similarity of nazism and fascism
Answers
Fascism was a system of government that reigned in Europe between the First and Second World Wars. It was a far-right form of government which was characterized by extreme nationalism, racial discrimination, promotion of violence and war, gender discrimination against women, and an unapologetic hatred for socialism. The most notorious regimes that practiced fascism were Benito Mussolini in Italy and Adolf Hitler of Germany (as Nazism). Although, there were other fascist regimes and movements in Spain, Croatia, Hungary, and Britain and so on, none of there was as vibrant, feared and influential as Mussolini and Hitler. There has been a strong and ceaseless debate among historians about whether fascism as practiced in Italy under Mussolini could be described as the same with the Nazism practiced in Germany under Hitler. This research examined the similarities and differences, if any, between Mussolini’s fascism and Hitler’s Nazism with considerable study of the assertions of scholars on the debate.
Fascism was an extreme right-wing form of government that existed after the First World War majorly in Italy under Benito Mussolini and in Germany under Adolf Hitler (as Nazism). Fascism is a concept that has a contentious definition. Attempts at defining or explaining it has led to scholars describing what it is not rather than what it is.[1] The Marxist schools of thought see it as a product of capitalism and a manifestation of its decline. Some others describe it as a bunch of nonsense based upon “an ill-sorted hodge-podge of ideas”.[2] Another group of historians such as Griffin, Eatwell acknowledges the ideological content of fascism describing it as nationalistic response to the ideological internationalism of Marxism, by linking with other ideological traditions of the 19th century – romantic irrationalism, social Darwinism, Hegelian exultation of the state, Nietzeschean ideas, Sorelian conception of the role of myth, imagery of the great man and the genius turned explicitly antidemocratic. It is antiliberal, anti-parliamentarian, anti-marxist and particularly anti-communist, not committed to a conservative continuity, a clerical, partly anti-bourgeois and anticapitalist, Romanization of the peasants, artisans and the soldiers.[3] There has been contentious debate among historians as to the similarities and differences between Italian fascism and German Nazism. Richard Thurlow sees “no Siamese twins”[4] in the two, while Zeev Sternhell emphasises the ‘racism’ of Nazism and the ‘State’ focus of fascism. But some historians emphasise the similarities. For instance, Roger Eatwell describes the two as a “holistic national ‘Third Way”[5] while Roger Griffin argues on ‘generic’ fascism characterized “polygenetic ultra-nationalism and national rebirth”.[6] This study attempts to examine the various views and it finds out that fascism and Nazism are similar except that Nazism was built on the foundation of racism which is not the case in Italy.
The platform of Fasci italiani di combattimento, as published in Il Popolo d’Italia / Wikimedia Commons /
Fascism originated from the Italian word fascio (plural is fasci) meaning ‘bundle’. Politically, it means ‘Union’ or ‘League’. It was first adopted by a revolutionary syndicalist called ‘Fascio d’azione rivoluzionaria’ in the late 1914. This was revived by Mussolini on 23rd March 1919 when he organised a group of World War One veterans who later called themselves ‘fasci di Combattimento’.[7] It adopted as symbol some ancient Roman fasces – an axe bound in rods. Benito Mussolini was a World War One veteran who got injured in the war and returned home to continue his journalism. The movement was transformed into National Fascist Party. Like Mussolini, Adolf Hitler was a World War One veteran. He was a runner, which was a dangerous job but he did it enthusiastically. He joined the German Workers’ Party which he changed to National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) in April 1920. Both of them rose to the rank of NCO in the Army but ended up on the wrong end of the war as Germany was defeated while Italy was not able to gain any significant ‘spoils of war’. They had a humble and socialist background and were both ardent admirers of Nietzsche, right-wing nationalist elite.[8] The outcome of the war was a serious frustration for both. However, they both seized the ‘opportunity ‘within the despair and unemployment to stir up nationalistic feelings amongst the people of Italy and Germany.
Similarities
- The fascists as well as the Nazis were firm in their foreign policies.
- They wanted to increase military power.
- They wanted to grab hold of the colonies.
- They wanted to increase the economy of the country.
- They wanted to despise democracy.
- They favoured aggressive nationalism.
- They despised political systems .
- They extol war and believed in force and brutality.
- They uphold one Party and one leader.
- They regarded war as a weapon to arouse further interests in politics.