Although fascist parties and movements differed significantly from one another, they had many characteristics in common, including extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the rule of elites, and the desire to create a Volksgemeinschaft (German: “people’s community”), in which individual interests would be subordinated to the good of the nation.
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What was fascism in the 20th century?
In the latter half of the 20th century, a resurgent fascism—termed neofascism —gained traction across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and South Africa. Like the pre-World War II fascist movements, they were frequently xenophobic, ultranationalist, militaristic, and illiberal.
What are the characteristics of fascism?
Fascism, political ideology and mass movement that dominated central, southern, and eastern Europe between 1919 and 1945 and was characterized by extreme militant nationalism, hatred of communism and socialism, contempt for democracy, and belief in natural social hierarchy and the rule of elites.
Why did fascism rise in Germany in the early 1920s?
The rise of fascism in Germany in the early 1920s was caused by political and social instability that prevailed in the country after World War I. After the signing of the shameful Versailles Treaty, the nation felt ashamed and punished too hard.
What does the fasces mean in fascism?
Fascism, the 1930s and the 21st Century. The fasces - the Roman bundle of flogging sticks bound around an executioner's axe, symbolising authority and unity - became the name and the symbol of a movement which swept Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. Mussolini's fascist party came to power in Italy in 1922.
What were the characteristics of fascism?
"Fascist style" – a political aesthetic of romantic symbolism, mass mobilization, a positive view of violence, and promotion of masculinity, youth, and charismatic authoritarian leadership.
What was fascism in the 1920s?
Its ideology of a belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, its contempt for democracy, and its submission to a powerful leader, found a perfect breeding ground in the political and economic destabilization of Europe after World War I.
What are the main characteristics of fascism quizlet?
Terms in this set (14)Powerful and continuing nationalism. ... Disdain for the recognition of human rights. ... Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause. ... Supremacy of the military. ... Rampant sexism. ... Controlled mass media. ... Obsession with national security. ... Religion and government are intertwined.More items...
What is the best description of fascism in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s?
Fascism in Europe during the 1920's and 1930's is best described as a form of totalitarianism that glorified the state above the individual.
What is the summary of fascism?
fascism summary fascism , Philosophy of government that stresses the primacy and glory of the state, unquestioning obedience to its leader, subordination of the individual will to the state's authority, and harsh suppression of dissent. Martial virtues are celebrated, while liberal and democratic values are disparaged.
What is fascism and examples?
Examples of fascism include the German Nazi Party, the Italian Fascist Party, as well as the Spanish Nationalists. These movements were led by Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Francisco Franco respectively. Many other fascist movements existed.
What were the elements of fascism quizlet?
A strong centralised state or national government. The fascist state seeks total control over all parts of society. Individuals must give up their private needs and rights to serve the needs of the whole as represented by the state. A single dictator runs the state and makes all the important decision.
What does fascism look like quizlet?
A system of government characterized by strict social and economic control and a strong, centralized government usually headed by a dictator.
What does fascism mean in simple terms?
: a political system headed by a dictator in which the government controls business and labor and opposition is not permitted.
What is fascism and examples?
Examples of fascism include the German Nazi Party, the Italian Fascist Party, as well as the Spanish Nationalists. These movements were led by Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Francisco Franco respectively. Many other fascist movements existed.
Which of the following describes fascism?
Fascism is generally defined as a political movement that embraces far-right nationalism and the forceful suppression of any opposition, all overseen by an authoritarian government. Fascists strongly oppose Marxism, liberalism and democracy, and believe the state takes precedence over individual interests.
What is fascism quizlet?
Fascism. A system of government characterized by strict social and economic control and a strong, centralized government usually headed by a dictator.
What is the first aspect of fascism?
This means that fascist states are ruled by a strong central government and the public or other branches of government are given no avenue for removing the central authority, whether that authority is made up of a single person or a large group of politicians. As such, fascist states are often dictatorships or oligarchies.
What are the three basic tenets of fascism?
Nearly all fascist governments exhibit three basic tenets: authoritarianism, nationalism, and xenophobia. Explore these concepts, the history and rise of fascism, and examples from Hitler's regime in Germany. Updated: 10/03/2021
How did fascism succeed in Germany?
