Fascism

The Roman Salute is commonly associated with Nazis and other Fascists.

Fascism, usually understood in Marxist theory as capitalism in decay, is a counter-revolutionary reactionary movement led by finance capital, and a form of dictatorship of the bourgeoisie which emerged during periods of economic crisis in imperialist countries. The Third International described fascism as the "open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic, and most imperialist elements of finance capital."

Fascism abolishes bourgeois democracy without abolishing bourgeois rule itself. In contrast, socialism abolishes both in order to create a more substantive form of democracy.

Fascism usually promotes policies that favour the ever-expanding domination of capital. Its political aspect is marked by pervasive anti-communism, a profound aversion towards democracy, the justification and glorification of class society through class collaboration, and chauvinistic tendencies, namely reactionary nationalism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, transphobia and ableism. Fascist ideologues usually promote conspiracy theories, irrational myths and manipulative distortions of truth to gather support of their popular base.

Analysis

According to Georgi Dimitrov, fascism is, "the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital," taking vengeance against the working class and the revolutionary section of the peasantry and intelligentsia. Both the development of fascism, and the fascist dictatorship itself, assume different forms in different countries, according to historical, social and economic conditions the national peculiarities, and the international position of the given country.

In foreign policy, fascism incites violent hatred of other nations, acting in the interests of the extreme imperialists, yet it presents itself to the masses in the guise of a champion of an ill-treated nation, and appeals to outraged national sentiments. Within a country or nation, fascists are not the patriots they boast to be, as they engage in historical revisionism of cultures, a form of ethnocide, to promote their fascist ideology. Communists must urgently expose the way fascists in practice do not care about the proletariat's native cultures, and combat this revisionism, outshining fascists with a more genuine nationalism, adapting Marxism-Leninism to their own national conditions, and practice proletarian internationalism. The proletariat of colonized nations will not shy from national sentiments and struggle against the imperialism oppressing their native cultures, and the proletariat of imperialist nations will struggle against their own bourgeoisie's oppressor policies. Communists from oppressor nations must valorize the more noble, anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, non-chauvinist aspects of their cultures. The socialist revolution will be the "salvation" of nations, cultures and the people. Both the proletariat's international and diverse national interests will be defended. The cultures will be liberated from monopoly capitalism.

Fascists gain their following from the petty bourgeoisie and certain sections of the proletariat through disingenuous appeals to their needs and demands, inflaming prejudices and playing on their sense of justice and even on their revolutionary traditions, their faith in revolution, their resentments, hatred of corruption, and the urge towards socialism. Fascism promised many things: to fight corruption, "a fair wage," a great future for the youth; for the landless and indebted peasants, an end to debt bondage and rent, expropriation of the landed estates from usurers without compensation.

But actually, it brings them an even lower standard of living: destroys their trade unions, deprives them of the right to strike and to have their working-class press, forces the revolutionary movement underground, pressures them into fascist organizations, plunders their social insurance funds and transforms the mills and factories into prisons, where the unbridled arbitrary rule of the capitalist reigns. Fascism causes wholesale dismissals of young workers, labor camps and incessant military drilling for a war of conquest, places the peasants in unprecedented servitude to the usurers, landlords, and the fascist state apparatus. It supresses the democratic liberties of the working people, falsifies, curtails and intensifies the law. It commits unspeakable crimes against humanity in concentration camps and torture chambers, and through police brutality, sterilization and countless murders.

From the point of view of the colonized, fascism is very familiar. Fascism in the colonizing states is the exact violence that these colonialist-imperialist nations (e.g. Europe) unleashed upon the world turned inward. Fascism in the settler colonial countries translates to the acceleration of colonialist violence upon indigenous and marginalized groups, perpetrated largely by a collaboration between the settler population, the settler-colonial state, and indigenous compradors. Along with that, all the indignities of accelerated capitalism may be thrust upon not only the native, but also the settler population. With diminishing returns of primary capital accumulation as the colonialist project progresses, the bourgeoisie may enact increased demands and pressure on the settler proletariat. The effects of fascist propaganda results in its followers being inspired to violent terrorist actions against the blamed populations, and these terrorists are quietly or even loudly supported by fascist politicians. The murder of working class Muslims and Latin Americans, and the shooting and bombing of Mosques and Synagogues to fight "globalists" or "replacement" anxieties of the white man are examples of this.

