What some do not realize is that fascists and socialists are at opposite ends of the spectrum. To simplify, they honesty dislike each other. I am using the term dislike in an attempt not to overstate or draw attention to the actual hatred between these two ideologies. The brand of totalitarianism supported by Benito Mussolini and subsequently utilized by Adolf Hitler was a state that controlled every aspect of a citizen’s life. There simply was no other option in what was being discussed or presented it was through the use of total control and the promise of economic reforms that these leaders gained the adulation of most, but not all of their countrymen. Mussolini gained political control by bullying his socialistic rival’s. He was angered …show more content…
Fredrick Engle and Karl Marx wrote the textbook on the rise of the working class the the downfall of the owners of the means of production. Their book The Communist Manifesto came on the heels of social, economic, and political upheaval in Europe. Lenin and then Joseph Stalin believed in a collective state. A nation where all citizens worked towards a goal that was predetermined by the state, with all supplies and financial responsibilities being incurred and paid out by the government. Yet, the communistic leaders controlled what they perceived to be vital to the security and welfare of the state. They controlled what Lenin referred to as the ‘commanding heights of industry’ steel production, farms, oil production and coal industries to name only a few that they would not allow others to control. They removed price on items with the idea that there would be plenty for all to share as long as the collectives worked together to create a utopian society. In order to gain political control Lenin used revolutionaries to eventually build a viable military, which won the Russian Civil war and eliminated Tsar Nicholas III and all members of the ruling class. Lenin developed a society that was founded on the rise of the working class or the proletariat and the ruin of the owners of the means of production or the bourgeoisie. It was the intent of Lenin and then Stalin to create a classless Soviet society. After Lenin’s death, Stalin took control the Soviet state. Through a series of 5-year plans, he was able to improve living and working conditions for those who support his ideals. Those who he perceived as being against his vison of society were purged from society. It is believed that as many as 10 million men, women, and children were killed in Stalin’s
Marx’s ideals of communism were drawn from the realization that the cycle of revolutions caused by the class struggles throughout history lead society nowhere. Society as a whole was more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes that were directly facing each other—bourgeoisie and proletariat. According to Marx, in order for society to further itself a mass proletarian revolution would have to occur. The bourgeois, who were the employers and owners of the means of production, composed the majority of the modern capitalists. It was these individuals that controlled the capitalist society by exploiting the labor provided by the proletariats. For example, the bourgeoisie make property into a right because they are the ones with the property. However, without their power force of labor behind them, the bourgeoisie class would crumple. To accomplish a revolution, the workers (proletariats) would need to rise up against the bourgeoisie and take back the factors of production. Marx believed that after the inevitable revolution of the proletariats against the oppressive force of the bourgeoisie, a communistic form of government would take hold.
Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany as Totalitarian Atates A totalitarian state refers to a country in which the central government exercises total control over all aspects of people's life. Main features include an infallible leader, one-party rule, strict party discipline, elitism, planned economy, an official doctrine, absolute obedience of individuals to the State, nationalism and usually an expansionist foreign policy. Up to these criteria, both Fascist Italy (1922-43) and Nazi Germany (1933-45) could be deemed totalitarian states to a large extent.
Fascism is one of the great political ideology in the 20th century. It is a kind of authoritarian government that, according to Wikipedia, “considers the individual subordinate to the interests of the state, party or society as a whole.” Two of the most successful and to be in the vanguard of fascism government is Italian fascism – led by Benito Mussolini, and Nazi Germany – led by Adolf Hitler. Fascism in Italy and Germany, though in many regards very similar - have the same political ideologies, still have many aspects to them that make them different from each other. Before analysing the similarities and differences between the fascism that emerged in Italy and Germany since the very first of 20th century, it is better to discover - what is fascism.
