Category: Fascism

What is liberty in the Fascist state? Why does the state have total power?

In a fascist state, liberty is what the state deems important and not harmful the state decides on liberties without consultation. A fascist state must have total power because it views the direction it takes in the direction of the masses and believes that severe action must be taken.

Mussolini would have argued that the Fascist state was democratic. Why?

Mussolini was a fascist, and he believed in a fascist state that is strongly based on the popular support of the masses (Mussolini, 2006) that slight resemblance to democracy could be confused with true democracy, but the differences are immense.

What is the Fascist view of war?

War is necessary because the state must pass down to future generations names of military leaders and geniuses who contributed to the enlargement of its territories and also who made the state famous.

Why does Fascist reject socialism and liberal democracy?

Fascism denies that numbers can determine anything in human society thus denying democracy and finally fascists deny the fact that happiness can be a result of material things, thus rejecting socialism.

References

Mussolini, B. (2006). The doctrine of fascism. Laramie, Wyoming: H. Fertig.

The Fascist Style of Rule is a book authored by Alexander J. De Grand and first published by Routledge in 1995; since then, the book has been revised in later editions. It is about fascism and Nazism, especially that which existed during the reign of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. It covers the entire reign of Adolf Hitler as the leader of the Nazi party and that of Mussolini as the leader and pioneer of fascism.

The book provides concise and provocative highlights on fascism and Nazism as experienced in Italy and Germany respectively. The author examines various aspect related to these two regimes including their similarities and differences at their infant stage of development, use of power by Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, the connection between the two dictators and their regimes, and policies that impacted on the culture, youth and women. The author utilizes thought-provoking and original points of views that are backed by current historical research. Although De Grand makes a general comparison of the two regimes, he provides specific details to support his ideas. Note that the second edition of this book provides a comprehensive discussion on the military role within the two movements.

The author approves of the emergence of fascism and Nazism as reactions to specific problems inherent in the structure of liberal politics at the time (De Grand 5). This is indicated in his relative examination of the development of Nazism and Fascism, and especially where he explores the issues that form the basis of support for these parties by the disgruntled middle-classes of Germany and Italy after the World War I. What is more, the author views these developments as solutions to the society, indicating their similarities and differences in approaching the crisis that existed within Europe, and arguing in favor of the fascist rule.

Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany is intended for scholarly purpose although it should charm many lay leaders. It explores the nature and history of fascism and Nazism touching on the leadership of Mussolini of Italy and Hitler of Germany. This is ideal for academician wishing to venture into or beyond advanced subjects like the holocaust, military and political events, and leaders. Furthermore, its clarity in presentation of vital and complex historical ideas is a motivation for scholars to debate on various arguments and thesis.

The book explores both social and political aspects of the Germany Nazism and Italy fascism era. More emphasis is on the political history while social history comes in to augment his arguments. For instance, while attempting to put his ideas across, Alexander makes a comparison of the emergence of the two movements from their inception and development to be a force and the epitome of leadership through the onset World War II while focusing on how these movements managed to organize their states accordingly after obtaining power. Moreover, the central ideas in De Grands book is that social issues gave rise to political occurrences. In effect, the author gives great account of the social phenomenon that contributed to the rise of these movements, however, there is substantial examination of the effects of these movement to the society including impact on the youth, women and culture.

References

De Grand, Alexander J., Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: The Fascist Style of Rule, 1st edition, Routledge, New York, 1995.

De Grand, Alexander J., Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: The Fascist Style of Rule, 2nd edition, Routledge, New York, 2004.

The given presentation will primarily focus on a key figure of Italian Fascism, Benito Mussolini, and his overall impact on the establishment of fascist ideologies. The key argument of the presentation is to demonstrate that fascism emerged as a reactionary framework to communism, where the latter was aimed to empower the working class and the former to preserve the power of the ruling class. The main idea is that fascism adopted several core principles from both socialism and liberalism and created a mix, where one can have full control over a nation by directing any hostility from the public outwards, unlike communism directing at the ruling class and liberalism directing at both state and other groups in the nation.

He can be considered as a prominent figure and representation of what Italian fascism is in practice and what type of regime the political and ideological framework establishes. In other words, he views the concept as comprehensive, which means it has both spiritual and practical elements. Mussolini defines fascism by stating: Like all sound political conceptions, Fascism is action and it is thought; action in which doctrine is immanent, and doctrine arising from a given system of historical forces in which it is inserted, and working on them from within. It has, therefore, a form correlated to contingencies of time and space; but it also has an ideal content which makes it an expression of truth in the higher region of the history of thought (Mussolini, 1932).

Mussolini states the demonstrated quote to highlight the universalism of fascism, which absorbs the achievements of previous eras, in which other ideologies dominated, replacing each other due to insurmountable contradictions. Fascism takes the best of them and rejects those elements that have led previous doctrines to decline. For example, from socialism, the fascists adopt the collective principle in the management of the state, they do not deny trade unions that unite people to solve their problems, but at the same time, fascism rejects the class struggle and atheism, as well as the democracy of the majority of the people (Bosworth, 2007). From liberalism, fascism adopts the freedom of the individual, but only such freedom that does not contradict the freedom of the state, that is, fascism stands for the freedom of the state, only within which the freedom of the individual can be exercised (Duiker, 2015).

Fascism fiercely rejects the liberal principle of non-interference of the state in the economy, only the state, according to Mussolini, can resolve all contradictions and crises within capitalism, harmonize and rationalize the relationship of social classes of society, through state regulation through trade unions and control of production, and the distribution of economic benefits through government agencies (Iodice, 2018). Therefore, the fascists are supporters of dirigisme, that is, the management of the economy by the state, and based on corporatism, which destroys competition and builds a clear hierarchy of subordination of small enterprises to large ones.

At the same time, both workers and owners are united in corporations, their relationship is regulated by the fascist trade union, and so there is cooperation and reconciliation of classes. In the understanding of liberalism, the state is a mechanism that delimits the spheres of supposed individual freedoms (Knight, 2003). Fascism, on the other hand, rejects the liberal concept of the role of the state in society and offers its own in return. According to Mussolini, it is a strong state that creates a nation, and not vice versa, and the state must expand, exalt, or otherwise, it will die (Mussolini, 1932). Thus, fascism rejects the equality of nations, states, and the peaceful concept of development. The fascists believe that peace will come only when a strong fascist state and a strong nation in this state will dominate the planet and regulate relationships between other states (Bosworth, 2021).

Fascism also rejects the democracy of the majority, in its understanding, society is divided into classes that have different interests, but at the same time, they are common, that is, the interests of the state. Under this idea, a few should hold power in their hands, but at the same time, they should fulfill the interests of society. Thus, it should not be limited to the people and the majority because this threatens to suppress the interests of a part of a nation (Parkash, 2019). Also, fascism is a religious doctrine, here is a quote from Mussolini on this score: the Fascist State sees in religion one of the deepest of spiritual manifestations, and for this reason, it not only respects religion but defends and protects it. The Fascist State does not attempt, as did Robespierre at the height of the revolutionary delirium of the Convention, to set up a god of its own; nor does it vainly seek, as does Bolshevism, to efface God from the soul of man (Mussolini, 1932).