In the preliminary stages, bourgeois governments adopt reactionary measures that facilitate the fascist acquisition of power. This is the time when fascism should be fought, or it will be too late. Fascism was able to come to power primarily because the working class succumbed to class collaboration with the bourgeoisie, and was divided and disarmed in face of the onslaught of the bourgeoisie. The Communist Parties failed to form a united anti-fascist proletarian front with the Social-Democratic leaders, to struggle against fascism's poisonous ideology and its historical and cultural revisionism, this failure cleared the path to power for fascism. In order to defeat fascism, there needs to be an agreement to form a united anti-fascist proletarian front with the progressive non-Communists. Humanity will inevitably take the next step towards progress. Fascism and the bourgeoisie are doomed to fail, and communism will succeed.

Take note however that this does not mean Communists and progressives must or will have complete political unity. In order to more formally unite under one big party, without ceasing to be revolutionary, these 5 conditions must be met:

1. Complete independence from the bourgeoisie and dissolution of the alliance between progressives and the bourgeoisie;
2. Preliminary unity of action;
3. Recognition of the revolutionary overthrow of the rule of the bourgeoisie and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat;
4. Refusal to support one's own bourgeoisie in an imperialist war;
5. Building up the Party on the basis of democratic centralism.

Ideological origins

Rather than being a unified, cohesive ideology, Fascism has always been very eclectic and based in philosophical idealism. In fact, it is a core characteristic that fascists opportunistically recycle, adapt and twist narratives to fit their goals. However, the goals are always equally brutal. Therefore, it is necessary to outline fascism's ideological evolution by observing its noteworthy material impacts upon the world, not by discerning its myriad of overlapping, incoherent and obscure ideological tendencies and thinkers. The only uniting force behind fascism, in practice, is its defense of the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy, settler-colonialism and imperialist chauvinism. A disproportionate amount of influence, in fact, originated from European aristocrat ideologues.

The origins of fascism as a counter-revolutionary movement can be traced back to the French far-right French Action, which was an openly anti-Marxist political organization established in 1899 proposing an "integral nation" for French society through class collaboration.

The term "fascism" comes from the Italian National Fascist Party, a party founded by Benito Mussolini in 1921; whose practices and ideology would later define this reactionary movement as a whole. Mussolini's fascism was constructed out of an admiration and romanticization of Roman civilisation, which originated in modern-day Italy. Thus, the name fascism was based on the fasces, an axe that is surrounded and bound to a bundle of sticks and was carried by officials (lictors) in political and military demonstrations. This was a symbol of power and authority that Mussolini repurposed for fascism.

Shifting blame away from capital is as old as fascism's birth. The oldest and most common example for such a distraction shared by fascists worldwide is antisemitism. The most widely circulated and influential myth since the late 19th century is a conspiracy theory that blames Jewish people for the world's problems, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. This rag remains the most widely circulated book by fascists on the internet today.

Blavatsky, Cultural Appropriation and New Age Myths

The violent and shameless appropriation of the world's cultures has been wildly popular among Europeans since European colonialism began, and by the 19th century, their orientalist gaze fixated upon Asia, or "the Orient". These appropriations became extremely instrumental to fascist myth making. New Age occultism such as the bizarre "Theosophy" (not to be confused with the term used by Neoplatonists) was invented by 19th century German aristocrat, Helena Blavatsky, a lifelong traveler and settler in Russia, the United States of America and India. Theosophy used a patchwork of orientalist myths and interpretations of various indigenous cultures, such as Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism. Blavatsky was the inventor of the Atlantis myth, Lemurians, etc. Among the bizarre myths, Theosophy claimed that the mixing of races caused degeneration. Theosophy was influential in the 20th century German fascist regime's construction of the "Aryan" national myth through Guido von List's German adaptation of it into the spiritual and cultural framework of Nazism. That is why the Nazis appropriated the swastika from Buddhism. It is important to emphasize that the fascists did not truly understand the cultures they were appropriating.

The way that early orientalists treated the BIPOC, often Asian, cultures they culturally appropriated is not much different from New Age followers today, in fact the fundamental idea of a New Age movement was coined and developed in 1970 by the theosophist David Spangler and maintains its orientalist and settler-colonial core and remains popular into the 21st century. The term "New Age" is probably a reference to the magazine The New Age (1907-1922) which included Nietzschean and Theosophist writings.

Nietzsche

Historian and Marxist-Leninist philosopher Domenico Losurdo in his work Nietzsche, the Aristocratic Rebel, pointed out that Nietzsche, who was an aristocrat, can be associated with a reactionary trend against the rise of the Paris commune in 1871. Nietzsche's views were consistently anti-liberal, anti-socialist, anti-democratic and even promoted racial hygiene, a tendency which would later inspire fascist movements.

