Fascism

=// "Fascism is capitalism in decay" -Vladimir Lenin //=
 * Fascism **by Moira Chase and Catherine Gallagher

= = Fascism is a form of governing based on strong leadership and a strong sense of nationalism. Dr. Lawrence Britt came up with fourteen principles of fascist regimes including; powerful and continuing nationalism, disdain for the recognition of human rights, supremacy of the military and controlled mass media. Looking at the history of fascist leaders such as Adolph Hitler or Benito Mussolini; fascist support war and violence, using it as a way to gain patriotic support amongst citizens.

The biggest success of a fascist leader occurred first in 1922 with Italy's leader, Benito Mussolini and again with Adolf Hitler in 1933. The reason for this being the first time for Fascist success was that both Germany's and Italy's people were deep in economy troubles and had weak governments. With the fall of the failed government it was easy for leaders such as Hitler to come in and persuade the people with promises of a stronger and more prosperous country.

​ **Controlled mass media** Fascist leaders control the minds and mouths of those living under their rule. The Nazi party was a huge fan of using posters to glorify the SS, Hitler, and other various aspects of the party. Censorship is the suppression of speech, whether it is due to government authorities going in and editing, or pressure from peers to "self-censor". Things considered highly immoral, such as child pornography, are censored in most countries, which is understandable. However, countries with fueding governments may choose to censor many personal works, such as books, movies, or even personal letters. These censors are done in a variety of ways, whether its bleeping audio on a movie, blacking out a line in a letter, or even burning books. Fascist leaders aim to import a strong sense of nationalism, so of course personal letters disregarding or speaking ill of the government are the first to go.
 * 1) Censorship
 * 2) Propaganda

Propaganda, on the other hand, is using media to influence the masses. There are seven different strategies for propaganda according to Edward Filene, who helped establish the Institute of Propeganda Analysis in 1937. Propaganda occurs very common in politics, even in America as recently as Adolf Hitler used propaganda to give the Jewish people an ugly name. Hitler's goal was to make the Jewish people his scapegoat and make it so it's meaning was synonymous to everything the Nazis hated.


 * "The chief function of propaganda is to convince the masses, whose slowness of understanding needs to be given time in order that they may absorb information; and only constant repetition will finally succeed in imprinting an idea on their mind.........the slogan must of course be illustrated in many ways and from several angles, but in the end one must always return to the assertion of the same formula. The one will be rewarded by the surprising and almost incredible results that such a personal policy secures."**
 * Adolf Hitler from "Mein Kampf" **



**Fascist Leaders **

 * Adolf Hitler**

Adolf Hitler is perhaps one of the most well known fascist dictators in history. Unlike earlier fascist leaders (Mussolini) Hitler was able to turn Germany into a well oiled fascist machine and become the center and sole leader of the government. One of the biggest keys of his success was his general likeability and leadership skills.

Once in power Hitler was able to continue his support by creating a strong sense of nationalism in Germany's citizens. He used lots of propaganda (funded by German industralists) glorifying a rich German heritage and painting the German,Ayran race as the "super race." Hitler valued the necessity of a strong military and supported the fascist ideas of great military conquest, he once said, "Germany will either be a world power or not be at all."


 * Benito Mussolini**

Benito Mussolini was the first succesful fascist leader, he was in control of Italy from 1922 to 1943. Similiar to Hitler, Mussolini was a great orator and was able to win over the citizens. Mussolini, being the first real fascist leader in Europe set the example for other leaders and you can see traces of his ideas in other fascist regimes such as Mussolini's Blackshirts evolving into Hilters Brown shirts.

The main reasons behind the acception of a fascist party include, the weakend government system, lose of the leader and fear of communism. Mussolini's main opposition was the Communist party along with socialist groups and ideas. He dealt with this by sending armed squads, such as the Blackshirts, to physically beat any opposition; proving himself as a fascist leader. However, with the amount of propaganda he produced and the persausion of the violent Blackshirts he didn't have too much opposition.

Mussolini started his career as dictator by invading and colonizing Ethipoia in 1935, showing the fascist quality of military power and conquest.He then went on to befriend a usueful ally, Germany. Although Hitler had used some of Mussolini's ideas and shared some of his qualities, Hitler was more radical, powerful and focused on wider asperations. With this new alliance, both Germany and Italy entered WW11 with high hopes. Unfortunatly, //because// of Mussolini's weakness as a leader, particularly in the military, Italy wasn't very succesful and early into the war the Allies captured Italy. Shortly after that, the weakness of Mussolini was apparent and the king, who had been in the background for most of his dictatorship, imprisioned him and he was later executed.


 * Fransico Franco**

Fransico Franco was Spain's fascist leader shortly after WW11. ALthough Franco was not as radical as either of his predicessors, he still implemented fascism during dictatorship. Franco did not have as much military authority as Italy or Germany; in fact, he chose not to be part of the Axis and Spain was nuetral in WW11. However, he still established himself as the sole ruler and stripped the people of their basic rights such as freedom of religion, speech or the right to vote. Also like his predicessors, Franco kept a strong hold on the media, produced a lot of propaganda and hated Communism he spoke of Communism saying, "[Communists] should be crushed like worms]." Franco declared himself ruler for life in 1947, brutally crushing (like worms) any opposition. ​ **Influence**

Fascist influence is easiest seen in the destruction of previous governments and the cause of WW11 however, it also effected each country's economy. //Because// economic unrest was one of the reasons for the rise of fascism, fascist leaders had to ensure a more stable economy; Mussolini was able to do so succesfully and this was one of the reasons for his popularity. Fascim also helped the industries within the state by not buying foreign goods.

Another change seen, especially in Italy was a growth in population. Mussolini knew that the future of fascism was in the youth and because of this he encouraged Italian women to have more children; in fact, he worked the tax system so that large families would have less taxes than a person living by themself. Ultimately, however, the population increase didn't last long and the population actually dropped lower in later years.

In addition to this, some individual buisnesses were able to prosper from fascism such as Volkswagon. The reason for Volkswagon's original success was because Hitler needed a German car that would be, "the people's car." Volkswagon offered him all the qualities he could have wanted. Another car company, Mercades-Benz was able to thrive during WW11 as well because they used prisoners of war to wrok in their factories. This cut down cost signigantly and production rates went up. Many other companies, especially car companies, used this tactic in WW11 and saved themselves a lot of money. Basically any buisness that was able to produce for both Mussolini's and Hitler's needs during WW11 was able to thrive while all others failed.

Works CitedBritt, Lawerence. //Jeff Rense Program//. Source Free Inquiry. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. .Chung, T. K. "Fascist Italy." //TheCorner//. THe Corner.org. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. .Palvac, Brain A. "Fascism." //King's College - Wilkes-Barre, PA - 1-888-KINGS-PA//. MMII, 11 Apr. 2010. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. .Trueman, Chris. "Life in Fascist Italy." //History Learning Site//. Web. 31 Mar. 2010. .Unknown. "The Role of Volkswagen During WWII." //Free Website Hosting Angelfire Free Website Templates to Make Your Own Free Website//. Multiple. Web. 01 Apr. 2010. .