WHAT IS FASCISM?
CAN IT HAPPEN HERE?
In the face of America’s rising authoritarianism, for some, saying “that’s fascist” or “they’re fascists” is a way to ring the alarm. For others, it’s a bad faith effort to numb us to evil.
When the goal of authoritarians and their sympathizers is to make people numb so they shrug and say, “if everyone’s a fascist, no one’s a fascist,” how do we agree on what makes someone a fascist?
History helps. Studying historical fascists helps us spot the common elements that span multiple movements. Our collective memory rightfully focuses on the horror of Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Nazi Party, but Franco’s Spain, Peron’s Argentina, and Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists shows us a key truth: Fascism exists on a spectrum, and it’s not a distant historical phenomenon.
Task Force Butler exists to shine the light on authoritarians, and our community of veterans and volunteers are committed to using lawful means to stop them.
But to stop them, we need to be able to spot them, and that’s why we have created WHAT IS FASCISM?
WHAT IS FASCISM? is our summary of the common characteristics of fascist thought and behavior. Our response to the question “What is fascism?” focuses on four categories: Power, Control, Loyalty, and Grievance.
We’ve also included a Fascism Reader that highlights a range of books, articles, and podcasts you may want to explore as you try to make sense of what’s happening in our society.
Content warning: This contains is a discussion of extreme, aberrant behavior. Reader discretion is advised.
POWER
The fetishization of power, and the creation of a powerful image, is paramount for a fascist leader. They will spare no expense in presenting themselves as unchallengeable both to foreign adversaries and domestic critics. The image of unquestionable power is often honed through a cult of personality, a reliance on militarism, and a carefully curated propaganda campaign fixated on the aesthetics of masculine strength.
A fascist leader will be revered as a savior to the nation. The common archetype is that the leader is the only one who can save the nation from turmoil and decay. Through this portrayal, criticism of the leader is akin to disparaging the nation, as the man and country are perceived as one and the same. The cult of personality is used to unite the people behind one single leader and often serves as insurance for the leader as those deemed not loyal enough can find themselves open to reprisals.
Fascist leaders need to present themselves as strong men who are unquestionably confident in their abilities to lead the nation out of the decline that it is currently experiencing. Everything they do - from how they speak and their body language to their wardrobe and surroundings - is specifically curated to keep them on brand.
In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler embraced what was called Führerprinzip, translated as “leader principle,” which was understood to mean that the Führer’s word was above all written law and could not be questioned. In Fascist Italy, there was a slogan which proclaimed “Il Duce ha sempre ragione” or “Mussolini is always right." The leader reached this state of near superhuman abilities due to a “divine right to lead.”
This cult of personality is often cemented by a carefully curated propaganda campaign designed to make the leader appear infallible, often by blaming shortcomings of their leadership on others.
The military is foundational to the leader’s need to both project maximum strength and maintain maximum control. If a fascist is to stay in power, they need to be intimidating to their adversaries, and this is why the ritualized showcases of militarized strength are universal to fascism.
Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco, all former soldiers, wore military uniforms instead of traditional formalwear. Hitler was almost always pictured with his Iron Cross First Class from World War I on his chest and with his signature small mustache, a common style in the trenches that allowed the gas masks to seal properly on the wearer’s face. Mussolini was often photographed with his chest puffed out, chin up, with his arms folded, or with his hands on his hips to present himself as confidently and powerfully as possible. Hitler’s famous arm movements and body language during his speeches were all deliberately planned and practiced to make him appear more assertive and commanding.
In addition to the deliberate clothing, speech patterns, and body language, the media’s propagandizing power is a common tool to project and preserve absolute authority. The best example of this is Leni Riefenstahl’s 1935 propaganda film Triumph of the Will which shows Hitler and other Nazi leaders as they walk through an expanse of roughly 150,000 soldiers standing at attention and cheering crowds. The film depicts Hitler and the Nazi Party as overpowering and, notwithstanding its despicable origin and use, is regarded as one of history’s most powerful and successful propaganda pieces.
