FASCISM: An In-Depth Explanation

Fascism, explained by way of Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany.

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0:00 Intro
01:47 Italian Fascism
22:18 German Fascism
37:10 Conclusion

Sources:

The Crowd: Gustave Le Bon
Reflections On Violence: Georges Sorel
Fascism: Roger Griffin
My Autobiography: Benito Mussolini
The Political And Social Doctrine Of Fascism: Benito Mussolini
The Origins And Doctrine Of Fascism: Giovanni Gentile
Selections From What Is Fascism: Giovanni Gentile
Mein Kampf: Adolf Hitler
Marxism, Fascism & Totalitarianism: A. James Gregor
Mussolini And The Eclipse Of Italian Fascism: R. J. B. Bosworth
The Philosophy Of History: Georg Hegel
The Anatomy Of Fascism: Robert O. Paxton
The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich: William Shirer
The Third Reich: A History Of Nazi Germany: Thomas Childers
The Righteous Mind: Jonathan Haidt
The Communist Manifesto: Karl Marx
The Open Society And Its Enemies: Karl Popper

[realryanchapman]

I designed 'we think with the blood of our nation' to be a memorable phrase that can help people identify fascism. That being said, it's not formulated like a formal definition and needs more nuances to stand as one. So I regret calling it even something that resembles one.

The phrasing was meant to invoke a fanaticism behind a singular nationalist mass movement. Fascism does not tolerate other principles conflicting with its nationalism (something that distinguishes it from more moderate forms of nationalism that might be content, for example, existing in a democracy). Fascism's nationalism wants to impose itself on others. Other ways of thinking are obstacles to fascists that need to be removed. Political or economic systems like socialism or capitalism, as stated in the video, are only tolerated if they're believed to be helping the fascist cause. They're dropped, attacked or modified as needed.

The 'we' in 'we think with the blood of our nation' means a collective of people thinking together as a political mass movement. Fascism has to be in the context of mass politics. A context where the mass of people (nationals) within a political order are (at least in rhetoric) considered sovereign. It's not something used to describe the orders of emperors or monarchs, who hold themselves to be sovereign - the highest political authority. Fascists leaders, by contrast, hold (again, at least in rhetoric) the nation to be more important than themselves. Everything they do, they say, they do for the nation. They merely have the capabilities to act in its best interests. A tighter, albeit more awkward rephrasing might go something like: 'We think together with the blood of our nation and will tolerate nothing else.'

The phrase really just gets your foot in the door for understanding and identifying fascism, similar to how 'the abolition of private property' gets your foot in the door for understanding and identifying communism. Translating it into a formal definition would look something like: 'fascism is a political ideology that conceives ideal political life as being wholly governed by a singular conception of national consciousness.' Another, quicker explanation would be to call it nationalism that aspires to totalitarianism.

You could also think of it as the rough right-wing equivalent to communism. Communists want to total political control over their state for a single conception of a socialist cause, just as fascists want total control over their state for a singular conception of a nationalist cause.

I also think that Roger Griffin's definition is serviceable, but again it's complex. If you want to remember Griffin's more easily, I think you can do fine reducing it down to the last part: 'populist ultra-nationalism.' To use that, you have to understand what populism is (I've made a video on it).

More self-criticism: I simplified the conditions in Germany before Nazi rule down to hyperinflation and constraints from the Treaty of Versailles. There were about 16 years of turmoil between WWI and the Nazis coming into power and I wish I spent at least another sentence or two fleshing that context out. Hyperinflation was a factor behind the early success of the Nazi party and led Hitler to mount a failed coup in 1923, but it only lasted about two years. When Hitler came into power, he did it by riding a wave of despondency coming from another economic crisis: the Great Depression. The Treaty was still seen as a major villainous constraint on Germany at the time, but there was more emphasis on it being a national humiliation and military constraint than an economic constraint. The broad point is that economic conditions were quite bad (in all but a few years in the mid-late '20s), and Hitler (and many Germans) believed that Germany was being humiliated and needed to rise to its glorious potential. Fascism was their means of doing it. If you want to hear a detailed explanation of Hitler's rise to power, I spend about 30 minutes straight talking about it in my 'How World War 2 Began' video.

Some commenters also think I claimed that there have only been two fascist movements: interwar Italy and Germany. What I actually said is that they are the only two movements that have remotely uncontroversially earned the label (a point widely accepted among fascism scholars). You can make the case that other movements have been fascist. My point was that the fascism described in this video (which stuck close to our accepted scholarly understanding of it) should be the basis for identifying fascism elsewhere. Spain under Franco is the next 'fascism' people tend to pick, but that label tends to come from foreigners and not the Spanish themselves (at least from that time period). Most professional analysis I've seen rejects the label and argues that Franco's fascism was superficial. They claim he adopted fascist imagery and slogans to (successfully) get war support from Italy and Germany, and if you look at what he believed, his movement, his rule, then you'll see it wasn't fascist. More of a conservative military dictatorship. I might make a video on it at some point.

