Introduction
German Fascism is renowned the whole world over for its brutality. Comparisons to “Hitler” and the “Nazis” are used universal to denounce something as “evil”. Even so, often a real understanding of this societal phenomenon is missing: how did German Fascism develop? How was it able to excite broad sections of the petite bourgeois for its goals and even reach sections of the working class? How can one explain the extreme radicalization of the movement up too the elimination of millions of peoples in the Holocaust? How did it happen, that fascism became a relevant force within Germany again – more than 80 Years after the Red Army and Allies defeated it? And of course the question: what can we do to fight Fascism and finally ban it to the history books forever?
Answerers to those are not only of interest to a German audience, they can also serve as starting points for discussions within the international movement, against fascism, war and for socialism. In our Book “Faschismus – Entstehung, Terror, Ideologie & antifaschistische Strategie” which we published in May 2023 with “Verlag Leo Jogiches”, we tried to describe the history of the fascist movement in Germany from its origin until present day. With this foundation we want to put the following thesis up for discussion:
1. Fascism must be understood as a “Knot” – this includes the fascist movement, the different currents with in it and the connection between the State, Fascism and Capital.
2. Fascism can be understood through the interplay between the differing economic and political interests of the imperialist bourgeois and the economic, political but also psychological driving forces within its (manly petite bourgeois) mass basis.
3. Fascist Ideology does not use internal cohesion for mobilizing millions of masses, but instead relies on Irrationalism and mystecism. It can, to use those means, connect with the authoritarian-patriarchal personality formed by the capitalist-patriarchal system. This allows this movement, to develop fascist cadre as a counterrevolutionaries of a new type.
4. After the Soviet Unions victory over Hitler-Fascism a “Postfascist phase of the FRG” developed until 1968. Leading to the modernization of Fascism – also using the study of communist theoreticians and experiences. Today it is an relevant societal force again, with organizations in all sectors of society.
5. A antifascist strategy must be beholden to a socialist strategy. It is necessary to create a proletarian reality of struggle and solidarity, that can neutralists the effects of mysticism – in addition to antifascist structures for self-defense.
1. Fascism as a “Knot”
Fascism developed at the start of the 20. century as a new kind of counter movement to communism. Even before Fascism there had been many different kinds of anticommunist organizations at the service of capital, but fascism was something qualitatively different. Its defining characteristic as a movement was not that it merely defended that the old order against revolution. But more so that it itself propagated a “revolution” and sometimes even “anti-capitalism” – but it did this in a radical nationalist and imperialist sense, by the way of the glorification of a “master race”, the subjugation of other peoples, racism, patriarchy and violence. Its mass base was located manly in the petite bourgeois, but it also infected layers of the working class.
In Germany the fascist movement developed after the First World War, the socialist October Revolution in Russia and the defeat of the German November Revolution 1918/1919. Radicalized and also traumatized fanatic nationalists, that fought in the First World War were united in the different “Freikorps” organizations. In organizing those groups, which can be compared to the Italian “Fasci”, army officers, the personal networks of capitalists, organizations of capital, the state apparatus and bourgeois parties and right wing activists played a decisive role – a constellation that is characteristic for the whole history of the fascist movement including today.
A fascist movement with different currents developed. Many antifascist authors tried, historically and also today, to go into the weeds and differentiate: They talk about “elitist young conservatives” and “anticapitalist national revolutionaries” or in the present about “right wing populists” and “militant neo-nazis”. The fascists themselves think about this in a much different way. The leading thinker of modern fascism Germany, Armin Mohler reflected: “It can not be our task, to divide this Knot and differentiate the main strings from the secondary ones”1 Mohler made it paratactically his goal to work towards the victory of the whole fascist “Knot”, which unites all the different currents into an undivdeable whole.
As a matter of fact today the fascist movement is intonated with internal struggles and rivalries, as well as ideological contradictions. Inside this movement different parts fight for the adoption of their ideas. But its precisely this “Knot” which defines the fascist movement as a whole. It allows for reaching different sections of society and therefore as a whole paves the way for fascist dictatorship – no matter which form it eventually takes.