CONTROL
Fascist leaders may use the tools of democracy to secure power, but once in position, they will use extraordinary levels of violence to quash opposition - or even divergent thought - in their quest to maintain absolute control.
The fascist leader cannot allow threats to their political power to persist, regardless of how big or small. Their position needs to be absolute and without question. One of the fascist leaders' first moves upon taking power will be to purge political rivals, whether they are in different parties or their own. A dictatorship will replace the democracy they may have used to gain power.
After Mussolini declared himself dictator of Italy, the Italian parliament made suspicion of being anti-fascist punishable by imprisonment without trial. Shortly after Fransico Franco consolidated power, he dissolved all other political parties in Spain, leaving only his own party. Hitler purged his political rivals after seizing power in 1933 by utilizing the Reichstag Fire Decree to imprison anyone considered to be opponents of the Nazis and suppress publications not considered "friendly" to the Nazi cause. This worked to establish Germany as a one-party state, as any opposition to Nazi rule became illegal.
Anti-intellectualism emerges as a locus of control because academics can present countervailing thought and the academic tradition encourages inquiry and dissent. Intellectualism, fascists believe, should only exist if it benefits the fascist state. Any idea or concept that is in opposition or could be in opposition to the fascist leader and his ideology must be silenced. Propaganda and falsehoods are then presented as truth as the ideology of the fascist becomes more and more accepted.
Fascists need to operate in a society where individualist thought is squelched and the fascist version of “truth” cannot be questioned. Book burnings, faculty purges, library closures, and the elimination of a free press become the status quo. Among the most well-known instances of fascist anti-intellectualism are the Nazi book burnings, where texts regarded as Jewish, communist, socialist, anarchist, liberal, pacifist, and sexual in nature or “degenerate” were publicly destroyed.
An independent media presents a clear threat to a fascist leader. Journalists, if not controlled by the state, can present the failures of the fascist leader or shortcomings of their ideology to the public. Propaganda wrapped in the veneer of journalism will exist in a fascist state, propped up in a heavily regulated structure and unquestionably supportive of the leader.
It is crucial for fascist leaders to silence all non-supportive and critical thoughts before their power can be challenged. Intellectuals, the free media, and political rivals pose a threat to the fascist leader by allowing differing ideas and viewpoints that may challenge the state’s ideology. Only media, political ideas, and individuals that are unwaveringly supportive of the fascist leader can be allowed within the country.
LOYALTY
“The leader cannot fail, he can only be failed.”
A fascist leader requires absolute loyalty and will readily discard long-standing allies the moment they outlive their usefulness. The reliance on cronyism, the assembly of street gangs who will deliver politically expedient violence on command, and rigid thought policing are the tools the fascist leader uses to surround himself with loyal allies.
Albert Speer was a paragon of cronyism in a fascist context. Speer was Hitler’s chief architect, who had been tasked with multiple Nazi Party projects. In 1942, Hitler made Speer the Minister of Armaments and War Production, placing the entire Nazi war effort into the hands of a man with no experience with the military, weapons, or manufacturing. Hitler knew Speer was utterly incapable of competently fulfilling his duties, but his consistent loyalty kept him in the role, for which his post-war reward was 20 years in prison.
Fascist leaders rely on cronyism because they can fill powerful positions with loyal allies and supporters. These enablers, in the eyes of a fascist leader, will not betray or attempt to usurp them. Their qualifications for the job and their performance are not as important as their undying loyalty to the fascist leader.
The gathering and deployment of fascist street gangs is another way to secure enforced loyalty. These fascist paramilitary forces largely act as unregulated thugs and are used to intimidate and attack political rivals, bully others into accepting their ideology, and act as the militant wing of the party.
The most famous example of this is the SA, also known as the Nazi Brownshirts. They provided protection for Nazi events, disrupted meetings of opposing parties, fought against rival political groups such as communists, and intimidated trade unionists, Jews, and Romani people.
