HHISTOISTO RYRY— PAST AND P ER SPE CTIV E Ideological Bedfellows Il Duce, “The Leader”: Benito Mussolini of Italy gained renown and influence as a Marxist before becoming a Fascist. Toward the end of his days, he became a Marxist again. AP Images College professors and the media tell us that there are right-wing totalitarians and there are left-wing totalitarians, but is this an accurate assessment? by Bruce Walker leading leftist in Italy, he was one of the After the First World War began, Mus- most important communists in the world solini worked hard to get Italy to join the enito Mussolini has an infamous (communism is here defined as a system side of Britain and France. He succeeded. place in modern history, as well of government in which the state plans After the war, Fascism began to grow into B he should. Nearly everyone knows and controls the economy, and a single, a serious political movement in Italy, with Mussolini as the dictator of Fascist Italy often authoritarian party, holds power — Benito at its head. Hitler admired Musso- and the ally of Nazi Germany in the Sec- in order, in theory, to be fair and spread all lini intensely and considered Fascism in ond World War. But that is only part of the goods equally amongst the people) . Italy to be a precursor to National Social- story. Mussolini began his political career In 1914, Mussolini organized “Red ism in Germany. Mussolini brought Fas- as an avowed Marxist (defined as the athe- Week,” which was aimed at causing a vio- cist Italy into the Second World War as an ist philosophy which holds that capitalism lent revolution against the corrupt capital- ally of Nazi Germany about the time that is bad because it enriches a few capital- ist world. The very name “Duce” (an Ital- the Nazis defeated France in mid-1940. ists to the detriment of masses of labor- ian word for leader) was given to him at Italy surrendered to the Allied Powers in ers and that laborers should take control a banquet hosted by Marxists after his re- 1943 and ousted Il Duce. But that is not the of all means of production — in order, in lease from prison for protesting the “impe- end of the biography of Benito Mussolini. theory though not in practice, to be fair rialist” Italian war in Libya, at which one Hitler had him rescued and set Mussolini to the masses). Mussolini was not just a veteran socialist said: “From today you, up as the head of a puppet state in north- Benito, are not only the representative of ern Italy, the Italian Socialist Republic. The Bruce Walker is author of Sinisterism: Secular Reli- Romagna Socialists, but the Duce of all constitution of this odd polity was written gion of the Lie . revolutionary Socialists in Italy!” by Nicola Bombacci, a communist and a www.TheNewAmerican.com 31 HHISTOISTO RYRY— PAST AND P ER SPE CTIV E friend of Lenin. In February 1944, the So- cialist Republic issued a “Legislative De- cree for the Socialization of Enterprises” that provided that all enterprises with capi- tal of over one million lire or employing more than a hundred persons would be run by a committee composed of an equal num- ber of management and workers. After that it moved even more radically to the Left. In 1944, Mussolini praised Stalin and said that if he had to choose which nation should dominate Europe, it would be the Soviet Union. Both Mussolini and the movement he led were left-wing at their inception and even more left-wing extremist in the end. Yet Wiki pedia, an online encyclopedia, claims: The terms extreme right or ultra right are used by some scholars to dis- cuss only those right-wing political groups that step outside the bound- aries of traditional electoral politics. Library of Congress This generally includes the revolu- Power-mad pals: Though Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were sometimes enemies, sometimes tionary right, militant racial suprem- allies, sometimes enemies again, Hitler admired Mussolini’s socialist methods of governance and acists and religious extremists, neo- modeled Germany’s institutions after Italy’s. fascists, neo-Nazis and Klansmen. In this usage, the terms are distinct Such a definition of “right-wing” would and Hitler, then serious Americans would from other forms of right-wing poli- lead one to believe that two of the vilest begin to cherish more deeply the legacy of tics such as the less-militant sectors totalitarian regimes of the 20th century our Founding Fathers. of the far right, right-wing populists. — Bolshevism and Nazism — were mor- tal enemies at opposite ends of a politi- Back in the Day Though this definition, which includes cal spectrum. If such a contention is true, It is hard to find objectivity when talking fascists and Nazis, is accepted and pro- an argument could be made that neither a about Nazism today. It was, of course, a mulgated by media and educators, how right-wing, “conservative,” limited-gov- ghastly movement that few defend. What does this fit into any rational system of ernment ideology nor a left-wing, “lib- most people know of it is disseminated understanding