Monday, May 28, 2007

RECOMMENT ON SOKHA PAPPER

Hello Sokha,
In your introductiion you said<> and you also siad<>.

Through your argument above how do you judge China untill now is poor? In China biography most of the business people come crewded at East part near the sea where interjection of investment, factory, industial and so on . And also there are many goods export from China to foriegn market. You also agree that now China known as 4 th economic growth country and the most investment-attraction country in the world. Therefore, China is not poor country. I disagree with you said China now is poor.You should better said as we already know China in Mao period was poor but after Mao was not poor because of some reforms… Don’t said as we have already known, China is once poor.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

End of Submission Period for Fascism and Beginning for Review Period for Fascism Papers

Hi All,

Thank you for submitting your papers on Communism and Fascism timely. This officially ends the submission period for all papers and the period of submission of reviews of Communism papers. From here on to June, 4 you will have a week to submit reviews of Fascism papers. Please bear in mind that those of you who wrote a paper on Fascism don't need to submit a review of a peer's Fascism paper. The same goes for Communism papers.

Stan

Friday, May 25, 2007

Italy Fascism (Benito Mussolini's Theory)

Italy Fascism (Benito Mussolini’s theory)
Introduction and Definition
Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology that considers individual and other societal interests inferior to the needs of the state, and seeks to forge a type of national unity, usually based on ethnic, religious, cultural or racial attributes. Moreover the various scholars attribute different characteristics to fascism, but the following elements are usually seen as its integral parts such as: nationalism, authoritarianism, militarism, corporatism, collectivism, totalitarianism, anticommunism and opposition to economic and political liberalism. There are plenty of debates among scholars and other individuals regarding the nature of fascism and the kinds of political movements and governments that may be able to be called fascist, so the extent which German Nazism maybe considered a form of fascism was debate and also most scholars see fascism as on the political right or allied with right-wing moments. In addition, some scholars see fascism as the radicalization of the center or as a populist revolt of the middle classes or even a derivative of anarchism. Fascist movements sometimes claim they represent a “Third Way” between left and right between Marxian socialism and Capitalism. However, fascism has been defunct in the western world as a major political ideology since the defeat of the Axis power in World War II and there is considerable stigma attached to the name and to the concept and also it is not uncommon for people to label their political opponents pejoratively as “fascists”. But, a small number of openly fascist political continue to exist, such as the Italian fascism.
Actually, the term fascismo was first coined by the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini which is derived from the Italian word fascio that means “union” or “league” and from the Latin word fasces, for the fasces which consisted of a bundle of rods tied around an axe, were an ancient Roman symbol of the authority of the civic magistrates and the symbolism of the fasces suggested strength through unity which when a single rod is easily broken while the bundle is very difficult to break. Moreover, fascism (fascismo) was used by the political movement that ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini who defined fascism as being a right-wing collectivistic ideology in opposition to socialism, liberalism, democracy and individualism. Mussolini was born July 29, 1883 and he was the prime minister and dictator of Italy form 1922 until 1943, when he was overthrown then he established a repressive fascist regime that valued nationalism, militarism, anti-liberalism and anti-communism combined with strict censorship and state propaganda. Mussolini became a close ally of German dictator Adolf Hitler, whom he influenced and Mussolini entered World War II in June, 1940 on the side of Nazi Germany then three years later, the Allies invade Italy in April 1945 Mussolini attempted to escape to German controlled Austria, only to be captured and killed near Lake Como by Communist Resistance units and he dead April 28, 1945.
Body
The Origin of Fascism
Despite the many forms that fascism takes, all fascist movements are rooted in two major historical trends. First, in late 19th-century Europe mass political movements developed as a challenge to the control of government and politics by small groups of social elites or ruling classes. For the first time, many countries saw the growth of political organizations with membership numbering in the thousands or even millions. Second, fascism gained popularity because many intellectuals, artists, and political thinkers in the late 19th century began to reject the philosophical emphasis on rationality and progress that had emerged from the 18th-century intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment. Furthermore, these two trends had many effects. For example, new forms of popular racism and nationalism arose that openly celebrated irrationality and vitalism—the idea that human life is self-directed and not subject to predictable rules and laws. This line of thinking led to calls for a new type of nation that would overcome class divisions and create a sense of historical belonging for its people. For many people, the death and brutality of World War I showed that rationality and progress were not inherent in humanity, and that a radically new direction had to be taken by Western civilization if it was to survive. World War I also aroused intense patriotism that continued after the war. These sentiments became the basis of mass support for national socialist movements that promised to confront the disorder in the world. Popular enthusiasm for such movements was especially strong in Germany and Italy, which had only become nation-states in the 19th century and whose parliamentary traditions were weak. Despite having fought on opposite sides, both countries emerged from the war to face political instability and a widespread feeling that the nation had been humiliated in the war and by the settlement terms of the Treaty of Versailles. In addition, many countries felt threatened by Communism because of the success of the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution.
Mussolini’s Fascism
The first fascist movement developed in Italy after World War I. Journalist and war veteran Benito Mussolini served as the guiding force behind the new movement. Originally a Marxist, by 1909 Mussolini was convinced that a national rather than an international revolution was necessary, but he was unable to find a suitable catalyst or vehicle for the populist revolutionary energies it demanded. At first he looked to the Italian Socialist Party and edited its newspaper Avanti! (Forward!). But when war broke out in Europe in 1914, he saw it as an opportunity to galvanize patriotic energies and create the spirit of heroism and self-sacrifice necessary for the country's renewal. He thus joined the interventionist campaign, which urged Italy to enter the war. In 1914, as Italian leaders tried to decide whether to enter the war, Mussolini founded the newspaper Il Popolo d'Italia (The People of Italy) to encourage Italy to join the conflict. After Italy declared war against Germany and Austria-Hungary in May 1915, Mussolini used Il Popolo d'Italia, to persuade Italians that the war was a turning point for their country. Mussolini argued that when the frontline combat soldiers returned from the war, they would form a new elite and bring about a new type of state and transform Italian society. The new elite would spread community and patriotism, and introduce sweeping changes in every part of society.
