Fascism was a new political force that emerged in opposition to socialism during the post-WWI era. The term and ideology was invented and defined by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in the 1920s. Mussolini came to power after the “March on Rome” in 1922, and was appointed Prime Minister by King Victor Emmanuel III. This ultimately resulted in his takeover of the Italian government, putting his Fascist Party in full control. While fascism can be rather difficult to define in simple terms, Mussolini wrote an entry for the Italian Encyclopedia on the definition of fascism in 1932. You can read fascism defined by Mussolini by clicking here.After reading the document, I would like you to think about and discuss the following: According to Mussolini, fascism is not based on the belief of what? What is the idea of peace considered to be on the part of Fascists? What is the idea of war considered to be on the part of Fascists? How, in Mussolini’s opinion, is Fascism “the complete opposite of Marxian Socialism?” How does Fascism “combat the whole complex system of democratic ideology?” What were Mussolini’s predictions for the 20th century? Why? Was he correct in his assessment? Does Fascism allow for individual freedom? In what sense? What is the view of Fascists regarding imperialism? Your thoughts…
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Fascism does not believe that there will ever be a perpetual peace. It appears that Benito Mussolini believes that peace can only be acheived through complete control of the people and his opposition. Fascists sees war as a place where heroes are made and shows people for who they really are. The difference between Marxian Socialism and Fascism, he says, is the fact that Socialism has an economic motive, while Fascism is supposed to not have one at all. Fascism denies everyone the right to govern society through periodic meetings. Mussolini predicts that the 20th century will be the century of Fascism. This is because he believes that that century will be one of collectiveness, not individuality. Fascism is in theory, only to give rights that are necessary and the rest be controlled by the government. Fascism is definitely supposed to bring back imperialism, as that would be the only way to show that your nation is prospering
Fascism is not based on the belief that there can be a perpetual peace. War is inevitable and it brings out nobility in a man. It is the real decision we need to make, life or death? This reminds me of ppl running off to fight in WW1 having no idea what war is really like. Mussolini compares Marxian Socialism to Fascism in that fascisim seeks no matterial ga in, it is not strictly economic. He compares it to a democracy in that fascism does not have the majority of the ppl running government. He does not believe the majority can govern themselves becasue they are the majority. It sees inequality as an adventage.Mussolini believed that the 20th century would be a century of socialism, liberalism, and democracy. He says taht humanity will turn away from these and turn to fascism.
He states that Fascism is built on the belief that the state is for the people. Ummm i dont really get how its the oppisite of communism because they both take away the freedom of its people and theres a dictator in power. Fascism is different from democracy because they take away the peoples voice in the government. i dont understand why he thinks that everyone is going to turn to fascism but i guess with the support of Germany they thought it would spread eveywhere
wow. that was interesting. it always is to see exactly what someone believes about what he has created, and in musollini's case he was obviously VERY proud of his wonderful little creation. the entry practically read like a love letter to Fascism.
the way he wrote it definitely made it sound very militaristic. he says that he doesn't believe that perpetual peace is possible, and he infers that, hey, if it's not possible, then why try? even the way he describes the running of the government sounds familiar to that of an army. you have one general whom everyone answers to, who is in charge of absolutely everything, and you must do as he says, trusting that he will make the right decision for you and in the end you will have what you need. i think it's a little interesting how gently put the downsides to fascism are. for instance, a fascist government will take away most of your freedom, giving you only those freedoms that the fascist dictator thinks will not cause any problems. he phrases it as taking away "useless and possibly harmful freedom". right. i wonder which freedoms we have, exactly, which are useless? he sounds like a control freak.
mussolini believes that war is the ultimate expression of a country's authority. he also says, about democracy, that universal suffrage can't do much to solve the government problems. he says that there are too many people making decisions in a democracy, so there should be an exclusive party governing the majority. and toward communism, he says that communism is driven by only economic purposes and gaining development through an increase in production technology. he says that facism is not driven by economic means at all, and that economic practices, if they are to follow the path of history, will sway back and forth. mussolini predicts a century of socialism. in a way, he was right. totalitarian dictators, such as hitler and castro, would come after mussolini, along with the japanese. militarism was a popular means for facists. which in turn, led to the thought of imperialism and spreading 'the joy' throughout the world.
"...The Fascist accepts life and loves it, knowing nothing of and despising suicide: he rather conceives of life as duty and struggle and conquest, but above all for others -- those who are at hand and those who are far distant, contemporaries, and those who will come after..." to me this quote is funny. what lives are the facists loving? only their party supporters? and i also find that this is in the definition of facism very interesting. did hitler not read his role model's definition of what he was 'supposed' to be doing before he carried out his genocide? this line makes me laugh at facism, which may be wrong, but i can't help but find it to be moderately ironic that these two lines worth of text can be so contradictory to what i've been thinking about facist doctrine.
i think this was my most favoritest (thats right, favoritest) :]
Fascism denies that the majority, by the simple fact that it is a majority, can direct human society; it denies that numbers alone can govern by means of a periodical consultation, and it affirms the immutable, beneficial, and fruitful inequality of mankind, which can never be permanently leveled through the mere operation of a mechanical process such as universal suffrage....
it makes fascism actuall sound....descent?
this document really amps up fascism, but you can see that it is believe that total control is the only way to run a country peacfully.
fascism according to benito says there will never be prpetual peace. it also doesn't believe in the idea of democratic untruth of political inequality. fascism belives that war can't force change in society. another thing they say is that they "accepts life and loves it" but what i dont get is if hilter was a fascist why he would kill people. and i think benito did to so i dont understand that part. i didn't really understand what he was wanting to say because i think that in some of the things he said he contridicted with his actions of the future.