In addition, religion is the very instrument that unites social classes that strengthens the nation and, consequently, the state, and the stronger the state, the stronger the nation. The state is obliged to support religion, for, according to Mussolini: Never has any religion claimed so cruel a sacrifice. Were the Gods of liberalism thirsting for blood? Now liberalism is preparing to close the doors of its temples, deserted by the peoples who feel that the agnosticism it professed in the sphere of economics and the indifferentism of which it has given proof in the sphere of politics and morals would lead the world to ruin in the future as they have done in the past (Mussolini, 1932). Based on the statement, one can conclude that the main doctrine of fascism is the construction of a strong all-encompassing state, which is the guarantor of the stable development of the nation.

The fascist doctrine, according to the ideologist Mussolini, is a compilation of all the achievements of the previous doctrines, that is, liberal and socialist (Mussolini, 1932). Fascism rejects the rule of the people, replacing it with the power of the few in the interests of the whole society, fascism firmly adheres to the positions of dirigisme and statism, that is, the doctrine of state intervention in all spheres of society (Duiker, 2015). Fascism fiercely opposes atheism, which undermines the foundations of the state, and without a strong state, the nation will certainly perish, tormented by liberal individualism and egoism and communist lack of spirituality, causing the class struggle (Gooch, 2020). Fascism rejects the revolution as a mechanism destroying the foundations of the state, which strongly manifested in German Nazism (Singh, 2017).

In conclusion, a look at the doctrine of fascism can be interpreted as the reaction of the ruling class to the crisis of capitalism and the revolutionary struggle of the working class. Socialism does not share the principles of building a stable society in a strong state by fascism, and fascism consolidates political and economic management in the hands of the ruling class, which regulates the conduct of domestic and foreign policy. In the case of capitalism, liberalist ideas enable better economic growth, but the control is limited, which is why fascism was seen as a better alternative.

References

Bosworth, R. J. B. (2007). Mussolinis Italy: Life under the fascist dictatorship, 1915-1945. Penguin Books.

Bosworth, R. J. B. (2021). Mussolini and the eclipse of Italian fascism: From dictatorship to populism. Yale University Press.

Duiker, W. J. (2015). Contemporary world history (6th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Gooch, J. (2020). Mussolinis war: Fascist Italy from triumph to collapse, 1935-1943. Pegasus Books.

Iodice, E. F. (2018). Lessons from history: The startling rise to power of Benito Mussolini. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 11(2), 3. Web.

Knight, P. (2003). Mussolini and fascism. Routledge.

Mussolini, B. (1932). The doctrine of fascism. World Future Fund. Web.

Parkash, D. B. (2019). The concept of fascism: A review of Italian ideology.History Research Journal, 5(4), 308-312. Web.

Singh, R. S. (2017). Advent of fascism and Nazism. Journal of National Development, 30(2), 85-90.

Benito Mussolini was born on 29 July, 1883 in the town of Varnano dei Costa near the village of Predappio. He was an avid writer and after finishing schooling, he became the editor of the Milan socialist paper Avanti. He became so popular due to his writings mainly among the Italian socialists after he wrote against Germanys World War 1. The Italian socialists never wanted their country to be involved in the war. He formed his paper in 1945, 11 Popolo dItalia, and continued his promotion for war. After Italys joined other Allies to fight Germany, Benito Mussolini was enlisted in the army and achieved the rank of Corporal a similar rank to Adolf Hitler. In 1917, he was discharged due to wounds sustained as he was in a trench. Following his discharge from the rank, he went back to his earlier writings and developed new ideas that came to be known as fascism. After the war, Italys economy was adversely affected since there were strikes and protests everywhere. Benito Mussolini with other veterans formed the National Fascist Party on March 23, 1919, which grew popular among the Italian people. He adopted the Roman salute and the Blackshirt Militia, which Adolf Hitler later copied. Mussolini and other 35 fascists were elected to the Italian chamber of deputies.

The Fascist party was against a general strike ordered by then the ruling party, the Leftist party. King Vittorio Emmanuelle 111 (1869-1947) phoned Benito Mussolini to go to Rome where they would hold talks to form a government. He assumed all the powers of the government offices and sent the strikers back home to their families and their jobs. He successfully stabilized the economy within a short period and was known as 11 Duce (the leader). He became an Italian leader after his first international border crisis between Greece and Albania. France supported him and he resolved the issue successfully. Mussolini was a thirst for power. He had visions of a new roman empire and he could see the day when the Mediterranean Sea became their sea. The League of Nations blacklisted Italy which forced his relationship with Nazi Germany which had also been isolated. On realizing that the League of Nations could not stop him or Hitler from gaining new colonies, he invaded Albania. Germany and Italy cemented their alliance with the pact of steel on May 22, 1939. Italy could not advance in conquest due to poor leadership in the military and lack of fuel to power their force. Benito Mussolini was forced to step down by the Fascist grand council and the king (Richard, 1987).

Benito Mussolini was among the founders of Italian fascism, which comprised the elements of nationalism, corporatism, expansionism, and anti-communism. He is credited with securing economic success in Italian colonies and dependencies (Blinkhorn, 1994).

However, Benito Mussolinis alliance with Adolf Hitler brought an end to fascism. Italys advancement in conquest was great but due to poor leadership in the militia, it suffered heavy casualties and was often pushed back and their already captured territories recaptured by their enemies. Benito Mussolini lost Sicily Island in which the enemies used to attack Italy. Galaezzo Ciano came up with the idea of signing a peace treaty with their Allies which was effective from the 24^th of July. This led to the dismissal of Benito Mussolini from office and he was under arrest. Adolf Hitler and Otto Skorzeny held a meeting on how to rescue Benito Mussolini.

They successfully rescued Mussolini who set up the Salo Republic, a fascist regime in a German-occupied northern Italy. He arrested and executed five of those who had voted against him on the Fascist Grand Council, including his son-in-law, Galaezzo Ciano which led to a weakening of Fascism. Mussolini was always expansionist in intent even when moderately conducted. His contribution of 60,000 troops at the height of the war and his involvement helped to increase his popularity among the Italian Catholics. His involvement ended any possibility of reconciliation with France and Britain. He chose to accept the German annexation of 1938 and in the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in 1939. The Nazis assassinated Benito Mussolinis friends and allies for example Engelbert Dollfuss the Austrofascist dictator of Austria in 1933. Benito Mussolini distanced himself from Adolf Hitler by rejecting the racialism and anti-Semitism of Hitler (De Grand & Alexander, 2004).

Spain had a series of politics before the civil war. The Carlists claimed to be the descendants of Spains throne and wanted to return to a traditionalist ultra-Catholic monarchy. Their movements support was from the Requests (the Carlist Militia), the Pelayos (the Carlist Youth Movement), and the Margaritas (the Carlist Womens Service), whose recruits were mainly from families of Navarrese smallholders. In 1933, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera founded the Falange party. The Monarchist movement with the support of conservative army officers became the opposition to the Republic after the abdication of King Alfonso X111. The Anarchist movement in Spain was the strongest in Europe with its main support from the industrial workers of Barcelona. This movement worked in secret and formed the backbone of the Anarchist Militias at any outbreak of the Civil war. The Communist party was small but highly efficient and enjoyed support from Russia. At the outbreak of war, the other political parties declined which was not the case for the Communists.

