Chapter 22 Chapter 4 The Decline of Liberalism 2

2 The three right-wing forces have discussed the second part, and what is left now is the real name of fascism.The fascist movement can be divided into several branches, one of which is Italy, which gave the fascist phenomenon its name.And Italian fascism is the masterpiece of socialist defector and journalist Mussolini.The Mexican name, Benito, was chosen to commemorate the Mexican President Juarez who was determined to oppose the clerical forces. It fully symbolizes the anti-Holy tradition in Mussolini’s hometown of Romagna. Even Hitler made no secret of his own way. He originally learned from the "Mo" family's orthodoxy, and he has infinite respect for Mo himself. Even after World War II, after Mussolini and Italy exposed their incompetent weaknesses, Hitler's respect It has always been unfailing. In order to repay Hitler's love, Mussolini also responded to the former's anti-Semitic movement-but this was a very later thing. Before 1938, the movement led by Mussolini himself, There is no sign of anti-Semitism at all; Italy has never had any anti-Semitism since the national unity. However, Italy has encouraged and funded movements similar to fascism in other places, and in the most unexpected places, Some degree of influence: Vladimir Jabotinsky, the founder of Zionist Revisionism, was deeply influenced by fascist ideas. The line of this Zionist movement , and later entered the Israeli government under the leadership of Menachem Begin in the 1970s. However, Italian fascism alone is not enough to create international appeal.

If Hitler had not seized power in Germany in early 1933, the fascist camp would never have transformed into such a general trend.In fact, outside of Italy, all fascist movements that had achieved any success took shape after Hitler came to power. Among them, the Arrow Cross party in Hungary was the most important. Middle (1939), garnering 25% of the vote.Another example is the Romanian Iron Guard group (IronGuard), which has more actual support than the former.Mussolini had provided financial resources to support activities in certain areas.For example, the Croatian terrorist group Ustashi led by Ante Pavelich (Ustashi, editor's note: original text Ustasa, the meaning of rioters. Advocates the independence of Croatia).But it was not until the 1930s, when they turned to Germany for spiritual and financial support, that these groups began to make great achievements and move closer to fascism ideologically.All in all, if Hitler had not succeeded in seizing power in Germany, fascist ideology would have never been able to become a right-wing banner in one fell swoop, just like the Communist International became a left-wing army under the leadership of Moscow, and evolved into a popular movement trend with Berlin as its headquarters.However, despite being promoted by Hitler, fascism never developed into an important movement. At most, it only agitated those who cooperated with the German invaders in the European area occupied by Germany during World War II.As for the traditional extreme rightists in various countries, especially France, no matter how cruel and ruthless their reactionary methods are, they all refuse to dance to the music of fascism: these rightists have only one position, other than nationalism, or nationalism, and some of them even Join the underground anti-German movement.Therefore, any impact of the fascist trend on Europe was due to the continuous improvement of Germany's international hegemony at that time.Otherwise, why would the reactionary ruling classes in various countries, who had no relationship with fascism, bother themselves and pretend to be flirting with fascists?It was under the shock of Germany that Salazar of Portugal declared in 1940 that he and Hitler had a good relationship and that the heroes "see the same view and join hands in alliance" (Delzell 1970, p. 348).

All strands of fascism were unanimously aware of the forces of German hegemony, but apart from this commonality, it was difficult to find similarities with each other.A movement like this lacks reason and relies entirely on intuitive will, and its theoretical foundation is often very weak.Although in countries where conservative intellectuals are active—Germany is an example—reactionary ideologues are deeply attracted to fascist ideas, but it is often the fascist fascist fascist fascism that attracts them rather than the real inner constitute.Although Mussolini had the court theorist Giovanni Gentile at his disposal, Hitler also had the philosopher Heidegger on his side.But Mussolini can ask the theory to go away, and there is no hindrance to the existence of fascism.As for Hitler himself, I am afraid that he did not know at all, let alone whether Heidegger supported it.Furthermore, Fascism did not advocate specific forms of state organization such as the "United State" - an approach Hitler quickly lost interest in.What's more, within a country, the phenomenon of corporate groups forming groups fundamentally conflicts with the Volksgemeinschaft People's Community concept in which individuals are the basic unit of political participation.Not even the racism that was central to fascist thought was absent from the original Italian fascism in the first place.Conversely, fascism shares many of the same views as right-wing fascists, such as nationalism, anti-communist stance, and anti-liberalism.There is another similarity between the two, especially among the French reactionary groups of a non-fascist nature, it is closer: both parties like to use street violence to achieve their own political demands.

