Fascism as the Product of National Characteristics

When fascism is considered as the product of national characters, it appears in quite different
forms. At this point, we cannot speak of a uniform fascism. For example, even though fascism
was in power in Germany and Italy at the same time, we see that the fascism in power in these
countries is not the same. This is what makes us think about "Fascism as a Product of
National Characters". We see that the historical processes of societies have increased the
diversity of the ideology of fascism. At this point, we cannot speak of a uniform fascism.

György Lukács argues in his book "The Destruction of the Mind" that fascism is a product of
not only political and economic conditions but also the sum of national characteristics. Also,
Lukács argues that the ideology of fascism tends to form in times of crisis when the
traditional ways of life in society are threatened, and there is a sense of anxiety and
uncertainty about the future. On this point, Lukács is quite right. Because history is full of
examples of this argument. The rise of the ideology of fascism in Germany is closely related
to the feeling of humiliation of the German society after World War I and the threat to their
way of life. We can even give a current example of this situation. In 2022, when the Russian
army launched an operation with all its military might on the territory of Ukraine, the
Ukrainian people reflexively shifted to the ideology of fascism, while military groups known
to have sympathy for the fascist ideology, such as the Azov battalion, gained great sympathy
and appreciation among the people. Returning to our topic again, Lukács says in his book that
fascism is much more likely to emerge, especially in societies with a strong sense of national
identity and where everyone shares a sense of collective national pride. In such societies,
citizens are highly sensitive to discourses that promise to restore the nation's historical glory
and preserve existing traditions. To give an example, Germany was a powerful country in
Europe with the Holy Roman German Empire, later on, like Prussia, it went through a state
process that came from a very strict militarist tradition. If we look at it from these points, the
German people were quite inclined to slide into fascism. If we look at the example of Italy,
although Italy could not gather its political unity for a long time, it made a magnificent
entrance to the historical scene with the Roman Empire. If we look at Mussoluni's speeches,
we can easily see that he frequently mentioned the Roman Empire in his speeches and talked
about returning to those periods. However, after all these examples, we see that the emphasis
of the leaders on Nationalism leads to a narrow and exclusionary understanding of identity. In
fact, we can see how much this understanding of hatred narrowed in the selections of the
German SS troops. Although these rules would be relaxed later due to the lack of people to
fight, the candidates had to be of a certain Aryan phenotype determined by the Fascist
ideology. It was not enough to be ethnic German in order to enter the Schutzstaffel (SS) units,
which were the elite unit of the Nazis in the pre-war period. We see by example how, in an
ideology such as fascism, which is based on ethnic nationalism, even the fact that being from
that ethnic group is not enough can lead to an exclusionary understanding of identity by
rejecting even the main subject of this ideology. Returning to our main topic, Lukács' article
provides examples of how fascism can be seen as the product of national characteristics. The
most important of these is the emphasis on national identity. As we have explained before
with examples, Fascist movements often take national identity and pride as the center of their
ideology. In Germany, the Nazi party claimed that the German people were a superior race
that deserved to rule over other nations, taking historical reference. Those who did not fit into
the dominant group were seen as a stranger and a threat and were excluded from society in
every sense. Secondly, Lukács offers us an example of the rejection of reason. He says that
fascist movements often reject reason and rationality and instead resort to emotion and
irrationality. In Italy, for example, the leader of the Fascist Party, Benito Mussolini, relied
heavily on myths and symbols to create a collective identity based on mindless emotions. In
an environment where reason is rejected to this extent, democracy is naturally endangered and
often loses its effect. Another example is the sense of crisis and uncertainty. Author Fascist
movements often arise in times of crisis and uncertainty, when people feel their traditional
way of life is threatened. We supported this earlier with the example that the Nazi party
emerged in an atmosphere of post-World War I uncertainty. After all these examples, we see
that fascism is not just a political or economic system but rather a complex kind of
phenomenon arising from certain national characteristics. These features include, as we have
seen, a strong emphasis on fundamental nationalism, a rejection of reason, and a sense of
crisis and uncertainty. It is useful to examine other sources at the point of examining fascism
through national characters. Robert O. Paxton also has views on this subject. In his book "The
Anatomy of Fascism," Paxton examines in detail the various factors that contributed to the
rise of fascist movements in Europe. Paxton says fascism was born out of a sense of crisis and
uncertainty. According to Paxton, fascist movements often arise in times of social, economic,
or political crisis when traditional ways of life are threatened. On this point, he shares the
same opinion with Lukács. This sense of crisis, Paxton says, can be reinforced by a perceived
sense of national regression, which will lead to a rejection of democracy and a preference for
authoritarianism. Later, Paxton places the concept of nationalism as a central feature of
fascism. Paxton emphasizes that fascist movements are characterized by a strong emphasis on
national identity and pride, while those who do not conform, like Lukács said, are excluded
from society. Paxton states that, unlike Lukács, fascism is not a monolithic ideology. He also