Mussolini established the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento (Italian Combat Veteran's League) in 1919 to channel the revolutionary energies of the returning soldiers. The group's first meeting assembled a small group of war veterans, revolutionary syndicalists (socialists who worked for a national revolution as the first step toward an international one), and futurists (a group of poets who wanted Italian politics and art to fuse in a celebration of modern technological society's dramatic break with the past). The Fasci di Combattimento, sometimes known simply as the Fasci, initially adopted a leftist agenda, including democratic reform of the government, increased rights for workers, and a redistribution of wealth.
In the elections of 1919 Fascist candidates won few votes. Fascism gained widespread support only in 1920 after the Socialist Party organized militant strikes in Turin and Italy's other northern industrial cities. The Socialist campaign caused chaos through much of the country, leading to concerns that further Socialist victories could damage the Italian economy. Fear of the Socialists spurred the formation of hundreds of new Fascist groups throughout Italy. Members of these groups formed the Blackshirts—paramilitary squadre (squads) that violently attacked Socialists and attempted to stifle their political activities.
Mussolini’s Ruse to Power
The Fascists gained widespread support as a result of their effective use of violence against the Socialists. Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti then gave Mussolini's movement respectability by including Fascist candidates in his government coalition bloc that campaigned in the May 1921 elections. The elections gave the newly formed National Fascist Party (PNF) 35 seats in the Italian legislature. The threat from the Socialists weakened, however, and the Fascists seemed to have little chance of winning more power until Mussolini threatened to stage a coup d'état in October 1922. The Fascists showed their militant intentions in the March on Rome, in which about 25,000 black-shirted Fascists staged demonstrations throughout the capital. Although the Italian parliament moved swiftly to crush the protest, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign a decree that would have imposed martial law and enabled the military to destroy the Fascists.
Instead the king invited Mussolini to join a coalition government along with Giolitti. Mussolini accepted the bargain, but it was another two years before Fascism became an authoritarian regime. Early in 1925 Mussolini seized dictatorial powers during a national political crisis sparked by the Blackshirts' murder of socialist Giacomo Matteotti, Mussolini's most outspoken parliamentary critic.
Fascist Consolidation of Power
Between 1925 and 1931, the Fascists consolidated power through a series of new laws that provided a legal basis for Italy's official transformation into a single-party state. The government abolished independent political parties and trade unions and took direct control of regional and local governments. The Fascists sharply curbed freedom of the press and assumed sweeping powers to silence political opposition. The government created a special court and police force to suppress so-called anti-Fascism. In principle Mussolini headed the Fascist Party and as head of state led the government in consultation with the Fascist Grand Council. In reality, however, he increasingly became an autocrat answerable to no one. Mussolini was able to retain power because of his success in presenting himself as an inspired Duce (Leader) sent by providence to make Italy great once more.
The Fascist government soon created mass organizations to regiment the nation's youth as well as adult leisure time. The Fascists also established a corporatist economic system, in which the government, business, and labor unions collectively formulated national economic policies. The system was intended to harmonize the interests of workers, managers, and the state. In practice, however, Fascist corporatism retarded technological progress and destroyed workers' rights. Mussolini also pulled off a major diplomatic success when he signed the Lateran Treaty with the Vatican in 1929, which settled a long-simmering dispute over the Catholic Church's role in Italian politics. This marked the first time in Italian history that the Catholic Church and the government agreed over their respective roles. Between 1932 and 1934 millions of Italians attended the Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution in Rome, staged by the government to mark Fascism's first ten years in power. By this point the regime could plausibly boast that it had brought the country together through the Risorgimento (Italian unification process) and had turned Italy into a nation that enjoyed admiration and respect abroad.
For a time it seemed that Italy had recovered from the national humiliation, political chaos, and social division following World War I and was managing to avoid the global economic and political crises caused by the Great Depression. Mussolini could claim that he had led the country through a true revolution with a minimum of bloodshed and repression, restoring political stability, national pride, and economic growth. All over the country, Mussolini's speeches drew huge crowds, suggesting that most Italians supported the Fascist government. Many countries closely watched the Italian corporatist economic experiment. Some hoped that it would prove to be a Third Way—an alternative economic policy between free-market capitalism and communism. Mussolini won the respect of diplomats all over the world because of his opposition to Bolshevism, and he was especially popular in the United States and Britain. To many, the Fascist rhetoric of Italy's rebirth seemed to be turning into a reality.
The Fall of Italian Fascism
Two events can be seen as marking the turning point in Fascism's fortunes. First, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in January 1933, which meant that Mussolini had the support of a powerful fascist ally. Second, Italy invaded Ethiopia in October 1935 (see Italy: The Ethiopian Campaign). In less than a year the Fascist army crushed the poorly equipped and vastly outnumbered Ethiopians. Mussolini's power peaked at this point, as he seemed to be making good on his promise to create an African empire worthy of the descendants of ancient Rome. The League of Nations condemned the invasion and voted to impose sanctions on Italy, but this only made Mussolini a hero of the Italian people, as he stood defiant against the dozens of countries that opposed his militarism. But the Ethiopian war severely strained Italy's military and economic resources. At the same time, international hostility to Italy's invasion led Mussolini to forge closer ties with Hitler, who had taken Germany out of the League of Nations.
