These days, everywhere there is talk of fascism or fascists. What is fascism, and who are the fascists? Where does fascism originate, and in what circumstances does it grow and emerge? In Europe and America, some consider fascism to be an ideology employed by dictators. Others see it as a concept specific to a particular era, referring to the three original types of fascism in three countries—Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, and Japan—or to Robert Paxton, who sees it as ‘a form of political relations.’
These interpretations of fascism do not have a firm grounding. As an ideology or a type of political relations, they do not explain what its economic base is. Usually, ideology serves an economic-political structure or a mode of production. There is no ideology or policy that exists independently of its economic base and the social relations dependent on it. Fascism is a phenomenon of the twentieth century, although one can also see in it what European colonialism did in the world—such as genocide, expansionism, and resource plundering—within the scope of fascism. In any case, fascism is one of the phenomena or approaches of capitalism, occurring at a time when massive crises shake order of capitalism. This approach of capital manifests in various trends of capitalism, from liberal and neoliberal to the general form, meaning the key point here is the resolution of a crisis that cannot be addressed through usual methods, such as increasing labour productivity or changing technology. And, as they themselves say, they still see the spectre of communism wandering within the sphere of capitalism. (A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism. Manifest)
Fascism in Italy
It is said that Mussolini created fascism with a view toward Plato’s republic and its elite government, but in reality, the seed of fascism lies in the heart of capitalism, and it is conceived and grows whenever conditions demand its existence. Those who view fascism purely as an ideology, when they want to define the three proposed forms of fascism, forget what they have said and cite the poor economic situation as the reason for the emergence of fascism, in such a way that after World War I, the economic situation of the people in Italy was very bad, democracy was weakened and powerless, and people were waiting for strong leadership to save them, and “Mussolini came.” They do not explain why the economic situation had become so bad and why democracy had weakened, and what the reason for that was.
They say, ‘Fascism also occurred in Germany and Latin America. In Germany, the economic situation had worsened significantly by the late 1920s. Dissatisfaction with the government had increased, and Hitler rose to power inspired by Italian fascism and chose National Socialism as an election propaganda tool.’ Still, they do not explain why the economic situation had deteriorated and what factors caused the poor economic conditions.
To clarify the issue, we return to the 1920s. The impact of the 1917 Russian Revolution on the international labour movement, especially in various European countries, led to extraordinary growth in labour struggles with socialist ideas promoted in Russia. This was particularly noticeable in Germany and Italy. In these two countries, civil society had grown, and various associations, including labour unions, existed. Workers, in opposition to official labour unions, experienced the radical form of councils, and “workers’ and soldiers’ councils” were formed based on the Russian model. European socialists and communists received significant attention from workers. Workers and revolutionaries, inspired by the failed Paris Commune, recognized the importance of class consciousness and international worker’s solidarity. They realized the importance of class consciousness and international labour support for the continuation of the revolution and put it into practice; however, subsequently, they themselves were attacked by the enemy, namely their own bourgeois state, which saw its survival in the continuation of wage slavery and the ignorance of workers. Fascism relies on the state, exploiting the existing divisions within parties and civil society to seize power.
Mussolini, who had been expelled from the Italian Socialist Party for supporting World War I and for anti-socialist and anti-communist propaganda, looked to Plato’s idea of a republic, in which the government of the elite or the best is established in a hierarchical class system, where the next rank is held by Militaries. Women, slaves, and ordinary people have no position in this class system and must be completely obedient to the first two classes; as a result, accepting the class system went against what the workers wanted. Additionally, the role of the state as an overpowering authority and its intervention in education to guide society toward militarization and training elites was used to present itself as an elite, even though Plato, in his search for justice, had reached this conclusion, and the passage of centuries had shown its impossibility. Mussolini also drew on the views of the Italian sociologist Vilfredo Pareto about elites, who was his contemporary and believed that in society, certain individuals become the most talented and deserving, playing an important role in society, to express his own views and the issue of hegemony in power. Mussolini advocated a return to the Italy of the ancient Roman Empire, or a Greater Italy, which also led him to a form of racism, claiming that on this path to a Greater Italy, one should not be concerned about the victims from inferior races. Of course, as we can see, all this reasoning was ultimately aimed at securing the interests of Italy’s capitalist class and the redistribution of the world; he wanted Italy to become the successor to the declining power of Britain and the leader of the world.
