Fascism In The Contemporary World Essay, Research Paper
FASCISM AND ULTRANATIONALISM IN CONTEMPORARY CROATIA, HUNGARY, AND SERBIA
Introduction
This research examines the development of fascism and ultranationalism in contemporary Croatia, Hungary, and Serbia. Fascism and ultranationalism are not one and the same thing. While a fascist likely will be an ultranationalist (and will certainly be nationalistic), an ultranationalist need not necessarily be a fascist. As these two terms are critical to this examination, they must be defined.
Ultranationalism
Ultranationalism implies not only an intensely patriotic attitude toward and a highly chauvinistic perception of one’s own nation, but also implies a desire to exclude others from one’s nation, particularly should those others be in some way different from the majority population in one’s own nation. By and large, the United States has one of the most intensely patriotic populations on the globe, and certainly has the most chauvinistic population of any major nation. The American population is also highly insular in that the broad base of the population possesses little knowledge about the rest of the world. The American government, however, tends to be highly interventionist internationally in contrast to the general insularity of the population. The population of the United States tends to be divided, however, with respect to a desire to exclude immigrants from the nation.
The dichotomies involving an interventionist government and an insular population, and both pro and antiimmigration
elements within the population keep the United States from being designated as an ultranationalist country, although strong ultranationalist forces are present in American society. Among the major nations, both Germany and Japan are better examples of ultranationalist societies. Patriotism and chauvinism are strong in both countries. General tendencies toward insularity in each of the countries are reinforced by concerted efforts to restrict immigration, particularly the immigration of persons who differ ethnically from the majority German and Japanese populations. Generally speaking, however, the populations of both Germany and Japan are more aware of the rest of the world than is true in the United States. Insularity in Germany and Japan stems not from the ignorance of the world found in the United States, but rather from a desire to avoid societal pollution. The German and Japanese governments are also less interventionist internationally than is the United States government, and, thus, more in tune with societal preferences.
Ultranationalism, thus, is defined in terms of patriotism, chauvinism, insularity, exclusion, and a withdrawal from international interventionism. To some extent, these phenomena must be present in a society or in an organization designated as ultranationalist in character.
Fascism
Fascism is a term that is even more misused and misunderstood than ultranationalism. To many people in the United States, the federal government is fascist, although in fact the American federal government is not fascist in character. To many people around the world, fascism is equated with racism. The original fascists which developed in Italy, however, were not racist. In fact, to many people, any approach to political action or government that differs from their own preferences is termed fascist. Such misapplications of the term, however, do not cause a government or a political movement to actually be fascist.
The fascist movement was formed in Italy in 1919, and Benito Mussolini led the fascists to political power in that country in 1922. The fascists remained in power in Italy until defeated in the Second World War. Other governments with similar characteristics were created later in Germany, Spain, countries in the Balkans, countries in South America, and countries in the Middle East. Political movements with fascist overtones that never formed governments were created in both Europe and North America.
All fascist governments and political movements are authoritarian in character. All fascist governments and political movements are strongly nationalistic. A characteristic of all fascists prior to the contemporary period has been a powerful anticommunist perspective. The anticommunist perspective is found among neofascist groups in the contemporary period. The eclipse of communism in the late1980s and early1990s, however, places a question mark along side anticommunism as a characteristic of future (perhaps even contemporary) fascist groups. Certainly, fascists will continue to oppose the communist concept, but in the absence of strong communist political force, the anticommunist focus may dim as a defining characteristic of fascism.
Fascists always have and may be expected to continue to abhor liberalism, democracy, and parliamentary political parties. Such phenomena are contrary to the authoritarian state governed by a single charismatic and dictatorial leader that represents only the fascist philosophy and party.
Fascist political movements are also characterized by tendencies toward violent action to achieve their political goals. Seizing political power is considered acceptable by fascists. Propaganda and terror are typically used by fascists as political weapons. Once in power, fascists tend to have little regard for constitutional provisions or laws generally.
One could consider the above characteristics of fascism for a moment and conclude the American Republican Party under the leadership of Ronald Reagan came quite close to being fascist, and that the Christian Right in the United States possesses many of the characteristics of a fascist movement. While these groups do not possess (did not in the case of the Reagan Republicans) all of the characteristics that define fascism, the similarities are sufficient to be disturbing.
As there are characteristics that define fascists, there are also factors that are not defining traits of fascism. One such factor is racism and another is antiSemitism. Some fascist groups are both racist generally and antiSemitic specifically. These factors certainly characterized the National Socialist in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. Racism and antiSemitism, however, were not characteristic of the Fascist Party in Italy in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Fascist groups also tend to be paramilitary in character. Thus, uniforms, ranks, and salutes tend to be part and parcel of most fascist movements. Not all fascist groups, however, are paramilitary in character. Similarly, it is not uncommon for fascist groups to observe ritual, and to require solemn oaths of allegiance and secrecy. Again, however, not all fascist groups engage in such activities.