As Hitler and Mussolini worked more closely together, they became both rivals and allies. Hitler seems to have dictated Mussolini's foreign policy. Both Germany and Italy sent military assistance to support General Francisco Franco's quasi-fascist forces during the Spanish Civil War, which broke out in 1936. The Italian troops in Spain suffered several dramatic losses, however, undermining Mussolini's claim that his Fascist army made Italy a military world power. Then in November 1936 Mussolini announced the existence of the Rome-Berlin Axis—a formal military alliance with Nazi Germany. Fascism, once simply associated with Italy's resolution of its domestic problems, had become the declared enemy of Britain, France, and the United States, and of many other democratic and most communist countries. Italian Fascism was fatally linked with Hitler's bold plans to take control of much of Europe and Russia. The formation of the pact with Hitler further isolated Italy internationally, leading Mussolini to move the country closer to a program of autarky (economic self-sufficiency without foreign trade). As Italy prepared for war, the government's propaganda became more belligerent, the tone of mass rallies more militaristic, and Mussolini's posturing more vain and delusional. Italian soldiers even started to mimic the goose-step marching style of their Nazi counterparts, though it was called the Roman step.
Although the Italian Fascists had ridiculed Nazi racism and declared that Italy had no “Jewish problem,” in 1938 the government suddenly issued Nazi-style anti-Semitic laws. The new laws denied that Jews could be Italian. This policy eventually led the Fascist government of the Italian Social Republic—the Nazi puppet government in northern Italy—to give active help to the Nazis when they sent 8,000 Italian Jews to their deaths in extermination camps in the fall of 1943. Mussolini knew his country was ill-prepared for a major European war and he tried to use his influence to broker peace in the years before World War II. But he had become a prisoner of his own militaristic rhetoric and myth of infallibility. When Hitler's armies swept through Belgium into France in the spring of 1940, Mussolini abandoned neutrality and declared war against France and Britain. In this way he locked Italy into a hopeless war against a powerful alliance that eventually comprised the British empire, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and the United States. Italy's armed forces were weak and unprepared for war, despite Mussolini's bold claims of invincibility. Italian forces suffered humiliating defeats in 1940 and 1941, and Mussolini's popularity in Italy plummeted. In July 1943, faced with imminent defeat at the hands of the Allies despite Nazi reinforcements, the Fascist Grand Council passed a vote of no confidence against Mussolini, removing him from control of the Fascist Party. The king ratified this decision, dismissed Mussolini as head of state and had him arrested.
Most Italians were overjoyed at the news that the supposedly infallible Mussolini had been deposed. The popular consensus behind the regime had evaporated, leaving only the fanaticism of intransigenti (hard-liners). Nevertheless, Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) commandos rescued Mussolini from his mountain-top prison, and Hitler then put him in control of the Italian Social Republic—the Nazi puppet government in northern Italy. The Nazis kept Mussolini under tight control, however, using him to crush partisans (anti-Fascist resistance fighters) and to delay the defeat of Germany. Partisans finally shot Mussolini as he tried to flee in disguise to Switzerland in April 1945. Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of Italian soldiers endured terrible suffering, either forced to fight alongside the Nazis in Italy or on the Russian front, or to work for the Nazi regime as slave labor.
Conclusion
The rise and fall of Fascism in Italy showed several general features of fascism. First, Italian Fascism fed off a profound social crisis that had undermined the legitimacy of the existing system. Many Europeans supported fascism in the 1930s because of a widespread perception that the parliamentary system of government was fundamentally corrupt and inefficient. Thus it was relatively easy for Italians to support Mussolini's plans to create a new type of state that would transform the country into a world power and restore Italy to the prominence it enjoyed during the Roman Empire and the Renaissance.
Second, Italian Fascism was an uneasy blend of elitism and populism. A revolutionary elite imposed Fascist rule on the people. In order to secure power the movement was forced to collaborate with conservative ruling elites—the bourgeoisie (powerful owners of business), the army, the monarchy, the Church, and state officials. At the same time, however, the Fascist movement made sustained efforts to generate genuine popular enthusiasm and to revolutionize the lives of the Italian people.
Third, Fascism was a charismatic form of politics that asserted the extraordinary capabilities of the party and its leader. The main tool for the Fascistization (conversion to Fascism) of the masses and the creation of the new Fascist man was not propaganda, censorship, education, or terror, or even the large fascist social and military organizations. Instead, the Fascists relied on the extensive use of a ritualized, theatrical style of politics designed create a sense of a new historical era that abolished the politics of the past. In this sense Fascism was an attempt to confront urbanization, class conflict, and other problems of modern society by making the state itself the object of a public cult, creating a sort of civic religion.
Fourth, Italy embraced the fascist myth that national rebirth demanded a permanent revolution—a constant change in social and political life. To sustain a sense of constant renewal, Italian Fascism was forced by its own militarism to pursue increasingly ambitious foreign policy goals and ever more unrealizable territorial claims. This seems to indicate that any fascist movement that identifies rebirth with imperialist expansion and manages to seize power will eventually exhaust the capacity of the nation to win victory after victory. In the case of Italian Fascism, this exhaustion set in quickly.
A fifth feature of Italian Fascism was its attempt to achieve a totalitarian synthesis of politics, art, society, and culture, although this was a conspicuous failure. Italian Fascism never created a true new man. Modern societies have a mixture of people with differing values and experiences. This diversity can be suppressed but not reversed. The vast majority of Italians may have temporarily embraced Fascist nationalism because of the movement's initial successes, but the people were never truly Fascistized. In short, in its militarized version between World War I and World War II, the fascist vision was bound to lead in practice to a widening gap between rhetoric and reality, goals and achievements.
Finally, the fate of Italian Fascism illustrates how the overall goal of a fascist utopia has always turned to nightmare. Tragically for Italy and the international community, Mussolini embarked on his imperial expansion just as Hitler began his efforts to reverse the Versailles Treaty and reestablish Germany as a major military power. This led to the formation of the Axis alliance, which gave Hitler a false sense of security about the prospects for his imperial schemes. The formation of this alliance helped lead to World War II, and it committed Mussolini to unwinnable military campaigns that resulted in the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943. The death, destruction, and misery of the fighting in Italy was inflicted on a civilian population that had come to reject the Fascist vision of Italian renewal, but whose public displays of enthusiasm for the regime before the war had kept Mussolini in power.