Sorel

Georges Sorel (1847–1922) was a French syndicalist that contributed and inspired the rise of National Syndicalism in Italy and Spain. His most famous works centred around the idea of myth, which he highlights as "forming the centre of man’s cosmology and world view in all ages". In 1909, Sorel began to adopt the idea of Integral Nationalism, publishing an article praising the far-right group French Action in Divenire Sociale—the leading journal for Italian Syndicalists at the time. It received immense praise by French Action; being reprinted under the name "Antiparliamentary Socialists”, and in 1910, he joined the group. During this time, he developed further reactionary ideals, leading him to support Catholic Patriotism and further embedding himself in fascist ideology. Mussolini looked up highly to Sorel and claimed he was his "foremost teacher".

By country

Italian fascism

The Italian fascist government of 1922 was the first known historical example of large-scale privatizations of state-owned enterprises.

German fascism

See main article: Nazism

The most extreme form of fascism was German fascism, which called itself National Socialism despite being supported by finance capitalists. Bourgeois magazine The Economist introduced the euphemism privatization in 1936, to describe Nazi Germany's economic policies, which from a Marxist perspective is the selling out of state infrastructure to the highest bidder.

German fascism was most known for its genocidal, expansionist, imperialist and colonialist rule under the Nazi Party from 1933 to 1945, culminating in the deaths of at least 30 million people, including 26.6 million Soviets. While the word "Nazi" is short for "National socialist", they were capitalists, the term "socialist" being nothing more than a ploy to gain working-class support. Not only did the German fascists allow the virulent exploitation of the working people and concentration of capital, they adopted a settler-colonial model coupled with exploitation, colonialism, and mass terror applied to the European continent. The ideological justification for colonization of European peoples by Nazis was promoted as Lebensraum, and was directly influenced by Statesian genocide of native peoples through Manifest Destiny.

The Nazi Party was beaten into dissolution by the Soviet Union after the Battle of Berlin in May 1945.

Japanese fascism

Japanese fascism, also known as Shōwa Statism, was based on a number of imperialist and ultranationalist political ideas from various Japanese thinkers. Japanese fascism manifested itself in extreme militarism, monarchism, and expansionism in Asia.

Portuguese fascism

From 1933 to 1974, Portugal was ruled by the Estado Novo ("New State"), headed by António de Oliveira Salazar. Under Salazar's dictatorship, the Portuguese working class was subjugated to reactionary Christian doctrine, as well as a corporatist economy. The Salazarist regime was also militantly imperialist, repressing calls for independence and self-determination in Angola and Mozambique. The Estado Novo would finally fall in 1974, after a military coup. By the end of the 1970s, Portugal had returned to being a bourgeois democracy.

Portugal, at the time a Fascist dictatorship, was one of the founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Spanish fascism

Following the victory of the United Front in 1936, a fascist revolt led by General Franco broke out, whose ambitions were assisted by invading Germany and Italy, and silently backed by the rest of the allies. A civil war lasting three years followed, culminating in the crushing of Republican forces. The regime went on to last three more decades, and it is said that the current "reformed" Spanish state is a continuation of the same regime. Notably, Franco reintroduced the king of Spain in 1956 (whose parent was deposed in 1931). To this day, Spain remains a monarchy.

British Fascism

See main article: Oswald Mosley

The United States of North America

Many neo-fascist groups were involved in the 2021 United States Capitol coup attempt.

After World War II, the settler-colonial United States of North America began to be the new pioneer of orientalism, and, unsurprisingly, many Fascist currents are initially developed there before being replicated internationally. Contemporary fascists such as the White House cabinet member and close advisor to Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, have publicly quoted Julius Evola. Evola was an Italian fascist ideologue, spiritualist, and orientalist, influenced by theosophy and Nietszche, who (like Mussolini) called for a restoration of the ancient Roman empire, but fully rejected modern Western society and predicted its accelerationist collapse and the return of pre-"rational", "feudal", "mystic" society in his own Esoteric Fascist theory. Fascist New Agers have been found storming the capitol building of the United States of North America.

The term "alt-right" refers to a loose grouping of far-right extremists, largely based on the internet. Alt-righters are often "white nationalists" (white supremacists), neo-nazis, highly misogynistic, and otherwise chauvinist. Many alt-righters claim to be promoting a form of identity politics, that is, for the support of white people or white males, against perceived repression from ethnic minorities and females. Many other alt-righters are openly white-supremacist, and otherwise seek to create a white ethno-state, often motivated by bloated and fear-mongering reports of "illegal aliens" (non-white people) that come from the Statesian capitalist news.