Fascism, thus is defined in terms of authoritarian control, charismatic leadership, and a strongly nationalistic orientation. Fascism is also defined in terms of a strongly anticommunist stance, although the relevance of this characteristic in the contemporary environment must be weighed carefully. Fascism is further defined in terms of an abhorrence of liberalism, democracy, and parliamentary political parties, and a preference for dictatorial leadership by a single partythe fascist party. Fascism also is defined through the willingness of fascist groups to engage in violent action, terror, and propaganda to attain their political objectives. Fascism is also defined by a willingness to seize political power through the use of force when possible. Assessing the fascist character of political groups within the context of this factor is difficult, because most fascist groups forswear the use of force to seize power until such time as an opportunity for such action develops. Lastly, fascist organizations that gain control of government are defined by a tendency to disregard constitutional provisions and laws generally. To some extent, these phenomena must be present in a society or in an organization designated as fascist in character. Some fascist organizations may also be racist or antiSemitic in outlook, paramilitary in character, or may
observe ritual. Not all racist, antiSemitic, paramilitary, and ritualistic groups, however, will be fascist in character.
Assessing Contemporary Croatia, Hungary,
and Serbia Within the Contexts of Ultranationalism and Fascism
The contemporary societies in Croatia, Hungary, and Serbia, together with some organized groups within these countries, are assessed within the contexts of ultranationalism and fascism. The defining assessment criteria are as follows:
1. Ultranationalist societies and groups.
a. Strongly patriotic.
b. Strongly chauvinistic.
c. Highly insular.
d. Highly exclusionary.
e. Strong tendency to avoid international interventionist activities.
2. Fascist societies and groups.
a. Authoritarian control.
b. Charismatic leadership.
c. Preference for singleparty dictatorship.
d. Strongly nationalistic.
e. Strongly anticommunist.
f. Antiliberal.
g. Antidemocracy.
h. Antiparliamentary party.
i. Willing to seize political power through the use of force when provided with an opportunity.
j. Willing to use violence, terror, and propaganda to attain political objectives. k. A tendency, when in control of government, to disregard constitutional provisions and laws generally.
Croatia
As early as 1897, a political movement with fascist characteristics existed in Croatia. The Party of the Pure Right was fanatically antiSerbian, and was strongly nationalistic, although Croatia was at the time a part of the AustroHungarian Empire (Palmer, 1970, p. 100).
In the 1920s, the Croatian Ustase Party was born. Ustase meant rebels, and the party opposed the inclusion of Croatia in a Yugoslav federation that would include Serbians (Palmer, 1979, p. 193). The Ustase also possessed fascist characteristics. The Ustase rejected liberalism, and was convinced that Ustase objectives could be attained only through the use of violence and terror (Palmer, 1970, p. 193). In the 1930s, the Croatian Ustase were encouraged and supported by the fascists in Italy (Palmer, 1970, p. 209).
The creation of the Yugoslav federation was an anathema to Croatian nationalists and fascists. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, Marxist agitation was rife throughout many parts of the world. It was, however, strongest in Europe, especially so in the Baltic states of the northeast, and the Balkan states of the southeast (Hyams, 1973, p. 14). In Yugoslavia, communists were not strong in 1918 and 1919, but the dissension between socialists and the ruling monarchists was high (Pavlowitch, 1971, p. 34). This breach opened the political door for the communists and other leftist groups (Maclean, 1957). By June 1919, a Socialist Workers Party of Yugoslavia had been formed. This party was communist in orientation, and joined the Communist International. The party adopted the name Communist Party of Yugoslavia at its Second Congress in June 1920 (Maclean, 1957, p. 27). At this Second Congress, the Party declared that its goal was “the establishment, by revolutionary means, . . . a Yugoslav Soviet Republic, to be included ultimately in a World Communist Union” (Maclean, 1957, p. 28).
Soon after the Second Congress of the Communist Party, the centristsocialists were expelled from the party, leaving only the leftistsocialists, primarily communists, in the party. In 1921, the expelled socialists joined with the Social Democrats to form the Socialist Party of Yugoslavia. The Communist Party was now ready to compete on its own in the Yugoslav political environment.