Reference:
http://www.widipedia,free-encyclopedia/italy/fascism.com
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~semp/facistitaly.htm
http://www.fpp.co.uk/History/Mussolini/first_wife.html
^Speech by Vladimir Lenin: Greetings to the Italian Socialist Party
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Roger D. Griffin, B.A., Ph.D. Professor, Department of History, Oxford Brookes University. Author of International Fascism: Theories, Causes, and the New Consensus, The Nature of Fascism
Aristotle A. Kallis, “The Fascism Reader”, Routledge, 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
The Fascist Revolution: Toward a General Theory of Fascism. By George L. Mosse. Howard Fertig. 230 pp.
Beetham, David. Marxists in Face of Fascism: Writings by Marxists on Fascism from the Inter-War Period.






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Italy Fascism (Benito Mussolini’s theory)

Introduction and Definition
Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology that considers individual and other societal interests inferior to the needs of the state, and seeks to forge a type of national unity, usually based on ethnic, religious, cultural or racial attributes. Moreover the various scholars attribute different characteristics to fascism, but the following elements are usually seen as its integral parts such as: nationalism, authoritarianism, militarism, corporatism, collectivism, totalitarianism, anticommunism and opposition to economic and political liberalism. There are plenty of debates among scholars and other individuals regarding the nature of fascism and the kinds of political movements and governments that may be able to be called fascist, so the extent which German Nazism maybe considered a form of fascism was debate and also most scholars see fascism as on the political right or allied with right-wing moments. In addition, some scholars see fascism as the radicalization of the center or as a populist revolt of the middle classes or even a derivative of anarchism. Fascist movements sometimes claim they represent a “Third Way” between left and right between Marxian socialism and Capitalism. However, fascism has been defunct in the western world as a major political ideology since the defeat of the Axis power in World War II and there is considerable stigma attached to the name and to the concept and also it is not uncommon for people to label their political opponents pejoratively as “fascists”. But, a small number of openly fascist political continue to exist, such as the Italian fascism.
Actually, the term fascismo was first coined by the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini which is derived from the Italian word fascio that means “union” or “league” and from the Latin word fasces, for the fasces which consisted of a bundle of rods tied around an axe, were an ancient Roman symbol of the authority of the civic magistrates and the symbolism of the fasces suggested strength through unity which when a single rod is easily broken while the bundle is very difficult to break. Moreover, fascism (fascismo) was used by the political movement that ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini who defined fascism as being a right-wing collectivistic ideology in opposition to socialism, liberalism, democracy and individualism. Mussolini was born July 29, 1883 and he was the prime minister and dictator of Italy form 1922 until 1943, when he was overthrown then he established a repressive fascist regime that valued nationalism, militarism, anti-liberalism and anti-communism combined with strict censorship and state propaganda. Mussolini became a close ally of German dictator Adolf Hitler, whom he influenced and Mussolini entered World War II in June, 1940 on the side of Nazi Germany then three years later, the Allies invade Italy in April 1945 Mussolini attempted to escape to German controlled Austria, only to be captured and killed near Lake Como by Communist Resistance units and he dead April 28, 1945.
Body
The Origin of Fascism
Despite the many forms that fascism takes, all fascist movements are rooted in two major historical trends. First, in late 19th-century Europe mass political movements developed as a challenge to the control of government and politics by small groups of social elites or ruling classes. For the first time, many countries saw the growth of political organizations with membership numbering in the thousands or even millions. Second, fascism gained popularity because many intellectuals, artists, and political thinkers in the late 19th century began to reject the philosophical emphasis on rationality and progress that had emerged from the 18th-century intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment. Furthermore, these two trends had many effects. For example, new forms of popular racism and nationalism arose that openly celebrated irrationality and vitalism—the idea that human life is self-directed and not subject to predictable rules and laws. This line of thinking led to calls for a new type of nation that would overcome class divisions and create a sense of historical belonging for its people. For many people, the death and brutality of World War I showed that rationality and progress were not inherent in humanity, and that a radically new direction had to be taken by Western civilization if it was to survive. World War I also aroused intense patriotism that continued after the war. These sentiments became the basis of mass support for national socialist movements that promised to confront the disorder in the world. Popular enthusiasm for such movements was especially strong in Germany and Italy, which had only become nation-states in the 19th century and whose parliamentary traditions were weak. Despite having fought on opposite sides, both countries emerged from the war to face political instability and a widespread feeling that the nation had been humiliated in the war and by the settlement terms of the Treaty of Versailles. In addition, many countries felt threatened by Communism because of the success of the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution.
Mussolini’s Fascism
The first fascist movement developed in Italy after World War I. Journalist and war veteran Benito Mussolini served as the guiding force behind the new movement. Originally a Marxist, by 1909 Mussolini was convinced that a national rather than an international revolution was necessary, but he was unable to find a suitable catalyst or vehicle for the populist revolutionary energies it demanded. At first he looked to the Italian Socialist Party and edited its newspaper Avanti! (Forward!). But when war broke out in Europe in 1914, he saw it as an opportunity to galvanize patriotic energies and create the spirit of heroism and self-sacrifice necessary for the country's renewal. He thus joined the interventionist campaign, which urged Italy to enter the war. In 1914, as Italian leaders tried to decide whether to enter the war, Mussolini founded the newspaper Il Popolo d'Italia (The People of Italy) to encourage Italy to join the conflict. After Italy declared war against Germany and Austria-Hungary in May 1915, Mussolini used Il Popolo d'Italia, to persuade Italians that the war was a turning point for their country. Mussolini argued that when the frontline combat soldiers returned from the war, they would form a new elite and bring about a new type of state and transform Italian society. The new elite would spread community and patriotism, and introduce sweeping changes in every part of society.
