Europe between the Wars: Fascism Essay

According to Stanley Payne, the term fascism rooted from the Latin word fasces which delineate parcel of land or union. Yet, these words cannot fully encapsulate nor even define what fascism to a greater extent specifically Italian Fascism is all about. It had been commonly misused as to refer to violence, repression, dictatorship and brutality removing any difference from the impression that were commonly associated with Communism. (p. 3) Seemingly, a clear cut definition of fascism is hard to come up with because it does not grow any seminal text that should incur defined its political, social and economic pursuit in origin with other ideologies.Since this is the case, knowing the history of how the so-called fascist acts and the things they try to emphasize in the words they said, were unquestionable for anyone to have a more relevant understanding of the term or the word fascism. As an ideology, fascism considers the concerns of the various(prenominal) along with those of the society as secondary or inferior to those of the whole state.Primarily, it judgements the state as an constituent(a) living thing that is mythical in a sense due to its belief in a national rebirth in the process of nti-ideological and pragmatic ideology that proclaims itself antimaterialist, antiindividualist, antiliberal, antidemocratic, anti-Marxist, is populist and anticapitalist in tendency, expresses itself aesthetically more than theoretically by direction of a new political style and by myths, rites, and symbols as a lay pietism designed to acculturate, socialize, and integrate the faith of the masses with the goal of creating a new human being (Payne, p. 4) It was believed to be founded by Benito Mussolini as a political movement that espouses authoritarian dictatorship.It does not promote the model of class struggle which makes it different from Marxism it is a revolutionary ideology which seeks to promote the Italian race as part of aggressive nationalism progra ms which was associated or was said to have influenced Germans Nazism. (p. 225) It was believed to have started as an anti-communist group in the leadership of Mussolini, in addition with the anti-socialist sentiments that had flood Italy during the 1920s as a leave alone of the workers upheaval.Mussolinis power doesnt actually come from his own cunningness but was derived from the ineffectualness of the government and the miscalculation made by the Socialist party. (p. 23-35) As the government of his time side with him in order to combat the socialism and the problems that it brought to the government and as the Socialist party remained confident that they would reign Italy, Mussolini have managed to gradually gain popularity, trust and power. (p. 27)Domestically, Mussolinis actions were directed towards the restoration of Italy. He favored militarism and internationalism. He calls for the insularism of the church and the state. There was also a movement which replaced the labo r unions with co-operatives that works archetypely with the government in able to look create plans that would benefit both the workers and the state. (p. 55-67) He legislate laws which were in favor of snobbish ownership and capitalization.His foreign policies include the invasion of Ethiopia and the recognition of Roman Catholicism as the only religion in the state. (p. 55) This had resulted to the Anti-Semitic laws resulting to several other actions that were now being referred as racial discrimination. Seeing that his goals paralleled with those of the Nazi Germans, he had establish an alliance with them.His economic policies involve public works and the imposition of a state police under his party. (p. 25-317) Mussolini started the promotion of imperialism by directing a war with Ethiopia in view that this would redirect the attention and sympathy of the citizens. He had also aided fascist movement in Spain and genuine alliance with Germany. It is during these years that he started to decline in his prominence. (p. 225-317) Violence are viewed by Mussolini as liberating, deaths as a necessary sacrifice and wars as trials that must be overcome in reverence of the state.This is sooner different from the Marxist Communism which according to Payne (p. 355) have qualified violence as an indispensable means to an endwhile gratuitously employing it en masseand almost always preached peace as thinkingl and goal, while massively militarizing their systems in practice. Italian Fascism might not have a consequence value system or an organized history, yet it had managed to influence other nations and it had been successful in eradicating or at least minimizing the Socialist movement that have dominated in the 1920s.It promotes cultural liberalism by promoting capitalism under authoritarianism and nationalism. Although the ideal desire for hegemony and false judgment have led to the downfall of Mussolini, his actions, practices and ideology as whole have prompt ed several leaders into developing strands of political movements that resembles fascist vision and methods. The idea of focusing and putting the needs of the state above any personal needs indeed fix the hearts and minds of most citizens and has so far work even in the expense of many lives. (p. 355-358)