states that fascist ideologies reflect the specific historical and cultural contexts in which they
emerged. To review another author, "Fascism: A Very Brief Introduction," Kevin Passmore
provides an overview of the main themes and characteristics of fascist movements, including
their emphasis on national identity and their rejection of democracy. According to Passmore,
Fascism is rooted in a particular cultural and historical context: Passmore argues that fascist
movements emerged from particular historical and cultural contexts and should be viewed
simply as a product of ideology or individual leaders. Passmore takes the concept of
nationalism as a central component of fascism. Passmore also emphasizes the importance of
national identity at the point of nationalism and pride in fascist movements. He states that
fascism generally supports the vision of the nation as a homogeneous community under threat
from outside powers and that this, as other authors have noted, can lead to exclusionary and
xenophobic attitudes towards minority groups. Finally, Passmore states that fascism can take
different forms depending on the particular historical and cultural context in which it
emerged. As an example, he points out that the fascist movements in Japan and Romania have
different characteristics from those in Italy or Germany. From this example, we see how
effective the National characters were on fascism. To summarize, Passmore stresses the
importance of understanding the cultural and historical context in which fascist movements
arose and the specific national characteristics that contributed to their development. Another
writer, F.L Carsten . In his book "The Rise of Fascism," Carsten provides an overview of the
origins and development of fascist movements in Europe. From this work, he offers many
inferences about fascism as a product of national characteristics. One is that fascism is rooted
in a sense of national crisis. According to Carsten, fascist movements often emerge during
times of national crisis or upheaval when traditional social and political structures are
perceived as inadequate. Another implication is that the concept of nationalism is a central
feature of fascism. As can be seen, Carsten agrees with Passmore here. Carsten emphasizes
that nationalism is very important in fascist movements that have developed a vision that sees
the nation as a homogeneous community under the threat of external enemies. States that it
supports the suppression of political opposition and may lead to the establishment of a one-
party state. We have examined the views of various writers that fascism is the product of
national characters. György Lukács, Robert O. Paxton, Kevin Passmore, and F.L. By
examining the work of writers like Carsten, we can deduce that fascism is associated with
factors such as a strong emphasis on national identity, rejection of reason, and a sense of
crisis/uncertainty. According to these authors, fascist movements often arise in times of
national crisis or uncertainty. Fascism is a central component of the concept of Nationalism.
However, the authors state that fascism emerged in different forms in different countries and
was influenced by certain national characteristics. Even when fascism was in power in
Germany and Italy, the ideology of fascism in these countries was different from each other.
Italian fascism is much more based on the dominant consensus of the elites of the old
monarchy, the military, industry, and the church than Nazism. On the other hand, Nazism
broke off its relationship with traditional social layers. While Nazism has Anti-Semitist ideas,
Italian Fascism has no Anti-Semitist discourse or action, at least until the German repressions
begin. The fascist "new order" understanding is different from the Nazism model. While
adopting Hitler's "race state" understanding, the Mussolini regime aims to be a strong state
based on a traditional policy of power and expansion. Although Italian Fascism is based on a
strict leadership discipline like Nazism and we can take it as a similarity in the fascism of the
two countries, there are symbols such as the Great Fascist assembly and the King next to the
Duce. In German fascism, there is only the Führer. If we examine Japanese National Fascism,
we see that this fascism refers to a militarist regime led by Emperor Hirohito. This ideology,
unlike other fascist movements, had a strong connection with the empire. This difference is
quite normal if we consider that the emperor is seen as extremely sacred in the national
character of the Japanese nation. In Portuguese Salazarism, which we can count as a kind of
fascist administration, the emphasis on the colonial past is much more than that of other states
because Portugal lived its golden age in its history thanks to its colonies. Ukrainian
nationalism, another fascist thought, put Ukraine's independence in its focus instead of
nationalism. While German Nazism emphasized antisemitism and antisemitism, the Croatian
Ustaše Movement perpetrated violent repression and genocide against Serbs, not Jews. Even
if the ideologies were on the same basis, they were different because of the enemies they
created for themselves, the historical processes they lived in, and the national character
associated with them. If we look at the differences in ideological basis, Fascist ideologies are
built on ideological foundations that are shaped differently by different national characters.
Spanish Falangism embraced religious fanaticism and Franco-led authoritarianism, while
Argentine Peronism was a form of populism that emphasized social justice and workers'
rights.

As we understand from all these examples, it shows that fascism is a multifaceted

Bibliography

 Lukács, Georg. The Destruction of Reason. London: The Merlin Press, 1980.
 Paxton, Robert O. Tkhe Anatomy of Fascism. New York: Vintage, 2005.
 Passmore, Kevin. Fascism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2014.
 Carsten, F.L. The Rise of Fascism. California: University of California Press, 1982.
 Rentoni David. Faşizm Tarihi ve Teorisi. Çev., Meral Kasap Harzem. İstanbul: Nora
Kitap, 2021.

Mustafa Alp Yıllar

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