With political turmoil going on in the country the term fascism and fascist leader has been used, again and again, walking through the alleys of history I found this term popular, especially after the world war one.
Madeline Albright, former secretary of state told the TIME Fascism is a disease and there are symptoms.
The word fascism comes from fascio the Italian word for the bundle. Its origin goes back to ancient Rome when fasces was a bundle of wood with an axe head carried by leaders.
Fascism is a mass political emphasizing extreme nationalism and the supremacy of both the nation and a single powerful political leader over the individual citizen. This model of government stands in contrast to liberal democracies which focus on individual rights competitive elections and dissent. Fascism is a movement that promotes the idea of the forcible monolithic regimented nation under the control of an autocratic ruler.
An important part of this ideology is the emergence of cult personality around the leader thinking of him as a messiah. Anti-Marxist leaning and opportunism are the characteristics of fascism.
Historian Robert Paxton coined five stages of fascism through which Hitler and Mussolini came to power.
Stage one
Emerging out of disillusionment Hitler pointed to the harsh and humiliating term of the Treaty of Versailles which forced Germany to accept the blame for the war, give up its overseas colonies and 13 percent of the European territory, and limit the size of its Navy, Army and pay reparations.
Stage two
Established legitimacy as a political party. Capitalizing on the disillusionment among the masses and creating their political party. In 1919 Mussolini created Italy’s Fascist Party and Hitler created Germany’s Nazi Party in 1920.
Stage 3
Gaining power through right-wing partnership. In Italy conservatives allied with the fascist against the socialists and in Germany, they sided with the Nazis.
Stage 4
Using power to dominate institutions. Mussolini was appointed prime minister after a mass fascist demonstration known as the March on Rome which provoked fear of a Civil War. Nazis, on the other hand, took control of the government and society removed all non-Nazi officials from their posts, pass laws stripping Jews of citizenship, and banned rival political parties
Stage 5
Implementing radical reforms. Mussolini carried out violent colonial campaigns across and Africa, invaded Ethiopia and Libya. Hitler destroyed all political opposition, invaded countries across Europe, and started World War Two in collaboration with Mussolini.
Mussolini thought that democracy is a failed system and liberty of expression and liberty of parties is a sham and fascism would organize the people under state power The idea was that you would be freer if you do not have class consciousness and just worship the nation. It’s nation over class and anything that comes in the way of national unity should be gotten rid of. Any group of people who do not fit into the mould of fascist ideology should be eliminated and violence for this objective is considered beneficial.
Mussolini created the first one-party fascist state and he set the rules for everything that came after. Fear of white decline was a huge part of his ideology. Women were supposed to have a lot of babies to increase the white race. After the First world war fascist declared the socialist public enemy number one over their anti-war stance. Fear of the emergence of communism played an important role in the emergence of the fascist party land owners and businessmen supported the suppression of socialism and helped Mussolini come to power, especially King Victor Emanuel III
However, there was a difference between Mussolini’s Italy and Nazi Germany. In Italy anti-Semitism was officially rejected before 1934 and it was after 1938 after his alliance with Hitler he enacted anti-Semitic measures. Hitler promoted the idea of Aryan White German racial superiority which led to the mass killing of six million Jews or Holocaust and five million Gay, Roma people, and people with disabilities whom they consider inferior.
Fascism dominated many parts of Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe between 1919 -1945. It spread to Latin America and South Africa. It was a popular movement led by Engel Bert Dollfuss in Austria, Antonio de Olivera Salazar in Portugal, Iohannis Metaxas in Greece, and Ante Pavelic in Croatia.
In Spain, the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco displayed many fascist characteristics, there were similar movements in Poland Hungary Finland and Romania. In France, Cross of Fire led by Colonel Francois de La Rocque was the largest and the fastest-growing party on the French Right between 1936-1938.
Outside Europe, the largest support was in South Africa and the Middle East There were several fascist parties in South Africa after 1932 including the Gentile National Socialist Movement, South Africa National Democratic Party, and Pro-German Ox Wagon Sentinel.
By 1939 there were at least seven Arab shirts movement Including the Syrian Peoples Party, the Iraqi Futawa movement, and the Young Egyptian movement also called Green Shirt Movement
Several fascist movements operated in Japan after 1918 such as Taisho Sincerity League, and Imperial Way Faction to name a few to resist new demands for democracy and counter the influence of the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Following the Japanese invasion of China, several fascist-oriented patriotic societies were formed in China largest group was the Blue Shirts which allied with Kuomintang under Chiang Kai Shek.
In United States Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist group, displayed fascist characteristics.
After the onset of the economic crisis in 2010 in Greece, a movement called Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi party, became popular and won seats in Greek parliament, supporting a staunch hostility towards minorities, illegal immigrants, and refugees.
Recently, Donald Trump was accused of being inclined toward Fascism by undermining the sanctity of the American electoral system and contempt for movements such as Black lives matter.
In India, the rise of the BJP, alienation of minorities, communal violence, and cult following of its leader are all the traits and influences of fascism.
In Pakistan, MQM behaved with lots of fascist tendencies with the cult following of their leader and using violence to quieten the voices of dissident
The rise of TLP and Wazirabad dharna is also an example of the fascist tendencies of TLP which killed nearly ten policemen in Punjab during their second outing
In countries like our fascist approach has been used to destabilize governments and suppress the popular movement for democracy and social justice.
- Why Women’s Education is Important - 15/05/2023
- Why Nations Fail: Reasons and Solution - 13/05/2023
- Middle East is Changing - 25/04/2023