We can develop the concept of the “Knot” even further – and apply it to the relationship between Fascism, the State and Capital. Those three poles are not identical and are in themselves contradictory, but they also cant be viewed isolated form each other. In our book we prove in detail how the fascist movement even early on, was prefigured in imperialist propaganda outfits like the “Alldeutschen Verband” and purposefully spread by groups like “Antibolschewistische Liga”. Those in turn were supported by industrialists like those of “Deutsche Bank”, “Stinnens” or “Siemens”. Its founder Eduard Stadtle was already involved with the planing of the murder of german communists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liedknecht.
The NSDAP, founded in 1919, was one of the earliest fascist Parties. In September of 1919, Adolf Hitler, back than an asset of the militarys secret service, became an party member. In the years from 1925 till 1930 party membership exploded form 27.000 to 130.00 party members. This also is coincided with sponsorship from certain sections of monopoly capital. The huge rise in election results and membership lead to a power struggle with in the “extreme right”. All forces inside the fascist camp worked towards destruction of republic and creation of dictatorship following the Italian model. This was tried using the non partisan Völkish movement, with influence more moderate conservative forces in the “Harzburger Front”. But Hitler didn’t want to let himself be maneuvered by the “bourgeois right” and join a government lead by Alfred Hugenberg (DNVP).
How did it then come to the transfer of power to fascism? The leading theoretician on Fascism Georgi Dimitroff analyzed in 1935: “One cannot imagine the transfer of power to fascism so simple and smooth that one committee of finical capital makes the decision, to create a fascist dictatorship on this or that day”2. Even in the early 1930s important parts of German capital were still counting on the moderate government of Brüning. But with global finical crisis 1929 the situation changed, the most powerful imperialist powers now switch to trade wars and aggression. Instead of perusing a strategy of strategic alliance with other imperialist powers german capital now presued the creation of an autracic economic bloc in greater Europe. In addition the communist treat of KPD inside Germany had grown considerably. Also the NSDAP had grown massively and stood form the point of view of Capital at the ready to be used as a tool, even if a dangerous one, to solve those problems. To put it differently, all previous foreign policy strategy had failed, as well as any governments that didn’t include the NSDAP. A new strategy was worked out, one that could be implemented with the NSDAP. This put the transfer of power to Hitler on the agenda. This was the victory of the fascist “Knot”, even if in a form, that wasn’t predetermined at the being of the movement and continued to be contradictory.
2. The dialectic of Fascism
Fascism in power is the replacement of mode of bourgeon rule by an other one, namely the substitution of bourgeois democracy by fascist dictatorship. Dimitroff already in 1935 correctly determined that this means: “the open terroristic dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinist, most imperialist elements financial capital”3. And concordantly we see that fascism addresses the rational interest of German Capital. On the one hand it smashed the workers movement which back then was one of the most powerful in the world and with this prevented a socialist revolution in Germany. On the other hand it executed the aggressive expansion goals of the German bourgeois, by implementing massive rearmament and preparing the Second World War. For German Capital the war meant huge profits, the conquest of new territories to be economically exploited and the availability of slave labor in the soon to be created concentration and extermination camps.
