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Fascism, when you break it down, is a political ideology that attempts to regenerate the social, economic, and cultural life of a country by basing it on a heightened sense of national belonging or ethnic identity. Fascism rejects liberal ideas such as freedom and individual rights, and often presses for the destruction of elections, legislatures, and other elements of democracy. Despite the idealistic goals of fascism, attempts to build fascist societies have led to wars and persecutions that caused millions of deaths. As a result, fascism is strongly associated with right-wing fanaticism, racism, totalitarianism, and violence.
Some political annalists do disagree on exactly what Fascism is and what it represents. Marxist (that is, those who base their approach on the writings of Karl Marx) look at fascism as a political ideology that is adopted by governments to support capitalism and to prevent a socialist revolution, and these scholars have applied the label of fascism to many movements that came to power between WWI and WWII, such as those in Portugal, Austria, Poland, and Japan. Some Marxists also label governments that emerged after World War II (including Argentina, Chile, Greece, and South Africa) as fascist. Some non-Marxist scholars, however, have dismissed fascism and see it as a form of Authoritarianism that responds to political and social developments but has no intention aside from the exercise of power. Some of these scholars view fascism as a crude, asserting that it lacks any coherent ideals or ideology. Many other historians and political scientists agree that fascism has a set of basic traits but they tend to disagree over what to include in the definition.
However, in the 1970 s, some historians and political scientists began to devise a broader definition of fascism, and by the 1990 s many scholars had embraced this approach. This new approach focuses on the ways in which fascist movements attempt revolutionary change and their focus on popularizing a strong sense of nationality. From this perspective, all forms of fascism have three common features: anti conservatism, a myth of ethnic or national renewal, and a conception of a nation in crisis. The first one we are going to look at is known as Anti conservatism. Fascist movements usually try to retain some supposedly healthy parts of the nations existing political and social life, but they place more emphasis on creating a new society. In this way fascism is directly opposed to conservatism (this is the idea that it is best to avoid dramatic social and political change).
Instead, fascist movements set out to create a new type of culture in which values, politics, art, social norms, and economic activity are all part of a single organic national community. In Nazi Germany, for example, the fascist government in the 1930 s tried to create a new Volksgemeinschaft (peoples community) built around a concept of racial purity. The second common trait is the Myth of National or Ethnic Renewal. Even though fascist movements try to bring about revolutionary change, they emphasize the renewal of an ethnic, racial, or national past.
Fascists modify conventional history to create a vision of an ideal past. These mythical histories claim that former national greatness has been destroyed by such developments as the rise of powerful business groups, the mixing of races, and a loss of a shared national sense. Fascist movements set out to regain the heroic spirit of this lost past through radical social transformations. In Nazi Germany (again, for example) the government tried to "purify" the nation by killing millions of Jews and other minority groups. The Nazis believed they could create harmonious community whose values were rooted in an imaginary past in which there were no differences of culture, "deviant" ideologies, or "undesirable" genetic traits. Because fascist ideologies place great value on creating a renewed and unified national or ethnic community, they are hostile to most other ideologies.
Furthermore, fascist movements also oppose such doctrines as liberalism, individualism, materialism, and communism. In general, fascists stand against all scientific, economic, religious, academic, cultural, and leisure activities that do not serve their vision of national political life. The final thing common to all fascist movements is the Idea of a Nation in Crisis. A fascist movement almost always asserts that the nation faces a profound crisis. Although some fascists define the nation as a nation-state (country and people with the same borders), but in other cases the nation is defined as a unique ethnic group with members in many countries. In either case, the fascists present the national crisis as solvable only through a radical political change.
Yet fascists do differ over how the transformation will occur. Some see a widespread change in values as coming before a radical political change. Others believe that a radical political transformation will then be followed by a change in values. Fascists claim that the nation has entered a dangerous age of weakness, and decline. They are convinced that through their action they can save the nation from itself and may also feel the need to take drastic action against a nation's "inner" enemies (once again we are reminded of the persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany). Fascists promise that with their help the national crisis will end and a new age will begin that restores the people to a sense of belonging, purpose, and greatness.
