Communism
and
Fascism
CASE STUDIES: RUSSIA AND GERMANY
Communism
Arose from the philosophy of Karl Marx (1840s-1880s)
◦ Basis: “Historical Materialism”
◦ Material (economic) forces shape history and politics.
◦ EXAMPLE (mode of production):
◦ Feudalism (manorialism)  peasants tied to the land, all-powerful lords,
monarchy
◦ As material forces change – so do the political, social, and ideological systems.
◦ EXAMPLE (mode of production):
◦ Capitalism  liberal democracy, all men of property, free wage labor
Drogus, Carol Ann, and Stephen Orvis. Introducing Comparative Politics: Concepts and Cases in Context.
Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2011.
Communism Con’t
Marx saw liberal democracy as the shell which allows capitalism to function:
◦ Liberal rights as “equal rights for unequal people.” *Proletariat
◦ Only wealthy “bourgeoisie” classes (owners of capital) had real,
meaningful political power.
*Argued that all modes of production (i.e. feudalism, capitalism) created tensions and
contradictions which lead to social revolutions.
Communist Revolution
Stage 1: Dictatorship of the Proletariat
Stage 2: Higher Communism -- “Communist Utopia”
Problem? He did not write in detail about what this communist
society and its government would look like.
Fascism
•Origins – 1880s – 1920s. Wholeheartedly taken up by Benito Mussolini – Italian writer and politician, who
led Italy during WW2.
•Rejects both liberalism and communism.
•Basis: conceptualizes society as a living organism rather than
separate groups and individuals:
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The state is dominant within society. Brain.
Society as the body and personality of the state.
State interests are dominate over individual interests.
Corporatism
Each nation as a historical force that must struggle to maximize its position and power in the world.
Mussolini openly admitted that a fascist state should be totalitarian. (unlike communism)
Drogus, Carol Ann, and Stephen Orvis. Introducing Comparative Politics: Concepts and Cases in Context.
Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2011.
CASE STUDIES:
RUSSIA AND GERMANY
- In pairs, you will read a case study on Russia or Germany. You will write down what you
discover on the appropriate section of the t-chart.
- When you have completed your t-chart, you will pair up with someone who read the opposite
case-study and exchange information.
- Note: Be sure to note key events, as well as how the course of communism and fascism
develops and plays out in the case studies.