Origins And Doctrine Of Fascism

Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944) was the major theorist of Italian fascism, supplying its justifi cation and rationale as a developmental form of dictatorship for status-deprived nations languishing on the margins of the Great Powers. Gentile's "actualism" (as his philosophy came to be called) absorbed many intellectual currents of the early twentieth century, including nationalism, syndicalism, and futurism. He called the individual to an idealistic ethic of obedience, work, self-sacrifi ce, and national community in a dynamic rebellion against the perceived impostures of imperialism. This volume makes available some of his more signifi cant writings produced shortly before and after the Fascist accession to power in Italy.

This is the first detailed and definitive study of the development and initial success of fascism as it originated in Italy right after the First World War.

* The Doctrine of Fascism" ("La dottrina del fascismo") is an essay attributed to Benito Mussolini.It was first published in the Enciclopedia Italiana of 1932, as the first section of a lengthy entry on "Fascismo" (Fascism). The entire entry on Fascism spans pages 847-884 of the Enciclopedia Italiana, and includes numerous photographs and graphic images.* A key concept of the Mussolini essay was that fascism was a rejection of previous models: "Granted that the 19th century was the century of socialism, liberalism, democracy, this does not mean that the 20th century must also be the century of socialism, liberalism, democracy. Political doctrines pass; nations remain. We are free to believe that this is the century of authority, a century tending to the 'right', a Fascist century. If the 19th century was the century of the individual (liberalismimplies individualism) we are free to believe that this is the 'collective' century, and therefore the century of the State."* Mussolini opined that Fascism is opposed to Socialism to which unity within the State (which amalgamates classes into a single economic and ethical reality) is unknown, and which sees in history nothing but the class struggle. * Fascism is likewise opposed to trade unionism as a class weapon, but when brought within the orbit of the State, Fascism recognises the real needs which gave rise to socialism and trade-unionism, giving them due weight in the guild or corporative system in which divergent interests are coordinated and harmonised in the unity of the State. (p.15)* The corporate State considers that private enterprise in the sphere of production is the most effective and useful instrument in the interest of the nation. In view of the fact that private organisation of production is a function of national concern, the organiser of the enterprise is responsible to the State for the direction given to production.State intervention in economic production arises only when private initiative is lacking or insufficient, or when the political interests of the State are involved. This intervention may take the form of control, assistance or direct management. (pp. 135-136)

This is the original Doctrine of Fascism. This doctrine worked as the basis of the Italian Fascist Party and influenced numerous fascist movements and individuals that followed. "Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity quite apart from political considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace. It thus repudiates the doctrine of Pacifism - born of a renunciation of the struggle and an act of cowardice in the face of sacrifice. War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have courage to meet it." -Mussolini

After years of research, American syndicalist author H. R. Morgan presents a collection of the key statements made by the early Fascist leaders and their best thinkers. Included are criticisms of and solutions to all of the problems troubling the world today. Both the causes of global misery and the reasons for their having happened are plainly mentioned. The solutions are simply stated and strait forward. If you want to know why things today are the way they are, read this book. Contained within its pages is a sweeping panorama of pertinent statements made by those 'realists' of the twentieth century, that is actually, from the 1880's on up to today. "Fascism is not racism," says Morgan, "Fascism is realism." It is a doctrine of realistic social and economic policies for todays world. It is neither 'right-wing' or 'left-wing'; it is the extreme radical center. It is "thinking outside of the box" as they say. The book begins with a very informative introduction containing a large amount of historical background. It is, however, preceded with a preface of equally historical and semi biographical importance. Afterward is the main text called the 'Codex'. The 'Codex' is a long anthology of excerpts, quotes, paraphrases, citations and commentary. The book ends with a final word by Morgan. Also included is a complete bibleography and index. It is recommended for first or second year political science majors and for all those who are interested in the true meaning of Fascism for our time, rather than what they've seen and heard on television and in the mass media.

Fascism, that most hated, reviled and universally condemned of all political ideologies, is so anathema to modern ideals of humanism and democracy that to call someone a "fascist" is to, quite literally, give insult. Herein, in this slim volume, is the philosophical underpinnings to the brutal, two-fisted political struggle that won nations and fostered a World War. Benito Mussolini, the man who helped forge the Iron Path toward bloody victory and, ultimately, ruin, lays out that creed, so detestable to modern, egalitarian principles. Along with additional writings by Fascist ideologues Alfredo Rocco and Giovanni Gentile, Mussolini expounds upon his spat-upon doctrine, outlining the spiritual, philosophic, and political path that took him to the apex of power. NOTE: Publication of this document does NOT constitute an endorsement by the publisher of all or any of its contents. It is presented here as historically significant, and valuable for the purpose of intellectual pursuit.

The recent rise in Europe of extreme right-wing political parties along with outbreaks of violent nationalist fervor in the former communist bloc has occasioned much speculation on a possible resurgence of fascism. At the polemical level, fascism has become a generic term applied to virtually any form of real or potential violence, while among Marxist and left-wing scholars discredited interpretations of fascism as a "product of late capitalism" are revived. Empty of cognitive significance, these formulas disregard the historical and philosophical roots of fascism as it arose in Italy and spread throughout Europe. In Giovanni Gentile: Philosopher of Fascism, A. James Gregor returns to those roots by examining the thought of Italian Fascism's major theorist.In Gregor's reading of Gentile, fascism was-and remains-an anti-democratic reaction to what were seen to be the domination by advanced industrial democracies of less-developed or status-deprived communities and nations languishing on the margins of the "Great Powers." Sketching in the political background of late nineteenth-century Italy, industrially backward and only recently unified, Gregor shows how Gentile supplied fascism its justificatory rationale as a developmental dictatorship. Gentile's Actualism (as his philosophy came to be identified) absorbed many intellectual currents of the early twentieth century including nationalism, syndicalism, and futurism and united them in a dynamic rebellion against new perceived hegemonic impostures of imperialism. The individual was called to an idealistic ethic of obedience, work, self-sacrifice, and national community. As Gregor demonstrates, it was a paradigm of what we can expect in the twenty-first century's response, on the part of marginal nations, to the globalization of the industrialized democracies. Gregor cites post-Maoist China, nationalist Russia, Africa, and the Balkans at the development stage from which fascism could grow.The f