Fascism is treated like a person by Mussolini, and he says it doesn't believe in a perpetual peace, that Pacifism is an excuse that you're weak. Fascism is true with life, that life is not all roses and violets. There is problems in the world, and man should face them. The hard choice of life and death it is put out in Fascism.
This really helped me grasp the concept of Facism, but what helped me more was the cowws diagram you gave us. It makes all the things make sense
dude mussolini is crazy. i think that the state should be put before the peole but not to the extreme. also whts up whit him wanting to always be at war. thats just wrong. peace can be achived other ways than controling the whole world. i relly think that mussolini was like that dude that no one talks to and then one day saps and shoots up the place. he is definetly not the leader to solve problems in italy.
he makes facism sound like it is one of the best things out there in a way. he does say that fascism does not believe that there will ever be a perpetual peace. The only way that can happen is if someone [he] has complete control over the people. then he states "The Fascist accepts life and loves it, knowing nothing of and despising suicide...", which sounds like total BS ! he believes that war is the ultimate expression of a country's authority, so of course there is no peace in that and deffinantly no love in life.
you know fascism kinda reminded me of adam smith defining capitalism. with capitalism, it was that humans are naturally selfish so they should harness it. it's the same with fascism when it comes to war. it's like mussolini says we should do it because it is natural, so it must be right.
Fascism doesnt believe in the possibility or the utility of perpetual peace. The Fascists believes peace is a sign of cowardice in an act of sacrifice. War makes people nobility and brings out their true side.
Fascists is the opposite of Marxism because marxism focuses on the economy, while fascism believes in holiness and heroism.
They believe that democracy should not be govern by a majority of people, simply because it is a group of people, denying a group of numbers the capability of governing a society through periodical consultations.
Mussolini believes that by the 20th century, it will become a century of authority.
Fascism doesnt believe a "pax-insert country name here-". Mussolini believes that peace can only be achieved through complete control. War is viewed as a time when heroe's are formed and show people's true colors... The main diff between marxian socialism and facism is socialism has a economic section, but marxism doesn't. Fasciam denies people a say in how the govt is run...
Fascism is not based on the belief of peace and how it can be lasting. Maybe temporary peace yes but it doesn't remain for a long period of time. Peace is like "a renunciation of the struggle and an act of cowardice in the face of sacrifice." Fascists thought peace was for weaker societies. War represented the strength and power of a nation. Mussolini says that Marxian Socialism is the opposite of Fascism because Socialism is more of a materialistic approach and deals with the economy. Fascists doesn't like the concept of having multiple people having a say and running the country because Fascism "denies that numbers alone can govern by means of a periodical consultation." Mussolini predicts that Fascism will rule the twentieth century because the nineteenth century was a time for individuals to shine, as to where the twentieth century is more of a "collectivism" ordeal involving the State as a whole. Fascists feel imperialism is necessary. They need to grow and expand; it's an essential. If they don't grow, they're showing signs of weakening.
I don't get it. Facism and communism looks same to me because there is one sole powerful dictator who controls every sector of government. I guess extreme left and extreme right are same. Perhaps the line is not a line, but a circle?
Mussolini believed that democracy and liberalism was not the best option because it represented the individualism of the citizens of the state. He believed that there was no such thing as political equality and that the peace created by democracy was just an illusion. He believed that the twentieth century would be the century of fascism unlike the 19th century where the main goal of the citizen was not collective good of the state.
Fascist ideology believes neither in the utility or the possibility of forever lasting peace. He attacks Pacifism and backs it up with the need of a strong and powerful military to do whatever is necessary. The fascist embraces life and takes it as a duty and struggle, and ultimately a conquest. Mussolini believes that socialism consists of multiple, conflicting social groups. Because of so many different ideas, it would be impossible to get anything accomplished.
According to Fascism, perpetual peace cannot exist. In Mussolini’s opinion, Fascism is the complete opposite of Marxian Socialism because it believes that actions are influenced by no economic motive, direct or indirect rather than being able to be explained through the conflict of interest among various social groups as well as change and development in instruments of production. He also believes that war is the ultimate expression of a country's authority, and the only way perpetual peace could even remotely exist is if one power has control over everyone which must be attained militarily.
Wow! This really helped me understand fascism better. It makes things clear.
Mussolini thinks that there can only be peace if he has complete control over his people. War is very big to paople under fascism.. this is where u show how heroic u are and who u really are. Fascism only gives rights that are necessary to live and not usually what the people want
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