At the height of their influence, there were over 350,000 Italian Blackshirts - the fascist paramilitary force that swore their loyalty to Benito Mussolini and, like the SA, used violence against their political opponents. The Blackshirts were present for the March on Rome in Mussolini’s coup d’état which resulted in his ascension to power in October of 1922.
Fascist leaders rely on violence and the militarization of politics. These tactics are bound to produce martyrs for the cause, and these individuals are commemorated for embodying the ultimate expression of loyalty.
Political violence and martyrdom are embraced by fascist leaders. The Nazis revered their 16 so-called “martyrs” that died in 1923’s failed coup d’etat, the Beer Hall Putsch. Shortly after he came to power, Hitler ordered the construction of the “Honor Temple” to honor and house the remains of the 16 “martyrs of Nazism.” The blood-soaked Nazi flag from the Beer Hall Putsch, called the Blutfahne or “Blood Flag,” became one of the most revered objects in Nazi Germany and was used to consecrate other Nazi flags when touched by it. The men who died in the Beer Hall Putsch became heroes to the cause of National Socialism, and the symbolism of their deaths was used multiple times by Hitler as propaganda.
Absolute loyalty and politically-motivated violence are a lethal combination. In the summer of 1934, the Nazi Party purged Ernst Röhm and other leaders of the SA, the Brownshirts, during the “Night of the Long Knives.” The SA had been instrumental in the Nazi’s rise to power, acting as Hitler’s original paramilitary force as they were deployed in violent street actions against communists and other political rivals. The fear was that the three million strong SA “thugs” would be more loyal to Röhm than the Nazi Party, or challenge the German military. During the Night of the Long Knives, it is estimated that up to 1,000 individuals, including Röhm, the SA leadership, and political rivals like former chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, were arrested or killed in a move to solidify Hitler’s power.
The fascist leader will rely on youth indoctrination in order to create the next generation of soldiers and mothers for the state. Gender roles and hierarchies will be strictly abided by and reinforced at a young age.
The Hitler Youth (for boys) and Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls) were the crucibles that were used to forge a generation of pliable, loyal citizens. Tween and teen boys were indoctrinated in Nazi ideology, including the mythological hierarchy of Aryans over non-Aryans, and took part in military training, weapons familiarization, and basic fighting tactics, while the girls were trained in their prescribed role as mothers, wives, and homemakers.
Fascist leaders rely on traditionalism to encourage men into military service by embracing a masculine gender identity and women to bear as many children as possible for the nation and its interests. Anyone who challenges the traditional gender norms, gay and lesbian people for example, and the hierarchy of the state would be persecuted by both fascist street gangs and the state.
The fascist leader will seek to create a society in which the youth are taught the ideologies of the state, the violence and martyrdom of loyal foot soldiers are celebrated, and the ranks of important positions are filled with cronies incapable or uninterested in usurping the power of the leader.
GRIEVANCE
The fulcrum for the exercise of power, control, and the demands of loyalty is shared grievance. A fascists’ core motivating principle is the idea that “they have done this [insert grievance] to “us,” and now “we must not only protect ourselves,” but “we must fight back to preserve and reclaim what is rightfully ours!”
Fascist leaders have leveraged poor economic conditions, war weariness, political instability, and fear and uncertainty about the future, especially the fear of “other” in their rise to power. They will hone in on populist and nationalistic ideals, vowing to bring the country back to a mythical lost past, and embracing conspiracy theories to explain the country and its peoples’ decline.
Fascists tend to use deeply emotional populist appeals. In their hands, populism combines anti-establishment rhetoric, prejudice towards foreign influences, and the implication that the leader is the interpreter of the popular will. They will argue that the democratic institutions of the nation are corrupt and no longer represent the will of the people. They will appeal to what they perceive as a downtrodden group that has been “left behind” by the establishment's “elites.”
Fascist movements seek to revive a nation’s supposed former glory, which they argue has been lost due to the nation’s perceived degeneracy and decline, evoking feelings of nostalgia for “better times” and arguing that the nation is losing its way and must return to its former greatness. The connections that fascist movements try to make between themselves and history are often based in mythology and fiction.
