If you’re reading this article, chances are slim that you’re an advocate of fascism. That’s because fascists aren’t known for reading 1819 News, and, most of all, because the term fascist probably doesn’t mean what you think it does. Like the contemporary misuse of democracy, fascism lost its original meaning years ago when it ceased to be a “movement of the Italian spirit, deeply bound up with the history of the Italian nation....”
Fascism is simply an early 20th-century Italian political ideology formulated by Sicilian philosopher Giovanni Gentile. Chances are, you’ve never heard of him. Instead, when you hear the term fascism, you might think of Benito Mussolini, the leader of the Italian National Fascist Party (1919-1945). But while Mussolini made fascism famous after he was expelled from the Italian Socialist Party, it was Gentile who authored the fascist ideology and oversaw the indoctrination of children as the Italian minister of public education (1922-1924).
In its most basic sense, the Italian term fascismo is derived from the Italian word fascio (bundle). During the turn of the 20th century, numerous Italian political organizations of various leanings were called fasci. All the term fasci suggested is that a group is stronger than the individual.
While Karl Marx’s ideology, the basis for socialism and communism, focused on the class struggle internal to society, Gentile’s ideology focused on the state collective. The backdrop for Marx’s work was the industrial revolution, whereas Gentile’s work came out of post-World War I dissatisfaction with the newly created Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946). Moreover, it’s important to note that Marx used the terms socialism and communism interchangeably. That’s because he viewed socialism as the preceding stage to communism, meaning, the final stage of his vision for a communal, classless society where all property is owned by the centralized state and redistributed by need.
So, if fascism is simply the collective organization of individuals and organizations comprising the state, what is an anti-fascist? Luckily, Gentile defined that for us in the “Manifesto of Fascist Intellectuals,” saying, “The Constitutional State was therefore anti-Fascist, as it had to be, since it was the State of the majority, and it was precisely this State that called itself liberal which stood opposed to Fascism.” Gentile makes it clear that a classically liberal state rooted in the principles of individual rights, limited government, free market economy, and rule of law was “plainly not what Socialists yearned for.”
Yes, similar to Marx, Gentile used the terms fascism and socialism interchangeably in the manifesto. If you take an hour or two to read the original “Manifesto of Fascist Intellectuals” and “The Doctrine of Fascism,” you’ll quickly conclude that references to Republicans being fascists are absurd.
It would seem logical to assume that post-World War I European leaders of similar anti-individualistic ideologies would enjoy close relations, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Joseph Stalin, the general secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union, didn’t like Benito Mussolini, the leader of the National Fascist Party in Italy, or Adolf Hitler, the leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Furthermore, during World War II, Stalin described Italy and Germany as fascist regimes led by tyrants. He intentionally misused this terminology to rally the Soviet people and distance his tyrannical communist regime from the like-minded socialist leaders.
This same technique, to redefine terms to fit one’s purpose, was used repeatedly following World War II. By the 21st century, politicians and academics had deliberately altered the definitions of communism, socialism and fascism to support their evolving arguments. These efforts to redefine three Marx-inspired ideologies that argue for the collective over the individual have rendered the terms essentially meaningless.
It’s impossible to understand how politicians and academics attempt to connect the Republican Party in the United States to the failed ideology of Italian fascism, or German socialism for that matter. I doubt you’ve ever heard a Republican espouse collectivism or describe the individual as nothing more than a small part of the state like Mussolini and Gentile did in “The Doctrine of Fascism,” saying, “the Fascist conception of life stresses the importance of the State and accepts the individual only in so far as his interests coincide with those of the State….”
So don’t be fooled by terms with obscured definitions that amount to nothing more than schoolyard name-calling by angry Democrat bullies.
Dr. Tobias Vogt von Heselholt (shortened to “Vote”) is a retired U.S. Army officer, former professor, author, and elected member of the Alabama Republican Executive Committee. For more, see his author page at amazon.com.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please email your name and contact information to [email protected].
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