The German chemical monopoly “IG Farben”(today among others BAYER, BASF) for example had its own factory at Auschwitz to produce syntatic rubber. The numbers of prisoners that died providing forced labor for the company is estimated to be between 40.000 and 200.000. One subsidiary of “IG Farben” produced the Zyklon B, with was used inside the extermination camps to murder prisoners. Here one can precisely see the relationship with the fascist movement which lead to maximum amount of radicalization of the imperialist state. The internal dynamic of the fascist movement can be observed in the declaration of the “SS-Haupamt” on the 22. June 1942 for the invasion of the Soviet Union: ”What the Goths, the Waräger and all individual wanders of germanic blood weren’t able to accomplish – that is what we will accomplish now, a new Germanenzug, this is what our Führer is going to accomplish, the Führer of all germanic people (…) A 3000 year long chapter of history will today find its glorious end. Once again the Goths are riding, since 22. June 1941 – everyone of us a germanic warrior”. So Fascism does not justify its plans of conquest with the naked interests of German Capital. And the fascists didn’t fight for those. But some really saw themselves as those “Idealists”, a warriors in a mystic final struggle. Were this lead too is obvious with the Holocaust and the murder of 6 Million Jewish people. In addition there was the murder of communists, antifascists, LGBTI and other people like Sinti and Roma. About this Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann stated:” I must tell you completely honestly, if we had of the 10.3 Million Jews (…) killed 10.3 Million Jews then I would be satisfied and I would say to you good we destroyed an enemy4” He also said: ”I wasn’t just following orders, if I did this I would have been an idiot, instead I thought for myself I was an Idealist5”. So we can see that the organizers of the fascist crimes went far above, what could be described simply as the geostrategic plans of German Capital.
In our book we summarize: “Fascism as a movement so neither is a pure marionette in the hands Big Capital, nor is it a rebellious movement of the petite Bourgeoisie. Its political results and function can not be explained by economics factors alone. This dialectic influences Fascism organizationally, politically and ideologically”
3. Fascist ideology and the authoritarian-patriarchal Character
Fascism had a broad base of supporters before taking power in Germany. How did it manage, to mobilize masses of millions against their own interests, for the interests of Capital? Answering this question is of central importance for developing a correct antifascist strategy.
Communist theories about Fascism often limit their answerers to that fascism uses “lies” and above all “demagogy”. In our opinion this cannot fully explain power of Fascist ideology. It is from the ground up devoid of logical coherence and its inner contradictions are obvious to see. Its it has not the goal to convince followers rationally with inverting facts. Fascist ideology works different and does it with success, it does this by appealing to thoughts and feelings taking Irrationalism as its foundation and by summoning mysticism.
Irrationalism has a tradition of 150 years. It developed in the struggle against bourgeois enlightenment and claims the human mind cant comprehend reality. Rational reasoning is supposed to be replaced by “higher forms of knowledge” like for example “intuition” or “experiencing”. So its core is dismissing scientific discovery, denying the possibility of progress and the return to idealist myths. Mysticism is an characteristic of every religion. It means turning away from the observable world and instead merging with superhuman, the divine. Karl Mary described the function of religion and these includes mysticism as “opium of the people”. This mean its an ideological expression of repressed emotions. The goal mysticism is not to meet the desires of people, but to “satisfy” those desires in the rush of a substituting religious fantasy.
One of the most famous proponents of Irrationalism was Friedrich Nietzsche, who was later studied by the leading Nazi ideologues. Nietzsche creates new Myths a away form those of monotheistic religions: the “Will to power” the idea of the “blonde beast” that has to be “unleashed from time to time”. The idea of the “superhuman” who is superior to other humans, the interpretation of history as an sequence of subjugations and the claim “eternal return of the same”.
Those myths express, in veiled forms emotions and desires, the real individuals in the ruling class, but also parts of the oppressed class really feel: Fear of the revolutionary treat (“subjugation”) through the oppressed masses (by the bourgeois, the petit bourgeois and even in parts of the working class itself); fear of losing ones own way of life, bourgeois societal order, the family, the church, the nation, culture, societal power over women. Looking at it materialistically this “superhuman” and “power” mysticism satisfies the desires of the German Bourgeois for an world spanning empire, as well as the contradictory desires of the petite bourgeois to defend and at the same time escape their own limited world.
Fascist race science continues this trend. It connected racism and antisemitism with pseudoscience and “socialism”. The “racewar” replaces classwar. “. The Myths race science uses are “blood”, “people” “nation”, “family” and “race”, with “race” serving in this mystic worldview as the very embodiment of purity, civilization, culture and order. The mystical core of fascist race science is the projection of all fears, all suppressed “dirty” and “lower” desires, all those feelings that were pushed away on the “lower races”. The societal goal race ideological mysticism is, to use the subconscious fears in the heads of the masses to mobilize them against inner and enemies (supposedly) outside the own state. The material, societal reason for fascist mythology of the “treat to race, blood and civilization” in the last instance is the fight of the oppressed classes, including women. This is the reason why Adolf Hitler in the speech he gave after gaining state power, agitated against the Marxist “permanent revolution against all foundations of our public life.”