Mussolini established the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento (Italian Combat Veteran's League) in 1919 to channel the revolutionary energies of the returning soldiers. The group's first meeting assembled a small group of war veterans, revolutionary syndicalists (socialists who worked for a national revolution as the first step toward an international one), and futurists (a group of poets who wanted Italian politics and art to fuse in a celebration of modern technological society's dramatic break with the past). The Fasci di Combattimento, sometimes known simply as the Fasci, initially adopted a leftist agenda, including democratic reform of the government, increased rights for workers, and a redistribution of wealth.
In the elections of 1919 Fascist candidates won few votes. Fascism gained widespread support only in 1920 after the Socialist Party organized militant strikes in Turin and Italy's other northern industrial cities. The Socialist campaign caused chaos through much of the country, leading to concerns that further Socialist victories could damage the Italian economy. Fear of the Socialists spurred the formation of hundreds of new Fascist groups throughout Italy. Members of these groups formed the Blackshirts—paramilitary squadre (squads) that violently attacked Socialists and attempted to stifle their political activities.
Mussolini’s Ruse to Power
The Fascists gained widespread support as a result of their effective use of violence against the Socialists. Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti then gave Mussolini's movement respectability by including Fascist candidates in his government coalition bloc that campaigned in the May 1921 elections. The elections gave the newly formed National Fascist Party (PNF) 35 seats in the Italian legislature. The threat from the Socialists weakened, however, and the Fascists seemed to have little chance of winning more power until Mussolini threatened to stage a coup d'état in October 1922. The Fascists showed their militant intentions in the March on Rome, in which about 25,000 black-shirted Fascists staged demonstrations throughout the capital. Although the Italian parliament moved swiftly to crush the protest, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign a decree that would have imposed martial law and enabled the military to destroy the Fascists.
Instead the king invited Mussolini to join a coalition government along with Giolitti. Mussolini accepted the bargain, but it was another two years before Fascism became an authoritarian regime. Early in 1925 Mussolini seized dictatorial powers during a national political crisis sparked by the Blackshirts' murder of socialist Giacomo Matteotti, Mussolini's most outspoken parliamentary critic.
Fascist Consolidation of Power
Between 1925 and 1931, the Fascists consolidated power through a series of new laws that provided a legal basis for Italy's official transformation into a single-party state. The government abolished independent political parties and trade unions and took direct control of regional and local governments. The Fascists sharply curbed freedom of the press and assumed sweeping powers to silence political opposition. The government created a special court and police force to suppress so-called anti-Fascism. In principle Mussolini headed the Fascist Party and as head of state led the government in consultation with the Fascist Grand Council. In reality, however, he increasingly became an autocrat answerable to no one. Mussolini was able to retain power because of his success in presenting himself as an inspired Duce (Leader) sent by providence to make Italy great once more.
The Fascist government soon created mass organizations to regiment the nation's youth as well as adult leisure time. The Fascists also established a corporatist economic system, in which the government, business, and labor unions collectively formulated national economic policies. The system was intended to harmonize the interests of workers, managers, and the state. In practice, however, Fascist corporatism retarded technological progress and destroyed workers' rights. Mussolini also pulled off a major diplomatic success when he signed the Lateran Treaty with the Vatican in 1929, which settled a long-simmering dispute over the Catholic Church's role in Italian politics. This marked the first time in Italian history that the Catholic Church and the government agreed over their respective roles. Between 1932 and 1934 millions of Italians attended the Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution in Rome, staged by the government to mark Fascism's first ten years in power. By this point the regime could plausibly boast that it had brought the country together through the Risorgimento (Italian unification process) and had turned Italy into a nation that enjoyed admiration and respect abroad.
For a time it seemed that Italy had recovered from the national humiliation, political chaos, and social division following World War I and was managing to avoid the global economic and political crises caused by the Great Depression. Mussolini could claim that he had led the country through a true revolution with a minimum of bloodshed and repression, restoring political stability, national pride, and economic growth. All over the country, Mussolini's speeches drew huge crowds, suggesting that most Italians supported the Fascist government. Many countries closely watched the Italian corporatist economic experiment. Some hoped that it would prove to be a Third Way—an alternative economic policy between free-market capitalism and communism. Mussolini won the respect of diplomats all over the world because of his opposition to Bolshevism, and he was especially popular in the United States and Britain. To many, the Fascist rhetoric of Italy's rebirth seemed to be turning into a reality.
The Fall of Italian Fascism
Two events can be seen as marking the turning point in Fascism's fortunes. First, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in January 1933, which meant that Mussolini had the support of a powerful fascist ally. Second, Italy invaded Ethiopia in October 1935 (see Italy: The Ethiopian Campaign). In less than a year the Fascist army crushed the poorly equipped and vastly outnumbered Ethiopians. Mussolini's power peaked at this point, as he seemed to be making good on his promise to create an African empire worthy of the descendants of ancient Rome. The League of Nations condemned the invasion and voted to impose sanctions on Italy, but this only made Mussolini a hero of the Italian people, as he stood defiant against the dozens of countries that opposed his militarism. But the Ethiopian war severely strained Italy's military and economic resources. At the same time, international hostility to Italy's invasion led Mussolini to forge closer ties with Hitler, who had taken Germany out of the League of Nations.
