Aftermath of World War One Document Analysis

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Communist and fascist ideological solutions to societal problems
Communist and fascist ideologies evolving past the World War I in the twentieth century seemed to promise endless happiness through a utopian vision stemming from socio-political and cultural constructs which would erase traditional ideas on right and wrong. These ideologies believed in establishing a new world order by destroying the old and focused on recruiting members to these beliefs. The communist ideology is based on a theory advocating for classless societies and economic equality while the fascist ideology is largely nationalistic with a “top-down system” with distinct class duties ruled by an “all-powerful dictator” (Malone 26). Italian fascism is closely intertwined to Benito Mussolini, and it was more about his personality, ambitions and the desire to have him meet his political needs. Mussolini would quip that “Fascism is a religious conception in which man is seen in his immanent relationship with a superior law with an objective will that transcends the particular individual and raises him to a conscious membership in a spiritual society” (O’Malley N.p). For communism, V.I. Lenin stated that “The Marxist doctrine is omnipotent because it is true. It is comprehensive and harmonious and provides men with an integral world outlook irreconcilable with any form of superstition, reaction, or defense of bourgeois oppression” (Ball & Dagger 157). In this paper, I discuss the radically different solutions to similar problems offered by communism and fascism, with a focus on the political structure, private property ownership, economic coordination and system, and the social system.

The political regime in a communist society ideally had no state or class of people, and the governance was directly by the people. However, taking over power following the death of Lenin in 1924, Joseph Stalin developed his communist ideology that would metamorphose to totalitarianism in ruling then communist Russia (Malone 25). A fascist society believed that absolute authority was to be wielded by a charismatic leader who was the state’s symbol, with government advisers picked through merit and not in an election. Taking over power in 1922, Benito Mussolini would establish a fascist state system three years later, laying out its guiding principles that would even be used during the Nazi regime in Germany by Adolf Hitler (World War I and its aftermath 235). Fascism believes in the creation of an all-inclusive state where there is the existence of the same ideas and values. The fascist state does not deceive its people through the leadership adopted but instead believes that the best way to lead is through absolute control over the subjects (World War I and its aftermath 236). While communism found a ‘representative’ government system ideal, fascism embraced the total concentration of power among the least number of public officials. Such a system, it was believed, would create a sense of equality to all the existing classes because of the powers exercised by the government and state leaders. Fascism had the promise to end the constant class warfare that existed across communist Europe (Jacobson N.p).
For the present class conflicts that existed in socialist and communist states, fascism believed that this would be would be cured through a state where the people’s ideas and values would be synthesized to form distinct and unique characteristics of the government (World War I and its aftermath 236). The state would thus have to control all the country’s economic interests, with the means of production owned nominally by private individuals but under the direction of the state. In the communist system, the means of production were owned communally, and thus no distinct entity or individual could own productive property (Malone 25). Mussolini acknowledged the importance of working class activists and trade unionists. The state would create controls and restrictions on any business entity, giving it absolute control on the economy of the country (Malone 26). The belief was that class conflict would cease through the adoption of such measures without the need for revolutions.
In his fascist ideologies, Mussolini denied the idealistic democratic principles of the majority ruling simply because of their numbers (Jacobson N.p). A steady state would emerge only if decision-making power were concentrated on a handful of leaders, and not across the country as communism would have it (World War I and its aftermath 237). Such leaders would ideally promote what was to the right of the people through a synthesis of populace’s and their leaders’ goals. Democratic regimes would then be irrelevant because opposing views would not be in place, and the need to vote would not emerge. Traditional gender roles in a fascist state were to be upheld or even exaggerated, while communism believed that it is political and economic decisions would be made through cumulative voting or by the state’s rulers for the population (Ball & Dagger 215).
Communism maintains that economic and class relations are the primary determinants of social conditions because a lot of the happenings in the society rely on the organization of the people in working and production of goods and services (Ball & Dagger 193). This emphasis then makes a case for the distinct class divisions in the society, and in such a case if a particular case of the community has absolute wealth control that limits the choices available to the working class, then such conditions are viewed as unjust and exploitative. Their aim then is to establish a society which has no classes, as much as is practically possible. However, for the fascists, the meaning of an individualistic life is rooted in the realization of shared society and nation life (World War I and its aftermath 238). The nation is the “legal and institutional embodiment of power, the unity, and the majesty of the nation” (Ball & Dagger 209). Everything had to be under the state’s control, and the state had to be served by everyone in it, and as Mussolini would proclaim, “Everything is in the state, and nothing human or spiritual exists, much less has value, outside the State” (Ball & Dagger 209). While communism believed in people exercising their freedom to demand their rights, the fascists believed that such liberties, whether of speech, or assembly or living as they seem, are just ‘useless freedoms.’
Works Cited
Ball, Terence, and Dagger, Richard. Political Ideologies And The Democratic Ideal. 9th ed., New York, NY, Pearson, 2014,
Jacobson, Julius. “Julius Jacobson: Reflections On Fascism And Communism.” Marxists.Org, 2016, https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/jacobson/1983/xx/communism.htm
Malone, Richard. Ideologies of the Interwar Period. Cambridge University Press. 21-41
O’Malley, J.P. “Communism And Fascism: The Reason They Are So Similar.” The Daily Beast, 2012, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/28/communism-and-fascism-the-reason-they-are-so-similar.html
World War I And Its Aftermath. 231-242