In Fascist Italy, Benito Mussolini would evoke the Roman Empire and the reigns of Julius and Augustus Caesar, promising Italians he sought Italy’s return to a time of splendor and, importantly, respect. Mussolini revived the Roman salute, the outstretched right arm, which became synonymous with fascism.
A fascist leader’s constructed identity is founded on his being a “strong man” who will constantly project power and intimidate the masses by crushing their perceived enemies. The targets of this abuse of power invariably include minority groups or those deemed not real citizens of the fascist movement. The most famous example is the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany and later Fascist Italy. Romani people, homosexuals, socialists, communists, Slavs, and those who openly opposed Nazism faced harsh persecution, and millions would die at the hands of the Nazis. In Francoist Spain, Fransico Franco outlawed all religions except for Catholicism and banned the Catalan and Basque languages favoring Spaniards of Castilian ancestry.
In their efforts to demonstrate that they are fighting for the people, fascist leaders will construct a narrative of their battling a shadowy force or “deep state” that is secretly engaged in sabotaging the nation. The members of this secret group can shift and evolve, providing the leader and his enablers with a never-ending narrative that he is protecting the citizens from their perceived enemies and providing a warped rationale for abusing power and position as the nation’s savior.
In the hands of a fascist regime, nationalism metastasizes into an urgent need for the country to promote its interests over others and govern itself without regard to outside influence or approval. Fascist expressions of nationalism often seek to create a national identity based upon a shared ethnicity, culture, language, and geographically-bound identity. This supports the creation of the “in-group” and is foundational to the grievance and the enacting of grievance against the “out-group.”
Fascist movements need an enemy.
If they cannot find one, they will simply make one up, which is often why their enemies can be “weak and inferior” yet also “powerful and threatening.” Nationalism works in the fascist leader’s favor as it provides him with a unifying message of sovereignty to his people as well as an internal or external enemy that he must protect them from.
CONCLUSION
Some final thoughts:
Federico Finchelstein, an Argentine professor at The New School for Social Research, eloquently describes the four pillars of fascism in this excellent presentation from “Fighting Fascism: A Symposium on Jewish Responses From the Interwar Period to the Present Day,” co-hosted by the American Jewish Historical Society and the Center for Jewish History. We strongly encourage you to watch the panel, which also includes the always-incisive Ruth Ben-Ghiat.
We’ll conclude with Heather Cox Richardson, author of the Letters from an American newsletter, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, and professor of history at Boston University, who provided a concise, durable summary on Crooked Media’s Offline with Jon Favreau podcast (emphasis added.)
“The scholars of authoritarianism will tell you that the way an authoritarian rises is (because) it finds a population that feels itself to have been dispossessed, either economically or religiously, or culturally or socially, and says, ‘Listen, I know that you feel like you've been left out.’
“...the strong man simply says the reason this has happened is because of “them,” and who “them” is doesn't matter so much as you use that foil to weld your group into a group that feels grievance.
“...he is willing to back you to make things be great again, to make America great again, as it were. And the trick to that is (the strongman is) going to return the nation to a series of rules that are divine or laid down by nature. Rules that your opponents are refusing to enact.
“Once they've done that, (the strongman has) started to commit to you. You start to treat those other people badly. (The population) internalize their identity as being associated with (the strongman) so that once you have committed violence against somebody, either rhetorical or actual, against those others they have bought into it, and it becomes harder and harder and harder for them to give that up. So the worse a strongman behaves, the more tightly they cling to him.”
America’s democracy isn’t perfect, and no one would ever say it is. It’s important to remember that fascist strongmen usually exploit a weak democracy to secure their position. Once in power, it becomes hard, if not impossible, to fully restore the democracy without tremendous pain and bloodshed.
With this in mind, all of us at Task Force Butler will remain vigilant around calling out fascists, and their enablers, so we can name them for who they are and, together, we can stop them.
UPDATED 11.8.23