The reasons for the emergence of the ideology of fascism

The emergence of fascist ideology in Italy and Germany in the first half of the twentieth century. has a number of common grounds that determined the formation of totalitarian regimes in these countries on the basis of the fascist doctrine developed by their ideologists. During this period, prerequisites arose that contributed to the emergence and strengthening of fascism. First of all, such a prerequisite was the national crisis caused by the post-war devastation, affecting all social strata and groups and exacerbating social, including interethnic, contradictions. This is compounded by the weakening of the real power of the liberal democratic state and its inability to propose and implement effective measures to bring society out of the crisis. The situation was aggravated by the use of harsh measures by the government, which positions itself as democratic. “The slowness of liberal policies caused growing discontent. Added to this was justified indignation at those who, hiding behind liberal phrases, defended antisocial privileges.” Citizens began to distrust political institutions. At the level of mass psychology, a feeling of loss of social security arose, often developing into aggression towards the state as a whole.

An important role was played by the weakening of the country’s international positions, both in the case of Italy, which lost its former role in the political processes of Europe, and in the case of Germany, which was forced to sign the Versailles Peace Treaty, which traumatized the national consciousness of the Germans. The activities of the left parties (communist, social democratic) frightened not only big capital, but also the middle strata of society with their revolutionary prospects.

At the head of the fascist movement were skillful demagogue leaders who skillfully played on social contradictions, manipulated the masses, and promised to lead the country out of the crisis through quick and decisive action. The charismatic abilities of such leaders often solved many questions, which he could answer clearly and unambiguously: “The more complex a civilization becomes, the more individual freedom is limited.” It is impossible to overestimate the fact that the material support of the big bourgeoisie eliminated many of the difficulties that stood in the way of the fascist party on the path to power.

The crisis of public consciousness, the disappointment of the masses in liberal and democratic values forced people to turn not to a rational solution to the problem within the framework of liberal democracy, but to appeal to emotions, feelings and the search for an irrational way out of a catastrophic situation.

In relation to Germany, it is possible to clearly identify the fundamental reasons that led to the establishment of fascism:

The monopoly bourgeoisie found in fascism the desired way out of the acute political situation created by the economic crisis;

The petty bourgeoisie and a certain part of the peasantry saw in the demagogic promises of the Hitler party the fulfillment of hopes for mitigating economic difficulties caused by the growth of monopolies and aggravated by the crisis;

The German working class found itself split into two workers' parties, each of which was not strong enough to stop fascism.

For both Germany and Italy, general instability played a significant role, feeding nationalist, militaristic and revanchist sentiments. You should also pay attention to the complexity of the international situation during this period. It was characterized by underestimation of the fascist threat by the leading powers of the world, connivance with the aggressor, and contradictions in the international arena. France was interested in preserving the Versailles system and sought to create a bloc of European states for this purpose. England and the United States were inclined to restore the German military-economic potential, hoping to prevent French hegemony on the continent and, most importantly, to direct the aggressive aspirations of German fascism to the east with the prospect of war between Germany and the USSR.

Don't underestimate and psychological underlying fascist ideology. Perhaps it was she who played a significant role in strengthening the spirit of “righteousness” of fascism among poorly educated people and marginalized people. “In addition to the problem of the economic and social conditions that contributed to the emergence of fascism, there is also the problem of man as such, which also needs to be understood.” The essence of this prerequisite for the emergence of fascist ideology is that a person, being in an unstable but relatively free state, is ready to sacrifice this very freedom in order to receive a guarantee of “tomorrow.” In times of crisis, people are ready to buy order and stability for free will and conscience.

The simultaneous presence of all these factors and their interweaving allowed fascist ideology to acquire wide scope in Europe in the 1920-30s. The results of the partial implementation of the doctrine of fascism are terrifying - suppression of the individual, total state control, war, repression, concentration camps and millions of human victims.

The concept of fascism and its basic ideological principles

Fascism (from the Italian fascio - bundle, bundle, association) is a right-wing radical political movement and ideological movement that denies both liberal and socialist values. It is one of the main types of totalitarianism, but is quite tolerant of private property. It is characterized by chauvinist nationalism, anti-Semitism, racism and aggressiveness in foreign policy.

“Classical” examples of fascism are Italian fascism and German Nazism. The main distinguishing quality of fascism is militant anti-communism, as well as social and nationalist demagoguery. For all the complexity of the class composition of the fascist movement, its anti-proletarian character is decisive. Fascism is a direct reaction of the entire anti-proletarian front to a possible socialist revolution in conditions of the collapse or crisis of the bourgeois state, a split in the ruling class, and social hysteria in all layers of society. The establishment of fascism represents a radical revolution, leading to the complete and final destruction of bourgeois democracy by the bourgeoisie itself, since the social basis of its dictatorship has disintegrated.

With the establishment of fascism, there is no change in the class essence of state power, and the nature of the socio-economic system does not change. The most reactionary part of the bourgeoisie comes to power, which establishes a regime of arbitrariness and lawlessness. Being a product of the era of the general crisis of capitalism, fascism is an openly terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary and chauvinistic elements of finance capital. What distinguishes fascism from other totalitarian regimes is, first of all, the preaching of “national socialism,” which also eliminates bourgeois democracy, but this is done without “theoretical justification” and not under “socialist” slogans. This is due to the fact that the fascists’ understanding of socialism was very specific. Mussolini saw it as a great act of destruction, and Hitler saw it as a complete commitment to the ideas of the nation. The fascists emphasized what was popular in the 1920s and 30s. the ideas of socialism are mainly based mainly on demagogic considerations.

The basic principles of fascist ideology include the following fundamental provisions:

· Conservative revolution, the essence of which is the elimination of the liberal order, which led the country to a state of economic crisis and a proletarian-revolutionary situation. The Conservative Revolution is the path along which the country will return to its former historical greatness. Fascist revolutionaryism, special, based on the need for “order, discipline, obedience to the moral commandments of the Fatherland.”

· Totalitarian state. Mussolini said that a party that rules in a totalitarian manner is “a new fact in history”; analogies and comparisons are inappropriate here. The state subjugates society, destroys its civil foundations, subjecting all aspects of its life to the state, including private (even intimate) relationships.

· The idea of a nation. National revival is possible only within the framework of a totalitarian state in which national interests are decisive. The nation is “absolute”, a single whole. “The state educates citizens in civic virtues, it gives them a consciousness of its mission and encourages them to unity, harmonizes interests according to the principle of justice; ensures the continuity of the achievements of thought in the fields of knowledge, art, law, and solidarity; lifts people from elementary, primitive life to the heights of human power, that is, to an empire; preserves for future centuries the names of those who died for its inviolability and in the name of obedience to its laws; sets an example and exalts for future generations the leaders who increased his territory; geniuses who glorified him."

· The idea of a “new order”. The establishment of an order of national prosperity and social justice requires the formation of a “new” person, devoted “with all his heart” to the state and nation.

· Denial of class antagonism. The fascists argued that this idea of struggle and class rivalry was nothing more than an invention of liberals, “inflated” by Marxists. The idea of classism in its essence contradicts the idea of the unity of the German nation.

· Anti-parliamentarism and anti-multi-partyism. From the point of view of fascist ideology, parliamentarism leads to negative consequences for society, because The division of state power between groups of “rogues” who are trying to realize their private interests causes political instability. At the same time, the real interests of the nation are being grossly neglected. “There is not a single principle as deceitful as parliamentarism,” Hitler wrote. There can only be one party that merges with the nation into a single movement and monopolizes power, the rest must be banned and destroyed.

· Ban on trade unions. Trade unions express the interests exclusively of the working class, but workers are, first and foremost, citizens of their country. They are obliged to cooperate with fellow citizens who are not workers, and cannot allow speeches against their own compatriots.

· Anti-communism. The fight against communists took place both directly on the territory of fascist states (where communist parties were destroyed and banned), and had an international focus, primarily on the “homeland of communism” in the USSR. The Nazis partially defined their intentions and goals for this country in a political, ideological and strategic document - "Drag Nach Osten". A. Hitler expressed his attitude and view of the communists as follows: “They literally trampled everything into the mud... The nation, since it was considered a product of the capitalist classes; The Fatherland, because it was considered a tool of the bourgeoisie to exploit the working class; the rule of law - because for them it was a means of keeping the proletariat in line; religion, which was considered a means of stupefying the people for subsequent enslavement; morality - as a symbol of stupid and slavish obedience.”