Fascism in Italy, since 1870, called itself the revolutionary socialist organization of workers in order to deceive the working masses, considering the growth of socialist interests among the Italian working class. To gain maximum power, Mussolini formalized the single-party system, and its members wore black shirts to create fear and intimidation. The Italian government (the state-king representing the ruling class) did not pose any problem for the Blackshirts due to fear of a communist revolution. This very fact contributed to its growth. In 1919, the “Fasci Italiani di Combattimento”, or the Italian Combatants’ League, was formed. During a congress held in Rome, taking this into account, the party chose the name National Fascist Party for themselves. Mussolini entered the Italian parliament in 1921. The support of the military, industrialists, and large landowners was a key factor in Mussolini’s acquisition of political power. For this reason, in 1922, he was appointed Prime Minister by the King of Italy in coalition with nationalist right-wing, liberal, and conservative groups. This shows that, contrary to the view of those who see people like Mussolini as merely dictators, there is a class behind these individuals, and they act as their representatives to gain power. In 1922, the armed forces formed the “Volunteer Militia for National Security,” and some laws were passed in favour of industrial capitalists and landlords. In Italy, large landowners accounted for 6% of the population and held 36% of the agricultural land. Only 38% of small peasants owned land, while the rest were tenants of large landowners. For this reason, after the end of the war, Italy faced peasant uprisings and the occupation of large landowners’ estates, who showed interest in social democracy and communist parties, and unions, but they had no programs for the peasants. The communist and socialist parties were mostly engaged in internal conflicts and debates about support or opposition to Russia. The majority of unions were also affiliated with social democracy and followed its movements rather than the interests of the working masses. The uprising was suppressed in 1921, and fascism became established in the villages, abusing peasants and rural labourers for its goals as long as it needed them. Italian fascism was particularly active with the agricultural working class, non-industrial workers, and members of the Liberal Party, whose membership had reached 700,000 by 1922. The Southern peasants’ unions resisted these changes, but gradually small landowning peasants and tenants became agricultural workers, and feudal lords turned into landowner capitalists. In this way, fascism’s Goal of expanding capitalism in agriculture was achieved. At that time, only in northern Italy had capitalist relations dominated agriculture, and agricultural workers comprised 30% of the population.
In 1929, the ruling fascism reached an agreement with the Vatican and, by giving part of Rome to it for independence, gained the Vatican’s support for its role in shaping the public’s thoughts. It waged wars in Africa to restore Italy’s power. The government supported the military dictator of Spain, General Franco, and cooperated with him to suppress the civil war. Later, at the start of World War II, it also allied with Hitler. By successfully using all the mass media and propaganda available at the time, the cult and charisma Personality of the single leader was established so that everything would be carried out and proceed according to the leader’s will. By creating a single-party system in a country that previously had multiple parties, a police state was established – 1925-1927 – and programs for brainwashing the youth were planned. The autonomies gained from labour struggles, city councils, and mayors were dissolved and replaced by appointments. Parliamentary elections were dissolved and replaced by the Supreme Fascist Council. Finally, Mussolini was called the Duce or leader, and even divine religious attributes were ascribed to him, to the point that the Pope referred to him as a man of destiny and providence. Great Italy needed 20 million more people in order to succeed in wars. For this reason, a comprehensive program was designed to increase birth rates. Means of contraception and counselling on this matter became criminal and punishable. In 1926, it was decreed that women must give birth to twice the number of children they wished to have; for example, if a woman wanted three children, she had to give birth to six. Expansionist policies were on one hand a factor in the attack on Africa, but their necessity was created by the crisis and the Great Depression of the 1930s, which sought to divert the masses’ attention from the poor economic conditions to war, and at the same time, for the war, provide the justification for suppressing internal protests that might arise during 1935-1936. The relationship between war and internal suppression policy is well reflected in the famous sentence of Carl von Clausewitz: ‘War is merely the continuation of politics by other means.’
Summary of this section
– Fascism in Italy was a product of crisis and the response of certain parts of the Italian bourgeoisie to it.
– This segment of the bourgeoisie, like any other, had its own thinkers and philosophers.
– The transformation of the ruling class’s ideology into a public ideology involved planning for the education of children and youth.
– To attract workers, were leftist, communist, and socialist terms abusing, and by infiltrating labour institutions, led them to internal dissolution.
– Women were targeted by population policies, forced into compliance, and turned into a ‘hatching machine.’
– The regime used war to suppress internal opposition.
– By supporting other dictators in different countries, it collaborated in suppressing the struggles of the working masses in those countries.
– Expansionism was pursued through the invasion of weaker countries in other continents, especially Africa.
Farideh Sabeti, Mehr 1404 / October 2025