Following the beginning of the Second World War, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union would start what would become two of the worst genocides in world history. These totalitarian governments would “welcome” people all across Europe into a new domain. A domain in which they would learn, in the utmost tragic manner, the astonishing capabilities that mankind possesses. Nazis and Soviets gradually acquired the ability to wipe millions of people from the face of the Earth. Throughout the war they would continue to kill millions of people, from both their home country and Europe. This was an effort to rid the Earth of people seen as unfit to live in their ideal society. These atrocities often went unacknowledged and forgotten by the rest of the world, leaving little hope for those who suffered. Yet optimism was not completely dead in the hearts of the few and the strong. Reading Man is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag by Janusz Bardach and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi help one capture this vivid sense of resistance toward the brutality of the German concentration and Soviet work camps. Both Bardach and Levi provide a commendable account of their long nightmarish experience including the impact it had on their lives and the lives of others. The willingness to survive was what drove these two men to achieve their goals and prevent their oppressors from achieving theirs. Even after surviving the camps, their mission continued on in hopes of spreading their story and preventing any future occurrence of such tragic events. “To have endurance to survive what left millions dead and millions more shattered in spirit is heroic enough. To gather the strength from that experience for a life devoted to caring for oth...
Whether, it is that a man should appear as not as an individual, why he rejects pacifism and marxism. I can only point out one small paragraph that shows what a fascist person should be like unlike Hitler's book excerpt that shows why and has examples of why the Aryan race should be dominate and, why he wants the Jews to perish. Benito states that a man should be active, be ready, importance of education and, the essential value of work. This is nothing compared to Hitler, who showed why the Aryan race should be dominate, ways to awaken a sentiment of nationality in large masses. The main topic that Benito talks about is why he wants a fascist state and not a pacifist and/or marxism. But Mussolini does state what Fascism does: dening happiness and that men should not be treated as mere animals.
Karl Marx 's writing of ‘The Communist Manifesto’ in 1848 has been documented by a vast number of academics as one of the most influential pieces of political texts written in the modern era. Its ideologically driven ideas formed the solid foundation of the Communist movement throughout the 20th century, offering a greater alternative for those who were rapidly becoming disillusioned and frustrated with the growing wealth and social divisions created by capitalism. A feeling not just felt in by a couple of individuals in one society, but a feeling that was spreading throughout various societies worldwide. As Toma highlights in his work, Marx felt that ‘capitalism would produce a crisis-ridden, polarized society destined to be taken over by
The Communist Manifesto responded to the situation and created a vision of an equal communist society. The Communist Manifesto was defined by the abolishment of the bourgeois sovereign rule that followed a revolution against capitalism to create communism. This is because it allowed for the emergence of the powerful Bourgeoise, "In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.” As Marx explained, the Bourgeois exploited the Proletariats through the means of the long hours the laborers had to endure to receive very low wages, which maximized Bourgeois profits.
Fascism is defined as, “an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.” Peter Hyland reports that throughout the 1920s and the 1930s, an economic depression was growing and becoming widespread throughout the world. People were losing faith in their democracies and in capitalism. Leaders who gained power supported powerful militarism, nationalism, and initiated the return of an authoritarian rule. J.R. Oppenheimer says that the rise of fascism and totalitarianism in Europe and Russia instigated a “critical step on the path to war.” In 1922, Benito Mussolini held leadership in Italy, promising a proficient and militaristic nationalistic state. During his control as prime minister, he gained a large group of followers, banned the disparagement of government, and used extreme violence against his enemies within the parliament.
In The Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the two German philosophers saw history as the struggle between the working class and the Bourgeois, or middle class (textbook 708). The Communist Manifesto was written in 1848, during the peak of the Industrial Revolution, a time when the Bourgeois made huge profits in manufacturing at the expense of the working class. According to Marx and Engels, the fruits of the Industrial Revolution created a new class of the oppressed modern working class, the Proletariat, which had never before existed because it was neither like serfdom or slave hood in that it was dependent on the Bourgeois to hire them for wage labor. This was the class the two philosophers envisioned would set off a revolution that would overthrow capitalism to end the perpetual class struggle and create a fair society known as Communism.