· Non-recognition of the Versailles system. According to the Versailles Peace Treaty, a ban on having an army, obligations to pay reparations, and the introduction of a demilitarized zone were introduced. The Nazis first neglected these requirements and then violated them. France and England allowed Germany to behave this way and did not resist, hoping to direct the growing aggression towards the USSR.

· Nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism. The fascists developed a radical degree of nationalism, the essence of which is that a nation “strong in spirit and will” is obliged to subjugate other nations and increase its own living space. Concepts such as “purity of blood”, “superior race” were introduced, on the basis of which plans were made for world domination and the transformation of some races into slaves: “these peoples have one and only justification for their existence - to be useful to us economically”, the rest were subject to extermination. Ideological anti-Semitism was expressed in practice by the mass genocide of Jews - the Holocaust, because Jews were recognized as “the source of capitalism, Marxism” and accused of all their negative manifestations (unemployment, inflation, revolution): “If the Jews, with the help of their Marxist faith, conquer the peoples of the world, their crown will be a funeral wreath for humanity,” Hitler believed, and also pointed out the desire of the Jews to “denationalize, due to the degeneration” of representatives of the “superior race”. Thus, it is obvious that the principles of nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism have inseparably grown together and reincarnated into a completely new and ultra-radical concept.

· Expansionism. From the first days of power, the fascists and Nazis began to prepare for a “great war”, which was supposed to provide the German and Italian nations with dominance over the entire world. The build-up of military power occurred at a tremendous pace. Militarization filled all spheres of life. The idea of war as a manifestation of the strength of a nation and its purpose is absolutely clearly visible in the speeches of both Hitler and Mussolini. “War is a sign of the vitality of a nation, the meaning of history,” the Duce proclaimed in his “Doctrine of Fascism.” And the Fuhrer wrote in Mein Kampf: “Whoever wants to live must fight; “Whoever does not want to fight in this world, where eternal struggle is the law of life, has no right to exist.”

· Communitarianism. The meaning of this idea is that the individual and society are completely inseparable, and the state is society; accordingly, there are no rights and interests of the individual outside the state. An individual can and should realize all interests only through communitarian, common things. To implement this approach, it is necessary to begin to educate a “new person”, whose interests will coincide with the interests of the nation and state. First of all, communitarianism addresses the economic sphere, where national goals in the economy must be shared by each individual, guided and subordinated to the leader of the party.

· Leaderism. Fascism is built on a charismatic principle - on leaderism. The supremacy of the Fuhrer, the Duce, is “the embodiment of the racial national and popular spirit.” The leader has unlimited power. He is a symbol of the greatness and unity of the nation. Social groups rally around the leader, thanks to which he skillfully manipulates and leads them to mobilize the nation and solve pressing problems.

To summarize this chapter, it should be noted that fascist ideology has a number of specific features, which together make it possible to define it as follows: firstly, there is a clear distinction between the ideology of the ruling elite and the masses. The elitism of the top was justified, among other things, by biological arguments. Secondly, fascism is characterized by militant irrationalism and an extreme simplification of slogans and ideological clichés. Thirdly, it was built on a charismatic principle - on leadership. The Supreme Leader (Duce in Italy, Fuhrer in Germany), possessing unlimited power, is the embodiment of the racial, national and popular spirit. The fourth characteristic of this ideology is the cult of force, the absolutization of the force factor in history, the denial of humanism. Combined with racism, the cult of violence became one of the reasons for the outbreak of the bloodiest war in human history.

(fascism) Far-right nationalist ideology and movement with a totalitarian and hierarchical structure, diametrically opposed to democracy and liberalism. The term originates in Ancient Rome, in which the power of the state was symbolized by the fasces - bundles of rods tied together (which meant the unity of the people) with a hatchet protruding from the bundle (meaning leadership). This symbol served as Mussolini's emblem for the movement he brought to power in Italy in 1922. Later, however, the name became common to a number of movements that arose in Europe between the two world wars. These movements include the National Socialists in Germany, Action Francaise in France, the Arrow Cross in Hungary, and the Falangists in Spain. In the post-war period, the term was often used with the prefix "neo" to refer to those considered followers of the above-mentioned movements. These include, in particular, the Italian Social Movement (renamed the National Alliance in 1994), the Republican Party in Germany, the National Front in France and the Falange in Spain, as well as Peronism and, more recently, movements that have arisen in post-communist countries, such as “Memory” in Russia. So, with such a variety of movements, is it possible to talk about one meaning of this term? Purely fascist ideologies can be classified as follows. From a structural point of view, among them there are monistic ones, based on the idea of unconditional fundamental and most essential truths about humanity and the environment; simplistic, attributing the occurrence of complex phenomena to single causes and offering single solutions; fundamentalist, associated with the division of the world into “bad” and “good” without any intermediate forms, and conspiratorial, based on the fact that there is a secret large-scale conspiracy of some hostile forces that intend to manipulate the masses to achieve and/or maintain their dominance. In terms of content, fascist ideologies differ in five main positions: 1) extreme nationalism, the belief that there is a pure nation that has its own characteristics, culture and interests that are distinct from other nations and is superior to all other nations; 2) such a conclusion is usually accompanied by the statement that this nation is experiencing a period of decline, but once, in the mythical past, it was great, with harmonious socio-political relations, and itself dominated over others, but later lost its internal unity, disintegrated and fell dependent on other, less significant nations; 3) the process of national decline is often associated with a decrease in the level of racial purity of the nation. Some movements are characterized by an approach to the nation as something that coincides in time and space with a race (nation race), others recognize a hierarchy of races within which nations are located (race nation). In almost all cases, the loss of purity is considered to weaken the race and is ultimately the cause of its present predicament; 4) blame for the decline of the nation and/or for intermarriage is placed on a conspiracy of other nations or races, which are believed to be in a desperate struggle for dominance; 5) in this struggle, both capitalism and its political shell - liberal democracy - are considered merely as ingenious means of splitting the nation and its further subordination to the world order. As for the basic demands of these ideologies, chief among them is the reconstruction of the nation as an objective reality through the restoration of its purity. The second requirement is the restoration of the dominant position of the nation through the restructuring of the state structure, economy and society. The means of achieving these goals in different cases include: 1) building an authoritarian, illiberal state, in which one party plays a dominant role; 2) complete control of this party over political organization, information and nationalization; 3) public management of labor resources and consumption in order to build a productive and self-sufficient economy; 4) the presence of a charismatic leader who would be able to flesh out the “real” interests of the nation and mobilize the masses. If these most important goals are achieved, the nation will be able to regain its lost dominance, even, if necessary, by military means. Such goals were typical of fascist movements between the two world wars, which pursued racial and ethnic cleansing, established totalitarian political systems and dictatorships, built productive economies, and, of course, waged wars to achieve world domination. However, such parties can no longer openly propagate such extremist ideas. A revision of positions took place. The struggle for the purity of the nation and race now results in opposition to incessant migration and demands for the repatriation of foreigners; the demand for totalitarianism and dictatorship was replaced by less stringent proposals for a significant strengthening of state power, supposedly within the framework of democracy; the prerogative of producing goods has been replaced by state intervention in the economic sphere, and talking about military valor has almost completely ceased. Post-war movements with similar ideologies are usually called neo-fascist.

In a narrow sense, fascism is an ideological and political movement in Italy in the 1920s–40s. The founder of Italian fascism is the journalist Benito Mussolini, expelled from the Socialist Party in 1914 for promoting war. In March 1919, he united his supporters, among whom there were many front-line soldiers disillusioned with the current government, into the “Union of Struggle” - “fascio di combattimento”.

Representatives of futurism, a specific movement in art and literature of the early 20th century, completely denying the cultural achievements of the past, glorifying war and destruction as a means of rejuvenating a decrepit world (F. T. Marinetti and others) made a significant contribution to the formation of fascism as an ideology.