Were exactly does fascist ideology attache itself? Why and how can it work so well? The effects of mysticism demands personalities and character structures, that need repressed emotions and desires to be addressed. This fits authoritarian-patriarchal characters especially well. All people growing up in capitalist, patriarchal societies internalize some elements of those character traits. This also affects people in all classes of a capitalist, patriarchal society. This is the reason why Fascism is able to locate supporters in all classes.
In some classes those traits manifest themselves in an especially strong way, because of this they specially disposed for becoming the masses basis of fascism. Historically, specially in the 19. and 20. century this was the petite bourgeois in Germany. There the authoritarian-patriarchal character was nurtured in the family, as the smallest unite of the state, by using emotional distance to the parents, corporal punishment and patriarchal, including sexual violence. The developing of this personality is marked through the internalization of violence in the family, through the fear of power and the desire to wield power oneself; through the suppression of ones sexuality and its compensation through sadism; through anxiety, Irrationality, predisposition for religiosity and mysticism.; through the worship of strong men and the tendency of self importance. Authoritarian-patriarchal character also was prevalent with in the petite bourgeois because of it own class characteristics of being situated inbetween proletariat and bourgeoisie: Its differentiation from those above it one the one hand and its fear of crashing below at the same time on the other hand, as well as its “striving” the rise while be in competition with other parts of the petite bourgeois.
And this point one might ask the question if we by pursuing this analysis of mass psychology moved away form the material basis? What it is that in development of the authoritarian-patriarchal character is at work psychologically in the last instance? It is the foundational contradiction in the division of labor in capitalist society: The contradiction between productive and reproductive labor (including patriarchal oppression), the contradiction between intellectual and manual labor meaning executing labor (which is the foundation of social hierarchies in class society); the contradiction between city and countryside( meaning the legging behind of countryside, which is the origin of the special role of the petite bourgeois). This means it are the economic moments, the related through countless phenomenon in the societal superstructure (family, state, schools, churches, religion) and which it the inherent experiences of violence and suppression of desires that express themselves in the structure of peoples character.
The resulting authoritarian-patriarchal character traits are not limited by Fascism, instead it radicalizes them, gives them an space for projection, were they can life out violence and power, against “lower” humans, communists, women, LGBTI+ etc. .. Using this we can understand how Fascism is able to create fascist cadres as counterrevolutionaries of a new type; that in combating revolution – and with it the withering away of family, state, property – wont recognize any legal, moral or other sort of limit; that are ready to die in combat; that are ready to commit unspeakable massacres behind the Soviet frontline like the Waffen-SS or murder 6 million people on an industrial scale; they have internalized counterrevolution completely and became its political tool.
In our book we basing ourself and this, tried to develop the following definition of Fascism as a political phenomenon; “Fascism is the most radical counterrevolutionary (fighting)party in the hands of the monopoly bourgeoisie and with this antagonistic refection of the revolutionary party of a new type. It appearances during Imperialism in all capitalist countries, from the leading imperialist power to the (neo)colonies. It mobilizes parts of the oppressed masses as a weapon to eliminate communists, smashing the workers movement, as well as for world domination of the own imperialism in imperialist competition and imperialist wars. Doing this he unleashes forces in the oppressed masses, that lead to maximum radicalization of the capitalist state”
4. Post Fascism and modern Fascism
After the Second World War the fascist continuity inside of state, capital and society was unbroken, we develop this in our book in detail. The fascist continued “Knot” exist and build the German state machinery including secret serv modernizing ices and military back up. This period described by us as “the Post fascist phase of the FRG” only and the with the rebellion of the 68 movement and liberal version of bourgeois ideologies including social democracy became hegemonic. This mood swing in the progressive as well as in the reactionary layers of society (whose old way of life was destroyed) forced the fascist movement to react by modernizing itself, to in the long run regain its mass influence – even if fascist networks continued to exist in sate and capital.
