Fascism

Emerging from the chaotic and turbulent period following the end of World War I, fascism has come to be identified with tyrannical political systems. Not all military regimes or dictatorships are fascist, however, and the term is usually applied to a few regimes from the 1930s to 1940s counter-posed to communist regimes. Fascism has a worldview and most authoritarian governments do not want to change the existing social order. Originating from the Latin words fasci (bundle) and fasces (axe girdled by a bundle of rods, which were used by magistrates of ancient Rome), fascism symbolized authority and absolute power. Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator of Italy (1883–1945), first employed the term fascismo or fascism for the movement that he began. A disillusioned socialist and ultra-nationalist who served with the rank of corporal in the war, Mussolini formed a political group called Fasci Italiani di combattimento (Italian groups for combat) in 1919. With the concept of a nation that was turbulent and decadent, fascism called for national regeneration. Mussolini's rabid nationalism was against the socialists, communists, democracy, and parliamentary institutions.

The operational aspect of fascism can be best gleaned from Mussolini's life and times. He had exploited the agrarian and industrial discontent of Italy during World War I. Mussolini unabashedly used violence to confiscate land, attack factories, and kill shopkeepers charging what he saw as exorbitant prices. People belonging to different classes looked to Blackshirt fascists as protectors of their interests. Fascism gained popularity, and the membership of the party swelled. On October 28, 1922, Mussolini with 40,000 fascists started the famous Marcia su Roma (March on Rome). After 3 days, the National Fascist Party became the majority party by law, and Mussolini was recognized as Il Duce (the Leader). He had a vision of rebuilding the ancient Roman Empire with himself taking the role of a Caesar. The Mediterranean was to be made mare nostrum (our sea). War was a means for Mussolini to realize his aim and to change the status quo. His troops occupied the Greek island of Corfu in 1923. Mussolini invaded the East African country of Abyssinia (later Ethiopia) in 1935 and occupied the capital, Addis Ababa, the next year. Albania was annexed in 1939.

Fascist doctrine developed its unique features in Mussolini's domestic policy, distinguishing it from other forms of totalitarianism. The neo-Hegelian philosopher of Italy, Giovanni Gentile (1875–1944) ghostwrote A Doctrine of Fascism (1932) for Mussolini. The main features of fascism were enumerated therein. The state was all-powerful and individuals as well as groups were conceived only in relation to it. The cardinal postulates of fascism were credere, combattere, obbedire (believe, fight, and obey). The state possessed a will and personality of its own and so was the frame of reference for everything else. It was a corporate state in command over political, social, moral, and economic forces. A ministry of corporations coordinated the conflicting interests of different individuals and classes. Military and military considerations were paramount in a fascist state. Repudiating the doctrine of pacifism, it glorified war as the highest expression of human energy. A nation would expand by means of war, thus manifesting its energy and dynamism. Fascists looked for a real or perceived enemy. The citizens in a chauvinistic frenzy would eliminate the common threat. The enemy could be communists, socialists, or minorities such as the Jews. Mussolini's fascist state discriminated against Italian Jews in private as well as public. Introduction of a license system, prohibition of intermarriages, expulsion from the Fascist party, and deportation of 7,000 Jews were manifestations of the state's action against a religious minority.

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