Fascism; Left or right?

[Phoenix]

When it comes to the left-right spectrum, there is some disagreement as to where fascism would fit. Fascism is an ideology that was developed by Benito Mussolini in the early 20th century, it was later adopted by other individuals, most notably Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco. Fascism is far-left when it comes to economics and governmental structure, however many of it's social policies were heavily influenced by religion, which is now commonly referred to as social conservationism.

Benito Mussolini was a high-ranking socialist in the Italian Socialist Party during the 1900s and 1910s. In the beginning of World War I, many Italian socialists were supportive of the war, however as the war progressed, there was a crackdown on civil liberties and anti-war protestors by the government, leading to a divide in the Italian Socialist Party. One side consisted of pro-war socialists, such as Mussolini, and the other side consisted of anti-war socialists. Eventually the anti-war socialists won out and Mussolini was kicked out of the Italian Socialist Party, leading him and other pro-war socialists to create a new political, in which they pursued their own version of socialism. In the years following Mussolini's removal from the Italian Socialist Party, Mussolini's version of socialism evolved into a rather different version of socialism than that of his former party (the Italian Socialist Party).

Some modern socialists are trying to distance themselves from fascism, and claim that fascism was a right-wing ideology, due to religion being a major influence on social issues. However fascism really has nothing to do with neither modern conservatism or early 20th century European conservatism. Early 20th century conservatism was focused primarily around the ideas of capitalism, monarchism, the junkers (aristocracy), and federalism. Fascists were opposed to all of these, following a collectivist and anti-capitalist economic policy, which went against capitalism and the junkers. Fascists were also opposed to monarchism, especially in Italy where Mussolini viewed the monarchy as a threat; and fascists were strong advocates of a centralized unitary state, Hitler himself saw federalism as a threat and made destroying federalism one of his first priorities after passing the Enabling Act.

Fascism has it's roots deeply rooted in socialism, having originally been (and arguably still is) a version of socialism. Fascism advocates for a strong centralized state that follows the socialist policy of collectivization. However, unlike in socialism, most of the money that goes into a fascist state is not redistributed among the working class. Today most fascists consider themselves neither right, nor left-wing, they insist that they represent a "third position" that is opposed to both conservatism/capitalism and socialism/communism. Libertarianism, generally considered a right-wing ideology, and it is the opposite of fascism (economically right-wing and socially left-wing), so following this precedent, fascism would be classified as a left-wing ideology (being economically left-wing and socially right-wing). What would you consider fascism to be; right, left, or something entirely unique?

[zx0]

I think fascism is neither left nor right wing. I believe most politics can not be defined on a linear left/right scale.

You have described certain left or right policies which mean overall fascism is somewhere in between. That doesn't mean it is a centre politics either, its is a different extreme altogether! Fascism is the opposite of libertarian.

[† Anras Rune]

wow...thats a bit of a skewed view on fascism. Every fascist has a completely different agenda when it comes to their ideological approach. Hitler used fear, anti semitism and his hatred of communism to create his brand of fascism. Mussolini's fascist regime was so different to Hitler's that he didn't want anything to do with him at first. And Franco's fascism isn't even classed as proper fascism in terms of ideals. Franco was a hyper conservative, believing that the church was the law and that his militaristic regime was the only way to bring about a second coming of catholic dominance in Spain and remove the "corrupt" royal family, which had at the time been leeching immensely off of Spains resources. Although his actions during the Spanish Civil War are to be condemned his actions afterwards brought Spain much further forward than most people realise. It takes a man with serious guts to ignore his entire governmental body and leave the entire country to the royal family he fought to exile.

Fascism in general is a fact of life. Most people think that we live in a democratic world, but even the supposed "democratic" countries have more in common with true fascism than most current fascist regimes nowadays. Difference they have the majority of the world's power... History is written by the victor after all...