Fascism has succeeded because it capitalizes upon emotions and ideas already prevalent in most members of society: a certain amount of national pride and a fear of the unknown.
What is the third leg of fascism?
The nationalism encouraged by fascist leaders and parties is often complimented by a third leg of fascism: xenophobia. Xenophobia is the fear of foreigners, strangers or otherwise unknown people or entities.
What is the role of omnipotent power in fascism?
Omnipotent power and unquestioned authority are often required for fascist states to remain in power , and this authoritarianism often extends to the economy as well. The economy under fascist dictatorships is usually tightly controlled, and although businesses are not owned by the government, what they can and cannot produce and who they can and cannot conduct business with is often firmly regimented.
What was the nationalism that Hitler had instilled in the German people?
Within Germany itself, the nationalism Hitler had instilled in the German people coincided with a rabid anti-Semitism that was just as prevalent. Violence against Jews escalated in the 1930s, and laws were enacted that restricted Jewish life, laws and discriminated against Jewish businesses and people.
What was the most famous example of a fascist government?
The most notorious example of a fascist government was Adolf Hitler's regime in Germany, which held power from the mid-1930s until the end of WWII. Hitler rose to power due to his party's heavily nationalist rhetoric, which encouraged Germans to have pride in Germany at the exact moment when German pride was likely at its lowest levels of the 20th century. Economically crippled by the sanctions imposed upon it after WWI, Germany had stumbled through the 1920s and early 1930s, and Hitler's nationalist message quickly gained many adherents.
What were the most important fascist regimes in the 20th century?
The most prominent 20th-century fascist regimes were those in Germany and Italy. German fascism took the form of Nazism, which rose out of the ashes of the post-World War I Weimar Republic. Inflation, soaring unemployment rates, and deep political divisions paralyzed the republic during the Great Depression and helped create the conditions that allowed Nazism to prosper. The Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, promised stability and a return to prewar German pride. It espoused militaristic nationalism, derided cultural decadence, and blamed various marginalized groups—chiefly Jews—for Germany’s social ills. The Nazis governed Germany beginning in 1933 and attempted to spread their ideology through conquest and genocide until their defeat in 1945.
What was the German fascism?
German fascism took the form of Nazism, which rose out of the ashes of the post-World War I Weimar Republic. Inflation, soaring unemployment rates, and deep political divisions paralyzed the republic during the Great Depression and helped create the conditions that allowed Nazism to prosper.
How did fascism capitalize on economic anxieties?
Fascists tended to capitalize on these economic anxieties by shifting the blame away from government or market forces. Jews, immigrants, leftists, and other groups became useful scapegoats. Redirecting popular anger toward these people would, in theory, rid a country of its ailments.
What countries were fascist?
Fascist parties and movements came to power in several countries between 1922 and 1945: the National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista) in Italy , led by Mussolini; the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), or Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler and representing his National Socialism movement; the Fatherland Front (Vaterländische Front) in Austria, led by Engelbert Dollfuss and supported by the Heimwehr (Home Defense Force), a major right-wing paramilitary organization; the National Union (União Nacional) in Portugal, led by António de Oliveira Salazar (which became fascist after 1936); the Party of Free Believers (Elefterofronoi) in Greece, led by Ioannis Metaxas; the Ustaša (“Insurgence”) in Croatia, led by Ante Pavelić; the National Union (Nasjonal Samling) in Norway, which was in power for only a week—though its leader, Vidkun Quisling, was later made minister president under the German occupation; and the military dictatorship of Admiral Tojo Hideki in Japan.
What is the meaning of the fasces?
The word fascismcomes from the Latin fasces, which denotes a bundle of wooden rods that typically included a protruding axe blade. In ancient Rome, lictors (attendants to magistrates) would hold the fascesas a symbol of the penal power of their magistrate. The first European fascist, Benito Mussolini, adopted this symbol both to recall the greatness of the Roman Empire and to reinforce his authority as the eventual dictator of Italy. Fascist regimes like his required their citizens to be as unified as the tightly bound fasces.
