes its ideational categories elusive.
- Core ideas constituting the fascist worldview: statism, racialism, imperialism, militarism, elitism, with irrationalism as the foundational layer.
- Intellectual roots lie in the mood of revolt that swept Europe at the end of the nineteenth century, drawing heavily from Social Darwinists (e.g. Spencer) who opposed prevailing liberal ideas as outdated.
- Social Darwinists articulated a “muscular philosophy” that fostered the intellectual climate in which the myth of racialism flourished.
25.3 The Fascist Worldview
25.3.1 Core Ideas
Irrationalism
- Irrationalism is the foundational layer of the fascist worldview. Fascism repudiates reason and objective science.
- Mussolini condemned reason as “barren intellectualism”; the ordinary mind is described as “a wasteland full of mirages” (Leon P. Baradat).
- Truth, per fascism, is a subjective quality available only to a gifted few whose will or spirit surpasses that of the masses (Baradat).
- Ideational sources: Plato, Rousseau, Hegel, and Georges Sorel.
- Fascist leaders (Mussolini, Hitler) stirred mass action without provable goals — “Feel, don’t think” was the command; rhetorical talent replaced coherent ideology.
- The myth of Volk was assiduously used. Literally meaning “the people,” Volk carried abstract connotations — “a system of absolute values, an immutable metaphysical ideal of peoplehood” (Wilford).
- George Mosse explained: just as individuals have a soul, there exists a Volk soul giving the Volk its unique and unchanging character.
- German philosophical tradition — Fichte, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche — collectively repudiated the idealist tradition and espoused irrationalism, which fascists then used and abused to stir social passions.
Racialism
- Hitler’s racial theory was rooted in the work of Arthur de Gobineau, a French scholar who came to Germany as a diplomat.
- Gobineau’s theory: Aryans were the original superior race responsible for great civilisations; intermarriage with inferior races caused their decline and loss of social purity. He identified Germans as the purest race (least racially mixed), making their social purity central to mankind’s future.
- Richard Wagner popularised and dramatised the myth of German racial superiority.
- Houston Stewart Chamberlain (Germanised Englishman) combined Teutonic mythology, German philosophical irrationalism, and Gobineau’s theories; he stressed the need for a strong leader to protect German racial purity.
- Hitler built on these inheritances, targeting Jews with virulent hatred — describing the Jew as “a maggot in a rotting corpse… mankind’s eternal germ… the people’s vampire” (quoted by Baradat).
- Hitler’s three racial categories:
- Culture-creating race — Aryans
- Culture-bearing race — Latins, Slavs, Orientals
- Culture-destroying race — Gypsies, Negroes, Jews
- Fascists proclaimed: “We think with our blood”; “Science, like every other human product, is racial and conditioned by blood.”
Statism — Drive Towards a Corporate State
- The Volkish spirit guided state formation under fascism. Volk was traced to medieval Germany — portrayed as a close-knit rural society where the German spirit reigned supreme and subordinated all individual interests.
- Hegel’s concept of the organic state — “the power of reason actualising itself as will” — provided further impetus. The Hegelian state integrated the particular and the universal, enabling individuals to move beyond private interest towards the common good.
- Mussolini distorted Hegel: “Everything for the state and nothing outside the state.” The state became an end in itself.
- Hitler needed no Hegelian distortion — to him the state was a means to further German racial superiority.
- Mussolini elevated the state as the “Will of Wills,” “Good of Goods,” and “Soul of Souls” — demanding unconditional obedience and sacrifice. The state is the “Creator of Rights” and tolerates no resistance.
- The fascist conception of state authority laid the foundation for a corporate state structure.
Elitism
- Both Hitler and Mussolini held that people are inherently unequal in mental make-up, physical strength, and spiritual endowment.
- Unequal contribution to civic and state affairs means unequal rewards — justifying hierarchical political structures.
25.3.2 Operational Dynamics
- Fascism (Italy) and Nazism (Germany) are classified as “totalitarianism of the right” — organised on behalf of vested interests and against left-wing parties and trade unions.
- Yet in manifestations like single-party ideology and mass mobilisation, fascism resembles communist totalitarian regimes (Roy C. Macridis).
Centralisation and Concentration of Power
- Top government organs centralised all political power; provincial administrative mechanisms were systematically dismantled.
- No federalism, no separation of powers. Legislative organs existed only to endorse governmental enactments.
- The Italian parliament uniquely voted unanimously for its own abolition.
- All power rested with the Fuehrer (Germany) or Duce (Italy). Elections were controlled by single-party rule — party candidates routinely received over 99% of votes.
- Local press, political activities, and opponents were conclusively suppressed; potential uprisings were nipped in the bud.