As for the biggest difference between fascism and the non-fascist right, it lies in the existence of the former, which adopts a bottom-up method of mass mobilization.Traditional conservatives, who often bemoan the advent of democracy, feel an extreme distaste for popular politics.The standard-bearers who advocate an "organized state" wish to skip the democratic stage and directly enter corporatism.Fascism emerged in such an atmosphere of the times, by mobilizing the masses, radiating heat, and using grand public spectacles to maintain its symbolic meaning—such as the Nuremberg mass meeting in Germany; the Italian people gathered in Venice Square ( Piazza Venezia), the figure of Mussolini waving from the balcony—both fascists and communists, after gaining power, have repeatedly used various symbolic measures of using the power of the masses, and have never given up on this magic weapon.Fascism is, so to speak, a "revolution" of "counter-revolutions": its revolutionary character lies in its vocabulary, and in the eloquent pleas of the self-righteous victims of society, in its calls for a total change in the social formation.In addition, it also deliberately borrowed the symbols of reforming social revolutionaries to further reflect their revolutionary temperament.Hitler organized the "National Socialist Workers Party" (National Socialist Workers Party), borrowed (slightly modified) the leftist red flag as its own party flag, and immediately responded in 1933, using the May Day of the Red Revolution as a statutory holiday in Germany.The party name, party flag, statutory holidays, the Nazis' intention to use the methods of the social revolution movement is extremely obvious.

There is another difference between fascism and the traditional right.Although the former also speaks loudly and advocates returning to the traditional past, those nostalgics who wish to erase the chaotic century of the past also give enthusiastic support to the fascists.In the final analysis, however, fascism is not the royalist Carlist who strongly supported General Franco in the Navarra region during the Spanish Civil War, nor is it Gandhi in India who wants to return to the simplicity of the pre-industrial revolution. The era of natural, handmade production in small villages.In a real sense, fascism was not, after all, part of the traditionalist movement.Yes, fascists also agree with many traditional "values" (whether these "values" have any "true value" is another matter and will not be discussed here).Fascists attacked liberal demands for emancipation from patriarchy, arguing that women should stay at home and raise many children.Fascists also don't trust modern culture, believing that it will corrupt people's hearts, especially modernist art.These artists were regarded by the German National Socialist Party as degenerate left-wing literati and "Bolsheviks in the cultural world".But even so, the central line of fascism - the fascist movement in Italy and Germany - did not seek to preserve the traditional guardians of the conservative order, the king and the church.The fascist intention is to replace it with a leadership principle that has nothing to do with the traditional forces.The emergence of a new leadership class lies in the success of self-made self-sufficiency.Their legal status is established by the support of the masses and consolidated by secular ideology.And the secular ideas they serve as the basis can sometimes even be so fanatical that they become a kind of religious worship.

Therefore, the "old days" advocated by fascists are nothing but artificial fakes.Their traditions are man-made inventions and constructions.Even the racism preached by fascists has a different meaning from the American roots.The latter is for the vanity of pure blood, wanting to prove that he is a blood descendant of a small landowner with the status of a warrior in the Suffolk countryside of England in the sixteenth century.But fascist racial thinking comes from the miscellaneous theory of genetic science in post-Darwinism (genetics is especially popular in Germany) in the late 19th century.To put it more clearly, fascists are enamored of the school of applied genetics [that is, eugenics], which is delusional to use the process of selection and elimination to select the best species and eliminate the bad ones to create a super excellent human race. .And this race, which was destined to dominate the world with the power of Hitler, was created out of nothing, not a race that really existed in history. It didn't even have a name. It was not until 1898 at the end of the 19th century that an anthropologist A new species name was created for it: the so-called "Nordic" (Nordic, translated: meaning tall, long-headed, blond and white-skinned people living in Scandinavia).Fascism's principles of faith, both to the legacy of the eighteenth century

Products such as the Enlightenment and the French Revolution are deeply abhorred, and consequently, they should naturally dislike the development and progress of modernization.But the paradox is that when there is a practical need, it can't wait to connect its crazy and unreasonable ideas with modern technology.The only exception is that it has cut its own research in basic science for ideological reasons (see Chapter 18).In the fight against liberalism, fascism has won an overall victory.The appearance of fascism in a civilized society proves that human beings can sell insane ideas of life with one hand while firmly grasping the highly developed scientific civilization of the time with the other hand.Both go hand in hand without breaking a sweat.This kind of harmony between the two extremes can be seen again in the late 20th century, when fundamentalist religious fanatics used television and computers as tools to unleash their fund-raising abilities.