The Communist Party immediately set out to establish a network of party and labor group organizations across the country (Pavlowitch, 1971, p. 47). Local elections in 1920 and 1921 indicated that the party had a relatively wide appeal. They were able to obtain majorities in many towns and cities, including Belgrade in Serbia and Zagreb in Croatia. The Croatian fascists were dumbfounded by this turn of events. In the 1920 general elections held in the fall of that year, the Communist Party elected 53 out of a total of 419 members to the national parliament (White, 1951, p. 51). More significantly, however, the Communist Party was one of only two parties, the other being the Democrats on the right (a nonfascist party), to elect representatives from every province in the country (Pavlowitch, 1971, p. 64). On the left, therefore, the Communist Party had established itself in the 1920 general election as the only national party.
In the 1920 election, votes for the Communist Party were largely ascribed to a protest vote (Pavlowitch, 1971, p. 65). Limited agrarian reform by the government had muted much of the protest in the countryside; however, resentment against the prevailing economic situation in the cities was strong, and Macedonians, Montenegrins, Bosnian Muslims, Slovenes, and Croats objected at the efforts of the government to Serbianize Yugoslavia (Auty, 1970, p. 101).
The success of the Communist Party, although it had elected only 12.6 percent of the members of parliament, caused the government, in a panic of fear, to enact repressive measures against the party (Djilas, 1962, p. 147). All communist organizations were ordered dissolved. Any form of propaganda was prohibited if it called for general strike action, violence of any kind, revolution, or dictatorship (Auty, 1970, p. 102). The mandates of the 53 communist deputies elected to the parliament, and the mandates of all communists elected to local positions were nullified by the parliament (Pavlowitch, 1971, p. 74). All members of the Communist Party became immediately liable for arrest and imprisonment. Penalties up to an including death were mandated for the spread of the communist doctrine. As repressive as these measures may seem, they did not satisfy the Croatian fascists.
As a consequence of the government crackdown on the Communist Party, the Party’s membership declined from approximately 65,000 in 1920 to about 1,000 in 1924 (Auty, 1970, p. 124). What remained of the Party, however, was well disciplined and well organized (Djilas, 1962, p. 151).
Although most Yugoslavs were afraid of supporting the communists, they continued to harbor strong resentments against the government (Dedijer, 1971, p. 71). The eventual recognition of the government of the Soviet Union by the Yugoslav government resulted in an easing of the Yugoslav crackdown on communists in the country, although the repressive laws were not changed. The easing of the governmental repression, together with the worldwide economic deterioration of the late1920s and early1930s, and continuing public resentment against the government and the monarchy, resulted in renewed public support for the Communist Party in Yugoslavia (Avakumovic, 1964, p. 88).
Under the leadership of Josip Broz, Tito, the Communist Party was also able to present itself as a progressive force against fascism (Pavlowitch, 1971, p. 126). Both the monarchy and the government in Yugoslavia had open sympathies and links to the fascists (Avakumovic, 1964, p. 91).
Yugoslav political life was characterized by factionalism. Factionalism was present in the abundance of political parties in the country, and it existed within political parties. Factionalism, however, was anathema to Tito (Maclean, 1957, p. 54). Tito eliminated factionalism from the Communist Party, which almost alone among Yugoslav political parties, was able to speak with a unified voice.
With its unified voice, the Yugoslav Communist Party spoke out against both the fascism Hitler and Mussolini, and the western democracies, which they contended were exploiting the working classes, as well as the homegrown fascists in Yugoslavia (Maclean, 1957, p. 58). The shortlived alliance between Hitler and Stalin caused the Yugoslav communists some problems within the context of public support; however, it also provided them with additional strength to build their national power. By continuing to oppose fascism in the face of the HitlerStalin pact, they were able to demonstrate that they were independent communists who placed Yugoslav interests ahead of Soviet interests (Dedijer, 1946, p. 21).
The toadying rightwing, monarchist government in Yugoslavia rapidly lost support because of its alliance with the fascists. Its inability to maintain control eventually resulted in the occupation of the country by the Germans and Italians.
The Communist Party gained its strongest credentials as a national movement from its organization of the Partisan and insurgent movements against the German and Italian military forces occupying the country (Djilas, 1962, p. 171). Although rightwing forces led by fascist groups also organized against the occupation, there were continual allegations of their cooperation with the Germans and the Italians. Although the British and the Americans desperately wanted to recognize the rightwing forces, they eventually became convinced that only the communists offered a dependable resistance against Hitler and Mussolini (Singleton, 1976, p. 45). It was much easier for the Americans and the British to support groups called Partisan than it was to openly support the Communist Party; however, the outcome was the same, because the Partisans were the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The prestige of the Communist Party within Yugoslavia increased significantly as it was recognized as the single patriotic force defending the interests primarily of Yugoslavia (Dedijer, 1945, p. 211). Mihailovich’s Cetnics, a strong fascist organization, lost all credibility in this role (Pavlowitch, 1971, p. 135).