e. napp fascism in this lesson, students will be able to define the following terms: fascism...
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E. Napp
Fascism
In this lesson, students will be able to define the following terms:
Fascism
Militarism
Anti-Semitism
Racism
Social Darwinism
E. Napp
Benito Mussolini was thefirst person to use the termFascism. Fascism refersto a political system thatappeared in Italy afterWorld War I. The term
is also used more generally to identify similar systems such
as Nazism in Germany.
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Fascists were extreme nationalists.They believed that their nations were superior to other nations. They also
strongly opposed communism.
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Fascists used violence to defeat theirpolitical opponents and used war fornational expansion. Fascists were
militarists. Militarism is a glorificationof war.
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Fascists felt a single national party shouldunite all classes. They also believed
that the strong should dominate the weak.They opposed unions and strikes.
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Certain beliefs helpedFascists gain power.
Anti-Semitism, a hatredof Jews, was an
established belief inEurope. Jews werefrequently harmed intimes of unrest. As
a minority group, theywere easy targets.
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Racism is a contemptfor other races. This,
too, was an establishedbelief in Europe.
European racism was strengthened by imperialism and
nationalism. Racismalso helped Fascists
gain power.
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Social Darwinists usedCharles Darwin’s ideas
about evolution in nature andconcluded that all human
groups competed for survival. They claimed that
stronger groups had the right to succeed and thatweaker groups deserved
to die out. This belief helpedFascists gain power.
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A new democratic republic, known asthe Weimar Republic, was created in
Germany but it remained weak. Militaryleaders would have preferred to give
all political power to a single leader thanto the common people.
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Russian Communistsdemonstrated how to
build a totalitarianstate. The middleclasses in other
European countriesfeared the spread ofCommunism, leading
them to support Mussolini and Hitler.
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Benito Mussolini copiedBolshevik practices whiledenouncing their ideas.Like the Bolsheviks, he
had a party newspaper, a party organization, and a
private army of party members. He used violence
against his opponents.
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In 1922, Mussolini seized powerand turned Italy into the first
Fascist state.
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Adolf Hitler andthe Nazi partywould cometo power inGermany
soon afterwards.
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Questions for Reflection:
• Define Fascism.
• Why were Fascist leaders militarists?
• What is Anti-Semitism?
• How did racism and Social Darwinism help Fascists come to power?
• How did Communist practices in the Soviet Union influence Fascists?
• What nation was the first Fascist state?