Hitler Fascism and Mussolini Fascism - Essay Example

Hitler Fascism and Mussolini Fascism Introduction Fascism is a form of totalitarian government, with an authoritative dictator who takes control over the entire nation, its people and economy. It is a political ideology with a radical nationalism concept, which initiates a ‘revolution’ for promoting the fascist principles. Basically rejecting the idea of socialism, capitalism and democracy, Fascism is anti-liberal in nature and has a sound emphasis on ethnocentrism and militarism. Benito Mussolini in Italy and Adolf Hitler in Germany are the two notable dictators, who embodied fascism in their countries and claimed ultimate power over it. The form of fascism adopted in Germany and Italy by these leaders greatly differed in various cultural, social, economic and political ideologies. The Italian fascism was shaped by Mussolini for his pursuit of nationalism while the German fascism was distorted to the social and political beliefs of Hitler. However, the comparative study of the Hitler fascism and Mussolini fascism has its own key differences and similarities in respect to their attitudes of racism, socialism and economy. Here, we shall discuss the various elements that form the major distinction to the adoption of Fascism rule by both of these authoritative leaders, who have contributed much to this ideology. Background: As defined by Roger Griffin, “Fascism is a political ideology whose mythic core in its various permutations is a palingenetic form of populist ultra-nationalism.” (Griffin, 1993, p.26). It is a form of counter-revolutionary politics that arose during the World War period. The socio-political changes including the rise of socialism and communism in the aftermaths of the World War gave way for a new political setting in the name of ‘Fascism’ in Italy and other European countries. The rapid social upheavals as well as the devastation of societies and economy were the instrumentals to the rise of Fascism and Nazism in these countries. The Fascist ideology established by Hitler was based on his own personal reflections, Mein Kampf, which means My Struggle, written during his days before hailing power. On the other hand, Mussolini shaped his ideology after he took control over the Italian State. Mussolini’s Fascism stresses on dictatorship with extreme rights, typically excising power over the people and the nation, embracing an overarching state ideology. (Griffin, 1993).Similarly, Hitler’s Fascism favors aggressive nationalism, totalitarianism, fanaticism, and seeks blind obedience of its followers towards their authorities. Despite their different stands on espousing the ideologies of Fascism, they established it in a successful manner. “Hitler and Mussolini were both dictators, both lead totalitarian regimes in their countries and cooperated together during World War Two.” (Husic, n. d.). In 1919, when Italy was devastated in the aftermaths of the World War, it prospected for a new political aspect, which Mussolini took it as an advantage to gain control over the country. Taking this perfect opportunity, he introduced Fascism into Italy and established his rule under the autonomy of the king. However, with his followers, he organized paramilitary forces which terrorized the country with violent attacks and ultimately, took over the sovereign government under his power. (Payne, 1983). Similarly, Hitler’s Nazism was the ideologies and policies of Fascism which stressed on the superiority of the Aryan people. Hitler called for the unification of the German-speaking people into a one single empire. He was determined in creating a racially pure state which led to atrocities like Holocaust. He organized various military forces to maintain his power all over the country as a fascist dictator. Unlike Fascism, Hitler’s ideology held racism as its prior importance while the state was at a secondary in preference. Similarities Both Mussolini and Hitler had common socio-political viewpoints for dominating the world with their barbarism and fanaticism, which together created the most demonic history. Though they were unique in their ways of rising into power, they executed similar methods of violence, especially through paramilitary forces, for persecuting their opposers. (Husic, n. d.).The Italian government attained its highest claim to infamy during the reign of Mussolini while the German government was under intense aversion due to the distorted ideologies of Hitler. Both Hitler and Mussolini fascism were anti-democratic by withholding the power of the political parties and taking control over all the sectors of the state including the agriculture, education and society. Hitler’s policy of ‘Glechschaltung’ turned the country into a totalitarian state leaving the people in dread for opposing or criticizing the state affairs. (Payne, 1983). Even the education system, media, newspapers and films were controlled and supervised constantly. “Education system was closely controlled so that children could be raised with Nazi opinions.” (Husic, n. d.). In addition, both the ideologies were intensely anti-communist in nature. Most of the communist organizations were banned and communist media were supervised or replaced with fascist media. On the flip side, there were also positive changes to the country because of these fascism ideologies. The economy of the countries greatly improved through the efforts of Hitler and Mussolini, with reduced unemployment, increase in exports and decline in the imports. Both Hitler’s fascism and Mussolini’s fascism had a strong emphasis on autarchy, nationalism and militarization. “Both systems emphasized the supremacy of the state, glorifying war and the cult of a leader. They tried to make the country self-sufficient and emphasized the close unity of all classes working together.” (Husic, n. d.). Ideology Hitler’s ideology of Fascism was founded on basis of racial discrimination in the political and cultural setting. Also, his ideology rejected the existing political theories and was inclined towards revolutionary exclusivity while real fascism was more complex in its approach. However, Mussolini’s conservative concepts were about opposing the radical changes in the society for establishing the existing or new settings, and so did not involve grave atrocities. “Fascism never seemed to take roots in Italy as deeply as the Nazi system in Germany. The Italian system was never brutal as the Nazi regime in Germany, and there were no mass atrocities.” (Husic, n. d.). It also favored authoritative rule for reforming and changing laws to attain the goals. “Mussolini insisted that fascism incorporated aspects of liberalism, conservatism and socialism in a higher synthesis; Hitler aimed at revolutionary rejection of rival doctrines.” (Payne, 1983, p.101). Structure In Mussolini’s structure of Fascism, there was a strict social setting with formal laws and class