Fascism

                            Fascism

Causes of the rise of Fascism in Italy-Italy was on the side of England and France during the World War I (1914-18) . Therefore, she had to suffer a great loss at the hands of Germany and Austria. Under the Secret Treaty of London,England agreed to give Italy sufficient money and the large territories,but when England became victorious in the war,she completely ignored the claims of Italy. Italy faced a great loss in the First World War. Therefore,there was a great resentment among its people. Secondly, there was widespread discontentment in Italy because after the war,retrenchment took place in the army. Production was falling because the communist were instigating the workers to resort to strike in order to bring in communism. Thirdly, there was indiscipline in all walks of life in Italy. Fourthly, the democratic government,which was established in Italy after the First World War, could not solve any of her problems satisfactorily. In such a situation,Mussolini established his Fascist Party in March 1919. The principles of the Fascist Party are called Fascism. This party gained a great power till 1929. In 1922, it's session took place in the famous Italian city of Naples , which was attended by 80,000 armed volunteers. In the open session Mussolini declared, "Either the administration of Italy would come in our hand automatically, or we would have to march towards Rome ". After that Mussolini arranged a large scale demonstrations against the government of Rome. The result was that under the compulsion of the prevailing circumstances, the then Prime Minister Giproliti had to tender his resignation on October 27,1922. After that the King of Italy appointed Mussolini the Prime Minister and the announced a Council of Minister with his consent. Mussolini acquired all the powers of the Government and the king was left with only nominal powers.

Doctrines of Fascism

The term Fascism has been derived from Italian word Fascio which means a bundle of wood. In ancient times the national symbol of Roman Empire was a bundle of wood and an axe. The bundle of wood was the symbol of unity axe was symbol of strength. Therefore, in order to exhibit national unity, Mussolini used the word Fascio.

The following are the principles of Fascism

1-Fascism is not based on doctrine but reality-What is Fascism? It is difficult to answer because it is not a political theory. Mussolini very often repeated,"My programme is action. Fascism is not nursing of a doctrine worked beforehand with detailed elaboration. It was born of the need for actions and was from beginning practical rather than theoretical ". He repeated several times that he hated abstract thinking. He said,"Fascism is based on reality, Bolshevism is based on theory... We want to be definite and real. We want to come out of the cloud of discussion and theory. My programme is action and not talk".
On other occasion, he said,"Fascism is a great combination of material and moral forces...It aims governing the nation ".

2-Fascism believed in dictatorship of one national leader and repeated democracy-Mussolini said that democracy is not suitable for Italy. He had no belief in three main bases of democracy, liberty,equality and fraternity. He declared that freedom is not the right of the people ,it is the kindness of the State. It depends upon the sweet care more for the performance of their duties than for launching a struggle for their rights. According to the Fascist,equality is useless, because nature has not made everybody equal and, therefore the capable and incapable people cannot be considered equals. Mussolini had no faith in universal brotherhood.

3-It is opposed to Individualism-The Individualist believed that is an end and the State is a means to an end. Contrary to this, Fascism says individuals as a means and the State is end. The Fascist believed that State is a Spiritual Organism. Therefore,according to them, the individual will have the same place in the state as the organs in the body. According to them the individuals cannot have any spiritual or moral life apart from the State. A famous Fascist writer Rocco says,"We do not, however, accepts a Bill of Rights which tends to make individuals superior to the State and empowers him to act in opposition to society.

4-Fascism believes in Totalitarian State-According to Fascism,State has the right to control all spheres of the State. The State is considered Supreme in social,economic and political fields. Mussolini's interference and leadership was seen in all walks of life. He established discipline in all the spheres economic,administrative and educational. He said,"All within the state but,nothing outside the state."

5-It believes in violence,force and imperialism-The Fascists believe that the solution of international disputes through peaceful means is not possible.
Therefore,they believe in violence and force. Mano Carli writes,"Fascism is form war and in war it must find its outlet."

6-Fascism opposes internationalism tooth and nail-Mussolini had no faith in universal brotherhood. He said that no co-ordination was possible in the interest of all the nations. That was why he gave up membership of the League of Nations and adopted the policy of military alliance and victory, as a result of this policy, the Second World War broke out in which there was a heavy loss of men and material.

7-Fascism believes in the National State-Fascism believed that sovereignty lay with the national state and not with the individual and it had the right to utilise it without any restrictions. The Fascist lay special emphasis on patriotism and nationalism. They believed that war was essential for the enhancement of nations prestige and power.

8-Fascists supported the corporate State-The Fascists said that the state was not a collection of people but it consisted of many corporations,which could be considered a unit of social and political life. That is why the Fascists were in favour of forming a separate organisation of different professions. However,they said that all of them should be under the State control and they should function according to the will of the State. Joad is of the view,"Corporation should be subordinate parts of the whole which is the State specialised channel through which the State's will is canalised and diffused for special purpose ".

9-Opposition of socialism and communism-The Fascist are bitter opponents of Socialism and Communism. They do not believe in Marx's materialistic interpretation,class struggle and the Theory of Surplus Value,on the contrary,they say that the capitalist and the labourers should give up their selfish interests and should work in the interests of the nation. They are not in favour of the abolition of capitalism and private property completely,but instead they want a system, in which the profits of the capitalist are controlled, and the wages of the workers are fixed by the state.

10-New Economic System-The Fascist neither liked the individualist contention that the State should not interfere in the economic affairs of the individuals nor believed in the socialist policy of the socialisation of industries. They wanted to nationalise only a few important industries for the society. As regards the rest, they allowed private ownership. In the larger interest of the country, they wanted to control and regulate it.