One of Mussolini's predecessors was the writer Gabriel d'Annunzio. The meaning of the ideology of fascism is the recognition of the right of the Italian nation to take precedence in Europe and the world due to the fact that the inhabitants of the Apennine Peninsula descend from the descendants of the Romans, and the Italian Kingdom is the legal successor of the Roman Empire.

Fascism proceeds from the concept of the nation as an eternal and supreme reality based on community of blood. In unity with the nation, according to the fascist doctrine, the individual, through self-denial and sacrifice of private interests, realizes “purely spiritual existence.” According to Mussolini, “for a fascist, nothing human or spiritual exists, much less has value, outside the state. In this sense, fascism is totalitarian.”

The Italian state became totalitarian (the term of the “Duce” himself - Italian “duke”, “leader”, as the dictator was officially called) when B. Mussolini came to power. In 1922, with his numerous “Black Shirt” supporters, formed in columns of thousands, he carried out the famous march on Rome. By a majority vote, parliament transferred power to him in the country. But Mussolini managed to carry out the transition to a totalitarian state, where all spheres of society are controlled by the authorities, only 4 years later. He banned all parties except the fascist one, declared the Great Fascist Council the highest legislative body of the country, abolished democratic freedoms, and stopped the activities of trade unions.

In relations with the outside world, Mussolini pursued an aggressive policy. Back in 1923, his government captured the island of Corfu after a bombing. When the like-minded Duce A. Hitler came to power in Germany, Mussolini, feeling support, carried out aggression against the African state of Ethiopia.

Italian military formations took part in the Francoist war against Republican Spain and in hostilities on the territory of the USSR as part of the Nazi army. After the invasion of Sicily and then mainland Italy by American and British troops in 1943, the government of King Victor Emmanuel III capitulated, the Fascist Grand Council votes against Mussolini, and the king orders his arrest. Hitler, having sent his paratroopers, freed the Il Duce, who was under arrest, and returned him to the post of head of the “Italian Social Republic” (“Republic of Salo”), a part of Northern Italy occupied by the Germans.

It was at this time that the formation led by Mussolini began repression against Jews, although it did not reach the point of mass anti-Semitic actions, unlike Germany and other states of the fascist bloc (Romania, Hungary, Croatia), as well as the Nazi-occupied territories of Poland and the Soviet Union. On April 27, 1945, Benito Mussolini and his mistress were captured by members of the Italian Resistance and executed the next day.

The ideology of fascism turned out to be unviable even during the lifetime of its creator. Mussolini's dream of recreating the "Roman Empire" collided with the Italian people's inability to nation-build. The ideas of the corporate state have been implemented in other countries.

In many postulates, fascism is close to German National Socialism, as a result of which both doctrines are often identified. Usually all the horrors of fascism are associated with the policy of genocide pursued by A. Hitler.

In the occupied territories, the German fascists, using concentration camps and mass brutal murders, according to various estimates, killed more than 20 million people. (mainly Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Jews, Gypsies, Poles, etc.).

Fascism as an ideology was condemned by the international tribunal at the Nuremberg trials, and the legislation of many countries still imposes criminal liability for the propaganda of fascism.

The term “fascist” was also used in relation to the Salazar regime in Portugal and the Franco dictatorship in Spain.

Fascism is based on a totalitarian political party (“a powerful organization of an active minority”), which, after coming to power (usually violently), becomes a state-monopoly organization, as well as on the unquestioned authority of the leader (Duce, Fuhrer). Fascist regimes and movements widely use demagogy, populism, slogans of socialism, imperial power, and apologetics of war.

Fascism finds support in conditions of national crises. Many features of fascism are inherent in various social and national movements of the right and left, as well as some modern state regimes that base ideology and public policy on the principle of national intolerance (modern Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Ukraine, etc.).

Thus, about 200 thousand Russian-speaking residents of Estonia are deprived of civil rights, discriminated against on the basis of their nationality and languish in the position of second-class citizens. There is active anti-Russian propaganda in the country, aimed at instilling hatred of Russians among ethnic Estonians, as well as a large-scale campaign to rehabilitate Nazi criminals.

Based on a number of characteristics (leaderism, totalitarianism, national, class, racial intolerance), some Russian political movements can be classified as fascist, including the NBP (see National Bolsheviks), RNU, and the skinhead movement.

Great definition

Incomplete definition ↓

“Fascism is an ideological and political movement that arose in 1919 in Italy and Germany and expressed the interests of the most reactionary and aggressive layers of both the large and middle and petty bourgeoisie. The ideology of fascism includes the ideas of racial inequality and the superiority of one race over another, “class harmony" (the theories of "people's community" and "corporatism"), leaderism ("Führerism"), the omnipotence of geopolitics (the struggle for living space). Fascism is characterized by an autocratic political regime, the use of extreme forms and means of suppressing democratic rights and freedoms, the widespread use state-monopoly methods of regulating the economy, comprehensive control over public and personal life, reliance on nationalist ideas and social-demagogic attitudes. The foreign policy of fascism is the policy of imperialist conquests."

When on March 23, 1919, several dozen people of the most diverse political views and orientations gathered in one of the premises of the Association of Traders and Shopkeepers of Milan - republicans, socialists, anarchists, unclassifiable rebels and former soldiers, led by a recent soldier and aspiring journalist Benito Mussolini - and called themselves fascists (from the Italian fascio - bundle, association; “fascia” of lictors - a symbol of power in Ancient Rome), no one could imagine that this meeting marked the beginning of an ideological and political movement, and then a political regime that turned black sign of the 20th century

Fascism was not the evil intent of individuals or masses of people, although individuals stood at the head of it, and the masses supported them. Fascism arose, in the words of the French political scientist Chantal Millon-Delsole, from that vast nebula that formed after the First World War, like a plume of dust, in all countries of Europe without exception and even beyond its borders. Fascist ideology was a unique reaction to the comprehensive crisis of society: the economic and social crisis due to the dehumanization of labor and the mass relocation of people from villages to cities; political crisis as a result of the inadequacy of new democratic regimes, as well as abuses and corruption in democratic states; intellectual and spiritual crisis generated by modern radicalism and the erosion of religious and moral values4. However, he did not find favor everywhere. The response to the challenge of the times in the United States, for example, was President Roosevelt’s “New Deal.”

In the countries that were defeated in the First World War, and especially in Germany, there were additional reasons for the emergence of fascism. One of them was the feeling of humiliation that the nation experienced in connection with the reparations paid to the victorious countries for the damage caused to them, which in official propaganda and at the everyday level in those years was regarded as nothing less than the “greatest shame” of the German nation, which can only be washed away by a new one. blood. Ideas, slogans, teachings were heard that Germany was “above all” and “above all.” Fascist leaders successfully used this moment and deliberately fueled revanchist sentiments.

Based on research in electoral sociology, American scientist S.M. Lipset created a robot portrait of a voter who supported the Nazis in Germany in 1932; a self-employed member of the middle classes, living on a farm or in a small settlement, a Protestant who has previously voted for some centrist or regionalist party, and is hostile to big industry. A little time will pass, and not only the thousands of ordinary people described by Lipset, but also many thousands of other representatives of the German people will turn into a mass responsive to fascist propaganda.

Fascism as an ideology is an extremely eclectic system of views. In addition, although there are common features, it has many faces and bears some national characteristics. Stories of the 20th century different fascisms are known: Italian fascism, German National Socialism, Portuguese fascism of dictator Salazar (until 1974), Spanish fascism of General Franco (until 1975), etc. Each of the national variants is distinguished by a noticeable originality in ideology.

Thus, National Socialism is characterized by the idealization of biological laws and an attempt to transfer to society the rule of the strong, which reigns in nature. Fascism admires the law of nature according to which the power of the strong over the weak can be justified. The value here is the elitist-hierarchical principle, according to which some are born to command, and others to obey. This ideology strongly praises war, which leads to the unity of the nation, justifies territorial claims to other nations, and encourages imperialism as the conquest of “living space” for the resettled country. German National Socialism rejected the process of modernization and dreamed of an “agrarian country of Germany.” Leaderism (the principle of the Fuhrer) meant the unity of the state, embodied in the leader. The principle of the omnipotence of the state machine and the corporate state was extolled in every possible way. The main difference between National Socialism in the family of fascist ideologies was the presence in it of a conspiracy theory of Western plutocracies and Bolshevism as weapons of world Jewry against Germany. And also the theory about the insurmountability of the inequality of races and nations and the world domination of the Aryan race, identified with the German nation.

