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The two most historically important ideologies of the first half of the 20th century are communism and Fascism. Despite certain similarities between the two, they are strikingly different. Their expansion principle and opposing views on how society must develop ultimately resulted in World War 2 (WW2).
Communism is predicated on the idea that humans achieve their best through cooperation rather than competition. Such values as equality, common property, collectivism, and class struggle are integral to this ideology (Heywood 98). Nevertheless, the establishment of the communist regime in the USSR by Lenin led to the absolute power of the ruling party and mass terrors on people of various social classes to disseminate fear among the Soviet citizens.
Fascism, on the other hand, is a rather complex phenomenon that arose in Italy and was firstly adopted by Mussolini. It tends to be linked with a persons total obedience to the state, nation, or race, in which the individual has to disperse. Ultra-nationalism is a common feature of different fascist regimes of the 20th century. In Nazi Germany, ruled by Hitler, the state valued intellectual elites over a less knowledgeable population (e.x. the working class). The state utilized eugenics, the natural selection principle, terror, and other means to ensure the pure blood of their citizens (Heywood 197). This way, Fascism prioritizes the state (race, nation) and its development over individual freedom and responsibility.
Arguably, the most important element that, on the one hand, makes communism and Fascism similar and, on the other, results in their inevitable conflict is the desire to expand. Mussolini and Hitler shared that their states have to occupy a living space called lebensraum (living space). The former argued that wars and expansion represent the essential manifestation of vitality of the state (qtd. in Strayer and Nelson 897). Whereas the latter wrote in his famous book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) that the task of the state is to lead them [the Germans] slowly and surely to a dominant position in the world& (qtd. in Strayer and Nelson 924). The aggressive nature of fascist regimes eventually led them into the deadliest war in the history of humanity.
As for the communist-led USSR, the ruling elite spearheaded by Stalin aimed to spread communist ideas throughout the globe and establish world communism. This was evident from their central position in the Communist International (Comintern), which included communist parties of various nations. Another fact that proves the ambition of the communist USSR to enlarge their territory is their agreement with Nazi Germany to divide Poland under the secret pact of Molotov-Ribbentrop (Brown 140).
Finally, the occupation of the eastern and central European states and proclaiming socialism in those states is another sign of the communists desire to expand. In the following years after WW2, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Eastern Germany were de facto under Soviet rule (Brown 4). In Main Kampf (1925-1926), Hitler wrote: One thing is certain: our world is facing a great revolution (qtd. in Strayer and Nelson 924). His quote demonstrates his deep preoccupation with the growing communist movement that has to be opposed.
Communism and Fascism have fundamental differences related to (social) class, race, and economic organization. Communism is a social structure that is supposed to lack social stratification; instead, people are all equal in their rights and opportunities (reality was the opposite). Fascism, in turn, provides privileges to the intellectual elite and gifted individuals, who must rule over the majority (Heywood 201). Another important element that separates the two regimes is race. Nazis paid special attention to elevating the Arians and eliminating those called subhumans. Some of the inferior races and social groups that Hitler ordered to eradicate included Jews, Gypsies, and Slavs (Strayer and Nelson 914).
In contrast, communism erases racial, national, and cultural differences between people. Yet, Bolsheviks systematically killed cultural and intellectual elites in the Soviet states and waged war on kulaks, i.e., more economically prosperous layer of society, confiscating their property. Lastly, the economic principles of communism and Fascism radically vary. Fascisms economy is based on corporatism, a system in which workers and businesses combine their efforts to form state-controlled corporations.
This approach stands in the middle between the capitalists free market and the communists central planning and puts national or state interest above all (Heywood 106). In the USSRs communist society, the primary mechanism to ensure economic growth was central planning. The leading party devised five-year development plans that had to be completed on time. All enterprises were state-run and private property (although occurring during the NEP period in the 1920s) was banned (Brown 106). The ways how the two ideologies dealt with the issues of class, race, and economic organization, preordained their conflict.
Overall, during the 20th century, communism and Fascism showed highly different approaches to organizing socio-economic and political systems of society. These variations in their core principles of ruling the population made them ideological enemies. Additionally, a similar ambition of the two regimes to spread their ideas around the globe contributed to the outbreak of WW2.
Works Cited
Brown, Archie. The rise and fall of communism. Random House Digital, Inc., 2009.
Heywood, Andrew. Political ideologies: An introduction. Macmillan International Higher Education, 2017.
Strayer, Robert W., and Eric Nelson. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources. Bedford/St. Martins, A Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016.
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