As Hitler and Mussolini worked more closely together, they became both rivals and allies. Hitler seems to have dictated Mussolini's foreign policy. Both Germany and Italy sent military assistance to support General Francisco Franco's quasi-fascist forces during the Spanish Civil War, which broke out in 1936. The Italian troops in Spain suffered several dramatic losses, however, undermining Mussolini's claim that his Fascist army made Italy a military world power. Then in November 1936 Mussolini announced the existence of the Rome-Berlin Axis—a formal military alliance with Nazi Germany. Fascism, once simply associated with Italy's resolution of its domestic problems, had become the declared enemy of Britain, France, and the United States, and of many other democratic and most communist countries. Italian Fascism was fatally linked with Hitler's bold plans to take control of much of Europe and Russia. The formation of the pact with Hitler further isolated Italy internationally, leading Mussolini to move the country closer to a program of autarky (economic self-sufficiency without foreign trade). As Italy prepared for war, the government's propaganda became more belligerent, the tone of mass rallies more militaristic, and Mussolini's posturing more vain and delusional. Italian soldiers even started to mimic the goose-step marching style of their Nazi counterparts, though it was called the Roman step.
Although the Italian Fascists had ridiculed Nazi racism and declared that Italy had no “Jewish problem,” in 1938 the government suddenly issued Nazi-style anti-Semitic laws. The new laws denied that Jews could be Italian. This policy eventually led the Fascist government of the Italian Social Republic—the Nazi puppet government in northern Italy—to give active help to the Nazis when they sent 8,000 Italian Jews to their deaths in extermination camps in the fall of 1943. Mussolini knew his country was ill-prepared for a major European war and he tried to use his influence to broker peace in the years before World War II. But he had become a prisoner of his own militaristic rhetoric and myth of infallibility. When Hitler's armies swept through Belgium into France in the spring of 1940, Mussolini abandoned neutrality and declared war against France and Britain. In this way he locked Italy into a hopeless war against a powerful alliance that eventually comprised the British empire, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and the United States. Italy's armed forces were weak and unprepared for war, despite Mussolini's bold claims of invincibility. Italian forces suffered humiliating defeats in 1940 and 1941, and Mussolini's popularity in Italy plummeted. In July 1943, faced with imminent defeat at the hands of the Allies despite Nazi reinforcements, the Fascist Grand Council passed a vote of no confidence against Mussolini, removing him from control of the Fascist Party. The king ratified this decision, dismissed Mussolini as head of state and had him arrested.
Most Italians were overjoyed at the news that the supposedly infallible Mussolini had been deposed. The popular consensus behind the regime had evaporated, leaving only the fanaticism of intransigenti (hard-liners). Nevertheless, Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) commandos rescued Mussolini from his mountain-top prison, and Hitler then put him in control of the Italian Social Republic—the Nazi puppet government in northern Italy. The Nazis kept Mussolini under tight control, however, using him to crush partisans (anti-Fascist resistance fighters) and to delay the defeat of Germany. Partisans finally shot Mussolini as he tried to flee in disguise to Switzerland in April 1945. Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of Italian soldiers endured terrible suffering, either forced to fight alongside the Nazis in Italy or on the Russian front, or to work for the Nazi regime as slave labor.
Conclusion
The rise and fall of Fascism in Italy showed several general features of fascism. First, Italian Fascism fed off a profound social crisis that had undermined the legitimacy of the existing system. Many Europeans supported fascism in the 1930s because of a widespread perception that the parliamentary system of government was fundamentally corrupt and inefficient. Thus it was relatively easy for Italians to support Mussolini's plans to create a new type of state that would transform the country into a world power and restore Italy to the prominence it enjoyed during the Roman Empire and the Renaissance.
Second, Italian Fascism was an uneasy blend of elitism and populism. A revolutionary elite imposed Fascist rule on the people. In order to secure power the movement was forced to collaborate with conservative ruling elites—the bourgeoisie (powerful owners of business), the army, the monarchy, the Church, and state officials. At the same time, however, the Fascist movement made sustained efforts to generate genuine popular enthusiasm and to revolutionize the lives of the Italian people.
Third, Fascism was a charismatic form of politics that asserted the extraordinary capabilities of the party and its leader. The main tool for the Fascistization (conversion to Fascism) of the masses and the creation of the new Fascist man was not propaganda, censorship, education, or terror, or even the large fascist social and military organizations. Instead, the Fascists relied on the extensive use of a ritualized, theatrical style of politics designed create a sense of a new historical era that abolished the politics of the past. In this sense Fascism was an attempt to confront urbanization, class conflict, and other problems of modern society by making the state itself the object of a public cult, creating a sort of civic religion.
Fourth, Italy embraced the fascist myth that national rebirth demanded a permanent revolution—a constant change in social and political life. To sustain a sense of constant renewal, Italian Fascism was forced by its own militarism to pursue increasingly ambitious foreign policy goals and ever more unrealizable territorial claims. This seems to indicate that any fascist movement that identifies rebirth with imperialist expansion and manages to seize power will eventually exhaust the capacity of the nation to win victory after victory. In the case of Italian Fascism, this exhaustion set in quickly.
A fifth feature of Italian Fascism was its attempt to achieve a totalitarian synthesis of politics, art, society, and culture, although this was a conspicuous failure. Italian Fascism never created a true new man. Modern societies have a mixture of people with differing values and experiences. This diversity can be suppressed but not reversed. The vast majority of Italians may have temporarily embraced Fascist nationalism because of the movement's initial successes, but the people were never truly Fascistized. In short, in its militarized version between World War I and World War II, the fascist vision was bound to lead in practice to a widening gap between rhetoric and reality, goals and achievements.
Finally, the fate of Italian Fascism illustrates how the overall goal of a fascist utopia has always turned to nightmare. Tragically for Italy and the international community, Mussolini embarked on his imperial expansion just as Hitler began his efforts to reverse the Versailles Treaty and reestablish Germany as a major military power. This led to the formation of the Axis alliance, which gave Hitler a false sense of security about the prospects for his imperial schemes. The formation of this alliance helped lead to World War II, and it committed Mussolini to unwinnable military campaigns that resulted in the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943. The death, destruction, and misery of the fighting in Italy was inflicted on a civilian population that had come to reject the Fascist vision of Italian renewal, but whose public displays of enthusiasm for the regime before the war had kept Mussolini in power.