On the flipside of things, this essay would not be complete without looks at the differences inherit amongst fascist movements. Because each countrys history is unique, each fascist movement creates a particular vision of an idealized past depending on the countrys history. Even within one country, separate fascist movements sometimes arise, each creating its own variations based on the movements own interpretation of politics and history. The diversity of fascist movements means that each has its own intellectual and cultural foundation. Some early fascist movements were inspired in part by early 20 th century social and political thought. In this period there existed radical theories to argue that social change should be brought about through violent strikes and acts of sabotage organized by trade unions.
The emphasis on violence seems to have influenced some fascist movements and in the late 19 th and early 20 th century we saw an increasing preoccupation with racial differences. From this development came fascism's tendency to believe in the superiority of a particular race. Some early fascists also interpreted Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to mean that some races of people were inherently superior. They argued that this meant that the "survival of the fittest" required the destruction of supposedly inferior peoples. But these influences were not the main inspiration for most fascist movements. Since 1945, Nazism has inspired many racial fascist organizations.
These new Nazi movements are referred to as neo-Nazis because they modify Nazi doctrine and because the original Nazi movement inspires them. Though all fascist movements are nationalist, some fascist ideologies regard an existing set of national boundaries as an artificial constraint on the people or ethnic group living within those boundaries. Nazism, for example, tried to extend the German state to include all major concentrations of ethnic Germans. This ethnic concept of Germany was linked to an obsession with restoring the biological purity of the race, known as the Aryan race, and the destruction of minorities. The result was not only the mass slaughter of Jews and Gypsies (Roma), but also the sterilization or killing of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Germans who were members of religious minorities or mentally or physically disabled.
Of one might say that these are primarily past ideal, and yes, some modern fascist movements have broken with the early movements in yet another important way. Many early fascist movements sought to expand the territory under their control, but few modern fascist movements take this position. Instead of attempting to take new territory, most modern fascists seek to racially purify existing nations. Another aspect that fascist movements differ on, are attitudes toward religion. In addition, fascist movements do not share a single approach to religion. Some other early fascist movements, however, tried to identify themselves with the Catholic Church.
In the same way, small fascist groups in the United States in the 1980 s and 1990 s combined elements of neo-Nazi paganism with Christianity. In all these cases, however, the fascist movements have rejected the original spirit of Christianity with violence and racial purity. Fascist movements also vary in their need for military organization. Some movements blend militia with a large political party led by a charismatic leader. In most cases, these movements try to organize the lives of an entire population. Since the end of World War II, however, the general public dislike for war and anything resembling Nazism created hostility to paramilitary political organizations.
As a result, fascist movements since the end of World War II have usually relied on new non-paramilitary approach. Now, there have been some fascist movements that have paramilitary elements, but these have been small compared to the fascist movements in Germany (for example) in the 1930 s and 1940 s. In addition, most of the paramilitary-style fascist movements formed since World War II have lacked a single leader who could serve as a symbol of the movement, or have even intentionally organized themselves into leaderless terrorist groups. Lastly, another thing that fascist movements differ on is the use of political rituals. This is yet another feature of fascism that has mostly (not completely) disappeared from movements since WWII is the use of ritual politics, spectacular rallies, and the mass media to generate mass support.
Nazis held rallies attended by hundreds of thousands, created a new calendar of holidays celebrating events of the movements history, and conducted major sporting events. All of this was intended to convince people that they lived in a new era in which history itself had been transformed. Therefore, life under fascism was meant to be experienced as historical, life giving, and beautiful. Since 1945, however, fascist movements have lacked the mass support to allow the staging of such theatrical politics. Yet the movements have still not abandoned the vision of creating an entirely new historical era. In conclusion, fascism is on the right track with its emphasis on unity and togetherness, however its good intentions are by far outweighed but its ethically immoral methods, and adaptations that we have seen over the course of its existence and, as a result, attempts at implementing its ideals have been unsuccessful.
This system lacks the amount of unity amongst its ideals that such other political systems, such as Democracy, attach great importance to. Therefore we can only hope that (but probably safely assume) fascism will never become a dominant force in the Worlds political architecture anytime in the near future.
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Research essay sample on Analysis Of Political Fascism Ideology
