Fascism

Fascism is a political ideology that arose in early twentieth-century Europe and came to dominate the political systems of a number of European and other nations. The last European fascist regime, that of Francisco Franco in Spain, came to an end in 1975.

There is no generally agreed definition of fascism, but its characteristics include a belief that the state is more important than the individual; a leaning towards authoritarian government; militarism; religious and social conservatism; information control and censorship; and a rejection of both free enterprise and socialism in favour of corporatist economic policies.

The prototypical fascist regime was that of Benito Mussolini, who ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943. Other regimes which included fascist elements are those of Francisco Franco in Spain (1936-1975) and Antonio Salazar in Portugal (1932-1968). German Nazism has many similarities to fascism, though the extent to which it can be identified as fascist continues to be a matter of debate.

Though fascism is generally considered to be an ideology of the extreme right, it has important differences from conventional conservatism: for example, fascists reject free-market capitalism in favor of state-sponsored corporatism. While fascists and conservatives have co-operated in some countries, conservatives have clamped down on fascist movements in others (witness the fate of the Iron Guard in Romania, and Salazar's opposition to the National Syndicalists in Portugal).

Fascism was comprehensively discredited in the eyes of most Westerners by the defeat of the Axis powers in World War II, and "fascist" is today frequently used as a term of abuse both on the left and on the right against one's political opponents. While few people are willing to describe themselves as fascists or endorse the fascist regimes of the past, fascism continues to be a minor but significant force in European politics.

The name "fascism" derives from an ancient Roman symbol, the fasces, a group of birch rods bundled together with an axe. It symbolizes strength in unity; the rods are weak by themselves but strong when bundled together.

Fascists were not conservative in any very meaningful sense. They did not wish to preserve the existing order, or even to turn back the clock to some more stable century. They purposefully planned to transform the existing order into a new and all-absorbing authoritarianism, based upon the energies and frustrations of modern industrialism. The Fascists, in a meaningful sense, were revolutionaries.