A cult of personality developed around multi-billionaire president Donald Trump, whose rise to infamy was cheered on by a wave of reactionary nationalism, xenophobia, and populism. Such trends were marked by increased membership in neo-fascist paramilitary groups such as the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, and Oathkeepers.

Trump’s rule ended in an attempted putsch of the American government, mainly done by the Far-right paramilitary groups mentioned above. The putsch (often referred to in the capitalist media as the “Jan. 6 insurrection" or riot), was motivated by false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being rigged in favor of the Democrats, as well as Trump’s personal agitation.

Latin American fascism

See main article: Pinochet

See main article: Alberto Fujimori

See main article: 2019 Bolivia Coup Attempt

Post-World War II

After World War II, fascism was in retreat. It has since taken on a more international character, borrowing from many sources. Similar to the fascists of the 20th century, neo-fascism is born as a reaction to changing social climates, as well as growing economic hardships among the petit-bourgeoisie. The term "neofascist" is often vauguely defined, and besides its usage as a mere pejorative, "neo-fascism" better refers to an entire grouping of far-right trends that appeared after classical fascism largely died as a power-holding ideology after World War 2.

With the rise of neoliberalism, and the increasing concentration of capital into fewer-and-fewer hands, neo-fascism has gained new popularity among many nations, particularly because of climate change and economic problems (the results of capitalism).

Neo-Nazism

See main article: Neo-Nazism

Neo-nazism, by its most general meaning, refers to the post-World War Two adherence to nazism. Neo-nazis are highly racist, often of the white supremacist and anti-semitic type, conspiratorial, and reactionary. Neo-nazism is heavily linked with the "alt-right", and can be viewed as a particular form of neo-fascism. Neo-nazis goals range from preforming terrorist actions against perceived racial enemies to starting a race war and creating a Fourth Reich.

Strasserism

Flag often used by strasserists.

Strasserism is a third positionist ideology based on Nazism. Strasserism is based on the works of Gregor and Otto Strasser, who were both associated with the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The main difference between Strasserism and their Nazi counterparts is that Strasserism calls for a more worker-based and socialistic form of regular Nazism. Much like Nazism, Strasserism is greatly anti-semitic, but in the case of Strasserism, its racist conspiracy theories are built on economic anti-semitism, a form of anti-semitism in which the reason why Jewish people are used as a scapegoat for economic ills is because they are supposedly of a higher economic status than the racially-pure worker.

Ecofascism

Cooptation of the aesthetics of existing popular movements through entryism remains a common strategy for fascist self-promotion, solely to capture popularity. Thus, as the climate crisis unfolds in the 21st century, ecofascism has strongly emerged as a right-wing deviation of environmentalism, shifting blame from fossil fuel capital to immigrants and nations of the global south -- in practice, promoting fascist policies through greenwashing. One prominent politician of ecofascist policies is Marine Le Pen. Population control, anti-immigrant policies, and ethnocide become the alternatives pushed instead of facing capital's responsibility for ecological destruction.

Ecofascism, outside its derogatory usage by reactionaries to insult anybody who accepts the existence of man-made climate change, refers to the ideological trends that combine hard-line environmentalism with reactionary nationalism and xenophobia. Ecofascists view Earth as a Malthusian battleground between racial and ethnic groups, and think that ecological harmony is tied with ethnic or racial monodominance. To combat climate change, ecofascists believe not only in things such as eugenics, but also in the purging of ethnic minorites, by means of forced relocation or otherwise.

Ecofascism is greatly inspired by nazism, particularly the "blood and soil" idea, which states that a race is attached with the land it inhabits. Many ecofascists are New Age neo-pagans, mostly worshiping the norse pantheon, largely because they are perceived by ecofascists as being "racially" pure "heroes" of "white people". In online ecofascist groups, the algiz rune "ᛉ" is often used. The algiz rune symbolizes life, that is, in the case of ecofascists, life for nature and white people. The algiz rune was also a symbol for lebensraum; the nazi plan for the enslavement and extermination of the Slavic inhabitants of Eastern Europe, and colonization by ethnic Germans.

New Age and Esoteric Fascism

Esoteric fascism refers to any form of fascism that integrates racialism into a mystical or theological system. The most infamous Esoteric Nazis often view the "aryan" race as having come from some otherworldly place, often the legendary land of hyperborea. Esoteric Nazis also are often neo-pagans, commonly nordic or greco-roman pagans. Esoteric Nazis also subscribe to other pseudoscientific or pseudohistorical theories, often entailing UFOs Nazi bunkers in Antarctica, among similar things.

See also

• Neoliberalism
• Greater German Reich
• Far-right politics
• Genocide
• Neo-Nazism
• Populism

References