Thus, Hitler’s book “My Struggle” is heavily involved in nationalism and racism. Hitler spoke of the Germans as the supreme, chosen nation. Only the German by nature is a true man, the most typical representative of humanity; only the German people managed to preserve their pristine purity of language and blood. Back in the 12th century. In Germany, a theory arose that Adam and Eve spoke German. The language of the Germans appeared before the language of other peoples; it is pure, while other languages are a mixture of heterogeneous elements.

“The implementation of racist concepts in a racist state,” Hitler wrote, “will allow us to enter a period of prosperity: instead of improving the breed of dogs, horses or cats, people will improve their own breed; in this era of human history, some, having learned the truth, will silently commit an act of self-denial, others will gladly offer themselves as a gift to the nation. The German people have no other future than world domination.”5 He expressed his true attitude towards the German people in January 1942 after the defeat near Moscow: “If the German people are not ready to fight for their survival, well, then they must disappear”6.

Unlike German National Socialism, which sought to create a “thousand-year Reich,” Italian fascism speculated on the idea of recreating the Great Roman Empire. In 1936, Mussolini announced to all Italians about a great historical event - the conquest of the African country of Abyssinia by Italian troops. "Italy has an empire!" - he announced. Mussolini's regime, remembering pre-Christian Rome, imitated the regime of the Caesars and the times of paganism.

One of the main ideas of Italo-fascism is the idea of a corporate state. “Our state is neither absolute, nor even less absolutist, detached from people and armed only with immutable laws, as laws should be. Our state is an organic, human state, most closely connected with real life,” Mussolini wrote in book "The Corporate State"7. In a corporate system, the economy is organized into state-controlled associations of labor and capital, all working "in harmony" through a one-party dictatorship. The corporate system assumes that a person can only express himself as a citizen by being a member of a group. Mussolini introduced the concept of totalitarianism into political language when he said that the fascist state is totalitarian, i.e. does not allow any association or values other than itself.

In the family of fascist ideologies, the ideology associated with the name of Antonio Salazar, the Portuguese dictator who ruled the country from 1932 until the end of the 60s, stands somewhat apart. To imagine the situation in the country before Salazar, it is enough to say that from the moment of the proclamation of the republic in 1910 until the military revolt of 1926, i.e. In 16 years, there have been 16 coups in Portugal.

Salazar was a professor at the University of Corimba. In view of the plight of the country, he was offered emergency powers. Using them, he managed to gradually improve the economy. “One of my principles, which I always follow,” he noted, “is this: no one can challenge the rightness of the head of state, which means that in the settlement of political problems there is only one supreme arbiter, whose enlightened decision is binding on all.” .

Fascism is a complex phenomenon caused by many factors. But in a certain sense, we can say that fascism comes and goes not only due to the presence or absence of these factors, but also along with the personality of the political leader who becomes its symbolic expression.

1. What are the basic principles of “classical” liberalism?
2. How does neoliberalism differ from “classical” liberalism?
3. What are the distinguishing features of conservatism and neoconservatism?
4. Describe the essence of social democratic concepts. What is the concept of "democratic socialism"?
5. What is the role of political ideologies in society and politics?

In some cases, fascism is characterized by rejection of the monarchy.

Fascist states are characterized by the presence of a developed economy with a strong regulatory role of the state, corporatization of the state through the creation of a system of mass organizations and social associations, violent methods of suppressing dissent, rejection of the principles of liberal democracy, and open terror against the labor movement.

Common features of fascist parties

Often, a factor in the emergence and growth of fascist parties is the presence of an economic crisis in the country if it also causes a crisis in the social and political field.

Fascist parties often became militarized and adopted a political style unusual at the time: mass demonstrations, mass marches, emphasizing the masculine and youthful character of the party, forms of some secularized religiosity, uncompromising approval and the use of violence in political conflicts.

The fascist parties had comparable ideologies and goals, the hallmark of which was their underlying ambivalence. Fascist ideology reveals simultaneously anti-socialist and anti-capitalist, anti-modern and specifically modern, extremely nationalist and tendentiously transnational aspects. These relations do not appear in the same form in all types of fascism.

The anti-capitalist points of the program, mostly formulated in a deliberately vague manner, increasingly receded into the background during the development of the Italian PNF and NSDAP. They were relatively strong among the Hungarian Arrow Cross, the Romanian Iron Guard, some parts of the Phalanx, the French FNP Doriot and the Austrian National Socialists before the Anschluss. On the contrary, they were relatively weakly manifested among the Austrian Heimwehrites, the Norwegian National Unity, the Belgian Rexists, some parts of the remaining French fascist parties and the Dutch NSU.

Extremely anti-modernist attitudes are found among the NSDAP, the Iron Guard and the Ustasha. But these movements in no way refused to use specifically modern tools and methods in propaganda, politics, military affairs and economics. Therefore, fascism in general cannot be described either as exceptional anti-modernism, or as an “impulse towards the modern”, or, especially, as a “social revolution”.

All fascist parties were extremely nationalistically oriented; for the most part they focused on certain “glorious” periods of the corresponding national history. But small fascist movements, willingly or unwillingly, had to to some extent take into account the national interests of other fascist movements, and above all fascist regimes. It was precisely as a result of this orientation towards a foreign fascist model that not only left-wing, but also right-wing forces of an extremely national direction fought against these parties.

All fascist parties showed a decisive and uncompromising will to destroy their political opponents, as well as - partly arbitrarily chosen - minorities.

Etymology

Word fascism comes from Italian fascio (fashio) - “union” (the name of the political radical organization of B. Mussolini - Fascio di combattimento- “Union of Struggle”). This word, in turn, goes back to the Latin fascis- “bundle, bundle”, which, in particular, denoted symbols of magistrate power - fasces, a bunch of rods with an embedded ax. The image of the fasces became a symbol of Mussolini's movement, which appealed to the imperial traditions of Ancient Rome (in particular, Mussolini argued that the first fascist was Julius Caesar.)

Italian fascism

Emblem with symbols of the Italian fascist movement

Fascism in the narrow sense of the word, that is, the doctrine of Benito Mussolini, highlighted the idea of the corporate state - the state as the power of corporations representing and harmonizing the interests of all segments of the population (as opposed to parliamentary democracy as the power of parties). Fascist ideology originated in Italy in the late 1920s, the Italian Fascist Party came to power and established the dictatorship of Mussolini in 1922. Mussolini himself in his book “La Dottrina del Fascismo” used the word “fascism” both to mean “regime” and in the meaning of “ideology”:

“Il fascismo, oltre a essere un sistema di governo, è anche, e prima di tutto, un sistema di pensiero” (“Fascism is not only a system of government, it is also, and above all, a system of thought”)

Fascism and the Comintern

Back in November 1922, Lenin compared the Italian fascists with the “gangs” (according to the author’s vocabulary) of the Black Hundreds of the tsarist era.

At the same time, almost simultaneously, socialist and communist authors began to designate all anti-revolutionary movements and regimes as “fascist”.

Subsequently, in the discussion of communists about the concept of fascism, such a generalization apparently did not raise doubts, although in the early 20s Clara Zetkin, Antonio Gramsci, Palmiro Togliatti and some other Italian authors warned against labeling all anti-democratic and anti-communist phenomena as fascist, since at the same time, the specific features of Italian fascism were erased.

Since the late 1920s, opponents of German National Socialism have increasingly referred to it as “fascism.” In particular, this was typical for Soviet political phraseology.

The classic Marxist definition of fascism is considered to be the definition presented in the resolution of the XIII Plenum of the ECCI and repeated at the VII Congress of the Comintern by Georgi Dimitrov, rapporteur on this issue (the so-called “Dimitrov” definition):

Fascism is an open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, the most chauvinistic, the most imperialistic elements of finance capital... Fascism is not a supra-class power and not the power of the petty bourgeoisie or the lumpen proletariat over finance capital. Fascism is the power of financial capital itself. This is an organization of terrorist reprisals against the working class and the revolutionary part of the peasantry and intelligentsia. Fascism in foreign policy is chauvinism in its crudest form, cultivating zoological hatred against other peoples.