Single Party
- The Fascist Party (Italy) and NSDAP (Germany) had highly centralised leaderships, organising consent through intensive mobilisation.
- Hierarchical levels of both parties were firmly controlled by the Duce and Fuehrer respectively.
- Annual party congresses were festive gatherings to applaud the leader and confirm his policy guidelines.
- Despite co-existence of government and party, real power always lay with the party — the state functioned as its subordinate organisation.
Absolute Leadership
- The leader’s role was to amalgamate people, party, and state into one entity, deriving authority through built-up charisma and personal traits.
- Nazi Germany’s slogans: “Leader is the party; the party is the leader” and “The leader knows the goals and the direction.”
- Germany became the “Fuehrer-State” — the highest mark of political absolutism.
- The Duce similarly embodied the state, party, nation, and people: “He never sleeps… He knows everything.”
Additional Operational Features
- Fascists in Italy and Germany did not make a revolution — they were facilitated to power by the traditional ruling elite (the King in Italy; the President of the Republic in Germany), taking over the state relatively legally.
- Consequently, formal state institutions were retained: Mussolini did not tamper with the kingship or the army; industrial and business communities retained considerable functional freedom in Germany.
- Both regimes assiduously appealed to youth — establishing youth organisations, recruiting mass party membership from trained youth, and engineering mobilisation and consent through them.
25.4 Fascism and Challenges to Contemporary Life
- Fascism did not die with Mussolini and Hitler. Neo-fascist formations emerged even in Britain — the British National Party under John Tyndall re-legitimised the fascist agenda for Britain and Europe.
- The recession in Europe during the 1980s and 90s provided fertile ground for neo-fascism.
- Neo-fascist prescriptions echo old fascism: autarky, corporatism, elitism, racialism, primacy of the state, and subordination of the individual.
- Neo-fascism also re-legitimises traditional fascist views on women — exemplified by Joseph Goebbels’ dictum that woman’s mission is to be beautiful and bear children — directly threatening the newer female identities being internalised in both western and non-western societies.
- Fascism resurfaces whenever democracy mismatches development, frustrating stability and contentment.
- The “us” vs. “they” binary breeds intolerance; ex-coloniser vs. ex-colony resentment and the developed–developing dualism perpetuate these divisions.
- Religious fundamentalism, aided by terrorism, breeds an unprecedented fascist temper in the world today.
- Non-appreciation of pluralist categories of life robs life of its intrinsic beauty and harmony; unchecked, these trends will consolidate a new genre of fascism.
25.5 Fascism — An Evaluation
- Fascism as the ideology of war and national expansion is, per Sabine, “an adventurer’s philosophy” — its purposes cannot be made plausible by any rational calculation of individual happiness or tangible national benefit. It propagated a “transvaluation of values” as a phase for moral cynicism.
- Fascism drew selectively and expediently from Nietzsche, Sorel, Schopenhauer, and Hegel — picking pieces for convenient authentication rather than engaging their substance.
- Giovanni Gentile (Italian School of Hegelian Philosophy) was assigned by Mussolini the task of building a theory of the state; Gentile used Hegelian theory, and Mussolini “took what Gentile offered” (Sabine) — using Hegelian language to camouflage real intentions rather than reflect Hegel’s actual thought.
- Notably, Mussolini as late as 1920 regarded the state as a “curse to mankind” — a complete reversal once in power.
- In actual governance, fascism brought no significant structural changes in Italy or Germany. Economic and social stagnation persisted.
- Per the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences: fascism “strengthened the anarchism of the individual and acted directly contrary to the needs of the country, preventing the modernisation of its ancient, quasi-feudal structures.”
- Despite these failures, fascism retains mass appeal potential — in “anemic” conditions, its organisational machinations can be adopted as a temporary expedient in both European and non-European settings.
- Conclusion: Fascism does not cater to the entirety of life’s processes. Life’s fullness depends on pluralism and tolerance of diverse lifestyles and thought. Fascism’s sharp and severe edges cannot nurture such sensitivity or sensibility.
25.6 Summary (Key Takeaways)
| Aspect | Key Point |
| Ideological roots | Revolt against rationalism; Social Darwinism |
| Core ideas | Irrationalism, racialism, elitism, statism, imperialism, militarism |
| Historical emergence | Post-World War I depressive ethos; facilitated by traditional ruling elites |
| Operational features | Single party, centralisation of power, absolute leadership, youth mobilisation |
| Post-1945 | Neo-fascism persists; BNP (Britain) under John Tyndall; recession as catalyst |
| Evaluation | No structural gains; adventurer’s philosophy; mass appeal under crisis conditions |
| Antidote | Pluralism, tolerance, appreciation of diverse life-forms |