They exerted more and more pressure, especially on the Armed forces. The Socialists were the most powerful left-wing political force in Spain before the Civil war. (Beever, 2006). The Spanish Civil war of 1936-39 was a class and culture war. It was due to the struggle over material resources against the Republican government that was committed to social reform, devolution and secularization. The war began when the generals attempted a military coup against the Democratic government with a plan to coordinate several simultaneous risings in different parts of the country. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini aided the Spanish military rebellion in a corporation while on the other hand, the Soviet Union supported the Spanish republicans. France and the British government offered unofficial aid to loyalists and avoided confronting the Fascist and Nazi dictatorships. Adolf Hitler used the Spanish crisis to strengthen himself. The civil war provided him with a great opportunity since it divided British and French internally and shifted the overall European balance of power. This enhanced his territorial gains in Eastern Europe. The war increased tensions in the lead up of world war 11 (Frances, 2002).

Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler gave support to Spain under General Francisco Franco. This included; troops, aircraft, tanks, and other weapons. The Italian government provided the corps of volunteer troops and Germany sent Condor Legion. The estimated number of Italian soldiers was about 75,000 while Germany provided only about 19,000. The Nationalist side of General Franco arranged evacuations of children, women, and the elderly from war zones. After the capture of the main Spanish naval base at Ferrol in northwestern Spain by the Nationalists, the Fascists were encouraged to help Franco who was still war-minded like Benito Mussolini. He used the Fascist and Nazi support as the stepping stone for more conquests. The number of people executed on the Nationalists side was more than 50,000. This was inclusive of the Fascist soldiers who actively participated in the war. A lot of Italian resources and manpower were overused in General Francos thirst for power in his conquest. This meant that Italy had to support him both economically and materially. This weakened the Fascist movement because of its poor leadership (Beever, Antony, 2006).

The British and French representatives met with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and granted Hitler Czechoslovakia on sealing an agreement. This was by signing the Munich Accord which was against democracies rejecting fascism in Spain. The withdrawal of international left Spain to fight alone for several months. Later on, Adolf Hitler resupplied the Nationalists with arms and General Francisco Franco started his conquest taking Barcelona before the official end of the Spanish war on April 1, 1939. Most of the Spanish people thought it was the end of suffering and civil war, but General Francisco Franco began a reign of terror aimed at the physical liquidation of all his potential enemies. Tens of thousands were shot, mass executions carried out and concentration camps set up. Most of the volunteers and Spanish people took up arms against fascism again. This was a major blow to Benito Mussolinis fascist movement (Jackson, 1974).

The association of Benito Mussolini with Adolf Hitler and Spain led to his rise and power to conquer most of his neighbors. It also led to explorations in other continents like Eastern Africa. The empire was large but due to poor leadership led to the decline of his rule.

Work Cited

Beevor, Antony. The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 19361939. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006.

Blinkhorn Martin. Mussolini and Fascist Italy. 2^nd Ed. New York. Rout Ledge, 1994.

De Grand, Alexander J. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: The Fascist style of Rule. 2^nd Ed. New York. Rout Ledge, 2004.

Frances L. The Spanish Civil War. London. Osprey, 2002.

Gabriel Jackson. A Concise History of the Spanish Civil War. New York: John Day, 1974.

Richard B. The Rise and fall of Benito Mussolini. New York: 1987.

Robert H. Whealey. Hitler and Spain. London: HB, 2002.

Leading up to World War I Italy had formed an alliance with the Central Powers, with the German Empire and the Empire of Austria-Hungary, in the Triple Alliance. Italy would’ve fought on the side of the Central Powers when the war broke out in August 1914, but instead declared neutrality. Italy realized that its alliance with Central Powers will not help gain territories she wanted as they were Austrian possessions. Over the course of few months, Italy realized that its’ in her best interest to enter the war and signed the secret Treaty of London – joining forces with the Triple Entente. After the War ended, at the Paris Peace Conference that led to the Treaty of Versailles, the Italian government struggled against other Allied leaders (Britain, USA and France) to gain what they believed had been promised to them. Although they did receive control of most of the European requests, they failed to gain their colonial ambitions and felt that they had been cheated. This engendered resentment towards the Allied countries, especially as Italians felt that they had paid a heavy price, in terms men and money, in order to fight on the side of the Allies.

Italy’s involvement in the World War is often side-lined but for them it caused significant loss and human suffering. It joined the war in 1915 and by the end it had lost over 600,000 Italians in combat and millions were wounded and crippled. The war debt, food shortage, bad harvests and significant inflationary increases caused Italy to go bankrupt, with an estimated half a million civilians dying. These situational factors and resentment helped drive Benito Mussolini and his Fascist movement- four years after the war Mussolini and his Blackshirts gained power.

About Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcar Andrea Mussolini was born on 29 July 1883 in Predappio in northern central Italy. He belonged to a poor family, his father was a blacksmith who spent most of his time discussing politics in taverns and money on his mistress. Mussolini claimed to be the ‘man of the people’ and prided himself in his humble background but it wasn’t as humble as he claimed- his father was a part-time socialist journalist as well as a blacksmith and his mother was a school teacher. Mussolini himself was a troublesome child and was expelled thrice from different institutions on account of bullying and injuring his fellow students. At the age of 19, a short, pale but determined and intelligent Mussolini set out for Switzerland with a nickel medallion of Karl Marx in his empty pockets. He read extensively and voraciously- taking from different philosophies what appealed to him and discarding the rest, forming no coherent political belief of his own yet impressing his companions as a potential revolutionary of uncommon personality and striking presence. While earning a reputation as a political journalist and public speaker, he produced propaganda for a trade union, proposing a strike and advocating violence as a means of enforcing demands. Repeatedly, he called for a day of vengeance. More than once he was arrested and imprisoned. When he returned to Italy in 1904, even the Roman newspapers had started to mention his name. by 1909, Mussolini was being recognized as one of the most dangerous and gifted socialists; after writing in a wide variety of socialist newspapers he started his own called ‘La Lotti di Classe’ (‘The Class Struggles’) – this initiative was such a success that he was appointed as the editor of the newspaper ‘Avanti!’ (‘Forward’), whose circulation he soon doubled. Being an antimilitarist, antinationalist and anti-imperialist editor, he expressed his dissent on the involvement of Italy in World War I. However, soon he started writing articles fervently supporting the war – he resigned from ‘Avanti!’ and was expelled from the Socialist Party. He assumed the editorship of ‘Il Popolo d’Italia’ (‘The People of Italy’), in which he unequivocally stated his new philosophy: “From today onward we are all Italians and nothing but Italians. Now that steel has met steel, one single cry comes from our hearts – ‘Viva l’Italia!’”. It was the birth cry of fascism. Mussolini went to fight in the war.

Rise to Power

Mussolini, after returning from the war as an antisocialist, advocated the emergence of a dictator and hinted that he could prove to be the man who would free Italy from the grips of economic and political crisis. To put this to effect, 200 assorted republicans, anarchists, syndicalists, discontented socialists convened and discussed the establishment of a new force in Italian Politics. Mussolini called this force the ‘fasci di combattimento’ (‘fighting bands’), so fascism was created and its symbol devised.

Mussolini was highly dramatic, his facts and figures were often wrong, his attacks were often deceptive and misdirected but he had such a remarkable physique and personality, his oratory skills were so striking, and his vigorous and repetitive gestures were so beguiling that he rarely failed to impose his mood. The Fascist Party started rounding up socialists in and around Italy, burning down trade unions and threatening the locals. And as the Fascist movement built a broad base of support around the powerful ideas of nationalism, Mussolini began planning to seize power at a national level. In the summer of 1912, Mussolini was presented his opportunity in the form of General Strike organized by the trade union; Mussolini and his party came forward and crushed the strike thus, advancing the fascists’ claim to power.