Therefore, extreme nationalism combines the values ​​of conservative circles, and democratic politics starting from the masses, plus a set of barbaric and unreasonable new consciousness created by itself.However, we need further elucidation on this.The non-traditionalist movement trend of the extreme right appeared in several European countries as early as the end of the 19th century.At that time, liberalism was becoming more and more popular (that is, the phenomenon of society changing its face under capitalism at an accelerated rate), while socialist ideas were spreading everywhere, and the movement of the working class was becoming more and more powerful.The immigrant wave of a great national migration also brought waves of foreign nationalities to all parts of the world.Under the challenges of liberalism, social movements, and waves of immigration, the reactionary psychology of the extreme right has emerged in response to the situation.These men, women and children who left their hometowns not only traveled across the ocean and went to foreign countries, but also within a country, the population moved from the countryside to the cities, and from the east to the west—in other words, everyone left their homes and went to Strange land.On the other hand, the places where strangers flock to are the homes of other nationalities.Of every 100 Poles, 15 permanently go abroad; in addition, there are 500,000 seasonal Polish labor immigrants every year-most of these immigrants join the labor class of the immigrating countries. At the end of the 19th century, just like the foreshadowing of the end of the 20th century, there was a surge of xenophobia among the people of all countries.Xenophobia is expressed externally, and the most common phenomenon is racism—that is, to protect the purity of native ethnic groups from being polluted or submerged by inferior ethnic groups from outside.Even Max Weber, a German sociologist who has always believed in liberal thinking, was deeply afraid of the excessive immigration from Poland. For a period of time, he even believed that the "Pangerman League" (Pangerman League) was necessary.On the other side of the Atlantic, the anti-immigration movement in the United States is equally frenetic.Even during and after the First World War, anti-immigration psychology was so strong that the country of the Statue of Liberty closed its doors and refused the people who yearned for freedom to enter.And when the statue of the Goddess stood up, it was originally to welcome these people to her embrace.All kinds of examples can be seen that the psychology of racism is deep.

At the root of all right-wing current movements is the anger of social petty figures.The little man is in the society. On the one hand, the boulders of big companies and enterprises are hitting him head-on, and on the other hand, the rising labor movement is blocking his way. Under the attack from both sides, all the dreams of the little man are shattered.Even if it has not been shattered, the changing world situation has either deprived them of the respectable status they originally occupied in society and at the same time believed that they should have it; Status acquired by rights.This discontent is most typically expressed in the phenomenon of anti-Semitism.In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, political movements aimed at hatred of the Jewish nation began to emerge in certain countries.At that time, the Jews were everywhere, which happened to be the host of all the hateful things in this unfair world.What's more, the Jews wholeheartedly believed in Enlightenment thought, and were liberated because of their involvement in the French Revolution.But also because of their participation in these New Age intellectual movements, the Jewish nation became a more prominent target.The Jews are a symbol of all evil capitalists, rich people, and revolutionary agitators. They also represent this generation of "rootless intellectuals" and the evil and corrosive forces caused by the new media class.Jews value knowledge, which makes them gain a high proportion of advantages in some occupational competitions that require an educational background-and in the eyes of others, this kind of competition is, of course, only unfair in addition to being unfair.In addition to various symbols, the Jewish nation also represents aliens and foreigners.As for the old idea that Christianity has always believed in: the Jews were the culprits who killed Jesus, and the crime of the Jewish nation is naturally not to mention.

