Fascism in Theory and Practice

When you here the term fascism, images of Hitler and Mussolini are usually the first things that come to mind. But what is fascism? Do all fascists believe in the same thing? Where did fascism come from? Like most political theories, fascism in theory and practice are not necessarilly the same thing.

Fascism originated in Europe after the First World War. The political, social and economic upheaval in many European countries left the political spectrum open for a new theory. In reality, fascism was nothing new, just a combination of ideas that had existed for generations. Fascism was originally promoted as a "third way" between democracy/capitalism and communism, both of which were fighting for supremacy throughout Europe, and both of which were blamed for the problems of post-war Europe.

The term fascism comes from the Latin term fasces, or bundle of sticks. The symbol represents unity and strength. The focal point of fascism is a strong, centralized government. The state was the greatest institution in fascist theory. it was believed, the greater the state, the greater the people. The citizen's role in a fascist state is to serve the state. The state is personified by one ruler, for instance Hitler and Mussolini. The power of the fascist ruler is near absolute depending on the particular realities of the country.

Fascism glorifies nationalism to the extreme. Pride in one's country is not enough. A fascist state emphasizes the superiority of the country over all others. Mussolini frequently referred to the Roman Empire as the source of Italy's greatness, and promised to return Italy to the glory of the old empire. Hitler expanded the emphasis of nationalism to include race and ethnicity. In reality, the nationalistic emphasis was designed to instill a common purpose among the citizens and make easy scapegoats for the country's troubles.

Violence is the tool of fascism. Force, intimidation and war are glorified by the fascist doctrine as ways to gain power and glory. Violence is purported as greater than reason because it is based on emotion, which the fascists argued would never lead a person wrong, where as reason can be used to deceive. The basis of nationalism and violence made fascist states aggressive and dangerous, though short lived.

In reality the fascist theory was devoid of any real political initiative. In both Itlay and Germany the fascist party was able to gain power by manipulating the democratic systems that were in place. Once in power fascism did not function as a political doctrine but as an ever changing collection of ideas that allowed the leaders to maintain as much control as possible. The personification of the state into one person made the party impossible to maintain after that figure was gone. Although fascist parties do still exist, they are fringe parties on the outskirts of the political discourse, not the powerful and terrifying forces of the 1930s.