At the same time, the term “fascism” was almost never used for the regime and the dominant ideology of some countries, although it was suitable on formal grounds. For example, in the USSR it was customary to characterize the political regime of Japan as “Japanese militarism.” This is probably due to the peculiarities of the formation of the reactionary regime of the 20-40s of Japan, mainly “from above” by the hands of military extremists. Although the zaibatsu often used criminals to intimidate and kill opponents of the reaction, there is no evidence of the formation of stormtrooper detachments outside the control of the army.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet people fought against the Nazi invaders

With the outbreak of World War II, this understanding of the term was adopted by the bourgeois-democratic and democratic layers of the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition. Here, for example, is what the Encyclopedia Britannica writes:

In the period from 1922 to 1945. Fascist parties and movements came to power in a number of countries: in Italy - the National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista), led by Mussolini; in Germany - the National Socialist Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), or the Nazi party, led by Adolf Hitler and representing his national -socialist movement...

In modern media

After World War II word fascist acquired an extremely negative connotation, and it became unpopular for political groups to be associated with fascism. Currently, some politicians use the word “fascism” in their speeches in order to stigmatize their political opponents and their beliefs. The word “fascism” has become a dirty word in political demagogy, often losing its semantic content. For some, accusations of fascism have become a weapon in the fight against political opposition.

In the media, fascism is often used to describe any real or imaginary manifestations of totalitarianism combined with the idea of national or racial exclusivity, as well as sympathy for Nazi symbols and aesthetics.

Contemporary studies of fascism

Since the late 1980s, academic historians and sociologists have shown significant interest in studying the phenomenon of fascism. A number of scientific monographs are being published, both in Europe (see, for example, Roger Griffin) and in Russia (see, for example, Alexander Galkin).

Fascism and religion

See also the section “National Socialism and Religion” in the article “National Socialism"

“in a fascist state, religion is considered one of the most profound manifestations of the spirit, therefore it is not only revered, but enjoys protection and patronage”

Benito Mussolini. The doctrine of fascism. 1932

In fact, the attitude of the fascist regime in a particular state towards religion and the church depended on how deeply it was connected with traditional structures - for example, the close connection between the fascist regime and the church was characteristic of Romania, Hungary and Spain.

Italian fascism began as an atheistic and anti-clerical movement, but then compromised with the church. The Catholic Church received, under the Lateran Treaty of February 1929, even more power and influence than before. Along with significant government subsidies, she negotiated for herself far-reaching rights of intervention and control in the areas of education and family life. Insulting the Pope has become a criminal offense.

Hitler was supported by some high-ranking representatives of the Russian Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate. This is explained by the fact that the leaders of the Orthodox Churches saw in the attack of Germany and its allies on the USSR an opportunity to restore church life in the occupied territories, which had been almost destroyed or driven underground by Soviet anti-religious policies, and in the future - to restore pre-revolutionary forms of power in Russia.

The position of the German authorities in the occupied territories of the USSR combined several trends. Reich Minister of the Eastern Lands Alfred Rosenberg sought to revive Orthodoxy in the minds of the people through the creation of autonomous church structures, divided along national and territorial lines and controlled by Nazi officials. On the other hand, the fascist military strongly welcomed the revival of Orthodoxy in the occupied territories and participated in the restoration of churches. According to numerous testimonies, when the fascists occupied another populated area of the USSR (and sometimes even before the arrival of fascist troops), churches were immediately opened there on the initiative of Orthodox believers, which the Soviet government did not manage to destroy. Thousands of parish and monastic communities, which had gone underground during Soviet times, returned to church services. For the first time in many years, the once closed churches were restored and overflowing with worshipers. At one time, there were more functioning churches in the occupied territories than in the rest of Soviet Russia.

At the same time, in the territories controlled by the USSR, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church declared spiritual support for the Soviet people (an appeal to the believers of the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius on June 22, 1941 (first published in 1943), about support for besieged Leningrad), they organized a number of actions in the fight against the fascist army (transferring funds to defense and Red Cross funds, collecting clothing and food in parishes, collecting funds for the construction of a tank column named after Dmitry Donskoy), which were assessed by the Soviet government as populist. Moreover, some of these actions were organized on the initiative of the Soviet government itself.

According to Orthodox researchers, the goals of the German leadership were not to strengthen Orthodoxy. In their opinion, the revival of popular religiosity was used by Germany exclusively for propaganda purposes to counter the Soviet leadership. To support their point of view, Orthodox researchers cite the thesis that Hitler wanted to see the Orthodox Church fragmented, and its dioceses in the occupied territories independent from the influence of the Moscow Patriarchate. Also, in support of this point of view, facts are cited that some hierarchs and simple priesthood resisted the alleged German policy towards the Orthodox Church. Their skepticism is rather confirmed by the real instructions of Hitler and Goering about the post-war destruction of the Russian people.

In some cases, the German occupation authorities banned local churches. Thus, on September 27, 1942, the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia was banned. Its Primate, Bishop Gorazd, and several priests were shot, the property of the Church was confiscated, churches were closed, the clergy were arrested and imprisoned, and the laity were sent to forced labor in Germany. The reason for this was that Orthodox priests hid in the Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius a group of Czech agents brought in from Great Britain and shot General SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.

Story

Notes

Literature

Russian-language publications

History of fascism in Western Europe Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Institute of World History, Publishing House "NAUKA", Moscow, 1978.
B. Mussolini, The doctrine of fascism, Translation by V. N. Novikov, La Renaissance, Paris, 1938.
Galkin A. Russian fascism// Sociological Journal, No. 2, 1994. P.17-27.
Ganelin R., Bune O. et al. National right before and now.
Dashichev V.I., Bankruptcy of the strategy of German fascism. In 2 volumes. Moscow, Nauka Publishing House, 1973.
- Volume 1 - Preparation and deployment of Nazi aggression in Europe 1933-1941;
- Volume 2 - Aggression against the USSR. The Fall of the "Third Empire".
Ilyushenko V. Russian fascism and religion // Dia-Logos. 1998-1999. Vol. II.160-172.
Lacker U. The Black Hundred: the origin of fascism in Russia - M.: Text, 1994.
Likhachev V. Modern Russian right and anti-Semitism: escalation of conflict or reconciliation? - Tyrosh. Proceedings of the second CIS youth conference on Jewish studies. Vol. II. M.: 1998. P.146-153.
Moroz E. Vedism and fascism // Barrier, No. 3, 1993. pp. 4-8.
Nesterova T. Fascist mysticism: the religious aspect of fascist ideology // Religion and politics in the 20th century. Materials of the second Colloquium of Russian and Italian historians. M., 2005, p. 17-29
Manuel Sarkisyants. English roots of German fascism. From British to Austro-Bavarian “master race”
Rodzaevsky K.V. Testament of a Russian fascist. M., 2001.
Solovey V. Fascism in Russia: conceptual approaches - Democracy and fascism. M., 1995. P.45-54.
Stefan D. Russian fascists. Tragedy and farce in emigration, 1925-1945 - M.: Slovo, 1992.
Krysin Mikhail. Baltic fascism. History and modernity. PUBLISHING HOUSE: Veche. 2007. PAGES: 576. ISBN 978-5-9533-1852-5
Umland A. An old question posed anew: what is “fascism”? (the theory of fascism by Roger Griffin) // Political Studies, No. 1 (31), 1996
Filatov S. New birth of an old idea: Orthodoxy as a national symbol // Polis (political studies), No. 3, 1999.
Shnirelman V. Eurasians and Jews // Bulletin of the Jewish University in Moscow, No. 12 (11), 1996. P.4-45.
My language... The problem of ethnic and religious intolerance in the Russian media - Ed. Verkhovsky A. M.: ROO "Panorama", 2002.

