FREE ESSAY ON FASCISMS IN GERMANY AND ITALY

FASCISMS IN GERMANY AND ITALY

Fascisms in Germany and Italy 
Oliver Bleich Mrs. Howell Modern European History 5/22/00 Fascism in Germany and Italy
Germany and Italy rose up under new leaders with a new type of governing policy. However,
the same policies that caused growth lead to eventual collapse of these nations. Fascism
grew because of extreme nationalism, fear, and governmental control. It failed due to
absolute power by one man, its own aggressive nature, and lack of organization. Hitler's
rise to power can be credited for many reasons. Firstly, the Nazi's gave the German
middle class a reason why they were having problems, and came up with a solution. As
Hitler explained it by using pseudo science, the Jews were the problem and there was only
one solution. Along with this he instituted mass propaganda against the Jews and for the
Aryan race. This went a long way to create the kind of nationalism that Hitler was
looking for. Soon most of Germany felt like a strong and united people, willing to do
anything for their state and their leader. Those who were not, lived in constant fear of
the Nazi's. The SS and the SA policed the streets and used excessive violence whenever
they felt it necessary. People were either happy to be with Hitler or afraid to oppose
him. Hitler had control. With this control Hitler made policies that were actually very
beneficial to the middle class. By eliminating large corporations, creating a strong
military and increasing industry to equip the military Germany began to grow. There were
a lot of problems in Italy. Mussolini used fascism in a very similar manner to Hitler.
The way he saw it, Italy was divided into two sections: the north and the south. The
northern part of Italy was industrialized while southern almost completely agricultural.
Thus, Mussolini wanted to unify the people to create one strong nation. He went about
this by using his own charisma and propaganda. He spoke of the history of Rome and the
strength of Italians. He created a military and a police force to keep the people under
control. Most, however, followed him because they believed in what he said. In conquering
Ethiopia Mussolini was able to prove his own strength and the weakness of the League of
Nations. When he combined forces with Hitler, Italy took the final step in its own
progression. Fascism had its faults as well. Through its own aggressive nature both Italy
and Germany followed the ideals of fascism directly into war. It is hard to say if these
countries might have continued to grow if they had not tried to conquer. Another major
problem with Fascism was its reliance on one man. Hitler and Mussolini became the only
men who had the authority to make and decision. This caused great problems within the
sate. Problems were slowly dealt with during a time were decisive quick reactions were
needed. On top of this poor decisions were made without any sort of counsel. There were
no advisers to help these two leaders. It seems that the fear that helped create the
power contributed to its downfall because no one would question the solutions the men
came up with. From this also spawned poor organization. For example Hitler, who
controlled all of the army, left no power to his generals. Therefore, no one knew exactly
what they could and couldn't do. All of these thing contributed to the fall of Fascism.