The hatred of the Jews among Westerners is indeed quite widespread.The status of the Jewish people in nineteenth-century society was also rather ambiguous.Workers who were on strike at the time, even labor movements that had nothing to do with racist awareness, often attacked Jewish-opened storefronts at every turn.Workers also often assume that their employers are Jewish bosses (which is quite true in much of Central and Eastern Europe).However, we must not therefore regard these workers as prototypes of the German National Socialist Party.They were at best like liberal intellectuals in Edwardian Britain (such as the Bloomsbury Group), who, because of their natural anti-Semitism for granted, were politically sympathetic to the anti-Semitic lines of the Radical Right.In Central and Eastern Europe, Jews are the middlemen between rural residents and the external economic activities they need for their lives, so the history of anti-Semitism among local small farmers is relatively long and the degree is more explosive.The great shock of the new era and the new world is so incomprehensible to the peasants of Slavs, Magyar, and Romania, but their lives have undergone tremendous changes.All this can only be blamed on the Jews.This group of dark-skinned and ignorant villagers still firmly believed in the traditional superstition that the Jews killed Christian children as sacrifices.Therefore, when the moment of great social change comes, the Holocaust and persecution of the Jews (Pogrom) is naturally inevitable. After the social revolutionaries assassinated Tsar Alexander II in 1881, Russian reactionaries encouraged the people to take revenge on the Jews.Against this historical and psychological background, a straight road leads directly from the original anti-Semitic sentiment to the extermination of the Jews during World War II.And traditional anti-Semitism also provided the mass base for the fascist movements in Eastern Europe—especially Romania's "Iron Guard" and Hungary's "Cross of Arrows".At least in the territory of the former Habsburg and Romanov dynasties, there are many links between traditional anti-Semitism and fascist anti-Semitism.In contrast, in Germany, known as the Third German Reich (German Reich), although anti-Semitic sentiments in rural areas and localities are deeply rooted and extremely strong, their tendency to violence is very low. We can even say, They more acquiesce to the existence of Jews. In 1938, the German army occupied Vienna, the capital of Austria, and the local Jews fled to Berlin, but were surprised to find that the same anti-Semitic sentiment was not found on the streets here.Anti-Semitic violence on the streets of Berlin came from orders from superiors, as in the attack on Jews in November 1938 (Kershaw, 1983).However, even though that was the case in the last century, the intermittent massacres of Jews in Central and Eastern Europe were extremely barbaric and cruel, but compared with the large-scale and systematic extermination of Jews a century later, they inevitably pale in comparison. The number of Jews who died in the Russian Tsar Alexander incident in 1881 was very small, and in 1903 about 40 or 50 Jews died in the massacre in Kishinev (now the capital of the Republic of Moldova, a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States).But the low number caused worldwide—of course—public outrage, because at that time, before the barbarism of this century, small sacrifices were enough to raise the eyebrows of those who believed that civilization should continue to progress.Even in 1905, with the Russian serf uprising, many more Jews were unfortunately massacred, but by later larger standards of comparison, the number of deaths and injuries was relatively small - only about 800 in all.By contrast, Lithuanians killed 3,800 Jews in Vilnius (now the capital of Lithuania) in three days in 1941 when German troops advanced on the Russian border.The numbers are high, but they represent the death toll before the mass murder of Jews began.

