Fascism

9 Pages 2286 Words

Fascism and its Political Ideas

Fascism is a form of counter-revolutionary politics that first
arose in the early part of the twentieth-century in Europe. It was a
response to the rapid social upheaval, the devastation of World War I,
and the Bolshevik Revolution. Fascism is a philosophy or a system of
government the advocates or exercises a dictatorship of the extreme
right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership,
together with an ideology of aggressive nationalism. Celebrating the
nation or the race as an organic community surpassing all other
loyalties. This right-wing philosophy will even advocate violent
action to maintain this loyalty which is held in such high regards.
Fascism approaches politics in two central areas, populist and
elitist. Populist in that it seeks to activate "the people" as a whole
against perceived oppressors or enemies and to create a nation of
unity. The elitist approach treats as putting the people’s will on one
select group, or most often one supreme leader called El Duce, from
whom all power proceeds downward. The two most recognized names that
go along with Fascism are Italy’s Benito Mussolini and Germany’s Adolf
Hitler.
The philosophy of Fascism can be traced to the philosophers
who argue that the will is prior to and superior to the intellect or
reason. George Sorel, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Georg Hegal are main
philosophers who’s beliefs and ideologies greatly influenced the
shaping of Fascist theory. Sorel (1847-1922) was a French social
philosopher who had a major influence on Mussolini. Sorel believed
that societies naturally became decadent and disorganized. This decay
could only be slowed by the leadership of idealists who were willing
to use violence to obtain power. Nietzsche (1844-1900) theorized that
there were two moral codes: the ruling class ( master morality) and
the oppressed class (slave mor...