reflection

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Fascism World War II was 1939-45. The four decades before the war were an “age of ideology.” The phrase “age of ideology” refers to new ideas and new events. It also refers to new cultural attitudes in the first half of the 20th century. Many promoted these new cultural attitudes as representing progress. The new attitudes celebrated

• new ideas over older ideas

• youth over elders

• crisis over calmness

• action over deliberation

• energy, speed, passion, and commitment over compromise

• cooperation over competition – the collective over the individual

• “authentic” community over capitalism

• liberation over middle class life styles

• the analogy of war In this lecture, we explore how the new cultural attitudes were expressed in the new ideology of Fascism. As we explore Fascism, keep in mind that

• the first Fascist leader was Benito Mussolini, prime minister of Italy beginning in 1922.

• the second Fascist leader was Adolph Hitler, prime minister of Germany beginning in 1933. Also keep in mind that before World War II, many viewed Fascism as representing progress, a new set of ideas designed to create a new and better society, a more just society. Fascism eventually became a dirty word associated with the murderous acts of German National Socialism – “Nazi.” But that was during and after World War II. Before WWII, many viewed Fascism as progressive. Fascism promoted the new cultural attitudes – youth, action, energy, cooperation, community, and liberation. For many, especially intellectuals, Fascism was a fresh set of ideas which would help build a better society, a better future.

New Ideas: Fascism Throughout the first four decades of the 20th century, many intellectuals, politicians, journalists, artists, poets and others celebrated new ideas. They argued that inherited ideas and practices no longer worked; new ideas and new ways of doing things were needed. They wanted the “new generation,” which they were part of, to lead society and to chart a “new course” for the future. One new way of thinking was Fascism. Historians often describe Fascism as a totalitarian ideology. Totalitarian means a State or leader with total power. Fascists certainly sought to increase the power of the State. But Fascism

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didn’t just mean total power. It meant something like total belonging or total community. Fascists wanted a State powerful enough to bring society together, to organize society into a total community so people felt like they belonged to something bigger than themselves. The idea was to make people feel like they belonged to a real community. This community would be the nation – the national community led by a powerful State. The idea of belonging to something bigger than oneself was crucial. Humans throughout history always sought to belong to something bigger than themselves. Religion often served that purpose. Societies across the world had religions which served to create a sense of community, a sense of belonging. But many intellectuals and political leaders in the early 20th century – the age of ideology – sought to replace traditional religion with politics. They sought to create a new politics that functioned as a religion, requiring a person’s total commitment to the cause. These intellectual and political leaders were progressive in their thinking, like Ida Tarbell and Lincoln Steffens in the United States, and Mario Palmieri in Italy. Fascism, in other words, was considered progressive. It promoted a new, progressive politics. It rejected as outdated a politics of free speech, political parties, and compromise. Fascists argued that these practices – expressing different opinions through free speech and forming different political parties – divide society rather than brining society together. Fascists viewed the idea of passing laws through compromise as selling out, abandoning principle, the opposite of “commitment.” In place of these older ideas, Fascism promoted a progressive politics of youth, energy, and commitment – a politics of total belonging. The idea was for members of society to participate together in the same collective action. Fascists argued the following:

• a person could not be truly fulfilled by practicing traditional religion, pursuing self-interest, or exercising their individual rights

• a person could find true fulfillment only by their “commitment” to a new kind of politics, a politics of energy and youth which provided life with meaning

• the new politics promoted collective progress by using the power of the State to organize society and create a sense of cooperation and togetherness – an “authentic” community

• the new politics also promoted personal progress – personal fulfillment or “liberation” came by actively contributing one’s talents and skills to this national community led by the State.

These Fascist arguments expressed many of the new cultural attitudes: new, youth, action, commitment, cooperation, authentic, liberation. You might notice that these Fascist arguments resembled the arguments of the revolutionary socialists in the last lecture – i.e., Lenin and the Bolsheviks. That is not surprising since

• Fascism and Socialism are related ideologies.