The “New Right” developed which we can also describe as “modern Fascism”. They themselves referenced manly the self described “conservative revolutionaries” in the 1920s and 1930s like Carl Schmitt, Oswald Sprengler or Arthur Moeller, leading thinkers like Armin Mohler describe those as the “trotzkyites national socialism”. With theoretical concepts like “Ethnopluralism” they develop a modernized fascist race mystic. They also intencly studied revolutionary experience, like the writings of Mao Tse-Tung, whose concept, of encircling the cities through the countryside, they adapted for there own expansion strategies. From Antonio Gramsci they took fragments of his theory of hegemony and developed concepts like “Metapolitics” to spread they own ideas strategically in the population and gain influence. Lastly they learned from social democracy in the 19. century that there is a need for many organizations, open and illegal, mass and cadre organizations, military and non military, Parties and trade unions to create a “living reality” and be successful on mass.
Today all those elements are present in Germany again, the decade long ideological, organizational and political (re)building payed of for the fascist movement: the fascist Knot today disposes of an scaffolding of experienced cadres. They can develop their broad organizations (parties, propaganda organizations, press organs, think tanks, mass moments, militias, terror groups …) into weapons. This Knot is an connected whole, but not an monolithic bloc – the contradiction are real, as well as the steering and financing by secret agencies and Capital. At the same time fascist movement is not identical to the state, it is a counterrevolutionary force of new type. Today it is their task to mobilize the explosive force inside the masses, who lost their way of life or fear this loss, for the capitalist state and radicalize it for this end.
5. Antifascist Strategy
Now what does this mean for our antifascist strategy in Germany? The FRG is a bourgeois-democratic country with a strong fascist movement. Even if this movement is supported by parts of capital, German imperialism as whole at this time still counts on a parliamentary republic, while increasingly attacking democratic rights.
Antifascist strategy must take it as an foundational insight, that we cant rely on the capitalist state in the fight against fascism. To destroy Fascism at its root, the abolishment of capitalism and its state is an necessity. So Fascism can lastly only be defeated if the bourgeoisie it beaten and socialism is constructed. This must be popularized with in the antifascist movement and the class.
At the same time the struggle against Fascism must start today, this means as a sub-strategy of the main revolutionary strategy. This includes reaching our strategic in between goal of building a communist party in Germany. The antifascist struggle must therefore be included into the construction of this organization.
The two main goal can thus be functionally summarized with the concepts of “struggle for the minds” and “struggle for the street”
The “struggle for the street” develops from our basic reasoning, that defense against fascism can only be organized by the class itself. Real antifascist self defense must orient on the objective necessities and at the same time create self-defense structures which always reach them systematically.
The “struggle for the minds” must be conducted to reach the thoughts, emotions and actions of our class, as well as the petite bourgeoisie as an strategic ally – and with it to defuse the mass base for Fascism. This happens through the development of broad masswork at the workplaces, neighborhoods, universities, school and in the countryside. To be successful this work as apply the insights of the analysis of Fascism outlined above. It therefore is not enough to fight fascist demagogy with “rational arguments” – even if this is absolutely necessary. It is necessary to go further and create an antifascist, solidary reality of life, which allows coworkers, neighbors, schoolmates of different nationalities to make positive experiences in solidary with each other. This makes it possible to neutralize the effects of fascist mysticism. Through mutual aid, shared culture, shared struggles and shared victories – for economic interests, against attacks on democratic rights, imperialist wars etc. we create circles, workplaces and neighborhoods, hegemony for the revolution in the long run.
1Our translation, original for refernece: “Es kann nicht unsere Aufgabe sein, diesen Knäuel zu entwirren und die Hauptstränge von den Nebensträngen zu sondern.“
2Our own translation from German
3Our own translation from German
4Our own translation from German
5Our own translation from German