The people of Italy began seeing Mussolini as the man who could restore peace amidst chaos, however, this order was restored at an enormous cost- Italy’s democratic system was crushed in order to establish one-party rule. Free speech was crushed. A network of spies and secret policemen watched over the population. Propaganda made it seem like Mussolini had reinvigorated Italy – bringing about social and political reforms without losing the support of the industrialists and the landowners- but the truth of the matter was less rosy than it appeared because he failed to address the deep-rooted structural issues with Italy’s economy and problems of social divisions which remained enormous.

Role in World War II

Italy found a new ally and opened way for the Pact of Steel – the Rome-Berlin Axis and a brutal alliance between Hitler and Mussolini that was to ruin them both. In 1938, following the German example, Mussolini’s government passed anti-Semitic laws in Italy that discriminated against Jews in all sectors of public and private life and prepared the way for the deportation of some 20 percent of Italy’s Jews to German death camps during the war.

While Mussolini understood that peace was essential for Italy’s well-being, he was concerned that interfering on their part would mean that Italy will lose out on its share. So, he watched Hitler progress with bitterness and anxiety, growing bitter with every German victory and hoping for the Germans to slow down so that Italy could relax a little. When Germany advanced westward, however, and France seemed on the verge of collapse, Mussolini felt he could delay no longer. So, on June 10, 1940, the fateful declaration of war was made.

Italy’s opportunistic hopes were crushed and the beginning of the war proved fatal. When France surrendered even before Italy had the opportunity to token its victory, Mussolini realized that he was only a consultative head in the Axis alliance. Since Germans kept most of their militaristic plans concealed, they made moves like invasion of Soviet Russia without any prior notice to Mussolini, who got so tired of Hitler’s antics that he decided to ‘pay him back’ and attacked Greece though Albania in 1940 without notifying the Germans – it was a humiliating defeat for Italy and Germans had to march in to extricate them from the consequences. Mussolini had also grossly exaggerated the extent of public support for the war and his regime – so when the Western Allies successfully invaded Sicily in July 1943, it was clear that his collapse is imminent.

Fascists and the non-fascists alike had been plotting for the dismissal of Mussolini from the office, however, Mussolini showed up to the office as usual disregarding the votes against him and refusing to believe that his followers would harm him. He was arrested and imprisoned. As German defenses in Italy collapsed and the Allies advanced rapidly northward, the Italian Communists of the partisan leadership decided to execute Mussolini. Rejecting the advice of various advisers, including the elder of his two surviving sons—his second son had been killed in the war—Mussolini refused to consider flying out of the country, and he made for the Valtellina, intending perhaps to make a final stand in the mountains; but only a handful of men could be found to follow him. He tried to cross the frontier disguised as a German soldier in a convoy of trucks retreating toward Innsbruck, in Austria. But he was recognized and, together with his mistress, Claretta Petacci, who had insisted on remaining with him to the end, he was shot and killed on April 28, 1945. Their bodies were hung, head downward, in the Piazza Loreto in Milan. Huge jubilant crowds celebrated the fall of the dictator and the end of the war.

Conclusion

Although Mussolini wasn’t as grisly as his contemporary dictator Adolf Hitler, he was still like him, totalitarian in nature- state controls the life of the individual, who is subordinate and exists only to serve the State that is an end in itself. He had imperialistic goals and wanted to establish Italy as a superior state but he had no manifesto or set principles because he believed that “rule is action based not talk”. Overall, World War II saw rise of fascist dictators in two war-stricken zones – Italy and Germany – and both of these men borrowed from the same ideologies which were anti-democratic, anti-intellectualism and glorified wars for the victory of state and the individual, in this process, was completely neglected.

Nazism and fascism are two one-of-a-kind doctrines that are regularly used interchangeably with every other. most people no longer comprehend that there are some prominent points of variations between the very origins of each. fascism acquired it is limelight between 1919 and 1945. it used be at some stage in the rule of Mussolini in Italy. fascism is a form of nationalism that is based absolutely on the authoritarian or totalitarian gadget of government. this system was recommended by using the use of many famous theorists like John Austin. On the different hand, Nazism received right here into being for the duration of the rule of Adolf Hitler and acquired recognition between 1933 and 1945. it all ended with the second world fighting when the Axis powers had been badly defeated.

Fascism and Nazism have one aspect in frequent – both are chiefly primarily based on militarism and totalitarianism. people are disadvantaged by the primary freedoms that are given in a democratic state. the Nazis would overtly inform about their race and regarded now not only Jews but all the exclusive races as inferior to them. all navy forces officers were Christians. hence, it can be said that Nazism is fascism with the factor of racism as one of it is predominant ingredients. As such, both fascism and Nazism pursue collectivism (ownership of the land and the capability of manufacturing through the state) as a part of a financial system led by the ability of the state, the group of a dictatorship led via the skill of a chief who literally has all energy and glorify violence, imperialism, and militarism. furthermore, they reject democracy and normal left- and right-wing parties, oppose freedom of speech, and are strongly in opposition to communism and capitalism, feminism, and homosexuality alike.

Another similarity can be determined in the truth that each are totalitarian ideologies, which capability that they are searching for to control all aspects of public and private existence alike. and finally, neither beliefs in classification conflicts and conflicts of exercise as an end result of their ideas of classification collaboration as an alternative of type fighting ( this is the area each ideology detects themselves at once opposing socialism and communism). an essential difference is that fascists choose corporatism (meaning that the sociopolitical commercial enterprise business enterprise of a society is to be led by means of the use of giant exercise organizations ) whereas Nazis no longer do. taken the whole lot into consideration, it can additionally be noted that the principal distinction between fascism and Nazism is that, fascists founded extra on their private kingdom, whereas race was once extra quintessential to the Nazis. when it comes to religion, similarities, and variants exist. the most crucial similarity can be located in the fact that theoretically, neither fascism nor Nazism can ever embody faith due to the reality that it claims – in reality like the two ideologies- the whole of an individual. every fascist Galland Nazi apprehend the fact that there are several religious people, inflicting each business to method trust with a warning at the same time as looking to locate a rationale that would gain their respective regimes.

In conclusion, fascism and Nazism had been welcomed with the resource of the world as they furnished the pleasant doable choice to a failed democratic system. For the duration of these cases of hopelessness, human beings preferred a leader to inform them which is why these ideologies flourished. theoretically, they had been considered to be equal, with Nazism being regarded as an extension of fascism. however, Hitler took Nazism to an unparalleled diploma of racial discrimination and brutality, which was once the whole contrary to fascism in practice. overall, each of the ideologies comes across as increased wonderful than similar.

The liberal ideas break down in the post-war time, the economic destabilization, the role of women, and the advancement of technology.