I saw some people say Hitler wasn't a Catholic or take offense to the passing remark I made about his Catholicism. I think it's safe to say that he wasn't a Catholic in the traditional sense, but he was raised Catholic, claimed he believed in God (shown in the video), and also claimed to be a Catholic fairly late in his life. As he put it to his army adjutant Gerhard Engel in 1941: "I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so" (from Engels' diary: 'At The Heart of the Reich'). I called it 'his Catholicism' and left it at that.


- Ryan

[Wafflesarebetter]

The fact that this 2 year old video popped up in my recommended feed, likely due to a lot of people watching it recently, gives me hope for the next 4 years. If you are reading this comment, like and comment on the video and subscribe to the channel so that the algorithm will slip this video into more people’s feed.

[McFlyGod]

Man it’s been a long time since I’ve watched something with the intention to learn and then genuinely feel I’d be able to definitively explain what I’ve learned. This was well made and your care for the subject discussed is such a breathe of fresh air.

[abramjessiah]

Thanks! Since the current US administration is being called facist a lot and Elon making some wild gestures, I think we'd all appreciate a short video breaking down your thoughts on the current state of the US.

[Businessplease]

Who is watching post 47’s inauguration?

[mr_yoru]

This fusion of spirituality and nationality is likely why fascism is so hard for people to understand. It behaves more like a cult than a well-defined political ideology.

[dellyish]

It's becoming increasingly difficult to find high quality content on YouTube these days... But this was gripping, well delivered, and informative. Thanks muchly

[David-upwj]

'The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them
Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master, who ever attempts to destroy their illusions easily their victim'
-Gustave Lebon: 'The Crowd: a study of the popular mind' 1895

[samanmaleesilva]

I'm thankful to you for uploading such high quality lessons, the kind of lectures one would get only in a university, free of charge to the internet. Thank you. It's a service you are doing.

[isaacpeters]

Dude! You are so good at this. I started watching your videos to "learn a bit" but I think I'm now addicted.
I can tell that you love talking about this stuff, and it's causing me to love learning about this stuff as a result.
Thanks for the premium content, it is much appreciated!

[linpo]

Ryan, I had to comment on your extensive and educational reflection on the definition of Fascism. We hear the word strewn around all the time but I've never been exposed to the history, analysis and refection on the subject in such a detailed way. You learn something new everyday. Thank you!

[Tiaslin]

Hey, someone actually from Germany here. Thank you for the video, this is a great and "wonderful" exploration of our dark history, and how easy, and dangerous it can be to slowly fall for these wicked ideas. We in Germany, of course, learn a lot about this in school, and for good reason. Yet having a video like this in English, reaching for the international community of people, for who this topic isn't the highest priority in history and sociology classes, is priceless. Again, thank you so very much for your work here.

[wenshu]

I'm so happy I happened upon this channel, this is absolutely fascinating. Thank you for all the reading and research you clearly put into this. It's so refreshing to see a smart, young person doing work like this.

[WholNothaLvl]

I'm only 15 minutes in and I have to say you're doing a great job. Especially because we can see your sources as you read directly from them. Then after reading a passage you simplify it. I look forward to learning more from your channel.

[brettbrideau]

I'm only at 4:09 and I noticed others commented the same way I'm about to; The in depth exploration of why historic figures did what they did is something a lot of people lose out on. I also love the fact you explained in detail the philosophy that drove those people.

I will definitely be subscribing and sharing!
Thank you!

[sallanamigo]

I am astounded by your ability to keep such a long video and nuanced topic so structured and on point. The 40 minutes were not tiring, confusing or boring.
Same goes for your video on Socialism - it's impressive really.

[LaundryFaerie]

Your definition of fascism goes a long way toward explaining why Italian fascism never really jelled. The people of Italy did not, at least in that era, think of themselves primarily as Italians. They thought of themselves as Romans, or Venetians, or Sicilians. The idea of Italian nationalism, of thinking with the blood of a single nation, did not come naturally to the majority of Italians. Their concept of blood and of nationality was much smaller in scope.

[ebd]

Ryan, the fact that even you have difficulty defining the word says a lot. It's evident to me that fascism exists more today as a propagandist term than as a real ideology. Thank you for the informative and thoughtful video, as always.

[ProtectMyLiberty]

Great Work. Your conclusions are thought provoking. "The Crowd" is next on my reading list. There is a lot to be learned here. Thanks Ryan!

[willvella]

670 thousand views are not nearly enough for the importance of this particular history lesson. What you have created here is extraordinary in it's comprehensive simplicity. Thank you.