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• They both massively increase the power of the State, favor the collective over the individual, and promote the idea that a person finds true fulfillment by participating in a new progressive kind of politics.

• Though as we’ll see at the end of this lecture and in the next lecture, supporters of these related ideologies viewed each other as adversaries. They were like siblings. Their closeness to each other led to competition and conflict.

Let’s dig deeper to understand why Fascism was appealing to many.

The Appeal of Fascism In the 1920s and 1930s, Fascism built upon something all humans desire – a sense of belonging, being part of a community. The ideology of Fascism emerged in response to the new mass society of the early 20th century. Since we are so used to living in a mass society today, it is hard to imagine how new the experience of mass society was in the early 20th century. The newness of mass society included things humans had not experienced before. It included

• new mass living environments – modern cities

• new mass working environments – large corporations

• new mass communications – radio

• new mass crowd entertainment – movies and professional sports

• new mass politics – campaign rallies, media politics via radio

Sociologists at the time like Ferdinand Tönnies and Max Weber wrote about this new mass society. They worried that people in mass society might feel lonely, isolated, or empty, living without a genuine sense of community. Some individuals were not sure where or if they “fit in.” Others tried to fit in by joining a religion, a political party, or a labor union. Tönnies and Weber wrote about people’s feelings of isolation in mass society before World War I. But then the experience of World War I adding to these feelings. The war was the first large scale industrial war in history, with technology used to increase humans’ ability to kill each other. The war increased feelings of disorientation and disillusionment.

Fascism emerged as a new ideology in this context of a new mass society and the experience of World War I. Fascism promised a sense of belonging to people living in mass society, a sense of orientation and purpose. Supporters of Fascism promised to build an “authentic” community beyond traditional religion, beyond traditional politics, and beyond traditional labor unions. Fascism promised a sense of belonging – with every group, every class, and every individual being equally part of the community – the national community led by a powerful State. This equal belonging required each person’s commitment to collective action – each person committing their talents and skills to the national community and, as a result, each person

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being accepted and taken care of. It was an attractive message – appealing to an innate desire for cooperation and togetherness.

• This sense of belonging – all classes as equal members of the community – is what Mario Palmieri meant in his book The Philosophy of Fascism (1936). He wrote: “More important than the production of wealth is its right distribution, distribution which must benefit in the best possible way all the classes of the nation.”

• When Palmieri said “More important than the production of wealth,” he meant that older generations were selfish, simply concerned with making money. The new generation, he argued, was pursuing progress by developing less selfish ways. They would chart a new course for society based on social justice – the “right distribution” of wealth to benefit all classes.

Fascism was thus a new ideology which many considered progressive. It promised progress by replacing older ideas and overcoming selfish thinking. Fascists promised to replace the alienation many feel in modern mass society and the disorientation many felt with World War I with a new kind of politics. The new politics used the power of the State to create an “authentic” community – a national community. In this community, people would find personal fulfillment or “liberation” not by pursuing self-interest or exercising individual rights, but by fully committing themselves to the national community led by a powerful State. It is no coincidence that the artistic movement associated with Fascism was known as Futurism. That name captured the sense that this new ideology represented a new way of thinking, a new departure in history – the wave of the future!

New Events: Italy’s Fascist Revolution The age of ideology was not just about new ideas, but also new events. One such event happened in Italy when Benito Mussolini became the first Fascist leader in the world in 1922. World War I was 1914-18. When the war ended, Italy was a democracy. It had political parties, campaigns, elections, and an Italian Parliament led by a prime minister. Italian Fascists criticized this kind of democracy as old and outdated. They promised to replace it with a “new politics” of “liberation,” words which throughout modern history have often meant more State power. The promise of a “new politics” has often meant outlawing political parties. “Liberation” has often meant no legal protections for individual rights like free speech, freedom of assembly, and due process for those accused of a crime. Below are a couple examples of how supporters of Fascism criticized the democracy of free speech, political parties, elections, and due process. Fascists argued that

• democracy divides society rather than bringing people together. Democratic politicians run petty campaigns, divide the people, and don’t bring progress like redistributing wealth to benefit all classes.