Exploring the Similarities and Differences Between the Foreign Policies of Mussolini and Hitler Similarities - Both foreign policies geared to achieving great power status o Hitler: lebensraum, wanted to have living space for the expansion of the German race and control over other groups o Mussolini: wanted control over Mara nostrum, Abyssinia, …an empire - fascist states o had anti communist feelings; o both signed anti comintern pact 1937 against USSR o Spanish civil war against communism helping Franco secure power o Signed pact of steel in may 1939, a full military alliance - unhappy with status quo, wanted international prestige o national grievances on Versailles, people wanted to change Versailles o Hitler, product of WW1 who was angry at Versailles and wanted to see Germany achieve great power status o Mussolini; felt that Italy had been treated unfairly at Versailles and also waned to change the status quo o Because of this both built up armies, navies and air forces.. Italian air force to block out the sun + German luftwaffe… - both Hitler and Mussolini, used diplomacy and force as well as aggression to get what they wanted o Mussolini over Greece where it undermined the LofN, used force to take Abyssinia 1935 o Hitler used the threat of force to take Austria and diplomacy as well as force to take Czech and Saarland in 193… - by 1939 both had a common enemy; Britain and France - both were aggressive nationalists and glorified warw - both wanted empires; abysinnia and lebenstraum to distract from problems at home.. Differences - Hitler was more clear in his aims and ideals whereas Mussolini was more vague and opportunistic o Although Hitler did take advantage of opportunities such as Abyssinia crises to remilitarise Rhineland he was more structured in his aims for Lebensraum, unification of all Germans, building up the army and recovering lost territories § Illustrated by Hitler’s success after success ; Rhineland in 36,
Marx, in his theory of historical materialism, advocates that political and historical events result from the conflict of social forces. His theory focuses on the class struggles and the human attempts to control and dominate the natural environment. Profits obtained by the capitalists are a result of the workers being exploited. This conflict will lead to a revolution in which the workers control the state. Thus, capitalism will be replaced by socialism. The result is freedom for all. In the Soviet Union, the lower class overthrew the ruling class and created a new mode of production. This new economic base then determined political, social and ideological changes in its society. The failure of the Soviet Union impacts the validity of Marxian historical materialism because it discredits materialistic
...nt the works of Marx. The result became a system where emotion triumphed over practicality, and the central message was blurred by the overthrow of the old regime. Thus, Lenin followed Marx in the general ideas of socialism, where everyone was equal under the law, and worked for each other and the common good. While Lenin’s system did manage to create a proletariat class, it also evoked the formation of the corrupt and power hungry Bolshevik Party. With regard to the Populists and Anarchists, Lenin was transformed into a revolutionary who would not stop at anything in the pursuit of Communism. Furthermore, Lenin followed to a lesser extent the Social Democrats and their views on the threat of the peasantry if they were not properly maintained. It is clearly evident that in following other philosophies, Lenin mutated Communism into a form unrecognizable to true Marxism
Karl Marx noted that society was highly stratified in that most of the individuals in society, those who worked the hardest, were also the ones who received the least from the benefits of their labor. In reaction to this observation, Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto where he described a new society, a more perfect society, a communist society. Marx envisioned a society, in which all property is held in common, that is a society in which one individual did not receive more than another, but in which all individuals shared in the benefits of collective labor (Marx #11, p. 262). In order to accomplish such a task Marx needed to find a relationship between the individual and society that accounted for social change. For Marx such relationship was from the historical mode of production, through the exploits of wage labor, and thus the individual’s relationship to the mode of production (Marx #11, p. 256).
The political philosopher believed that communism could only thrive in a society distressed by “the political and economic circumstances created by a fully developed capitalism”. With industry and capitalism growing, a working class develops and begins to be exploited. According to Marx, the exploiting class essentially is at fault for their demise, and the exploited class eventually comes to power through the failure of capitalism.... ... middle of paper ...
Mussolini came into power in 1922 and sought to make Fascism the only party in Italy, because he believed it was superior to all other parties. Both Mussolini and Hitler wanted to create a better economy for their countries, and had big plans to change the way their countries viewed things. Mussolini abolished democracy, and would not listen and shunned any ideas or citizens who opposed his political views. Although the men were quite similar in the ways they set goals for their countries, Hitler was extreme in his plans for future Germany. According to the lecture, Hitler’s plans were to make it known the Germans were the superior race, Jews and Gypsies were subhuman, Hitler promised to take back the land taken from the after the war, and Lebensraum. Both men had their countries became a part of the Axis powers, and along with Japan became Fascist nations. Mussolini’s rise to power came through his influence on the fascists people. According to the lecture it was fascists that marched to Rome in October 1922, and the people demanded that the king put Mussolini in charge of the government. It was through fear that Mussolini gained his power. Hitler on the other hand was