The emerging movement of the radical right, although initially pursuing a traditional intolerance mentality, eventually fundamentally changed the structure of the old tradition.It is particularly attractive to the lower and middle classes of European society.Nationalist intellectuals, who were fashionable in the 1990s, took this as their central theory.The term "Nationalism" itself was coined by a group of new spokesmen of the reactionary camp during that decade.So the middle class, and the militants of the lower middle class, went to the right in one fell swoop.This kind of great shift to the right mostly occurs in countries where democracy and liberalism are not very prosperous, or in classes that do not themselves identify with democracy and freedom.In other words, they are mainly countries and regions that have not yet undergone major changes similar to the French Revolution.In fact, within the core camps of Western liberalism—such as Britain, France, and the United States—the revolutionary tradition pervaded everything and was strong enough to resist any large-scale fascist movement.American populism, inherently racist mentality, and French republicans, who may be chauvinistically arrogant, must not be confused with fascism: both belong to the left, not the prototype of fascism. However, this does not mean that once the old tune of "liberty, equality and fraternity" advertised by the French revolutionary spirit is no longer repeated, the veterans of the revolution will no longer follow the new political slogans.In the Austrian Alps, activists waving anti-swastika signs are mostly local professionals—including veterinarians, land surveyors, etc.—who were originally members of the local liberal faction and were educated , a new generation liberated from the rural parish environment.Similarly, in the 20th century, the orthodox proletarian labor social movement disintegrated, and many manual workers were free from taboos, and the instinctive chauvinism and racial prejudice in their temperament began to vent.Although they were exposed to these prejudices in the past, in order to show their loyalty to the labor movement, they were ashamed to sing against the party they supported.Since the party's position is passionately opposed to stubborn chauvinism and racial thinking, it is of course inconvenient for the party to express its true feelings publicly. Since the 1960s, xenophobic and racially discriminatory ideas in the Western world mainly exist in the manual labor class.But going back to the nascent days of fascism, such ideas were confined to the indolent. Some historians, eager to reverse the case for Nazi supporters, overthrow the consensus in "any" research on the subject between 1930 and 1980 (Childers, 1983; Childers, 1991, pp. .8, 14-15).However, in the era of the rise and development of fascist ideology, the phenomenon that the main supporters were the middle class and the lower middle class is a fact that even this group of scholars cannot deny.In view of the fact that there are many studies on the class composition of the Fascist Party, take one of the analyzes of the class of members of the Austrian Parliament between the two wars as an example: in 1932, 18% of the National Socialists elected to the Vienna District Council were freelancers, 56% are white-collar workers, office workers and government officials, and 16% are blue-collar workers.Of the Nazis who were elected to the five Austrian parliaments outside Vienna in the same year, 16% were freelancers and farmers, 51% were office clerks, and the other 10% were blue-collar workers (Larsen et al, 1978, pp.766-767 ). These figures do not mean that the fascist movement does not enjoy broad support from the working class.Regardless of the cadre composition of the Romanian Iron Guard, the vast majority of people who support this organization are, after all, from the poor peasants.As for the voters of the Hungarian Arrow Cross group, most of them belong to the working class (the Communist Party is illegal in the country, and the Social Democratic Party paid the price in the votes because of the tolerance of the Horthy regime, and there are still not many members).In Austria, after the Social Democratic Party suffered a severe setback in 1934, a large number of workers' votes were lost to the Nazi Party, especially in the countryside.What's more, once the identity of the fascist regime was determined and a legal mass status was established, many workers who originally supported socialism or the Communist Party in the fascist parties in Germany and Italy also turned to identify with the new regime. , It is really not what people who adhere to the leftist tradition want to see.But even so, the fascist line was contrary to the fundamental traditions of an agricultural society (unless, as in Croatia, it was strengthened with the help of organizations such as the Roman Catholic Church).And parties that generally identify with organized labor power are often ideologically at odds with fascism.Therefore, the core people who support fascism must naturally be dominated by the middle class in society. However, how much the original demands of fascism can resonate with the middle-class people is a question with no standard answer.Its appeal to the young, middle-class generation is no doubt strong, especially in continental Europe, whose university students in the interwar years were known to lean strongly towards the extreme right. In 1921 (before the earlier March on Rome) 13% of Italian Fascist party members were students.As for Germany, as early as 1930, 5% - 10% of the students had already joined the party, but those Germans who became Nazi party members in the future, at this time, most of them did not have much interest in Hitler (Kater, 1985, p.467; Noelle/Neumann, 1967, p.196).We can also see that among the fascist party members, the middle class has a high proportion of ex-military officers.These people experienced the unprecedented and ancient war of the First World War. Although the war was tragic, it was the peak of their careers.Compared with the brilliant achievements of wartime, the later civilian life was too dull and disappointing.Of course, people with this kind of mentality are only a part of the middle class after all, and they belong to people who are fascinated by action.And for most people, the