Fascism: Origins, Principles, and Rise of Mussolini and Hitler
What is Fascism?
Fascism refers to the political model that had its earliest expression in Italy and Germany. The term has acquired a broader sense, referring to authoritarian and violent relationships against the expansion of the principle of equality among citizens. It is based on the following principles:
- Extreme nationalism, racism, the elimination of other groups or peoples, and the right to expand territorially.
- Exaltation of the state above the rights and freedoms of individuals.
- Rejection of liberalism and democracy; anti-egalitarian advocacy for a society in which dominant elites and the elect rule.
- Cult of the leader: Fascism exalts the figure of a charismatic leader who concentrates all powers within themselves, embodies the state, and is the sole party leader.
Fascism takes positions of distrust of reason and defends the legitimacy of violence.
Formation of the National Fascist Party
Mussolini founded the Fasci di Combattimento, a movement that brought together former fighters and had a populist and nationalist agenda. Mussolini’s Fasci transformed into the National Fascist Party, which presented itself as an effective tool against the threat of communism and the “Bolshevization” of Italy. In addition, Mussolini gave his party a new program that mixed a populist discourse in the social sphere, a defense of private property, with strong nationalism and an expansionist and militaristic foreign policy. Its symbology included a black shirt as a uniform and the Roman salute with the arm raised.
The party drew its base from disaffected working classes, but especially from the petty bourgeoisie, frightened by the crisis and the rise of revolutionary workers. It was considered a good tool to stop socialism and communism. It also received financial support from Confindustria (the Italian employers’ federation). The fascist squads staged numerous acts of social violence; they consisted of punitive expeditions against politicians, local councils, and leftist newspapers. They had police and justice complicity. In 1921 alone, about 600 people were killed. The PNF grew rapidly, and in 1922, it reached 700,000 affiliates.
The Formation of the Nazi Party
Adolf Hitler began his political career in an extremist group that was racist and aggressive. In 1920, he issued his program for the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers’ Party). Hitler took over, reorganizing and equipping it with violent paramilitary squads, the SA, which exercised threats and coercion against their adversaries. He also gave the party a partially Jewish identity and adopted a series of emblems similar to those of Italian Fascism.
After the failed coup attempt against the Weimar Republic, Hitler was arrested and served six months, during which time he wrote Mein Kampf, in which he explained his thinking and political agenda: contempt for parliamentary democracy, hatred of Bolshevism, and the need for a single leadership. He defended antisemitism, the superiority of the Aryan race, and the need to forge a great Reich. Upon release, Hitler’s position within the party and his political leadership had been strengthened. He was recognized as the leader of the party, and in 1925, he formed his own militia, the SS. However, the improvement of the economic and social situation between 1924 and 1929 caused the Nazis to lose ground, and they were forced to cease their extra-parliamentary activity.