distinctions. It remained as a juridical state of semi-pluralism with limitations on revolutionary acts. However, this ultimately led to the decline of the Mussolini regime paving way for his adversaries to overthrow him. On the other hand, Hitler’s structure of Fascism was formulated with a complete, unrestricted power of dictatorship with a one-man rule. All the political organizations came under the control of the Nazi’s party. Hitler shifted his favor on the sides of the political parties which helped him to limit their powers. In his regime, the Partito Nazionale Fascista (PNF, National Fascist Party) has limited autonomy while the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) in the Mussolini regime exercised a formal autonomy which was in the end used to depose him. (Husic, n. d.). Totalitarian Both Hitler and Mussolini’s fascism sought to subordinate all the spheres of the society by using paramilitary forces to control and suppress opposition. They finally organized a totalitarian state in their countries merely through violence. After the consolidation of power, Mussolini eliminated all the oppositions and finally built up an authoritarian single-party rule in Italy. However, the individuals and groups were not controlled by the state as well as it was not all-pervasive as in case of the Nazi party. So, it was hard for Mussolini to establish it in Italy while Hitler handled it efficiently. (Mackei, 2010). This made Mussolini’s Fascism less successful than that of Hitler’s fascism. Nationalism Both Mussolini and Hitler Fascism believed in a strong nationalism which binds the people together for exalting its nation as a superior state among other nations. Mussolini’s goal was to expand the power and strength of Italy in order to form a new Roman Empire, challenging the Roman imperial rule. Similarly, Hitler’s goal was to unite all the German-speaking people to form a unified racially pure nation. Mussolini intended to bring materialistic progress into the Italian society while Hitler was focused on positioning the German nation as the superior culture. “Mussolini intended to guide the material and moral progress of the Italian community. Hitler planned to return the German nation to its position as ‘the culture-founder of this earth.’ Hitler and Mussolini wanted to place the nation above all other bases of loyalty, including class relations and religion.” (Mackei, 2010). Thus, the nationalism ideology of both Hitler and Mussolini fascism serves to be strong in establishing their superiority over the world, however, in different aspects. Racism The Racism and anti-Semitism of the Nazis was the most striking difference present in the Hitler’s fascism. His unholy hatred towards the Jews, blacks and physically handicapped induced him to destroy them, calling as imperfections of the society. Mainly, the Jews were the ultimate victims of his racism. He attacked the synagogues and other Jewish properties all over the country. They were faced with brutal concentration camps and harassed in various ways, including genocide. His ultimate aim was to exterminate the entire population of Jews from the country. They were deprived of their citizenship and immigration of non-Germans was restricted. However, Hitler’s justified his attempt of anti-Semitism with his ideology of fascism. “Dehumanization and scapegoating of the enemy--seeing the enemy as an inferior or subhuman force, perhaps involved in a conspiracy that justifies eradicating them.” (Bellant, 1991). On the other hand, Mussolini Fascism was not anti-Jewish until 1938, when he adopted the policy of Hitler to compete with him. However, the difference was that Italian Fascism was not ruthless and brutal as that of the German fascism which was the cause for genocide campaigns of Holocaust. Constitutional positions The constitutional positions of both the leaders played a vital role in differentiating their fascism rule. There was monarchy in Italy even during the Mussolini’s fascist rule. However the king and his power was ignored by the fascists. They exercised ultimate power until when the king announced the dismissal of Mussolini and ordered him to be arrested. This monarchy was one of the reasons for his downfall as well. Fortunately, Hitler had no such authoritative power above him in Germany which made him to exercise a complete authoritarian leadership holding full control over all the aspects of the country and its people. (Mackei, 2010). Religion Though initially, fascism had no specific hatred towards religions, it was the Hitler’s regime that changed this attitude. His Racism and Anti-Semitism towards the Jews and other minority religions showed the true face of his enmity over other religions. Hitler’s fascism ideologies were perverse to all religions, especially targeting the Jewish. Unlike Hitler, Mussolini fascism favored religious policy by his agreement with pope, knowing the influence of the church on people. Through the Lateran Treaty, he recognized Vatican as a sovereign state and accepted Catholicism as one of the official state religions. (Bellant, 1991). In turn, Pope recognized the kingdom of Italy. Contrarily, in Hitler’s fascism, the religion was brought under his control as he feared that the churches would become a source of opposition to his ideology. Conclusion When we analyze both Hitler’s fascism and Mussolini’s fascism, we come to know that the system of ethics emphasized by both the leaders is rationally approached rather than being dealt with morality. They have inherited cruelty and violence as a means to establish their fascism in their countries. These inhumane ideologies and rigid laws served to be the roots for Hitler’s genocides and Mussolini’s ruthless conquests, causing tremendous dread among the people in the country. However, Hitler’s constitutional position and one-man authority in the totalitarianism government marked him to be successful than that of Mussolini who failed because of corrupt and inefficient government policies. Instead, Mussolini’s Fascism was not as violent as that of the Hitler’s ideologies towards racism and anti-Semitism which caused cruel atrocities to the society. However, their vicious quest for autarchy through violence has ultimately resulted in the defeat and downfall of the countries as well as its dictators. References: Griffin, R. (1993). The Nature of Fascism. Routledge. Payne, S. G. (1983). Fascism: A Comparative Approach Toward a Definition. University of Wisconsin Press. Husic, I. (n. d). “Differences and Similarities in Totalitarian Societies of Germany and Italy.” Retrieved from: http://novinar.me/index.php/english/item/213-differences-and-similarities-in-totalitaran-societies-of-germany-and-italy Bellant, R. (1991). Old Nazis: The Right and the Republican Party. South End Press. Mackel, K. A. (2010). “Fascism: A Political Ideology of the Past.” Student Pulse Online Academic Student Journal, 2 (11): 2010. Read More