biggest threat is the destruction of middle-class jobs, status—whether that is real status, or the status that traditional mentality thinks it should be.In short, as the structure of the old social order has been deformed and broken, the demands of the extreme right have become more pleasing to their ears.The German currency has become worthless under inflation, followed by the Great Depression around the world.The double blow is too heavy, and the political stance of even the middle and high-level civil servants of the middle class has gone to extremes.The positions of these middle and senior government officials are usually regarded as iron rice bowls. If the situation is not extremely dangerous, who would not be happy to be at ease under the old conservative patriotic regime that remembers the resigned Emperor William?Who would work for a republic led by Field Marshal Hindenburg if the country were not already falling apart before their eyes and under their feet?During the period between the two wars, most of the German people who had nothing to do with politics missed the imperial era ruled by Kaiser Wilhelm.Even in the 1960s, although most West German residents believed that the best days in German history were now (of course), 42% of those over 60 years old thought that the times before 1914 were better than now.In contrast, only 32% were deeply moved by today's economic miracle (Wirtschaftswunder) (Noelle/Neumann, 1967, p. 1967). From 1930 to 1932, batch after batch of rightist and middle-line bourgeois voters fell to the Nazis one after another, but these people were not the real architects of fascism. Given the way political struggles were lined up in the interwar period, it was natural for the conservative middle class to become fascist supporters, or even fellow travelers.Generally speaking, the greatest threats to liberal societies and their values ​​come primarily from the right.But as far as the existing social order is concerned, the threat lies with the left.The middle-class people caught in the middle have no choice but to choose to obey what they fear most in their hearts.Traditionalist conservatives, who generally agree more with the fascist propagandists, are ready to join forces with them against the common enemy number one. In the 1920s, the Italian fascist camp was very well received in the press; even in 1930, it had a fairly good public opinion evaluation.The only ones who don't give them a good face are the liberal left-wing literati.John Buchan, a well-known British conservative and horror novelist, once wrote: "Thanks to the audacious experiment of fascism, otherwise, the past ten years of political circles would have been nothing. "(This is true: people who are usually good at writing horror novels are rarely moved by leftist ideas.) (Graves/Hodge, 1941, P.248) Hitler's success in seizing power is thanks to the traditional right camp. , but once he came to power, he crossed the river and demolished the bridge, swallowing them all.As for General Franco of Spain, he also recruited the Falange (Spanish fascist party), a small party that was unknown at that time, because the camp he led was in the name of a great alliance of all rightists to fight against 1789. 1917 and 1917—though how the two revolutions differed was unclear to the general.Fortunately for Franco, he did not officially stand on Hitler's side during World War II, but he sent a volunteer force, the "Blue Division" (Blue Division), to the Russian theater to fight side by side with the German army against the group of atheists. Communists.Marshal Petain of France, of course, was not a fascist or a Nazi.This is why at the end of World War II, in the German-occupied areas of France, it is difficult for the world to distinguish It is difficult to distinguish which French people are the real fascists and German lackeys, and which ones are just supporting players of the Vichy government under the leadership of Marshal Pétain.It is difficult to draw a clear line between the two.Some French fathers and grandparents were convicted of treason in the Dreyfus Affair (Dreyfus, translation: 1894, French Army Captain Dreyfus, who was framed by an anti-Semitic conspiracy. The incident broke out and all circles of France were involved. In this storm, the political parties also divided into two camps, attacking each other. The French writer Zola was forced to go abroad because he supported Dreyfus) joined the anti-Dreyfus side, not only hated the Jews, but also hated this shit The republic is even less favorable—some old people in the Vichy government even did this thing themselves—so under the influence of the previous generation or their own emotions, they became confused and became enamored of "Hitler Europe" The color of fanatics. Simply put, the so-called "natural" grand coalition of interwar rightists ranges from traditional conservatives with old-fashioned reactionary ideas to fringe radicals with fascist morbidity. , omnipresent. But conservatism and counter-revolutionaries, although powerful in words, usually seldom act. Therefore, the birth of fascism is nothing more than a vigorous impetus for them, and more importantly, let them see conservatives An example of strength triumphing over chaos. (Isn't that the pro-fascist Italian crowd always fond of citing this in their debates: "Under Mussolini, even the trains were on time.") Just as after 1933, the active Communist Party provided a great attraction for the leaderless and directionless leftists; for a while, the success of fascism seemed to point out the bright road for the rightists in the future. After the National Socialist Party won This was especially true after the German regime. What's more, at this juncture, fascism knocked on - think of all these countries in the world - the door of conservative British politics, briefly but enough It proves the power of this "empirical effect". One of the most prominent figures in British politics, Sir Oswald Mosley, converted to fascism; The movement led by the former was soon spurned by respectable politicians in the country; Creation). However, the fact that fascist ideas were able to win the favor of both of them is very meaningful. After all, the British Empire at that time was still regarded by the world as a model of political and social stability. It is also well-deserved of this honor.