Foreign language publications

Agursky M. The Third Rome: National Bolshevism in the USSR - Boulder, 1987.
Allersworth W. The Russian Question: Nationalism, Modernization, and Post-Communist Russia - Lanham, MD: Bowman and Littlefield, 1998.
Antisemitism, Xenophobia and religious Persecution in Russia’s Regions - Washington, 1999.
Brundy Y. Reinventing Russia. Russian Nationalism and the Soviet State, 1953-1991 - Cambridge, Massachusetts, London: Harvard university press, 1998
Die schwarze Front: Der neue Antisemitismus in der Sowjetunion - Reinberk bei Hamburg, 1991.
Dunlop J. The Faces of Contemporary Russian Nationalism - Princeton: Princeton university press, 1983.
Dunlop J. Alexander Barkashov and the Rise of National Socialism in Russia // Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, 1996, Vol. 4, No. 4. P.519-530.
Griffin R. The Nature of Fascism - London, 1993.
Griffin R. Fascism - Oxford, 1995.
Laquer W. Black Hundred: The Rise of the Extreme Right in Russia - New York, 1993.
Parland T. The Rejection of Totalitarian Socialism and Liberal Democracy: A Study of the Russian New Right// Commentationes Scenarium Socialium, 46th Vol., Helsinki, 1993.
Pribylovsky V. A Survey of Radical Right-Wing Groups in Russia // RFE/RL Research Report, No. 16, 1994.
Pribylovsky V. What Awaits Russia: Fascism or a Latin American-style Dictatorship? // Transition, vol. I, No. 23. 23 June 1995.
Shenfield S. Russian Fascism: Traditions, Tendencies, Movements - USA: M.E.Sharpe, 2000.
Simonsen S. Alexander Barkashov and Russian National Unity: Blackshirt Friends of the Nation // Nationalities Papers, Vol.24, No. 4.
Williams Ch., Hanson S. National-Socialism, Left Patriotism, or Superimperialism? The “Radical Right” in Russia. - The Radical Right in Central and Eastern Europe since 1989. Ed. by Ramet S. The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania, 1999. P. 257-279.
Stepanov S. Silent Lie: Soviet Fascism - Ukraine: Kievizdat, 2008.
Ramone T. Stalinism - Eastern Fascism? - London, 1968.

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Fascism (Italian fascismo, from fascio - bundle, bundle, association) is one of the forms of reactionary anti-democratic bourgeois movements and regimes characteristic of the era of the general crisis of capitalism, expressing the interests of the most reactionary and aggressive forces of the imperialist bourgeoisie.

Fascism as a movement is a kind of right-wing conservative revolutionism - a reaction to the deep crisis of capitalism, trying to save it from death by breaking bourgeois democracy and extreme violence.

Fascism in power (i.e., the fascist regime) is an open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary forces of monopoly capital, carried out with the aim of preserving the capitalist system.

In the imperialist reaction, anti-proletarian, anti-socialist tendencies were combined with anti-liberal ones, since liberalism was considered synonymous with bourgeois democracy. Fascism, despite the anti-communism that prevails in it, is anti-democratic in the broadest sense of the word, being a decisive and consistent rejection of not only socialist, but also bourgeois democracy.

The emergence of fascism in the political arena is the result of a crisis in the socio-economic, political and cultural development of bourgeois society, the fear of the ruling bourgeoisie before the onslaught of revolutionary socialism. Fascism intensifies its activity at a time of aggravation of the crisis of imperialism, when the desire of the reaction to apply methods of brutal suppression of democratic and revolutionary forces increases. The uneven pace and forms of development of this crisis, the decline or underdevelopment of democratic-parliamentary forms of political life, the contradictions between the degree of ideological organization and the level of culture of the masses, the “newest” means of mobilizing old mass prejudices are characteristic elements of the soil on which fascism grows. It is no coincidence that fascism established itself in conditions of the greatest severity of these contradictions, favorable for the involvement of relatively wide sections of the mainly petty-bourgeois population in political actions as a “crowd”.

With all the known history or possible diversity of fascist movements (differing from each other in various combinations of military and party dictatorship, terrorist and ideological coercion, nationalism and statism, etc.) general condition for their formation is crisis of democratic forms of the bourgeois state in the absence or insufficiency of other effective forms of regulation of social relations. Characteristic of the entire era of monopoly capitalism, the tendency noted by Lenin towards the elimination or emasculation of democracy constitutes a necessary condition under which fascism develops and comes to power.

The main role in the genesis of fascism belongs to such a fundamental feature of imperialism as the monopolization of the economy.

Monopolization of the economy required an increasing role of the state. Entrepreneurs in the era of free competition needed a state with modest functions and expenses, a kind of “night watchman.” They had enough space in production and in markets. The labor movement was just taking shape organizationally, so the bourgeoisie felt strong enough to do without state mediation in relations with workers. The bourgeoisie of the era of monopoly capitalism makes different demands on the state. With its help, it seeks to ensure hegemony in domestic markets and conquer external markets, to maintain class dominance under the pressure of the developing labor movement. She does not need a modest “night watchman,” but a sentry armed to the teeth, capable of defending her internal and external interests.

The more the basis of the capitalist system tends to turn into a monopoly, the more the concentration of capital grows, the more the state tends to turn into a state not of all capitalists, but into a state of finance capital, the ruling oligarchy. This development already concealed the threat of establishing control over the state and society from the most aggressive groups of monopoly capital.

As a result of the concentration of production and capital, a powerful financial and industrial oligarchy is formed: steel, coal, oil, cannon, newspaper and other “kings” form dynasties, the wealth of which and the degree of influence on all aspects of life reach unprecedented proportions.

The transition of capitalism to the imperialist stage was accompanied by increasing uneven economic development of individual countries. The bourgeoisie of the “belated” countries sought to rely on the support of the state in order to confront the bourgeoisie of the countries of “old capitalist development”, which had managed to gain a foothold in foreign markets and create colonial empires. The intense rivalry over “place in the sun,” as well as the development of the labor movement, led to the growth of militaristic tendencies. The maintenance of standing armies, drawing millions of people into the orbit of military training, and the creation of a large military-industrial potential have noticeably increased the share of militarism in capitalist society and given it qualitatively new features. Militarism assumes enormous proportions primarily under the direct influence of the process of economic monopolization. In the field of military production, gigantic monopolies are emerging, inextricably linked with the state. These initial manifestations of state-monopoly capitalism to a certain extent anticipated the creation of the modern military-industrial complex.

Militarism served as a constant support for authoritarian-dictatorial aspirations within the ruling classes and fueled an atmosphere of nationalistic-chauvinistic frenzy. He trained personnel capable of any crime. It is no coincidence that almost the entire fascist “elite”, to one degree or another, went through the barracks school of militarism. The historical destinies of fascism and militarism are inseparable from each other.

4. The social basis of fascism

4.1. Oligarchy

One of the main social consequences of the monopolization of the economy was the formation of a new element of the elite of bourgeois society - a monopolistic oligarchy, which gradually turned into the decisive force of the upper camp. It is precisely its most reactionary factions that become a powerful generator of tendencies that contribute to the emergence of fascism.

4.2. Middle layers

In the era of imperialism, the economic and social reality of bourgeois society is formed, giving rise to psychological properties in individuals and certain social strata that can be manipulated by the most extreme reaction. First of all, this applies to the petty-bourgeois and middle strata, occupying an intermediate position between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. During the period of monopoly capitalism, their social positions were shaken. The petty bourgeoisie seemed to be caught between two fires. On the one hand, she felt her weakness in front of the monopolies, and on the other, she was afraid of the organized labor movement that was gaining strength.

In the “belated” imperialist states, the intensive breakdown of traditional socio-economic structures especially aggravated class contradictions and created a tense psychological situation for numerous sections of the population that did not have time to adapt to rapidly changing conditions.

The idea of “national greatness” gave the petty bourgeois compensation for their shaky economic positions. Imperialist expansion looked like a concrete implementation of this idea.

Served as an effective lever for drawing mass strata into the orbit of imperialist politics reactionary nationalism. It is difficult to overestimate his role in preparing the social base of fascism. At the same time, it must be borne in mind that in the concepts widespread in the West, nationalism is portrayed as a kind of spontaneous impulse of the broad masses of the people, which allegedly pushed the top along the path of expansion.

In fact, nationalist hysteria planted from above. Concrete historical facts testify to the top-level origin of reactionary nationalism in imperialist countries. It organically fit into the context of the political course of the elite, which received the name of social-imperialism. This course provided for certain handouts to representatives of the dominant nations through the robbery of colonial peoples in combination with nationalist propaganda, cultivating a sense of racial and national superiority.

