Fascism: Italy’s Totalitarian Regime and the Rise of Nazism
Fascism
Fascism, in the strictest sense of the word, refers to the political model that first emerged in Italy and Germany between the wars. However, over time it has taken on a broader meaning, designating an authoritarian backlash against the expansion of the principle of equality among citizens (democracy and socialism). It relies on these principles:
- Exacerbated nationalism with a racist component, which advocates the preservation and exaltation of race as a factor to ensure a cohesive framework for national unity. It justifies the elimination of other groups or peoples and the right to expand territorially through imperialistic and militaristic policies.
- The exaltation of the state over the rights and freedoms of individuals.
- Rejection of liberalism and democracy. It denies the principles of equality among all citizens, sovereignty, and popular suffrage. It does not tolerate the separation of powers. It defends an anti-egalitarian conception of society where elites dominate and succeed.
- The cult of the leader. Fascism exalts the figure of a charismatic leader, concentrating all powers in his person. He embodies the state and is the head of the single party.
Fascism adopts positions of distrust in reason and, moreover, exalts irrational elements of human behavior (fanaticism, blind obedience, etc.). It also praises the values of force, while rejecting pacifism and defending the legitimacy of violence and war as instruments of progress and historical range of peoples, nations, and races.
The Fascist Dictatorship
Since 1925, Mussolini, Il Duce, initiated a process to turn Italy into a totalitarian regime in which the state and the Fascist Party were fully identified. A law named Mussolini the head of government and granted him all powers. In 1926, the Rocco Law banned political parties and trade unions. In 1929, Parliament was replaced by a consultative body composed of leaders of the fascist corporations: the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations. The provincial and municipal authorities were appointed directly by the government. A political police force was created, the OVRA (Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism), to pursue opponents.
Mussolini’s regime was known to attract the Catholic Church. They jointly signed the Lateran Pact. The support of the papacy was one of the most solid pillars of fascism. Also contributing to the popularity of fascism was its expansionist and nationalist politics. Remilitarization was promoted, and the rectification of the border with France was achieved. The fascist expansionist policy implied the possession of colonial territories in Europe.
The Formation of the Nazi Party
Adolf Hitler’s political career began in a small group of extremists, racists, and aggressives, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP). In 1921, Hitler was put in charge of the party, reorganized it, and gave it a violent nature with the creation of paramilitary squads, the SA (Assault Sections), who used threats and coercion against their adversaries. He also gave the party a component and adopted a series of anti-Jewish symbols (brown shirt, the Roman salute, swastika, etc.).
In 1923, after a failed coup against the Weimar Republic, Hitler was arrested and spent six months in jail. During this period, he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle), which outlined his thinking and his political program: contempt for parliamentary democracy, hatred of Bolshevism, and the need for a unique and strong leadership to lead the German people. He defended anti-Semitism, the superiority of the Aryan race, and the need to forge a Greater Reich with all territories of Germanic population on the basis of a program of territorial expansion.
When he left jail, Hitler’s position within the party and his political leadership had been strengthened. He was recognized as Führer (party leader), and in 1925 he created his own militia, the SS (Protection Squad).
Social and Ideological Control
For the Nazi state, German society had to have complete ideological unity. The Ministry of Culture and Propaganda, entrusted to Goebbels, was created to ensure the establishment of a culture and thinking based on racist and nationalist ideas. Science and culture (newspapers, publishing, radio, cinema, etc.) were “Nazified” to brutally annihilate intellectual freedom. Lists of authors were created, and the burning of books deemed harmful became a ritual act of Nazism.
The future of the Reich, according to its leaders, depended on the accession of Nazi youth. The educational system was reorganized and politicized: university professors were purged, and censorship was introduced in classrooms and textbooks. They also promoted recreational and educational youth organizations, among which the Hitler Youth played an essential role. Education reduced the role of women in society to the three “Ks”: Kinder, Kirche, and Küche (children, church, and kitchen).
Opposition to this Nazification project was met with brutal repression. Communists and Socialists were persecuted and sent to concentration camps. There was a certain acceptance by the population, attracted by Hitler’s project to exalt the greatness of Germany, the pride of the race, and future progress. Often, the population was unaware of the methods used by the Nazis. All this enabled the Nazis to present themselves to the world as a regime that had the massive, uncontested support of the German population. The only possibility for intellectuals, artists, military personnel, or any other persecuted Jews was to emigrate or flee from Nazi Germany.
Racial Purity
A central element to achieving full social and ideological cohesion of the German people was to ensure racial purity. It was stated that the Aryan race had to be protected by excluding those with any physical disability or ethnic minorities. The birth of “real” Aryans was encouraged, and a set of eugenic measures were adopted to sterilize individuals who had inherited diseases.
The racial issue that took on greater magnitude was the persecution of Jews. The causes of German anti-Semitism must be sought in the desire of the German nation to offer an easy explanation for misfortune, a scapegoat to whom all responsibilities could be attributed. Moreover, some Jews had great fortunes, which caused resentment among the population. Anti-Jewish policy went through several phases: in 1933, a boycott of Jewish businesses was enacted; in 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were passed, preventing mixed marriages and excluding Jews from German citizenship. Finally, in 1938, they were forced to wear a badge. Hatred against the Jews took the form of numerous persecutions, the most dramatic of which was on November 9, 1938, called the Night of Broken Glass, in which thousands of Jews were arrested, some of them were killed, their businesses were destroyed (over 7,000), and synagogues were burned.