Category: Fascism

Fascism is one of the most negative radical forms of dictatorship the emergence of which had a dramatic effect on many countries of the world. Having developed in Europe in the 1920s, fascism played an important role at the beginning of World War II. However, the most extensive evolution of this far-right ultranationalism took place before the war, which impacted the relationships between the countries after World War I and led to tragic processes and consequences. Fascism first appeared in Italy, but it reached its peak in Germany. The main reason why fascist dictators’ rise to power became possible was that the countries defeated in World War I were put in rather harsh conditions by the Peace Treaty of Versailles.

By the policies expressed in the Versailles Declaration, the countries that lost the Great War were quite limited in their actions. They were deprived of almost all ammunition and had to pay reparations to the winners. However, such fate was destined not only to the countries that lost the Great War. Some winners also felt under pressure and did not experience any satisfaction from the fact that they gained a victory. In the 1920s, Italy was the closest to an “authentic social explosion” of all winning states. Citizens did not feel any satisfaction even though they won the war. The expectations concerning territorial gains were not fulfilled, whereas the losses of people and resources were immense. Because of the ineffective work of the war government, social conflict in the country was intensified. Italy, which had already been separated into “feudal south” and “industrial north,” could not cope with the aftermath of the war. Along with inflation and the increased cost of living, the atmosphere in 1920 Italy was hardly peaceful and satisfactory.

The revolutionary wave that covered Italy in 1920 found its exit in the rise of fascism. Benito Mussolini, who had gained some reputation prior to the Great War, quickly became the new leader of those who felt deceived by the victory. Supporting syndicalist views, Mussolini denied both the Marxist strategy of taking over the state prevailing in Russia and gradualist parliamentary socialism. The early fascism program, established in 1919, combined social radicalism, nationalism, and the desire to release Italy from complacent ineffectiveness. Fascists demanded the vote for women, a share in control for workers, an eight-hour working day, and the appropriation of church property. In 1920, Mussolini’s intentions became more radical, and fascists initiated a series of military conflicts within the country, which led to the destruction of numerous buildings and industry offices. Italian fascists later got hold of the government and exercised their power in a way that made people doubt whether they could control their violence and power. Although the Italian fascist movement emerged prior to the German one, it is much less discussed in the context of World War II and other significant world events.

While Italy was a winner of the Great War, and Germany was a loser, the two countries were put in similar conditions by the Treaty of Versailles. Hence, fascist ideas soon became popular in Germany, as well. Nationalism, which was the ground for fascism, had four dimensions: ethnic, economic, scientific, and religious. The nation was suffering from hunger, poverty, and humiliation, and the level of trust in the government was rather low. The unsettled situation in the country led to the formation of the Nazi party, the leader of which was Adolf Hitler. The new leader was supported both by small artisans, nationalist journalists, politically minded military officers, and wealthy people. The Nazi program included not only the demand to invalidate the Versailles Treaty but also the intention to expel Jews from office and citizenship. Such ethnic cleansing made the fascist movement in Germany much more infamous than that in Italy.

Although Italy and Germany are most known for their fascist ideas and leaders, some other countries also joined the movement in the 1920s-1930s. One of such states was Spain, the military and social currents of which raise doubts among the historians as to how they should be defined. Among the opinions on this subject matter, there is the idea that the Spanish Civil War may be categorized as a fascist movement. The development of the radical right wing in Spain, which led to a civil war, is viewed by some scholars as a movement with a fascist nature. A common view of Spanish politics of the 1930s is that it had little in common with German nationalism and Italian fascism. The main argument in support of considering the Spanish political current of the 1930s as fascism is the abilities of the latter. Particularly, fascism was capable of organizing a mass movement by integrating parts of society in the period of radicalization of a national crisis. Furthermore, the fascist nature of some Spanish parties was evident, which allows concluding that Spain was indeed influenced by the fascist movement in the interwar period.

Hence, the fascist movements in Italy, Germany, and Spain have some common roots, but their representation in these countries was different. While fascism originated in Italy, its German manifestation became most widely known. In Germany, fascism was accompanied by the process of ethnic cleansing, which involved first the removal of the whole Jewish population from the country and then murdering of millions of innocent people. The ideology of Italian and German fascism was not the most distinctive feature of the movements. The most prominent characteristic was the exploitation of stormtroopers to carry on the struggle against democracy in a resolute and devastating way. The increased popularity of fascism in Germany was probably the reason why this country became most closely associated with the movement despite the fact that it originated in Italy. Unlike Germany, Italy did not undergo a Nuremberg process after World War II. Italy’s leader in the 1930s, Mussolini, hoped for a short war in the 1940s, which made people follow his hopes and resulted in their support. However, neither Italy nor Germany succeeded in the war, which caused losses even more aggravating than after the Great War.

