The previous chapter examined the cultural roots of fascism, how the ideology was a re-awakening of pagan ideas reinforced by Darwinism. These facts are most important for understanding the roots of the fascism and fascist movements which sprung up in the 20th century. However, we must also consider how these movements were able to come to power in so many countries in the 20th century, what methods they employed once they had done so, and the nightmare that resulted.

Right after the end of the First World War, the first fascist regime of the 20th century was established in Italy by Benito Mussolini. Hitler's Germany and Franco's Spain followed. In the 1930s, fascism became a popular political ideology, fascist parties both great and small were set up in many countries, and fascists came to power in Austria and Poland, thus the whole of Europe was affected by it.

There are numerous similarities between fascism in Europe, where the clearest examples of fascism were seen, and Latin America and Japan, where the movement also took root and flourished. Generally speaking, fascism made use of chaos and instability within a country to impose itself on its inhabitants, by presenting itself as an ideology of salvation. Once fascist governments were established, the people were kept under control by a mixture of fear, oppression, and brainwashing techniques.

Social Crises:Fertile Ground for Fascism

There were great similarities in the social and psychological backgrounds of those countries where fascist states came to be established. Most of the countries concerned had been defeated and heavily damaged in the First World War, and thus its people were worn-out and weary, having lost their husbands, wives, children, and loved ones in the war. As well, these countries suffered from a shattered economy, political instability, and a general feeling that the nation was in a state of collapse. People were suffering materially; the various political parties were incapable of rectifying the nations' problems, in addition to fighting amongst themselves.

Essentially, the poverty Italy was faced with as a result of the First World War was the most important factor in the rise to power of Italian fascism. More than 600,000 Italians had died as a result of the war, and up to half a million people were crippled. The greater part of the population was made up of widows and orphans. The country was beleaguered by an economic recession and high unemployment. Although the Italians had suffered great losses in the war, they had achieved very few of their aims. Like many other nations exhausted by the war, the Italian people longed to recapture their honor and former glory.

Actually, this was a feeling that had been gathering increasing strength since the end of the 19th century. Modern Italy looked back with nostalgia at the greatness of the Roman Empire, and felt it had a right to former Roman territory. Furthermore, there was a feeling of rivalry with the major powers of the world, and Italy hoped to raise itself to their rank, or, to rise to "the position it deserved." Affected by these aspirations, the Italians hoped to become as powerful as Great Britain, France and Germany.

Social, political and economic crises also played the major role in the establishment of Nazism in Germany, which had been defeated in the First World War. Unemployment and a financial crisis added to the disappointment of defeat. Inflation rose to levels that had seldom been equaled. Small children played with banknotes worth millions of marks, because money, which lost value by the hour, had come to be worth no more than pieces of paper. The Germans wanted to restore their lost honor and return to a better standard of living. It was with the promise of fulfilling such wishes that Nazism would emerge and win support.

Pre-fascist Spain also demonstrated close similarities to these counties. The loss of its colonies on both sides of the American continent at the beginning of the 19th century had led to a serious diminishment of self-esteem. By the beginning of the 20th century, Spain was in a state of semi-collapse. Its economy was failing, and the privileges accorded to the aristocracy opened the way to great injustices. The Spanish looked back to the days of a great and powerful Spain with great longing.

Another country where fascism came to have enormous influence was Japan. In pre-fascist Japan, the higher strata of society were very concerned about the spread of Marxist ideas among the young. But they were unable to determine how to rid themselves from that pernicious ideology. In addition, such social changes were very disconcerting for a society so tightly bound to its traditions. Family bonds loosened, the divorce rate rose, respect for the elderly diminished, customs and traditions were abandoned, an individualist tendency began to emerge, degeneracy among the young reached grievous proportions and there was an alarming increase in the suicide rate. In these conditions, the future stability of the Japanese society was regarded as in jeopardy. All of the above led to a backward-gazing nostalgia. Longing for the glory days of the past, and attempts to revive them, was the first trap the people fell into leading to their becoming fully ensnared by a fascist regime.

Neither must we ignore the menace of communism, which at that time was threatening to overtake the whole world. It may be that a number of nations submitted themselves to fascist regimes in order not to fall victim to that brutal, ruthless and oppressive ideology, escaping one evil only to be trapped by another, believing fascism to be the "lesser of two evils."