When did the fasces come to be associated with fascism?
However, the fasces came to be almost exclusively associated with fascism by the middle of the 20th century. How the Symbolism of the Swastika Was Ruined. Learn how the meaning of another symbol was transformed during the 20th century.
Where did fascism originate?
The word fascism comes from the Latin fasces, which denotes a bundle of wooden rods that typically included a protruding axe blade. In ancient Rome, lictors (attendants to magistrates) would hold the fasces as a symbol of the penal power of their magistrate. The first European fascist, Benito Mussolini, adopted this symbol both to recall ...
What is fascism a brotherhood?
Fascism was a brotherhood born out of the trenches, a belief in the honesty of military virtues over wily, tricky politicians. Now, none of the new groups on the populist right believe in military conquest: expanding territory in a thirst for glory and living space. Rather the reverse.
Which countries are fascist?
On the continent, parties in Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Germany and France have all been called fascist. Some of those do indeed have deep roots in older movements.
What do the new groups and the old ones have in common?
What the new groups and the old ones have in common is an overriding concern with identity, and how it relates to blood and soil, a scorn for "politics as normal" and the failures of an elite. That is not to dismiss their concerns about immigration, globalisation or the European Union. But it is important.
What is the Roman fasces?
The Roman fasces, a bundle of sticks round an axe: the symbol of the fascist movement. As ever, it is just a word. Some of the heated debate relies on the Platonic notion that somewhere in the sky there's a package which when unwrapped will reveal what "fascist" really means.
What are the concerns of the new far right?
The concerns of the new far-right are immigration and globalisation - a force which didn't really concern the 1930s. A core belief is often opposition to Islam, and connecting the dots between that religion in general with its most radical, violent, manifestations. Often they make a harsh distinction between Islam and Western or European values. ...
How long did Franco rule Spain?
Franco ruled Spain for 36 years, until the mid-1970s. Incidentally, Spain is one of the few countries in Europe that doesn't have a modern far-right party of any influence. And Italy's fascist heirs, the MSI, merged into the mainstream in 1995.
What did Amber Rudd say about the 2000 Terrorism Act?
Using the 2000 Terrorism Act, the Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: "National Action is a racist, antisemitic and homophobic organisation which stirs up hatred, glorifies violence and promotes a vile ideology, and I will not stand for it.".
What was the fallacy of the 1930s?
However, by 1930 the Great Depression had exposed the fallacy of those who believed in the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the few. It turns out that when all the money goes to the top, the people on the bottom don’t have enough money to keep the economy growing. According to the leaders of business and politics, the answer to this problem was more fascism. Many of them pined for a Mussolini. Even liberal newspapers like the New York Times advocated “some sort of Council of State” that could rule by decree. In the end, the oligopolists only partially got their way, with the establishment of Roosevelt’s National Recovery Administration (NRA) in 1933.
Who were the enemies of Americanism in the 1930s?
Amid the swirl of change, dislocation, and anxiety about the present and fears for the future, [the petty bourgeoisie] made up the great wave of political reaction during the mid-1930s… Not understanding how and why those above them were responsible for the crisis that threatened them, they blamed most of it on the enemies lurking below, the Negroes, Jews, Catholics, Mexicans, anarchists, socialists, and, of course, the communists —all enemies of True Americanism.
Was Coughlin a left or right winger?
politics during the Depression hasled me to conclude that, despite what some historians (including Roberto) have argued, Long and Coughlin were more left-wing than right-wing, at least until Coughlin in later years turned decisively toward anti-Semitism. Certainly, they were politically ambiguous. But it’s inarguable that their massive following was due to the far-left character of their rhetoric—as may be judged by the Principles Coughlin laid out for the National Union of Social Justice, the political organization he founded. He went so far as to condemn the economic system itself: “Capitalism is doomed and not worth trying to save.”
Was Mussolini a communist?
It's even in the name, National Socialist Worker's Party. Mussolini was a communist in his earliest incarnation. The politics and economics of the time required fascists to try to coopt worker hostility toward capitalists. President Trump pays some lip service to blue collar worker discontent.