political ideology? It does eral,” big-government one is more funda- by college professors, who tell their stu- not, of course, but whenever any group mentally sound than the other; therefore, dents that Nazism was a movement of the displays any activity that does not adhere there is no reason not to try to create an “Right” and that it was the tool of indus- to a politically correct agenda, and can be enlightened, all-powerful government. trialists and religious extremists. This slant pronounced by liberals as being racist, But if Nazis and Bolsheviks were not is seldom questioned; however, books sexist, bigoted, or intolerant — whether mortal enemies, but were instead identi- written while the Nazis were in power this description is accurate or not — the cal twins, then the whole argument of col- tell a much different story. Contemporary group is deemed “right-wing.” lectivists disintegrates. If moving in the authors — though of different religious direction of Barack Obama’s beliefs, different partisan and political policies, for example, meant orientations, and different nationalities — It seems incredible that anyone who moving in the direction of all agreed that Nazis and Bolsheviks were both Stalin and Hitler, then identical twins, not polar opposites. has studied history could believe for only a madman or a mon- Consider the nature of Bolshevism and a second that Nazis were anything but ster would ever want what Nazism. Obama wants for America. Herbert Hoover wrote in his 1934 The socialists. The platform of the National If embracing the small- Challenge to Liberty that the systems run- Socialist German Workers (Nazi) Party government philosophy of ning Germany and Russia were simply George Washington, Thomas collectivist, whatever names were used. was strongly collectivist, and it was never Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Max Eastman, an early communist who repudiated by the Nazis. other early American patriots later saw the light and rejected commu- always led away from Stalin nism, wrote in his 1937 book The End of 32 THE NEW AMERICAN • Nov EM bER 9, 2009 Socialism in Russia that the Soviet Union spread by the dictators to the workers in raised that highest rate again to 55 per- was “a totalitarian state not in essence dif- the democracies was “Socialism, or Na- cent. A decree of September 9, 1939 again ferent from that of Hitler and Mussolini.” tional-Socialism, against Plutocracy.” increased income taxes, but exempted Eastman later wrote in a subsequent book, incomes of 2,400 Reichmarks a year or Reflections on the Failure of Socialism The Socialism of National less. Comparative Major European Gov- (1955): “Stalin’s totalitarian police state Socialism and Bolshevism ernments , a 1937 book, notes that through is not an approximation to, of something It seems incredible that anyone who has the enactment of several new laws on like, or in some respects comparable with studied history could believe for a second December 4, 1934, banking, credits, and Hitler’s. It is the same thing, only more that Nazis were anything but socialists. stock exchanges passed under complete ruthless, more cold-blooded, more astute, The platform of the National Socialist government control. Moreover, the Loan- more extreme in its economic policies, German Workers (Nazi) Party was strong- Stock Law limited stock company divi- more explicitly committed to world con- ly collectivist, and it was never repudi- dends to six percent in some cases and to quest, and more dangerous to democracy ated by the Nazis. Movements outside of eight percent in others, with profits over and civilized morals.” Germany that adopted the name “National that required to be transferred to the Gold Erica Mann in 1938 noted the com- Socialist” were Marxist in attitude as well. Discount Bank, which in turn required mon war waged by Bolsheviks and As one example, in America the “National that the profits be invested in government Nazis against God and family, and wrote: Socialist Party” was formed in Detroit, loans or municipal debt service bonds. “Again, all we have to do is replace ‘Bol- Michigan, in 1921, and this National So- Nazi hostility to individual wealth was shevism’ with ‘National Socialism’ to get cialist Party was enthusiastically endorsed matched by its hostility to business. An act a fairly exact picture.” Sir Arnold Lunn by the Soviet government. of October 16, 1934 removed the exemp- wrote in his 1939 book Communism and The Bolsheviks acted like collectiv- tion on business taxes for many types of Socialism : “The quarrel between Commu- ists in power, but how did the Nazis act businesses and increased the progressiv- nists and Nazis or between Stalin’s Com- in power? ity of the business taxes; an act of August munists and Trotsky’s Communists is not Industrialists who utterly subordinated 27, 1936 raised the general business tax an economic controversy, but a struggle their business interests to the state could rate from 20 percent to 25 percent and to for the spoils of office.” prosper, but they were the exception.