On Fascism and Anti Fascism

Fascism was introduced by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini who seized power through a march on Rome in 1922. Spanish dictator Francisco Franco who ruled from 1939 following his victory in the Spanish Civil War until his death in 1975 also presided over a fascist regime. National Socialism (Nazism) is frequently confused with fascism and while there are many similarities between them, the latter ideology is distinguished by the additional doctrines of racism, paganism, and occultism.

Fascist doctrine as espoused by Mussolini emphasized statism (the importance of the authority of the state over the citizen). Mussolini further opposed classical liberalism which is the basis for modern democracies such as the United States. Contempt for classical liberalism is something that the alleged “anti fascists” of today happen to share.

In his “doctrine of fascism” Mussolini wrote that fascism is “all embracing”; outside of it no human or spiritual values can exist.” In addition, “fascism is totalitarian”. This is an elaboration on statism and the concept that the “state creates the nation”.

Further characteristics that can be attributed to fascism include anti-communism, activism and action on the part of its loyal adherents, a favorable attitude toward war, and opposition to majority rule. Nazism shares all these traits while throwing in anti semitism and racial hatred. While it is true that Mussolini’s regime is recognized as the first fascist state, in actuality it was not.

Several years ago, historian Stefan Ihrig published a book entitled “Ataturk in the Nazi imagination.” The author of the work spent much time researching the archives of old Nazi party newspapers during the period of 1919-1922. The author found praise for the Turkish racist and dictator Mustafa Kemal (later called Ataturk) by the Nazis. The Nazi newspapers praised the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Armenians and Greeks and viewed the mass murders as a model for Germany’s Jewish population.

The Italians may have invented the term “fascism” but the concepts and principals predated Mussolini. Ihrig writes in his book that Mussolini and Hitler viewed Kemal as a model. In addition, the principals that Kemal imposed on Turkey following the extermination of the Greeks and Armenians were authoritarianism, statism, secularism, the cult of personality around the leader. In addition there are certain similarities between Kemalism and Nazism with both the Turks and Germans espousing mythical ideas of racial superiority.

In the post World War II era, right wing extremism continued to exist but no such movement was willing to adopt the term “fascism” as that term became associated mostly with Hitler. Extreme right wing dictatorships existed in South America which could very clearly be categorized as fascist not only because of the brutal methods and ideas they shared with the regimes of Italy and Germany, but because they also became havens for Nazi war criminals. Other extreme right wing regimes could be classified as fascist such as that of Augosto Pinochet in Chile, Idi Amin in Uganda, and the Colonels in Greece.

In some cases, historical writers will assert that a right wing dictatorship is not necessarily a fascist government. Christopher Montgomery Woodhouse who wrote many books on modern Greek history stated in his book, “The rise and fall of the Greek Colonels” that the Colonels regime in Athens was not fascist. This is true from a technical point of view and certainly one historical factor in the success of fascist movements of the 1920’s and 1930’s that of mass support was something the Colonels did not enjoy. Even so, from an ideological standpoint the Colonels modeled themselves on the Metaxas dictatorship of 1936-1940 which was a fascist regime and which adopted outward symbols of Italian fascism and German national socialism such as the stiff arm salute.

This brings up now the activities and agenda of the organization known as “antifa” which considers itself to be “anti fascist”. Presumably, they consider the Trump administration to be fascist. Admittedly, President Trump has done himself no favors with his inability to articulate what he means. He spoke very badly after the events at Charlottesville in 2017 and his misstatements have haunted him ever since.

In any case, the idea that “antifa” is opposing fascism is preposterous. America is a liberal democracy and if the administration were fascist groups such as this would feel it. America has not become authoritarian or evolved into a totalitarian state. Furthermore, returning to the Turkish example. Throughout the twentieth century the Turkish military served to foster the cult of Mustafa Kemal and maintained influence over civilian governments. Because of a history of coups and interventions, the term the “deep state” came into use which is an excellent description for the Turkish version of fascism.

The use of the term “deep state” has come to America and is used to describe the establishment in Washington which has been trying to undermine President Trump since his inauguration. One cannot accuse a President who has been repeatedly undermined and even nearly impeached as being a “fascist” when it his democratic opponents who are in fact trying to overturn the elections that made President Trump President.

Furthermore, fascists do not get elected. Mussolini led a march on Rome in 1922. Hitler was appointed chancellor by President Von Hindenburg to preside over a coalition government. Mustafa Kemal seized power as leader of the Turkish military after slaughtering the Christians. Pinochet in Chile and other dictators came to power through military coups and assassinations.

Furthermore, fascists cannot boast about preventing genocide. The Trump administration was successful in its policies in Iraq and Syria and contributed to the destruction of the Islamic State which had perpetrated genocide against Yazidis, Christians, and Shiite Muslims. Furthermore, the Trump administration has tried to reform American foreign policy by ending pointless wars such as those in Iraq which led to civil war and genocide. Mussolini endorsed the idea of war in his “doctrine of fascism”. Hitler violated every agreement he ever made with foreign leaders and conquered all of Europe.

President Trump has sought reconciliation with Russia. For his moderation in international affairs, his critics have questioned the legitimacy of the elections. Mussolini’s ideas on fascism express opposition to the very concept of majority rule. In this regard, President Trump’s critics who are attempting to overturn the outcome of the 2016 Presidential elections seem to agree with Mussolini’s disdain for majority rule.

The impeachment of Donald Trump was one of the high points of absurdity. President Trump was almost impeached for seeking evidence of misconduct on the part of former Vice President Joe Biden from the Ukrainians who would be in possession of the alleged evidence of wrong doing by Biden. If anything, President Trump is a reformer more than anything else.

An example of a fascist state is that of Croatia which declared independence from the former Yugoslavia. That government under the leadership of the late Franjo Tudjman embraced the symbols of the Ustashe movement. The Ustashe was the pro Nazi movement that ruled the Nazi puppet state of Croatia during the second world war. The Ustashe slaughtered over eight hundred thousand Orthodox Christians Serbs.

During the 1990’s, the Clinton administration armed and abetted the Croatian offensives in the region of Krajina which led to the ethnic cleansing of over 200,000 Serbs. In Ukraine in 2014, the Obama-Biden administration overlooked the pro Nazi militias that the Russians fought against. Speaking of fascism?

Finally, in addition to maligning the President, so called “anti fascists” have maligned the Russians. Hillary Clinton compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Hitler. Never mind that Putin lost an older brother and two Uncles during the Nazi siege of Leningrad.

American foreign policy during the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations pursued a staunchly anti Russian policy that became increasingly more radical. The Clinton administration began by supporting the expansion of NATO. NATO expanded further and further until it tried to expand up to the Russian border under the Obama administration by including Ukraine as a member of the alliance.

The anti Russian foreign foreign policy that the Democrats have pursued and will likely pursue in the future is one that Hitler himself would have approved of. The Democrats (and in all fairness the pre Trump Republicans) emulated Hitler’s policies by pursuing the destruction of Yugoslavia (another country Hitler hated and destroyed).

The fake anti-fascist groups need to go back to school and study history. Then they will learn what fascism really is. There is an interesting new biography of the late Greek journalist Elias Demetracopoulos that has just been released called “The Greek connection” about the military dictatorship in Greece and the Republican Party during the Nixon administration.

Mr. Demetracopoulos was a brave journalist who risked his life to oppose the Colonels regime in Greece. That is an example of being an anti-fascist. Not burning Bibles, the American flag, and smashing statues and public and private property.