Radical forms of power may be successful, but such success comes at a high price and is rarely justified. In the 1930s, several countries in Europe made an attempt to regain what they lost in World War I. Whether winners or losers of the Great War, countries felt that their current leaders were not doing enough for the people. Because of such a depressive atmosphere, several European states allowed fascism to emerge and gain power. Italy, Germany, and Spain are known for their radical fascist movements that governed the countries to a great extent. Despite some differences in the development of fascism in these states, the common cause of such a tendency was the aftermath of the Versailles Treaty.

Bibliography

Eatwell, Roger. “Explaining Fascism and Ethnic Cleansing: The Three Dimensions of Charisma and the Four Dark Sides of Nationalism.” Political Studies Review 4, no. 3 (2006): 263-278.

Gallego, Ferran. “Fascistization and Fascism: Spanish Dynamics in a European Process.” International Journal of Iberian Studies 25, no. 3 (2013): 159-181.

Morgan, Philip. “Italy’s Fascist War.” History Today 57, no. 3 (March 2007): 40-46.

Paxton, Robert O., and Julie Hessler. Europe in the Twentieth Century. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2012.

Rosenberg, Arthur. “Fascism as a Mass Movement.” Historical Materialism 20, no. 1 (2012): 144-189.

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). Mussolini’s 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). Mussolini’s 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 Germany’s World War 1. The Italian socialists never wanted their country to be involved in the war. He formed his paper in 1945, 11 Popolo d’Italia, and continued his promotion for war. After Italy’s 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, Italy’s 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 Mussolini’s alliance with Adolf Hitler brought an end to fascism. Italy’s 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 Mussolini’s 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 Spain’s throne and wanted to return to a “traditionalist” ultra-Catholic monarchy. Their movement’s support was from the Requests (the Carlist Militia), the Pelayos (the Carlist Youth Movement), and the Margaritas (the Carlist Women’s 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 Nationalist’s 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 Franco’s 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 Mussolini’s 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 1936–1939. 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.

Pan’s Labyrinth is a 2006 dark fantasy chef-d’oeuvre film by Guillermo del Toro with the events unfolding in Spain in 1944 during the early Francoist period, almost half a decade after the Spanish Civil War. One of the film’s storylines highlights post-war reality in Spain, specifically focusing on the resistance mounted by the Anti-Francoist guerilla, popularly known as maquis against the new regime. In the film, Captain Vidal, one of the protagonists, represents the new Phalangist regime seeking to silence the maquis and create a new masculine identity founded on fascism. Importantly, the film is set in the Spanish post-war era, which underscores the concept of winners and losers. During the Spanish War, the Republicans lost to the Phalangist government, and this concept is used to highlight the creation of a new form of masculinity. This paper discusses the alienation of the Republican ideal of manhood through the emergence of a fascist masculine personality in Pan’s Labyrinth.

The Portrayal of Fascist Masculine Personality

The creation of a new fascist masculinity idea is normative in its nature by deliberately silencing the Republicans together with their ideals including that of manhood. The masculinity depiction of winners and losers in the film is clear with soldiers from the government side (the victors) adorning clean new uniforms with well-shaven faces projecting confident body language as a show of pride. They are armed with different forms of arms riding horses as a show of power. On the other side, the defeated Republican soldiers are dressed in tattered uniforms, and after being injured in combat, they escape to the mountains where they become invisible shadows of their former gallantry. Captain Vidal entrenches the idea of alienating the Republican soldiers by showing little regard for them. He says in Spanish, “they think we are all the same but they are wrong. There is a big difference: that the war ended and we won and if for us all to find out we have to kill those sons of bitches, well, we’ll kill them and that’s it” (Pan’s Labyrinth). In other words, Captain Vidal insinuates that the Republicans are alienated and their ideals no longer have any meaning in Spanish society. This assertion paves the way for the understanding of how the Republican ideal of manhood is systematically replaced by a fascist one in the film.

The opposition between the two opposing ideals of masculinity could be understood by focusing on the characters that personify them. On the one hand, all the male characters representing the Phalangist side are Spanish, fascist, wealthy, and white coming from elite institutions, such as the army or the R.C. Church. On the other hand, the characters representing the Republican side are feeble persons with disabilities and mainly drawn from the international brigade. Fascism and its values, at the time, were only being expressed as an antithesis of the “other”. In other words, this ideal focused on discrediting the other side as the only viable way of expressing its values of morality, sexuality, and all other societal paragons. The othering of the Republican concept of masculinity could only be understood through the actions of Captain Vidal and his unbridled dislike for the defeated soldiers.