The relationship between nationalism and fascism is even closer. Many of the ideological principles and practical methods of reactionary nationalism were easily absorbed by fascist movements, and in some countries, most notably Italy and Germany, fascism directly and directly integrated nationalist organizations into its ranks. But it should be emphasized that from the very beginning there were social limits beyond which nationalism could not penetrate in any effective way. Nationalist propaganda had the least success among workers.

Based on its external appearance, bourgeois historians impose ideas about fascism as a “petty-bourgeois”, “middle-class” phenomenon or even a “popular” movement. Essentially, there is only one criterion - the social basis, taken in isolation from the political function of fascist movements and regimes. Naturally, with this approach, the genesis of fascism is considered only from the point of view of the political behavior of certain sections of the population, mainly the petty bourgeoisie. It follows that fascism appears, as it were, in the intermediate zone between capitalism and socialism as a kind of “third force”. Bourgeois scholars often uncritically follow the propaganda writings of fascist ideologists who proclaimed fascists as champions of the “third way” or “third force.”

Meanwhile, the presence of a mass base is an essential, but not universal, feature of fascism. There are its varieties (for example, military fascism), for which the mass base is not an integral attribute. Sometimes fascism creates support for itself among the masses after it comes to power (Portugal, Spain). Even in those cases where the fascists manage to win over certain sections of the population to their side (Germany, Italy), this becomes possible only thanks to the political, financial and spiritual support of the top. Both fascist tendencies at the top and extremist movements with fascist potential from socially heterogeneous elements were formed in a single stream of bourgeois reaction.

Well-known facts from the history of the main varieties of fascism convincingly indicate that the ruling classes support the fascists not only at the time when they were already able to mobilize the masses, relying on their own forces, but also from the moment of the birth of fascist movements. Moreover, precisely so that they solve the problem of involving the masses in the orbit of reactionary politics.

The experience of war, revolution, and finally the Kapp putsch showed the ultra-conservative factions at the top that, despite all their contempt for the people, they cannot do without a social base. But the ruling circles, naturally, did not intend to satisfy the real interests of the working people. Nationalist and social demagoguery was supposed to serve as bait for certain segments of the population. New methods of propaganda and agitation were needed.

The extremism of the petty bourgeoisie and the middle strata is not identical to the extremism of the ruling classes. Extremism at the top is primarily of a political nature, while petty-bourgeois extremism is largely characterized by socio-psychological features. The uniqueness of petty-bourgeois extremism is determined by the fact that it also contains an anti-capitalist, or more precisely, anti-monopoly charge. The extremist factions at the top considered the most important task of the fascist movements to be the introduction of petty-bourgeois extremism into a pro-monopoly channel and the neutralization of its anti-capitalist aspects. The fusion of monopolistic and petty-bourgeois extremism led to the formation of “classical” varieties of fascism, based on a mass base.

The fascists skillfully played on the emotions of the petty bourgeoisie, flattered their pride, and promised to bring them to power. Among the petty-bourgeois supporters of fascism there were many people who really believed in the revolutionary nature of the new movement, in its anti-capitalist slogans, and saw in it a genuine “third force.” Their sincere conviction gave credibility to the inherently demagogic fascist propaganda addressed to the middle strata. This already contained elements of contradiction between the political function and the social basis of fascism. This contradiction manifested itself with particular force during the period of consolidation of fascist regimes, when the demagogic veil was dissipated and the essence of fascism as a dictatorship of the most aggressive and reactionary monopolistic groups clearly emerged. Moreover, after the establishment of fascist regimes, there was an elimination of those radical elements who took seriously the propaganda phraseology of the leaders. One aspect of the notorious “Night of the Long Knives” in Germany (June 30, 1934) was the elimination of disgruntled stormtroopers who demanded a “second revolution.” Mussolini was given a lot of trouble by supporters of the “second wave”, who were not satisfied with the policies of the Duce after the “March on Rome”. In Francoist Spain, the contradiction between petty-bourgeois and lumpen-proletarian elements and the top of the regime was reflected in the “old shirts” front. However, despite the contradictions, the fascist leaders managed (with varying degrees of success) to maintain mass support by combining terror with social and nationalist demagoguery.

4.3. Lumpen proletariat

When it comes to recruits of fascism, one cannot fail to take into account those from the lumpen-proletarian environment, who willingly fall for the bait of reaction. Bourgeois society constantly reproduces this stratum, replenished by those whom it declasses and throws out of the sphere of productive labor. V.I. Lenin described the lumpen as “a layer of corrupt people, completely crushed by capitalism and unable to rise to the idea of proletarian struggle.”

As a result of economic development, accelerated by the scientific and technological revolution, in countries of developed capitalism there is a rapid breakdown of established, traditional structures. As a result of this, groups are formed that have lost their previous social status, are forced to change their usual way of life, abandon previous forms of consumption, etc. An acute form of manifestation of this process has become the progressive marginalization of the consciousness of a significant part of the population. The primary, basic type of marginal consciousness has always been its lumpen-proletarian model. To a large extent, it remains so to this day.

Isolation from society, spontaneous individualism pushes the lumpen marginal to detachment from the political process and to absenteeism. At the same time, deep hostility to society, the desire to immediately consume its wealth, rejection of its norms and values create a potential readiness for destructive actions directed against this society or its individual institutions. In this sense, the marginalized represent a social combustible material capable of spontaneous combustion.

In connection with the growing scope of objective marginalization, its values and attitudes began to penetrate into the consciousness of those groups of the population that had not yet objectively been ousted from the production process and, accordingly, the social structure of society. Moreover, the more urgent the danger of becoming a victim of this process, the stronger the influence of marginal views on the public consciousness of both individual categories of the population and in general.

Thus, the base for far-right extremism still exists and is expanding.

5. Types of fascism

The main criterion for the typology of state-formed fascism can be the degree of concentration of power in the hands of the fascist elite and the extremist factions of monopoly capital fused with it. It depends on a complex of interrelated factors: the level of economic development of the country, the social structure of the population, the strength of the anti-fascist Resistance, the degree of relative independence of the fascist apparatus of power, the place of the fascist elite itself in comparison with the traditional ruling classes in the structure of the regime, and the scale of imperialist claims.

Numerous variants of fascism can be reduced to two main types, depending on how fully each of them reflects the essence of a given phenomenon.

TO first type These include those varieties of fascism that managed to join power to one degree or another. In them, the properties and signs typical of fascism appear especially clearly and expressively, its essence is revealed more clearly. It is fascism in power that is “an open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, the most chauvinistic, the most imperialistic elements of finance capital” (G. Dimitrov).

However, it is necessary to take into account the presence of quite important intratype differences. In the period between the two world wars, fascism acquired its most complete form in those countries (primarily in Germany, to a lesser extent in Italy) where fascist organizations became the main support of extremist factions of the ruling classes, where totalitarian dictatorships arose.

In addition to the “classical” models, there were fascist movements, which were, although not the main, but still a significant force in the ruling circles and acted as junior partners in fascist-type regimes. This was especially typical for countries with a relatively backward socio-economic structure, where powerful monopolistic groups had not yet formed. Here, elements of totalitarian dictatorship were combined in systems of domination with traditional authoritarian and even parliamentary forms. Against the background of the “classical” variants of these varieties of fascism, many typological features seem blurred.

Co. second type There are numerous fascist movements that failed to come to power and are stuck on the political periphery. Their function is reduced to the role political reserve of the reactionary wing of the ruling classes. This was the case in those countries of Western Europe where bourgeois-democratic traditions were deeply rooted, where fascism could not find mass support, where, due to historical and specific situational reasons, the most influential factions of the bourgeoisie placed their main bet not on fascism, but on other methods of defending class domination. It should be taken into account that the fascists in these countries raised their heads after Hitler came to power, when fascism appeared in its most disgusting form in the eyes of wide sections of the population. Therefore, more favorable preconditions have developed here for uniting anti-fascist forces and organizing resistance to fascist elements.

The peculiarities of genesis affected the varieties of fascism of the second type more strongly, because these varieties never reached the stage of maturity, which comes after coming to power. Their distinctive feature can be considered a much lower degree of internal consolidation. From this point of view, the most indicative is French fascism, which was a particularly motley conglomerate of groups and leaders. The programmatic and tactical guidelines of the “small” fascist movements represented a combination of traditionalist reactionary views with racist mysticism and broadcast social demagoguery.