The first world war started in 1914 and ended in 1919, it was a global wide war that influences all aspects of society around Europe. After the war, liberal ideas broke down, people tend to believe that liberal ideas will only give too many rights to the government and be corrupt. Also, economic depression happened all over Europe, especially for Germany, they needed to pay a large amount of money according to the Treaty of Versailles. Technology also improved a lot during the first world war because the advanced technology can lead them to be superior during the war. In such a condition, Fascism was appealing to people because it can solve the problems of the economic depression, spreading the notion of nationalism, and becoming new Faith of people to lead restoring. The book is all quiet on the Western front, it showed us about t how the war will destroy people’s fantasy about the war originally and led soldiers to be hopeless about the future. The book the doctrine of Fascism showed us how Fascism was against liberal ideas and can be a spiritual force to support people to restore the country.

Fascism can be attractive to people because it can be a new faith to the people so that they can get rid of future hopelessness. The first world war, it totally changed the ideas of people about the cruelty of war. People felt hopeless for the future when they came back from the war front. In All Quiet on the western front, 161 pages Were it very bad out there, Paul? Mother, what should I answer to that? You would not understand, you could never realize it, and you shall never realize it.1 Here, it just shows the people different kinds of understanding about the war. Their emotion toward Paul was not just bad or good can express, the feeling was way more complex and far more than bad. I bite into my pillow. I grasp the iron rods of my bed with my fists. I ought never to have come here. Out there I was indifferent and often hopeless— I will never be able to be so again. I was a soldier, and now I am nothing but agony for myself, for my mother, for everything that is so comfortless and without end. I ought never to have come on leave. In this part, just can show Paul’s emotion was distorted, in the front, he saw so many deaths so that his emotion was inhabited by him. He hoped to back home to have a release but just found that he was indifferent here, he cannot really find the feeling when he was 18 here, becoming a soldier destroy all his emotions so he found his mother worrying about him just making him have a distortion in his mind. Page 185, and He had fallen forward and lay on the earth as though sleeping. Turning him over one saw that he could not have suffered long; his face had an expression of calm, as though almost glad the end had come. 296

‘Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear. The life that has borne me through these years is still in my hands and my eyes. Whether I have subdued it, I know not. But so long as it is there it will seek its own way out, heedless of the will that is within me.’295

Thus, we can see that the war totally changes people, it killed countless people during the war, destroy people’s illusion about the war, and gave them a sense of hopelessness and disillusion.

During the First World War, it causes harsh social problems in European society. And Mussolini provides the solution—Fascism. During the period after World War One, as a defeated countries, Germany and Italy needed to pay large amounts of compensation, which increased the severity of the social problem in the country. Even more, In 1929, because of the great depression happened, America took all of the money out of Germany, and suddenly increased the unemployment rate to about 40 percent, and people were starving, whole German society was in a depression. Then, In Germany, as a leader of the fascist party, Hitler promised that he will handle the problem of the economic depression and restore Germany again, which other parties cannot do. When Hitler seized power in Germany, they began work-creation and infrastructure programs and exhorted businesses to take on workers, doled out credit. It was effective to bring Germany to the stabilized Country again. All the actions that Hitler took in Germany were to reject the idea of liberal economics, and he limited a lot of freedoms in Germany to restore the German economy. And this kind of idea was in accord with the idea in the Doctrine of Fascism that Fascism is definitely and absolutely opposed to the doctrines of liberalism, both in the political and the economic sphere. Now liberalism is preparing to close the doors of its temples, deserted by the people who feel that the agnosticism it professed in the sphere of economics and the indifferentism of which it has given proof in the sphere of politics and morals, would lead the world to ruin in the future as they have done in the past. This explains why all the political experiments of our day are anti-liberal, and it is supremely ridiculous to endeavor on this account to put them outside the pale of history, as though history were a preserve set aside for liberalism and its adepts; as though liberalism was the last word in civilization beyond which no one can go.4 Hitler and the book both blamed liberal ideas as the main factor for destroying the world, which led people to be disappointed about the liberal values of the economy and attracted by Fascism.

Also, nationalism can be one big reason for Fascism to appeal to people. After the first world war, When Hitler seized the power in Germany, he blamed the reason for economic depression and losing the war on the Jewish people. He said Jewish were the inferior race and started Holocaust to eliminate Jewish and to build a new Germany with a pure race. This kind of behavior will be more appealing to the German people than other parties because it plays a role in stabilizing the politics and the fear among the Germans about losing the war. Also, the super-heated nationalism was rising in German, and that feeling just fostered Germany to unified because of the hate in the Treaty of Versailles. Then, Hitler promulgated laws to lower the status of the Jewish people and drove them away from German. Because of all the actions that Hitler took, German felt more united and had a strong sense of national pride, which led them to be more convinced about the Fascism government.

Also, Hitler started to make Fascism a new Faith in Germany. In his depiction, Nationalism should have a soul, and the man who was a soul should be the leader of the country and superior to all other people, which was Hitler himself. And Hitler emphasizes the importance of the communist state, opposing the right-bearing individuals. Individuals should think as a group and act as a group so that they can contribute to society. Furthermore, Fascism stated that the spiritual was more important than the material, and the government will be more ritual just like people gathering in the church, people will be more faithful because it did not have any material relation, it was more about the spiritual and can have a stronger relationship between country and individual. The doctrine of fascism, also stated that Fascism will be a spiritual force and that individualism should be avoided. Anti-individualistic, the Fascist conception of life stresses the importance of the State and accepts the individual only in so far as his interests coincide with those of the State, which stands for the conscience and the universal, will of man as a historic entity. Just like what wrote in the doctrine of Fascism, Hitler also tended to emphasize the country as a whole state, that individualism only can exist because it was accord with the benefit of the whole country. Also, the spiritual value of Fascism states that

The Fascist State, as a higher and more powerful expression of personality, is a force, but a spiritual one. It sums up all the manifestations of the moral and intellectual life of man. Its functions cannot, therefore, be limited to those of enforcing order and keeping the peace, as the liberal doctrine had it. It is no mere mechanical device for defining the sphere within which the individual may duly exercise his supposed rights. The Fascist State is an inwardly accepted standard and rule of conduct, a discipline of the whole person; it permeates the will no less than the intellect. It stands for a principle that becomes the central motive of man as a member of civilized society, sinking deep down into his personality; it dwells in the heart of the man of action and of the thinker, of the artist and of the man of science: the soul of the soul. In this part, the doctrine of Fascism told us that the state, as a spiritual force, was every rule and moral standard in human life, and this kind of motivation will be purer because it was without any human drives and it can be a refreshing of a human being. This was the same for Hitler because he also wanted to emphasize that he will become a new faith of German and use his spiritual power to control Germans and attracting to people.

Adolf Hitler stated: “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.” Hitler’s early life influenced his rise to power, the holocaust itself, and the aftermath of the Holocaust.

Adolphus Hitler was born in a small town in Austria-Hungary in 1889 as the second oldest child. He had two younger siblings, but his eldest ran away at age 14 because of their abusive father. That left Adolf to complete most of the chores bare the heavy end of the punishments. As a result, he had a very difficult relationship with his father. He was super attached to his mother who cared and worried about his well-being excessively. At first, Hitler did well in school, his teachers were proud, he played well with the other students, and he particularly loved to read stories about cowboys and Indians. As he grew older, he started to get into trouble at school and around the area. He was caught smoking, he raided an apple orchard, he disrespected his teachers, ad more. Because he did these things, his father punished him severely.

