I was talking with my wife last night about the labelling of ultra-left and ultra-right groups, specifically we were talking about how extreme right-wingers as Nazis. This seemed strange to me and I said to my wife that Fascist fits but I am not sure that Nazi does. She said they are the same thing. I brief discussion ensued, which got us now where, so I pulled out my handy-dandy dictionary.
Fascism: 1 hist. the totalitarian principles and organization of the extreme right-wing nationalist movement in Italy (1922-43) [Italian fasismo from fascio political group from Latin fascis bundle] 2 (also fascism) a any similar nationalist and authoritarian movement esp. German National Socialism. b derogatory any system of extreme right-wing or authoritarian views.
So my wife was correct in so far as Nazism is right in the definition of lower case f, fascism. Does it belong though, i.e. was German National Socialism socialist in the left-wing sense of the word or were they right-wing?
Update: I guess I could have just looked it up at Wikipedia as they give a very thorough defintion.
Nazism and fascism
The term Nazism is often used interchangeably with fascism, but this usage is controversial. Some use the word Fascism (spelled with a capital F), only to describe Italian Fascism, while generic fascism (spelled with a small f) may include many different movements, in many different countries.
Nazism and Italian Fascism both employed a similar style of propaganda, including military parades and uniforms, and the Roman salute. The ideologies of both ostensibly included an extreme nationalism and a rebirth of their own nation to some former, past state of national greatness. Both movements, when in power, also put in place totalitarian governments that pursued wars of expansion.
There were also many important differences between the two movements. For example, racism was central to Nazism but of less significance in Italian Fascism. Fascist Italy did not adopt anti-semitism until it followed Hitler's example.
Nazism and socialism
Because Nazism is an abbreviation for "National Socialism", and Nazi leaders sometimes described their ideology as a form of socialism, some people believe that Nazism was a form of socialism, or that there are similarities between Nazism and socialism. It has also been argued that the Nazi use of economic intervention, including central planning and some limited public ownership, is indicative of socialism.
Nazi leaders were opposed to the Marxist idea of class conflict and opposed the idea that capitalism should be abolished and that workers should control the means of production. For those who consider class conflict and the abolition of capitalism as essential components of socialist progress, these factors alone are sufficient to categorize "National Socialism" as non-socialist.
So I guess I owe my wife an apology. But I have always thought of this blog as learning out loud anyway.
