Thread based on the result of the Survey.
Fascism and Race (Time to get Nuked tf out)
It would be easy for me to simply jump into the topic with the usual quote of Mussolini where he calls it mostly a feeling. This has been into practice by many Fascists for years, and it usually goes along coping with...
the 1938 Racial Laws, in order to say that Mussolini only held racial views due to German influence. The issue with this type of approach is that it ignores the fact that the Italian leader did make references to the existence of race and its relevance to National Pride.
For example, in 1934 he would write the article "Is the White Race Dying?". Keep in mind, this is way before he got close to Hitler, and if anything, it was in the same year tension between the German and Italian nation was at its peak, with the possibility of war even.
Mussolini would argue that ever since 1926 he's been warning people about the decline of the White Race (Which affected the Italian Nation according to him), the Duce would mention birth rates of european Nations, and would end the article with the following statement:
One of the most extreme articles made by Mussolini regarding race would be a 1919 publication on Il Popolo di Italia on June 4th by the name of The Accomplices; the wording and arguments resemble the type of things certain Austrian Painter would later on use:
Nevertheless, this is something many still don't get about Fascism, and this is, the views of Mussolini were his own, especially when it came to Race. Italian Fascism had a sense of Racial Awareness, but it never truly became political until Hitler's influence...
which would lead to the Racial Laws of 1938, which for many leaders of Italian Fascism such as Italo Balbo (The possible Successor of Mussolini) and Giovanni Gentile (Main Philosopher of Fascism), they were an unnecessary disgrace, and not really Doctrine attached.
This event and sudden change in Mussolini's policies would be certainly influenced by the Austrian Painter. It is worth remarking that the Racial Laws backfired and isolated a huge amount of Jewish descendant italians that had been previously assimilated by Italy.
Mussolini himself would also contradict several of his views on Race, sometimes going by blood, other times disregarding it as non-scientific; but overall showcasing the fact he was certainly racially aware, but not really obsessed on the topic like the Austrian Painter.
The case as to why the importance of Race wasn't really something that suddenly jumped on Mussolini's head was explained in the article "The Concept of Race in Fascism" by Arturo Sabatini.
bibliotecafascista.blogspot.com/2012/03/the-co…
The views of Italy, at least compared with their German counterpart were clearly softer and not as radical/puritan. Having Italy openly embrace Ethiopians, and Arabs under their wing, and endorsing them to fight under the Italian flag...
not to mention that before 1943, no groups were suffering any clear persecution. And even during the Italian Social Republic, Jewish people were still protected and this has been recognized by several organizations dedicated to the Holocaust.
It is clear that Italian Fascism and its Actualist doctrine, didn't really go well with an entirely biological approach of race, thus, conflict would arise among Fascist Intellectuals. The overall view took a path that blended both views to justify itself.
Now that we sorta got Fascist Italy out of the way, a Fascist must understand the following; A Nation can be based on Race, in the same way it can be based on something else. A Nation on the basic down to earth definition, is nothing else but a group of people...
that shares certain amount of characteristics in an environment. This Nation could be based in Language, Culture, Race, an Ideal, Religion, etc. Fascism, being an ideology that seeks the unity of a Nation and the improvement of society...
understands that the way Nations may achieve Fascist Nationalism will certainly be radically different. From the Nordicism of the NSDAP, up to the radical race mixing of Brazilian Integralism, the reality of Fascism is that the views on race will be different...
on each country, and that's the logical outcome of having an ideology that strives for a relative truth of the world. The core beliefs of Fascism, although Universal, may only be achieved through the adaptation of policies to each Nation.
Funnily enough, we could dialectically apply the famous Commie mantra of "To each according to their ability, to each according to their needs", but in a National sense. Each Nation has its own set of capacities and overall in group characteristics...
that enables them to achieve certain things in a more effective way, in the same way the need each Nation has will be radically different from each other. The policies that Germany needs as of right now cannot be compared to what a country like Argentina may need.
Being a sperg about Fascism and claiming it's only about Race is nothing but disregarding the fact the Philosophy has never required the mantra of Blood and Soil. This doesn't mean it cant, it just means that it is not a default thing to have and it will never be.
Fascism endorses applying Nationalism as a coherent principle within the Cultural and Geographical outlines of a Nation. The way said Nation understands itself, be it race, ideal, language, culture, etc. Shall be up to them.
As Mussolini once said, Fascism (Italian Fascism) is Universal in spirit, but when it comes to Institutions it is organically Italian, nothing else, nothing more. Thus confirming the need to adapt the philosophy in a pragmatic way to each Nation.
In the end, we go back to a concept that I explained in a previous thread, it being that Fascism is a relative truth of Humanity, with core beliefs but different methods and application; Fascism is essentially relative and objective at the same time.
The End.
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