Italian fascism and German Nazism are an ideology and a system of political and economic domination. The similarity between Italian fascism and German National Socialism was that both doctrines were totalitarian and assumed complete state control over all spheres of human life. Common to the two ideologies was the cult of the leader, in Italy – the Duce, Germany – the Fuhrer. The purpose of the paper is to contrast the fascistic systems of Mussolini with that of Hitler.
Italian fascism and German National Socialism differed in the idea of the role of the state. The German slogan “The party rules the state” was never relevant in Italy, where the party played a subordinate position. For Italian fascism, the state was the main thing, as Benito Mussolini states, “All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” (Lakdawala 1). Besides, Italian fascism was not of an unusual terrorist nature, while Nazism created something unprecedented. Nazi criminals designed and built a bureaucratic system of the extermination of people on a racial basis. Italian lasted much longer and was incomparably softer because it pursued only those who were the enemy of the existing order. The Nazi regime, by its ideology, condemned itself to an aggressive foreign policy, and to the destruction of vast masses of people not for some crimes against the system, but because of the provisions of its racist doctrine.
The reason for the establishment of totalitarian regimes was active propaganda, which was facilitated by the objectively tricky social and political situation in these countries (Hills 7). Nazi and fascist demagogues guaranteed a successful way out of the crisis and the solution to all problems. The militarism of yesterday’s front-line soldiers played an exceptional role in the establishment of totalitarian regimes in Italy and Germany. Therefore, detachments of fascist activists undertook to restore order on their own, because the liberal state did not want reprisals, fearing provoking a civil war.
In conclusion, Italian and German fascism have similarities; nevertheless, the essence of the radical movement is different. Both leaders had unlimited powers, but one was militant against the race, and the other was a bit softer. If the fascist movement formed in Italy, then in Germany, it reached its dawn. The obstruction of economic problems, political instability, ethnic and religious conflicts lead to the spread of anti-migrant and racist sentiments.
Works Cited
Hills, Allison. “Education or Indoctrination? World War II Ideologies Under Leaders Hitler and Mussolini-Education Systems and Propaganda Campaigns.”, 2017, pp. 1-73
Lakdawala, Ali Muhammad. “Rise of Fascism and its Side Effects on Commodities in 2H of 2017.” Available at SSRN 3015385, 2017.