Nationalist salvation
Some fascists have turned to nationalism, arguing that a national revolution is
necessary as a ‘cleansing fire of purification’. Ultra-nationalists have utilised punk
rock, heavy metal music and football hooliganism (Griffin, 1995: 360, 363).
However, parties like the British National Front claim to stand for democracy and
accuse their opponents of not being supporters of ‘genuine democracy’. Nationalism
is presented as a doctrine for the equality of nations. The National Front (NF) sees
itself ‘as a radical party seeking deep and fundamental changes in British society.
Unlike many other radical parties, particularly those of the past, we do not seek to
impose our views on the population.’ The implication is that such a party distances
itself from the explicit authoritarianism of inter-war fascism (http://www.nfne.co.uk/
nfsop.html).
In 1982 John Tyndall formed the British National Party (BNP), and although he
speaks of the ‘degenerative forces’ poisoning national life linked to liberalism and
internationalism, the party speaks of wishing to extend democracy (http://www.bnp.
org.uk/mission.htm) and objects to the idea that it is fascist or authoritarian. It is
difficult to avoid the conclusion that parties like the BNP and the NF are parties
of the extreme right, rather than fascist in the way we have defined the term here.
On the other hand, the BNP, for example, has links with and invites speakers from
explicitly fascist groups, so that the ‘democratic’ appearances of such organisations
should not be taken at face value. La Oeuvre France, founded in 1968, describes
itself as ‘a strictly nationalist movement’ and treats the accusation of ‘fascism’ and
‘Nazism’ as slurs against French people ‘of good stock’ (Griffin, 1995: 371–2). Of
course, ultra-nationalist movements will be sensitive to the idea that they are
derivatives of other movements and hence likely to resist the label of fascism on
that score as well.
However, groups on the far right that have sprung up in former Communist
Party states, like Romania, may espouse more explicitly fascist positions. The New
Right movement founded in 1993 in Romania speaks of the need for an ‘ethnocratic’
state which it explicitly contrasts to a democratic state. The National Democratic
Party of Germany, eclipsed in the late 1980s by the Republican Party and the
German Peoples’ Union, espouses Germany as a völkishnational entity, but calls
for social justice and equality within Germany’s borders. The Italian Social
Movement that won 12.7 per cent of the vote with the National Alliance (in March
1994), seeks to reconstruct the Italian state and it regards Mussolini as the greatest
statesman of the twentieth century (Griffin, 1995: 379, 382, 387).Summary
Although fascism is a chaotic and opportunist movement, it can and should be
defined. There are a number of characteristics – anti-liberalism, ultra-nationalism,
the extolling of violence, militant statism, mass support, etc. – that distinguish this
twentieth-century movement from other movements.
Fascism arose first in Italy. The development of fascism in Italy needs to be
explained, since this was the particular movement that gave the general movementChapter 13 Fascism 301