When Adolf was just 10 years old, his brother, whom he loved dearly, died of measles at age 6 and was buried in the cemetery just across from their house. After, neighbors began to see changes in Hitler’s behavior such as: talking to trees, and staying out late on the cemetery walls while staring at the stars. He lost interest in religion, and his grades in school began to decline. This enraged his father and was punished severely for it. Entering high school, he wasn’t interested in most subjects but spent his time reading and drawing which he was quite good at. His father died of a lung hemorrhage just months before Hitler barely passed his final semester. He dropped out of school at 16, instead of taking the final semester exam. For the next three years, he was unemployed and spent most of his time at the opera house with his only friend August. His friend later wrote about him saying that he was quick to anger just as his father was, and a fantastic speaker once he got started. At age 18, he said a very sad goodbye to his mother and went to Vienna to take the entrance exam for art school. He failed. Soon after, he returned home because his mother was sick and getting much worse. When she died, her doctor said he had never seen someone as overwhelmed with grief as Hitler was. He strived to find a career in the arts, but he never did. By his 20s he was living in and out of homeless shelters making very little money from postcards he painted. It’s difficult to pinpoint when Hitler formulated his beliefs, but his time in Vienna would have greatly impacted him. The Mayor, whom Hitler supported, was an outspoken anti-semite. He became a firm believer that there are many different races in constant struggle with each other and that the purest of them all was the German Aryan people and believed that the worst was the Jews. When he was 24 he moved to Munch in Germany to avoid doing military service. A year later, Hitler volunteered for the German army. He was reportedly a brave soldier and was awarded the iron cross, first class. Germany was defeated and surrendered, and he blamed the communists and the Jews. After the war ended, Hitler joined the National German Workers’ Party which became the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) known as the Nazis. For his role in the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, Hitler was imprisoned. While in prison, he wrote a memoir and a propaganda tract called (in English) “my struggle”. He was released from prison and within a few years, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. During this time, the Jewish population in Germany was 566,000.

February 27th of the same year, the Nazis wanted to create a chaotic environment, so they burned the Reichstag building to the ground. The next day, President Von Hindenburg granted Hitler emergency Powers as a result of the fire that Hitler had caused. Article 48 of the German constitution of the Weimar Republic allowed the president, under certain circumstances, to take emergency measures without the prior consent of the Reichstag, generally known as a parliament.

The Dachau concentration camp was opened on March 22, 1933. As their punishment, prisoners were forced to stand without moving for endless hours. Shortly after, Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen, and Ravenbrück, which was a camp for women only, were all opened as concentration camps.

The Nazis staged a boycott of Jewish shops and businesses. Hitler made Jews walk up and down popular business streets, such as Buehlstrasse, holding signs that said, “Don’t buy from Jews, shop in German businesses!!”

Several days later, the Nazis issued a decree defining who a non-Aryan was: “anyone descended from non-Aryan, especially Jewish, parents or grandparents. One grandparent or parent classifies the descendant as non-Aryan, especially if one parent or grandparent was of the Jewish faith.”

April 26th, 1933 was the date that the Gestapo was created by Hermann Göering, the designated successor to Hitler. The Gestapo, the Secret State Police, was later taken over by Himmler to terrorize Europe.

May 10 of 1933 was the burning of the books in Berlin and throughout Germany. All the books that were burned contained “Ungerman” ideas, and those who burns the books said nazi songs and anthems while the books went up in flames.

In the summer of 1933, the Nazi Party was declared the only legal party in Germany.

In September of 1933, the Nazis prohibited the Jews from owning land. The next month they were also prohibited choosing from being newspaper editors. and a month later they decided to pass a law declaring that Beggars, the homeless, alcoholics, and the unemployed could be sent to concentration camps.

In the new year (1934), the Jews were banned from the German Labour front. In May, the Jews were not allowed National Health Insurance. In July, the Jew’s rights to get legal qualifications were stripped of them. In that same year, in August, President Von Hindenburg died leaving Hitler to become the “absolute leader”. Days later, Hitler got a 90% “yes” vote from the German voters, approving his new powers.

In the early summer of 1935, the Jews were banned from serving in the military and a law was passed that allowed forced abortions on women in order to not spread hereditary diseases. on September 15th, 1935, the Nuremberg race laws were passed. This deprived German Jews of their citizenship. In the February of 1936, the German Gestapo was placed above the law. The Jews were banned from professional occupations in January of 1937.

Three main things happened in July of 1938: Jews were not allowed to trade or provide Commercial Services, Jews over 15 years old had to constantly have identification ready to show to the police at any time there were asked, and Jewish doctors could no longer practice medicine. In November of that year, any Jewish students were expected from all non-Jewish German schools.

1939, in April, Jews were told they could not be tenants, and therefore were relocated to Jewish houses. Later, in May, a ship crowded with 930 Jewish refugees was turned away by Cuba, the US, and other countries. As a result, the ship, called St Louis, was forced to return to Europe. A few months later, on September 3rd, Great Britain declared war on Germany. 20 days later, German Jews were forbidden to own wireless radio sets. In October of that same year, the Nazis began euthanasia on the sick and disabled in Germany. They called it “mercy killing”. In October of 1939, a decree was issued saying that Polish Jews from the age of 14 to 60 could be forced into labor.

In late January of 1940, the Nazis chose the site of a new concentration camp, in the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) in Poland. In February what is the first deportation of German Jews into occupied Poland? The Nazis invaded France containing a Jewish population of 350,000, Belgium with a Jewish population of 65,000, Holland with a Jewish population of 140,000, and Luxembourg with a Jewish population of 3,500. In June of 1940, did Nazis occupy Paris, and France signs an armistice with Hitler. Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact on September 27, 1940. The Nazis invaded Romania, containing a Jewish population of 34,000, on October 7. Also in October of that year, many participated in the deportation of 29,000 German Jews into France. In November Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia become Nazi allies, and the Krakow Ghetto is sealed off containing 70,000 Jews. Then on November 15, containing over 400,000 Jews Warsaw Ghetto is sealed off.

“I ask nothing of the Jews except that they should disappear,” stated Hans Frank, Gauleiter of Poland in 1941. After a Dutch Nazi his killed by Jews, 430 Jewish hostages are deported from Amsterdam, in February. Less than a month later, German shoes are forced into labor. 3,602 Jews were arrested in Paris, in May 1941. A concentration camp, occupied in Poland, becomes operational in July of that year. On September 3rd of 1941 in Auschwitz, was the first test use of Zyklon-B gas.

December 7th, 1941 is a well-known event. This is the day that the Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor. Then the next day the U.S., fighting alongside Britain, declared war on Japan. Hitler declares war on the United States not even a week later. The United States entered the war concentrating about 90% of its military resources on Hitler and his defeat.

In January of 1942 in Auschwitz, mass killings of Jews using the Zyklon-B gas began, and bodies were buried in mass graves nearby. In March, the Belzec extermination camp was opened in Poland and was equipped with permanent gas chambers. Train loads of Jews begin to arrive at many different camps from all over Germany. In April of 1942, German Jews are disallowed the right to use public transportation. Sobibor extermination camp in Poland opens, containing three gas chambers. The New York Times reported that over 1,000,000 Jews were already killed by the Nazis by June of 1942. Treblinka extermination camp opened in Poland and contained 10 gas chambers which could each hold roughly 200 people.

The decision was made to burn the bodies in open pits instead of burying them, and so the bodies already buried, which were approximately 107,000 people, were dug up.