The Uneducated:Fascism's Hapless Prey

Another factor that opened the way to fascism was the ignorance and lack of education of many communities. Education had suffered heavily during the chaos of the First World War. A great number of young educated people had lost their lives on the battlefield. In general, this led to a lowering of the level of culture in society. It was largely the ignorant who supported fascism, fought in its name, and became pawns of its chauvinistic policies. Because the fundamental ideas on which fascism were based (in other words, racism, romantic nationalism, chauvinism and fantasy) could only be widely accepted by the uneducated, susceptible as they were to crude, facile slogans.

Such people, seeing themselves as trapped, looked for easy way out. They embraced fascist leaders, as if they were a kind of lifebelt, as Eric Hoffer says in his book The True Believer:

For men to plunge headlong into an undertaking of vast change, they must be intensely discontented yet not destitute, and they must have the feeling that by the possession of some potent doctrine, infallible leader or some new technique they have access to a source of irresistible power. They must also have an extravagant conception of the prospects and potentialities of the future. Finally, they must be wholly ignorant of the difficulties involved in their vast undertaking.34

An examination of the societal conditions that preceded fascism makes light of the fact that many people had just such a psychology.

The Methods by Which Fascism Came to Power

Fascism had its first successes in Italy. Mussolini took advantage of the social tensions and longing for change among the Italians, and after the war, mobilized former soldiers, the unemployed and university students, with slogans calling for a return of the glory days of ancient Rome. Mussolini organized his supporters, known as "Black Shirts," in a quasi-military format, and whose methods were founded on violence. They began to carry out attacks in the streets against groups they identified as their rivals. With their Roman greetings, songs, uniforms and official parades, they aroused the emotions of the uneducated and the disenfranchised.

On October 29, 1922, 50,000 fascist militants under the command of six generals marched on Rome. Because the king knew what the force that opposed him was capable of, and that there was no way he could oppose them, he called on Mussolini to form a government. As a result of the developments that followed, the Italian fascists finally came to power. A while later, Mussolini banned all other political parties. Some of the opposition leaders were sent into exile abroad, and others were imprisoned.

Hitler came to power by similar methods. The Nazi movement was born in the early 1920s, and carried out its first violent act in the Munich Beer Hall putsch. On November 8, 1923, Hitler raided a meeting at the Munich City Beer hall where Bavarian State Commissioner Gustav von Kahr was speaking with military units, no different from an organized gang, and 600 SA troopers. Hitler entered the meeting in a great rage and occupied the premises. Firing at the ceiling, he said that he was announcing a national revolution. But this coup was a failure. Hitler was arrested and lived as an exile for nine months. Nonetheless, in later years, the Nazis grew stronger by terrorizing their opponents and inciting anti-Semitic hatreds. Eventually, the Nazi Party became an important party in parliament. Throughout all this, of course, the Nazis frequently resorted to illegal methods, much like the Italian Fascist party. On January 30, 1933, Hitler was made chancellor. The post was conferred upon him by the elderly President Hindenburg, who was aware that the growing power of the national Socialist Movement was increasingly menacing, and therefore, made Hitler chancellor in order to avert a civil war. When Hitler again ran for election in March, like all fascist administrations, the Nazis employed terror, intimidation, and deception. After the elections, the German parliament immediately passed the Enabling Act, which made Hitler dictator of Germany for four years.

In this manner, the administrative and law-making power came into Hitler's hands. But, shortly thereafter, the extent of his powers were increased still further. In August 1934, at the death of Hindenburg, the offices of president and chancellor were joined together, with Hitler assuming them both. Hitler followed policies much like those of Mussolini. In addition to brute force, Hitler also made use of various types of anti-democratic methods. For instance, he banned all opposition parties, and outlawed trade unions, thereby completely eliminating personal freedoms. Nazi influence was felt in all walks of life. Even university professors were required to take an oath of loyalty to Hitler.

In Spain, Franco came to power in the aftermath of a bloody civil war. Supported by Hitler and Mussolini, Franco's army defeated the communists after a long and fierce war, and took power over the entire country. Franco then set up a particularly oppressive regime, and ruled the country with an "iron fist" until 1975.

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