Encyclopedia_of_Political_Thought

fascism/fascist 103

Three-headed monster in armor trampling on religion, literature, and culture amid death and devastation, 1947. Painting by Harry
Sternberg.(LIBRARY OFCONGRESS)

them militarily and forcing them to submit to the fas-
cist state’s power. Then “unity” is achieved. This fascist
reasoning rationalized Germany’s invasion and con-
quest of Poland, France, Austria, and other countries.
Such fascist logic justified the brutal murder and
oppression of many innocent peoples. Its diabolical
theories convinced many in those fascist counties that
their aggressive war policies were just and that robbing
people of their property was part of the “dialectic of
nature.” Such twisted logic was supposedly confirmed
by the early military successes of the fascist countries
and its “might makes right” philosophy.
The swift destruction of fascist states and philoso-
phy after World War II ended this ideology, except in
Spain, where it continued into the 1970s. Some Latin
American countries (such as Argentina) with close ties
to Germany and Spain had fascist military govern-
ments but lacked the influence of European fascist
regimes.

Seeing fascism as a just alternative to decadent lib-

eral capitalist democracies or to the “dictatorship of

the proletariat” in communism, some Western intellec-

tuals (such as T. S. Eliot) sympathized with fascism in

the 1930s. Only minority, extremist RIGHT-wing groups

(such as the KKK, certain “skinheads,” and neo-Nazi

groups) adhere to fascist ideals now, as their deceptive

and destructive qualities are widely recognized.

Further Readings

Gregor, A. J. Young Mussolini and the Intellectual Origins of Fas-

cism.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979.

Hamilton, A. The Appeal of Fascism: A Study of Intellectuals and

Fascism 1919–1945.New York: Macmillan, 1971.

Laqueur, W., ed. Fascism: A Readers’ Guide: Analyses, Interpreta-

tions, Bibliography.Berkeley: University of California Press,

1979.

Lyttelton, A., ed. Italian Fascism from Pareto to Gentile.London:

Cape, 1973.

Mosse, G. L. Masses and Man.Detroit: Wayne State University

Press, 1980.