Communism and Fascism : Two ideologies of the 20th century

Résumé du document

Communism and Fascism have both played a very decisive role in the 20th century. They had a big impact on all the major geopolitical issues of this century; the Russians Revolution of October 1917, the Spanish civil war, WWII, Cold War, Vietnamese's wars, Cuba's regime etc. It is commonly agreed that the regimes and governments led by both of these ideologies were not very respectful of basic rights such as freedom and equality, and sometimes much worse, were the instigators of crimes and massacres. We are now going to leave the very rational democratic way of thinking, to try to go into this complex event that occurred under the name of fascism and communism, in order to try to analyze which one of these two ideologies caused the worst massacres and disasters. In order to respond accurately, it is strongly recommended to define exactly the basis of communist and fascist ideologies, and to then try to analyze the different way of expressions of these ideologies, and eventually the consequences.

Extraits

[...] The only half communist aspect in his regime was the nationalisation of means of production and the establishment of rural corporation. But it was still very far from the basic economic communist ideology, in the way that State- Capitalism was applied, where the masses and the proletariat were not exploited by bosses, but by the state itself. Politically and socially speaking, it had completely nothing to do with communism, since the population was oppressed by the army, the menace, the purges, and basic rights such as freedom of speech, of press, were suppressed. [...]

[...] Communism, as it was practised by the parties never respected its basic fundaments, but often turned into a despotic and totalitarian regime, and going so extreme and degenerated, that it joined fascist regimes, its philosophical enemy. Stalinism and Maoism are surely the most degenerated of communism. Since the governments that were leading these policies acted in the name of communism, we have to paradoxically take them into account as what communism did worst. Stalinism meets the economical communist ideology, and Staline's own political ambitions. [...]

[...] As for communism, we will have to avoid confusions, by make the difference between Fascism, and other fascist states. Fascism is a political movement born in Italy after the WWI. Its causes are to be found in the frustrations felt by the Italians, after the war : indeed, the Triple Entente led by France, Russia and the United Kingdom didn't respect their promises of giving the irridant lands of Dalmatie, d'Istrie, Fiumends . Thus, a lot of nationalists, among them Mussolini wanted to give back Italy its ancient Roman Empire Power. [...]

[...] Ironically, fascist regimes are now nearly dead and impressively condemned, whereas communism is not as much criticised : the explanation is simply because the society of classes is still a social and political skate, and communism is still alive because it just waits for being practised properly in agreements with its basic fundaments, in other words, a real transition from a proletariat dictatorship to a classless society. Indicative bibliography - The Red Flag: Communism and the Making of the Modern World de David Priestland (2010) - The Anatomy of Fascism de Robert O. Paxton (2005) - The History of Cuba de Clifford L. [...]

[...] The social and economic development of Cuba was then really compromised. But when in 1959, the Marxist revolutionaries Guerrilos come into power through Fidel Castro, the country had an opportunity to get developed and achieve a socialist society : past and nowadays supporters of the Cuban government argue that the human rights record, living standards and health care in Cuba are better than those which existed under Fulgencio Batista, and would have continued improving were it not for U.S. sanctions and embargo. [...]