It should be borne in mind that modernity gives rise to new types of fascism, an example of which is the reactionary dictatorship in the Chilean and Greek versions. A typological feature of all forms of fascism is its close, organic relationship with militarism. Now, when the chances of attracting a mass base have significantly decreased compared to the interwar period, the fascists have to compensate for its absence mainly through military force and the support of international military-imperialist circles. The dictatorship of Pinochet in Chile, the collapse of the “regime of colonels” in Greece after seven years of rule - these are the specific forms "military fascism".

Specific forms of modern fascism in underdeveloped countries have much in common with “military fascism.” It represents a combination of the interests of international imperialism and the reactionary local bureaucracy and military clique. Such fascism is imposed from outside by governments that retain (to a greater or lesser extent) the attributes of bourgeois democracy at home. A distinctive feature of imported fascism is the absence of any serious internal preconditions. It is cultivated in countries with remnants of pre-capitalist relations, where a strong national bourgeoisie has not developed, and in the archaic social structure there are no layers capable of supplying a mass base for fascism.

5.1. Neo-fascism

The bourgeoisie has to consolidate its ranks primarily on the basis of socio-political maneuvering, which is most characteristic of liberal reformist methods of defending its class dominance.

In this process, many are inclined to see a guarantee against the revival of the fascist threat. However, this approach is one-sided. The weakening of the capitalist system is also expressed in the pushing of openly bourgeois parties to the extreme flank and in the strengthening of the positions of workers' parties. In contrast, the ruling class is once again growing in its desire for direct violent action.

Conservative elements are activated. They are trying to surface, using the failures of liberal-reformist policies, arguing that only conservatism is connected with the chances of bourgeois society to get out of the crisis impasse.

The most important distinctive features of all neo-fascist political movements and organizations:

militant anti-communism and anti-Sovietism;
extreme nationalism, racism (overt or more or less covert);
criticism from the far-right positions of bourgeois governments (even the most conservative ones) operating within the framework of the bourgeois parliamentary system;
the use of violent, terrorist methods of political struggle.

The political and ideological positions of neo-fascism reflect the sentiments and interests of the most reactionary elements of the bourgeoisie.

Modern fascism has common roots with conservative reaction; Although neo-fascism has many new elements in ideology, propaganda methods and tactics, it has an inherent capacity for mimicry that can sometimes be confusing. However, when comparing modern fascism with “classical” examples, the continuity appears clearly and clearly. Modern fascism, as well as “traditional” fascism, combines socio-political conservatism and reactionary behavior of the ruling class with petty-bourgeois illusions and rebellion. These two variants of extremism merge into fascism, but between them, as in the past, collisions arise, most often of a tactical nature.

Throughout the entire post-war period, fascist movements serve mainly as a political reserve for the imperialist bourgeoisie, which has so far thrown it into battle on a relatively limited scale. The relative weakness of neo-fascist movements in the modern world should not be a reason to underestimate the threat posed by them. The very fact of their existence negatively affects the spiritual and political climate of many countries. Moreover, historical experience shows that they can quickly gain strength. The presence of neo-fascist organizations can also contribute to a shift to the right by making other right-wing elements appear more acceptable against their background.

The development of state-monopoly capitalism and the scientific and technological revolution under capitalist conditions give rise to social consequences that can be taken advantage of by neo-fascist elements. As before, the breeding social environment for fascism is the petty-bourgeois and middle strata, which do not always sufficiently consciously navigate the complex modern situation. To this should be added the peasantry, which is being intensively washed out. Employees and members of the intelligentsia, whose occupation has turned into mass professions, are losing their social status. The logic of social struggle draws them to the left, but, given the ability of fascists to speculate on the needs and aspirations of socially disadvantaged layers, one should take into account the potential possibility of temporary interception of some part of them by neo-fascism.

The socio-psychological sources of the fascist danger also remain. Modern bourgeois society strenuously strives to instill in its citizens conformism, apoliticality, and indifference, to turn them into elementary “consumers” who are easily manipulated by the ruling classes.

The aggravation of the general crisis of capitalism is increasingly revealing the incurable ulcers of bourgeois society. Inflation, unemployment, rising crime, moral decay - all this causes an acute psychological reaction among the population, and not all of its categories are able to understand the true causes of these social disasters. The feeling of social discontent combined with a sense of one's own powerlessness gives rise to messianic sentiments. Hence the reliance on a “strong personality” capable of establishing “order.”

Modern fascism also tries to exploit the crisis of bourgeois culture. The scientific and technological revolution under the conditions of state-monopoly capitalism deepened the contradictions between technical progress and culture. The problem of the “human factor” in the bourgeois world is becoming more acute than ever. Personal alienation is growing. The tendency towards a soulless existence is making itself felt more and more. Neo-fascist ideologists, taking this into account, are trying to act as rescuers of human spiritual values. If earlier traditional fascism openly mocked humanistic ideals and values, now certain elements from the modern neo-fascist camp speak from pseudo-humane positions.

To recognize the manifestations of neo-fascism, it is necessary to compare them with the types of fascism that developed during the interwar period. We are not talking about external forms, subject to constant changes, especially considering the exceptional ability of the fascists for mimicry, their adaptability to new conditions. The successive connection between “traditional” and new types of fascism is essential and is found primarily in the methods of political struggle and organization of power, protecting the interests of local or international monopolies.

Along with the unjustified narrowing of the fascist phenomenon to one or two varieties, it is also necessary to take into account the danger of an unduly broad interpretation of this phenomenon. This approach aims to discredit countries adhering to a socialist orientation, revolutionary nationalist regimes pursuing anti-imperialist policies, and in fact turns out to be a modernized version of the notorious concept of “totalitarianism.”

The analysis of new forms of fascism is complicated by the interpretations that have developed in leftist circles. In their opinion, these days fascism no longer needs to carry out coups to seize power. He supposedly has already penetrated quite deeply into the state structure of capitalist countries. Leftist elements consider modern capitalist enterprises to be the hotbeds of fascism, where certain activities are carried out within the framework of social policies designed to distract workers from active participation in the political struggle. Undoubtedly, in the socio-economic and political soil of developed capitalist countries, the prerequisites for a fascist danger remain. But if you do not see the qualitative difference between the repressions that take place under bourgeois-democratic regimes and permanent, total fascist terror, between the liberal reformist or paternalistic social policy of the bourgeoisie and fascist methods of corruption of the masses, you can overlook the real fascist threat.

6. Opposition to fascism

The history of fascism is essentially the history of the collapse of the most decisive and violent attempt of the imperialist reaction to slow down social progress and crack down on the revolutionary movement. Scientific analysis of fascism indicates its historical doom. However, such a conclusion should not entail an underestimation of this dangerous socio-political phenomenon. The victory over fascism was achieved by progressive humanity at an extremely high price.

The discrediting of fascism in the eyes of humanity has greatly narrowed the possibilities for modern reactionaries to maneuver to the right. This can be seen as one of the reasons that, in general, the post-war period in countries of developed capitalism passed under the sign of the predominance of bourgeois reformist policies. Although fascist methods remain in the political arsenal of the bourgeoisie and in crisis situations reactionary adventurist circles may try, despite the negative historical experience, to again resort to fascist methods to save the class rule of the bourgeoisie, the prospects for such a way out of the socio-political crisis in which modern capitalism finds itself have become much more unlikely.

However, fascism still represents a potential danger that cannot be ignored.

Despite the presence in certain countries of favorable preconditions for the genesis of fascism, it would be completely wrong to see some kind of historical predestination in the rise of the fascists to power. The dominance of fascism turned out to be possible only in some countries and during a certain period, although the methods of mass political and ideological violence inherent in fascism became widespread. The establishment of fascism testifies both to the weaknesses of the labor and democratic movement and to the inability of the ruling class - the bourgeoisie - to maintain its power through democratic parliamentary methods.

Therefore, the most important obstacle to fascism is the creation of a united front of democratic forces. The insurmountable obstacle on the path of fascism to power is the unity of the working class. Communist and workers' parties see their task in uniting all anti-fascist forces, in creating a broad front of struggle against the omnipotence of monopolies, for peace and social progress.