In September of 1942, they began to reduce the food rations for Jews. They also began cashing in all possessions of the Jews for money but gave away mostly the clothes to German families. There were estimated 800 boxcars of confiscated goods just from Auschwitz. In December 1942 after over 600,000 Jews have been murdered, the Belzec extermination camp is taken apart, plowed, and trees are planted in its place.

In August of 1943, after an estimated 870,000 deaths at Treblinka, exterminations cease. In October of that year, underground, the Danish helped to transport and save 7,220 Danish Jew’s safety. Nearly 300 Jews escaped from the Sobibor extermination camp, but only 50 survived. Shortly after, the camp closed, and it was reported that there had been over 250,000 deaths.

In August of 1944, Anne Frank and her family were arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz. Later, Anne and her Sister Margaret were sent to another camp where she died of typhus on March 15, 1945.

In 1944 the Nazis forced 25,000 Jews to walk over 100 miles in horrible weather conditions. Shortly after there was a second forced march of 50,000 people.

In January 1945, Budapest was liberated by the Russians which freed over 80,000 Jews. Later, they also liberated Auschwitz. By this time it was estimated that 2,000,000 people, of which 1,500000 Jews, had been murdered there.

Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker on April 30th, 1945. That day, 33,000 inmates were freed by Americans from the concentration camps.

The Holocaust lasted between 1933 and 1945 in which 6 million Jews were murdered. Mazis called this time the “Final solution of the Jewish Question in Europe”. In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe was over nine million, and by 1945, Hitler had wiped out nearly two out of every three European Jews as part of the “Final Solution”.

Many survivors found shelter in displaced people’s camps administered by the Allied powers. Between 1948-1951, almost 700,000 Jews emigrated to Israel including 136,000 Jewish displaced persons from Europe. Beginning in the early 21st century, the Swiss government and banks have established funds to aid survivors of the Holocaust as well as other victims of human rights, abuses, genocide, and others. Mostly all the survivors had serious psychological suffering, and many also had physical difficulties. They felt as if they were living in the shadow of the holocaust, always being haunted by the memories. Survivors began searching for their families soon after liberation. John Freund wasn’t lucky enough to live with his family again. He wrote this saying, ‘Our beautiful apartment was empty. Shortly after liberation, a young man and woman I had met asked me why I never smiled. “How can I?” I replied. Now that hunger and the fear of death receded, the pain and sadness of living through hell and losing all those I loved was great. I waited for someone from my family to return. No one did.’

Hitler’s early life influenced his rise to power, the holocaust itself, and the aftermath of the Holocaust. When you face a tragedy and a hardship such as a holocaust, it’s hard to look for God in this situation. To not feel lonely, when you have absolutely no one seems impossible. In the words of Franklin D Roosevelt, “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” 

The Holocaust was the most catastrophic mass murder ever known in human history. So catastrophic that new words had to be invented to describe it (genocide). It is estimated that over 6 million Jews, gypsies, disabled, and mentally ill people were murdered. The word Holocaust stands for destruction or slaughter on a mass scale. The Nazis were trying to wipe out all the Jews in Europe in order to create their “master race” and purify the German people of the Jews. However, Historians argue as to the extent of planning for the Holocaust and as to whether the Nazis always intended it, particularly on such a scale.

That is the question I look at here, To what extent was the Holocaust a long-term plan? There are several differing theories on whether the Holocaust was a long-term plan and who was responsible for carrying it out. Historian Christopher Browning is an advocate for the Structuralist argument. In his arguments, Browning says that Hitler was only a small cause of the Holocaust and he looks on at the lower-ranking Nazi officials such as SS leader Himmler and SS-Obergruppenführer Heydrich.

Christopher Browning believes that it was a rivalry within the unstable Nazi power structure that provided the major driving force behind the Holocaust as each official tried to beat the other in pleasing the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler. He also says believes that it was largely the failures in Russia and the turning of the war that stopped the exportation and shooting of the Jews and so the Nazis turned to the death camps as a way to exterminate them quickly before they could be stopped. Intentionalist Daniel Goldhagen has very different views. He believes that a plan for mass extermination was always on Hitler’s agenda and that popular opinion in Germany was already sympathetic to a policy of Jewish extermination before the Nazi party came to power. He blames the German people of the era for accepting Jewish discrimination and he combines this with Hitler’s early speeches and intentions as justification for his view. Historian Ian Kershaw is the key figure in the Synthesis argument. He argues that Hitler was an indirect cause of the Holocaust. He says that Hitler set out the vision for the Holocaust and that it was taken from there by the German people as they were already very anti-Semitic against the Jews and were looking for someone to blame for their problems. He suggests that the Holocaust was an attempt by the lower officials in the German Army to please Hitler based on what he said in his discriminating speeches. He bases his theory on the year-by-year actions of the Nazis coming from the propaganda, letters, diaries, and documents.

In my view the Holocaust was to a certain extent a long-term plan, Hitler had spoken for years of his hatred of the Jews, but I do agree that a rivalry in the German army pushed the brutality of the Holocaust forward as Nazi officials tried to outdo each other and please Hitler in order to boost their careers.

There are many themes we can use to spot differences and similarities in the three different theories regarding the Holocaust. Firstly we can look at how the three theories see the role of Hitler in the Holocaust, From this we can trace how long-term they believe, the plan was for the holocaust. Both the intentionalist and synthesis arguments of Goldhagen and Kershaw place great importance on the role of Hitler in the conception and implementation of the final solution. This is based on his known hatred for Jews before he entered politics. Goldhagen and Kershaw do not however agree on how this happened. Kershaw dates Hitler’s hatred of Jews back to the end of WW1. He believes that the German defeat was “traumatizing” for Hitler and that Hitler blamed the Jews for what he believed to be a “stab in the Back”[footnoteRef:1]. From this Kershaw believes that Hitler became totally obsessed with “revenge”. Kershaw believes that for Hitler this could only be achieved by warlike means. For example, Kershaw says “The German cause, had given him a purpose for the first time in his life. In one of the few letters he wrote from the Front, in 1915, he spoke of the huge human sacrifices being worthwhile to produce a post-war Homeland (purer and cleansed of alien influence)”.

This is a good argument based on facts which makes it very plausible. Intentionalist Daniel Goldhagen takes a slightly different stance on the role of Hitler, He believes that the extermination of Jews was always on Hitler’s mind and that he was the driving force behind the Holocaust. In his book Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, Goldhagen says that “The most appropriate, indeed the only appropriate general proper name for the Germans who perpetrated the Holocaust is “Germans”. They were Germans acting in the name of Germany and its highly popular leader, Adolf Hitler”[footnoteRef:2]. What Goldhagen is suggesting is that Hitler was the popular figurehead of the Holocaust, whom the Germans willingly obeyed as he tried to exterminate Jews. Goldhagen is giving a much larger role in the Holocaust to Hitler than the Synthesist and structuralist arguments. This is an extreme and controversial argument. Browning’s Structuralist argument takes a very different stance. Browning pushes more of the blame on the subordinates under Hitler as the driving force behind the Holocaust. In his book “The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy” Browning writes that “Hitler’s prophecies and exhortations transformed by his eager subordinates, especially Heinrich Himmler and Heydrich[footnoteRef:3]”. This argument sheds new light on the Holocaust. Browning believes that while Hitler held a vision of ridding Germany of Jews it was those under him who took it to much more extreme levels. This is an often controversial theory as it allows Hitler to escape most of the blame. [1: Hitler’s role in the Final Solution p9-10] [2: P7 Hitler’s willing executioners ] [3: P1 The evolution of Nazi Jewish policy]