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• democracy is too slow. It requires discussion, deliberation, and compromise, and thus takes too long to get things done. Politics requires energy, speed, passion, emotion, and action – above all, action. Fascists argued that there is no more time for deliberation and discussion – action is needed now to create a more just society.

Mussolini had been a Socialist before World War I and fought as a soldier in the war. When he returned home to Italy after the war, he and other veterans criticized Italian democracy like in the examples above. They argued that society was in a “crisis” which required a new progressive politics of passion and energy, not calm deliberation. Mussolini’s new politics included a para-military group called the “fasci di combattimento.” “Fasci” was an ancient term which referred to a band which ties a bundle of wheat together – i.e., the fasci is what keeps things together; it represents unity. The name of Mussolini’s group could be translated as the “unity of combat.” Mussolini’s politics was based on what is called the “analogy of war.” This analogy means using the experiences of World War I as a blueprint for society after the war. The analogy means

• taking the fellowship and togetherness soldiers in the same combat unit feel and applying that sense of togetherness to everyone in society – i.e., thinking of society as a kind of combat unit requiring organization and cooperation

• requiring all members of society – everyone in the unit – to have a passionate commitment to serve the nation like soldiers have in war

• taking the power of the State to direct the economy during war – directing factory and farm production, directing transportation and communications – and using that same power of the State to direct the economy and society after the war

Once Mussolini came to power in 1922, he began the Fascist revolution in Italy. The revolution embodied passion, commitment, and action – above all, action in the name of progress. Italian Fascists wanted the State to achieve the following six goals:

1. create a cooperative economy led by the State –

o Mussolini said he wanted “a cooperative system in which divergent interests are coordinated and harmonized in the unity of the State.”

o A cooperative system meant that businesses would not compete with each other as in capitalism, but cooperate under State direction. The State determined production, prices, and wages – how much businesses produced, what prices they charged, and what wages they paid.

o This was not Socialism because the Fascist State did not own the businesses. It simply managed them by directing their production, prices, and wages. As Palmieri explained in The Philosophy of Fascism (1936), “The proper function of the State in the Fascist system is that of supervising and regulating.”

2. establish health and social service centers to serve the national community

3. establish old age pensions for seniors and profit sharing between corporations and workers

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4. create youth organizations which emphasized exercise, health, and vigor – part of the celebration of youth and youth culture

5. abolish political parties and arrest their leaders – they represented the divisions and debates of outdated democracy. They slowed things down and prevented the type of immediate action needed to create progress – a more just society.

6. abolish freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of assembly – these too represented debate and deliberation, the selfish rights of individuals which interfered with creating a new community of cooperation and togetherness.

Fascism was a new set of ideas and Italy’s Fascist revolution was one new event in the age of ideology. The ideas and the event reflected new cultural attitudes in the first half of the 20th century. A second Fascist revolution occurred in Germany in the 1930s, which we’ll discuss in the next lecture. Before doing so, let’s understand why supporters of Fascism and Socialism viewed each other as enemies, even though their ideologies are related.

Fascism & Socialism Both Fascism and Socialism promise a future of unity and cooperation. But they seek to build this future in different ways. For revolutionary Socialism, the promised future is supposed to occur after a violent socialist revolution.

• To provoke this revolution, revolutionary Socialists promote resentment and hatred between classes in society.

• In promoting this class hatred, revolutionary Socialists seek to destroy feelings of national unity.

• They seek to convince the working class (proletariat) to hate wealthier members of the nation (bourgeoisie).

• They thus hope to persuade the working class to rise up in violence to destroy wealthier classes.

Fascists view Socialists as tearing society apart by promoting resentment and hatred among members of the same nation.

• Fascist oppose this revolutionary Socialist attempt to divide society with feelings of class hatred.

• Instead, Fascism promises a future of unity and cooperation by creating a powerful State which creates a total community – the togetherness or unity of all classes in the nation.

• That is why Palmieri in his book The Philosophy of Fascism (1936) promoted progress and social justice through the “right distribution of wealth” in society to benefit all classes.