Reference:
http://www.widipedia,free-encyclopedia/italy/fascism.com
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~semp/facistitaly.htm
http://www.fpp.co.uk/History/Mussolini/first_wife.html
^Speech by Vladimir Lenin: Greetings to the Italian Socialist Party
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Roger D. Griffin, B.A., Ph.D. Professor, Department of History, Oxford Brookes University. Author of International Fascism: Theories, Causes, and the New Consensus, The Nature of Fascism
Aristotle A. Kallis, “The Fascism Reader”, Routledge, 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
The Fascist Revolution: Toward a General Theory of Fascism. By George L. Mosse. Howard Fertig. 230 pp.
Beetham, David. Marxists in Face of Fascism: Writings by Marxists on Fascism from the Inter-War Period.






.

COMMENT ON SOKHA'S PAPER

Hi Sokha
This is Somnea and I have one comment from one part of your paper

First, I want to make sure from you what you mean chaos in Country 4
Second, is that you are right that Mao had destroyed the whole of his country, but its not mean his have purpose to do that and I belief his ideology was extremes yet the people who was work for him might used his ideology much more and more extremes in order to make him happy so that why it could lead him too proud and continues his misunderstanding of political ideology that destroy himself, his people and his country. And you also have mention about Cambodia which according to my understanding Pol Pot didn't kill anyone by purpose and he might understand the Communism in wrong way so that why that lead to the other people believe him work for his ideology to kill people in order to make him happy which is like Mao way, So it seem to understand that both want to develop their country and help their country but they used their Political Ideology in the wrong way and also not accept other criticizes from his misunderstanding

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Contact Me By Phone ASAP

Borada,

Please call as soon as you see this. I will also take your call if it comes on the weekend.

Stan

Monday (May, 28)

Hi All,

We will be meeting in Prey Veng (not the actual province or city) between 9 AM and 12 PM. See you all there.

Stan

Materials for Diplomacy presentation class

Hi Prof. May you please tell the actual room in which we're gonna study in the coming Monday morning because it's easy for me to tell the admin. workers to prepare the LCD and CPU for our presentation. Thank you and enjoy your weekend.

Thearin's Comments on: Comparison and Outcomes of Mao Zedong's Regime and Deng Xiaoping's Regime

In the section of Mao’s Leadership of China you mentioned that “Mao promised a new era for China after becoming the chairman the PRC but in reality, he was not.” I totally agree with you that as soon as Mao came to power, like many other leaders, he had promised with his people but you did also not specify clearly what he promised. You only said “new era for China”. However, I think that Mao really did what he promised with his people but the ways he did, the strategies he used made situation in his country more severe and worse as you also stated in later paragraph that “I think the way Mao led his country was not the way to develop his country but to destroy the whole China like the way Pol Pot did in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.” I completely agree with this because I think no one leader wants their country be bad but the way they use is another question.
In the Great Leap Forward you said that “I think no one likes Mao besides several dictatorial leaders, such as Adopt Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Pol Pot and a few other guys in Italy and Cuba, and the rest of the world.” First, I might agree with if you said that former communist leaders such as Lenin, Stalin, Fidel Castro in Cuba, and Pol Pot tended to like Mao Zedong because they were communist leaders and believed in the same ideology. Furthermore, I think that the may like each other in term of ideology but in term of state interest and privacy they may not like each other. For example, even though Soviet Union and China were both communists but their relationship was not always good. You may know that during Mao was in power he also broke relationship with Russia due to the cause that Soviet stop providing technical assistance to China. Second, I might agree with if you said Mussolini in Italy and Adolf Hitler like Mao Zedong because they were dictators. But in term of ideologies they may not like each other. For example, ideologically, Mao was a communist but Hitler was not. I agree that they both opposed Democracy and capitalist economic system and they both used socialism as their economic system but their socialism was also different. Mao supported Marxist socialism but Hitler strongly criticized Marxian socialism in the respect that Marxian socialism rejects private property when Nazi socialism encouraged having private property.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Nazism and Its Impacts