The role of others, those outside Hitler; is certainly just as important, possibly even more significant. The Key players such as Himmler and Heydrich played a huge role in creating and implementing the final solution and responding to Hitler’s wishes. I think it is safe to say that the idea of Jewish extermination originated from Hitler and his racial thinking, but it was those around him who thought up the ways to make it happen. They did this not because they feared Hitler, but because they believed in him and what he was doing. In Browning’s work he believes that “to know what Hitler was thinking, one should look at what Himmler was doing”. Browning places great importance on Himmler being a key player “Himmler responded to (Hitler’s) signals with extraordinary alacrity and sensitivity”. Browning supports the idea of Hitler being the inspiration while others implemented his vision “he (Hitler) would give signals in the form of relatively vague and inexplicit statements, exhortations and prophesies[footnoteRef:4]”. [4: P425 The Origins of the Final Solution]

Considering the readings, how would you most efficiently define fascism?

Well, it is kind of hard to define it, especially nowadays because nearly every movement which is conducted by politics or government are been called “fascist’ by at least somebody or some parties. Fascism is a form of government, generally headed by a dictator or oligarchy, fascist state utilized authoritarianism which demands strict obedience to essential power that limits the personal freedom of its citizens often under submission for common goods. This notion often translates into “nationalism” which might sound harmless but under the fascism government the actions of state will always seem to be correct for citizens, as they are nationalist, building a church or slaughtering immigrants, decisions which will be made by the state are always correct, nationalism tends to bring xenophobia which means fear of foreigners . This was all was also stated in the book written by Robert O. Paxton “Anatomy of Fascism” the definition of fascism is by Robert o.Paxton “Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.”Overall fascism could be a person or a group of people who want to rule like kings and the queen did in old ages, what they say is the “law”, what they want they will get, regardless price and consequences which will be afterward, they will do whatever they want, even if ethics or laws will be broken in process .

What are the preconditions for the rise of fascism? What barriers does fascism face and where can it find allies in a liberal society?

The conclusions which came towards after reading “The Anatomy of Fascism “and ‘The Suffocation of Democracy’ about what kind of preconditions are required for the rise of fascism are well known to everyone or at least to me. They are a multicultural society, lost of power or greatness in the country, poverty in the country, reduce the number of people from your race ( what I mean by that is less white pure children are born ) and etc. Let’s take the example of Germany, after the world war 1, with the successful allied advance 1918, the German realized the war was unwinnable and sign the armistice ending the fight. As its imperial government collapsed civil unrest and worker strikes spread across the nation, fearing of a communist revolution so, in order to stop the uprising, main parties had to join together , they did a peace treaty which was imposed by allies ,in addition to losing tenth of its territory and dismantling its army Germany had to accept full resposibility for the war and pay reparations and at that time its economy was already gigantic weakened . This makes all germans nationalist and veterans humiliated as they were thinking that war could have been won if the army hasn’t been betrayed by politicians.For Hitler these views became obsessions and this delusion led him to pin all the blame on Jews as the many Germans continue to perceive them as outsiders.Hitler saw his opportunity to use this hate and anger of his people in benefiting himself, he joined a small nationalist political party in order to achieve his goals. Unfortunately Hitler had a talent in manipulating people by public speaking which launched into its leadership, after a short period of time crowds increasingly grew large ,then Nazi finally denounced both communism and capitalism as they were convinced by Hitler that ews are to blame for what is happenning with there country ,they were thinking that jewish conspiracies to destroy Germany, but this wasn’t the biggest motivation which German people had, in 1929 “the great depression happened “it led American banks to withdraw their loans from Germany and already struggling economy collapse over a night after this . Hitler saw this as his lucky gate to use people’s anger to restore Germanies greatness. Hitler ran for president in 1932, which he lost but still he was made as Channels which benefited Hitler and he steadily expanded his power and later argued that only he was the only one who can restore the law and order in Germany and later after president Hinderbured died Hitler got access to the power he demanded and this is how fascism in the country was born .

I would say fascism isn’t something which doesn’t build up in a day within people ,it takes months if they have role model in public (like Hitler )or even years until they fully get possed by unethical conclusions which build hater and anger within themselves, which leads them to think or even conduct actions which they would never think of they could do and at that stage of point it doesn’t matter to them what will be consequences they just want to achive their unreachable goals, fascism is a dangerous power of hunger .

How does fascism gain popular appeal? How do opponents of fascism react to that appeal? What seems successful and what doesn’t?

Fascism is something like a “light of hope” for people, when they see that there is someone who will take whatever it takes in order to achieve their comma goals, public will love, praise and support him until they reach their gaols, take example of Hitler, he was telling people what they want to hear and he didn’t thought of wheater or not it was possible or not he was just manipulating people fear into the fighting spirit . Opponent might not find it any anykind of thread at first but within the blink of eyes, fascism could become so powerful that there is nothing can be done to stop its uprising.According to “Anatomy of fascism,” successful is when “Many intellectuals associated with fascism’s early days dropped away from or even went into opposition as successful fascist movements made the compromises necessary to gain allies and power, or, alternatively, revealed its brutal anti-intellectualism.” I guess he is totally right about it.

How do fascist groups shape history through propaganda to legitimize their power?

Fascist groups shape history through propaganda to legitimize their power by creating “insiders ” and “ outsiders “ groups of people , “insiders ”thinks that they are the one victim of “outsiders ” and all the troubles and problems “insiders ” are facing it has been conducted by “outsiders ” and if no actions are taken “outsiders’ would occupy their place but it is not like that , “insiders “ would conduct actions on “ outsiders” by doing something so unethical that if “outsiders “ even thought of it, it would be war within country, fascist group “insiders “eventually would take power of milatyr and politics and history showes us , but not for long.

How did citizens of fascist states cooperate with fascist power in its excesses? Are the heights of fascist excess a sign of fascist success or eventual failure?

Citizen of fascist state are trying to not support them but also not repale to fascist people in there country ,us their own lives could be at risk too, if they help “outsiders” they will be also called one of them , citizens realize that what is happening is not right but they got no options, as fascist group and state is overpowerful , all of the fascist powers will eventually fail us we can see in history because once they achieve their goals they must find another one else everything will collapse and people would get tired of all those sacrifices and blood.

To what degree do we see the ghosts of fascism in the modern world and The United States today?

Fascism which is building in USA is a unique case compared to any other from my viewpoint , because this kind of fascism is something which shouldn’t just concern the US citizen it should make other countries to get into a fear as there is no other country that can compete with US army, even if other countries unite together its just impossible to compete with the US, as their weapons technology is at least 20 years advance if not more compared to rest of the world, this is why this is unique case as in the past nobody in the history of humankind had ever such a power of conquering the all other nations .Along with that fascism which is building in the US such like Anti-Muslims, white supremacist and etc.this also influence other white nation countries public to uprise and support this fascism group as we see in Europe, which might be beneficial for there country government as government will do what the public wants and that is to become “fascist state”, as I said this might be beneficial for those countries as they can become united with the USA but what should other such like Asian countries or African countries do? That is why everyone should hope that the US won’t reach stage 3 or beyond fascism, else it might be end for the human race.