Captain Vidal is inherently braggadocios and the fact that he is a proud military soldier, who has just won an important war, compounds this attribute. In the eyes of the public, winning a war made the involved soldiers warriors, and as Wicks writes, “The warrior, foremost among male archetypes…has been the epitome of masculinity in many societies” (29). As such, soldiers were expected to show courage, heroism, stoicism, and discipline, and Captain Vidal is a perfect example of such a soldier as he embodies all these attributes. Right from the beginning of the film, he stands out as a narcissistic proud man that does not care about anything associated with women in the process of forming the new fascist masculinity identity. Wicks writes that such a man was taught to “deny all that is feminine and soft in himself” (29). Therefore, even though his wife, Ofelia’s mother, is heavily pregnant, she is forced to travel to the mountains so that he can witness the birth of his son, without caring about the welfare of the mother. Even when his wife is about to die from pregnancy-related complications, the Captain strictly instructs the doctor to save his son with total disregard of the mother’s wellbeing. Under the new masculine identity, women are simply baby-bearing machines and Ofelia’s mother has completed this task, and thus she becomes irrelevant.

Vidal, as a fascist military man, is fond of showing off his authority, which he expects to be respected. Consequently, the other male characters exist only to prop him and portray his authority. He runs his unit with unparalleled militarism guided by fascist masculinity values of physicality, military belligerence, and uttermost nationalism. Any cases of insubordination are faced with aggressiveness to subdue any voice of opposition. For instance, when Dr. Ferreiro goes against Vidal’s instructions and helps a prisoner to die, the captain reproaches the doctor openly. However, Ferreiro is not convinced of the fascist ideals shaping masculinity and thus he looks straight into the Captain’s eyes and retorts, “obey just for the sake of it, without questioning, that’s something that only men like you do, captain” (Pan’s Labyrinth). When the doctor says, “men like you” he is referring to the fascist concept of masculinity that expects people to obey without questioning even if the orders infringe on the very basic human rights. However, under the premise of fascist masculinity, dissenting people like the doctor have no place and because he has chosen a different path to be another kind of a man, he has to die. As mentioned earlier, silencing all the dissenting voices is one of the strategies used to promote the fascist masculinity ideology.

Additionally, the maquis and all other victims of Captain Vidal exist for the sole purpose of showing brutal, heartless, and aggressive a fascist male can become. For instance, Vidal kills an innocent father together with his son for hunting hares as a way of providing for their family. He is also a sadist who enjoys torturing his prisoners for the sake of it. Overall, Vidal is depicted as evil – a real monster, which is the film’s underlying effort to silence anti-fascist voices. He even knows the picture that he projects and at one point, he tells Mercedes, the housekeeper, that he (Captain) knows that he comes out as a monster. Captain Vidal embodies all the attributes of a fascist, which when taken in the context of what was happening in Spain at the time including the promotion of patriarchal leadership and redefinition of feminism to relegate women to household chores, projects the image of a fascist masculine identity.

Similarly, the idea of dying honorably for soldiers was deeply entrenched in fascism and it comes out clearly in the movie. In the film, the Captain does not retreat, as he believes he would rather die a hero than being branded a loser or a weakling. Therefore, he has to act brave even in the face of imminent danger as part of the fascist male identity. This aspect emerges clearly when during a fierce shooting he yells to one of his men, “Come on, Serrano, have no fear, for this is the only decent way to die!” (Pan’s Labyrinth). Under this new masculine identity hinged on fascism, it would be considered honorable death to die by the bullet. The Captain projects the same ideologies when dealing with his perceived enemies, even when unarmed. He shoots the harmless doctor from the back and mercilessly butchers a father and his son because such is the only decent way to die.

Conclusion

In the film, Pan’s Labyrinth, the idea of fascist masculine identity arises and thrives by antagonizing the conventional ways of life. Specifically, Guillermo del Toro uses Captain Vidal to promote this ideology by embodying all attributes associated with fascism. He is abrasive, belligerent, proud, and a chauvinist who does not shy from portraying his authority and demanding total obedience from his juniors. He disrespects women, which is a fascist ideology because they are seen as childbearing machines and housekeepers. He believes in dying a hero even if it means dying by the bullet. As such, the movie, through Captain Vidal, creates and promotes a new fascist male identity by silencing and antagonizing mainstream ideologies and promoting unorthodox behaviors as embodied by this character.

Works Cited

Pan’s Labyrinth. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, performance by Sergi Lopez, Estudios Picasso, 2006.

Wicks, Stephen. Warriors and Wildmen: Men, Masculinity, and Gender. Praeger, 1996.