Fascism was popular between 1919 and 1945 but became taboo after the Holocaust and defeat of the Axis powers. It is often considered synonymous with white power, but many non-white countries have had fascist governments. The philosophy includes nationalism, corporatism, totalitarianism, and militarism. Fascism was marketed as the “third position” between communism and capitalism. The symbol of fascism is a bundle of rods tied around an axe. Consensus on the central elements of the philosophy was not reached until the 1990s.
Fascism is a form of government that was popular between 1919 and 1945, but became taboo after the Holocaust and the defeat of the Axis powers in 1945. Since 1945, few groups have applied the term to themselves, and the term has become a universal epithet for something bad. In 2005, scholar Richard Griffiths said the word is the “most abused and overused term of our time.” In particular, fascism is often considered synonymous with white power, although many non-white and mixed-race countries have had fascist governments at one time or another, including Brazil, Mexico, Japan, and Zaire.
In its original meaning, “fascism” referred to the Italian fascists under Benito Mussolini. The authoritative document on this topic is “The doctrine of fascism”, which appears as an entry of the term in the Italian Encyclopedia published in 1932. The author is indicated as Mussolini, but the more likely author is the philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who helped Mussolini formulates his political philosophy.
The distinguishing features of the philosophy are nationalism (including economic nationalism), corporatism (including economic planning), totalitarianism (including dictatorship and social interventionism), and militarism. According to the Doctrine of Fascism, “The fascist conception of the state is all-encompassing; outside of it human or spiritual values cannot exist, much less have value. Understood in this way, fascism is totalitarian and the fascist state, synthesis and inclusive unity of all values, interprets, develops and strengthens the entire life of a people”. The philosophy is summed up by the mottos “Everything within the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State”, “Believe, obey, fight”, “The book and the musket: make the perfect fascist” and “War is the ‘man as motherhood is to the woman’.
During its heyday, fascism was marketed as the “third position” between communism and capitalism. In Italy, its symbol was a bundle of rods tied around an axe, which symbolized the solidarity and strength of the state. The word “fascist” comes from the Italian word fasces, meaning bundle or union. These regimes respect power above all else and rise to political prominence through bullying, threats and torture.
Most everyone is aware that fascism is a bad political system, but not everyone knows exactly what the system is, and consensus on the central elements of the philosophy was not reached even among scholars until the 1990s. To understand why fascism is bad, one must first understand what exactly it is. This is a vast academic subject, and there are many other interesting examples outside of the Axis powers during WWII.
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