Introduction
The end of World War I and the post- war economic turmoil in Europe especially the collapse of the economy of war losing countries importantly Germany due to its enormous spending on warfare during the war in addition to post-war reparation imposed by victor allies via the essence of Versailles Treaty and in combination with the failure of democracy and capitalism in response to the needs of people in this industrialized country had marked the emergence of Nazi ideology in Europe particularly after the involvement of Adolf Hitler in German political arena and his rise to power in 1933 when he was popularly elected to be German chancellor.
In order to make this paper easy to be comprehensible and avoid confusing by readers I first would like to make it clear that Fascism and Nazism are not the same or synonymous. They are created by different persons Mussolini of Italy and Adolf Hitler, respectively. However, these two ideologies are not completely different. They also share some similar ideas. Be that as it may, this paper is objectively designed to study Hitler’s Nazism and its impacts. This paper is composed of two main sections: Hitler’s political beliefs and Nazi theory in general. These sections will be described in detail in the following paragraphs, respectively. But first and foremost, it is significantly important to know what Nazism is before we can clearly understand its root concepts.
1. Nazism in Brief
Nazism is also known as National Socialism which refers to the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi party under the control of Adolf Hitler. It also refers to the policy adopted by German government from 1933 to 1945, the time when Adolf Hitler came to power until his death that marked the end of World War II. The year 1933-1945 is also known in German history as Nazi Germany or the Third Reich. Adolf Hitler’s Nazism can be found in his work Mein Kampf (My Struggle), a book written when he was in jail for one year after his attempt to overthrow the precedent government by coup. Some of his political ideologies from Mein Kampf will also be described in the following sections.
2. Hitler’s Political Beliefs
Different from Mussolini, leader of Italy and author of the book called Doctrine of Fascism, who focuses mainly on the importance of state in political arena, Adolf Hitler places the significance on strong and powerful race. For him Aryan is the only most intelligent, potential and pure race whom he refers to German race. Hitler’s view in his book, Mein Kampf, composed of three important points.
First is the concept of race struggle which is strongly influenced by Social Darwinism’s natural selection which Hitler thinks that only strong men (race) can survive in this controversial and struggling world. He thinks, on the one hand, that man history was shaped by struggle between nations and races and that a nation needed to be united under and controlled by a powerful state led by a potential leader in order to succeed in this struggle. On the other hand, Hitler also believes that individuals within a nation fight against each other for survival, and this perpetual competition is good for the health of the nation, because it makes the nation getting stronger and promotes “superior individuals or races to higher positions in society”.[1]
Second is the conception of anti- Semitism. Hitler believes that in order to keep German blood pure and avoid mixing with other races which he thinks would make his Aryan race inferior, other races especially the Jews who he thinks are sucking German blood economically and politically must be completely eliminated so that they can’t anymore go on blood sucking in German society. To him Jews are the stumbling blocks of German growth and development. That’s why a lot of Jews were forced to work, starved to death and executed during the war.
Third is the idea that German must control the “Lebensraum”[2] (Living Space) from Russia where land areas are fertile and abound with natural resources and it is a potential area for world domination. By controlling this part of the world German can easily support its population and control the world.
Besides strongly believes in three conceptions mentioned above, Hitler also opposed to communist concept and democracy. Democracy, he said, is the force that makes the country becomes unstable because it places power in the hands of weak, unintelligent and impure people to control the country. Hitler’s view is very similar to that of Plato who also thinks that in any society there are weak, disqualified people than the qualified, thus if democracy is practiced the weak will become the majority and in the end it will create the tyranny of majority in that society. This is a brief introduction of Hitler’s view on politics. Next, I will describe in detail about Nazi theory and its influences.
3. Nazi Theory
3.1. Nationalism and Racism
The first central idea of Nazism is the concept of nationalism and racism which focuses mainly on Germanic Aryan. The idea is to promote and protect the purest Aryan race in the world. Hitler, who was strongly influenced by others, thinks that Germany is the only country that has more pure Aryan than others such as Ireland, England, Northern France, the Benelux countries, and Scandinavia[3] where Aryan used to travel across and reside there. Thus, protecting the pure Germanic Aryan race is the prioritized thing he would do in order to assure that German blood will not be mixed and interbreed especially with the Jews. By so doing, Germany will become the purest and the most intelligent, potential race in the world and as a result of this will lead Germany to control the whole world.
However, as mentioned above, Hitler is not the only and the first person who promotes the Aryan race. Actually, he was strongly influenced by the English and French men. For example, an Englishman Houston Stewart Chamberlain had strongly admired the Aryan and also strongly criticized the Jews. This would create the misunderstanding and conflict between the two races. It is true or not but as a scholar it is significantly important for him to be careful when speaking out such argument because it can lead to the death of people’s lives especially between the two counter races. Chamberlain argued that Aryan race had created the entire world’s civilization. He also believed that all races were impure and mixed except the Germans, who were Aryan and good, and the Jews, who were completely evil.[4] Thus, the struggles will perpetually take place between the two races. This argument is so extreme. Naturally and rationally speaking, both races especially the Germans if they strongly believe in this argument, they will do whatever they can to defeat and eliminate the Jews and vice versa. According to this argument the Jews are most likely the victims in this racial competition because they are seen by the Germans as the phantom and vampire who come to harm them.
In addition to Chamberlain, argument of a Frenchman Arthur de Gobineau also strongly influenced Adolf Hitler. Similar to Chamberlain he argued that Aryan was the only most superior race. He continued by saying that the purest race (Aryan race) of all was the German people.[5] Similar to these two scholars, Hitler said that everything people have in this era (his period of life) including art, science and technology are the exclusively creative products of the Aryan.
Hitler finally took these ideas and put them in place when he involved in German politics especially when he came to power. He strongly blamed the Jews when he spoke to the public and as he is good at making speech and also charismatic, he can easily lure his people to follow up his ideas because even though his speech blaming everything on the Jews is not rational but the concept of Aryan superiority had almost become German culture.
He also regarded the Jews as parasites, vampires, spongers and blood suckers of German people. He once proclaimed by referring to the Jews that “races without homelands” were “parasite races”[6], and when the parasite races become richer and stronger, they will in the end control and exploit the local races and form their own state on the master races. To him the Jews are the invaders in the world and if the local races are not strong enough to protect their own races then the Jews will dominate and finally they will eliminate all the local races and then will protect their men not to marry or interbreed with the master races because they want to keep their blood pure as Hitler claimed that the Jews are trying to impure the Aryan races but they try keep their races pure. He also said the Jews urged and encouraged their women to get married with other races but they prevent men from getting married with other races because they want other races impure and keep their races pure. As a result of these, he said the “master race”, who he refers to the Germans, must eliminate all parasite races from its homelands as many as possible in order to strengthen itself.
Hitler’s blaming the Jews, on the one hand, makes him became famous in German politics. People supported his ideas and they became realizing that the Jews made their country weak or even lost the war (WWI). On the other hand, The Jews’ lives will be at risk. They lived with fear and worry because they are the first target of the regime. Hitler’s policy is to eliminate all the Jews living in Germany by forcing them to overwork, starving them to death or executing them. As result of his ideas, about 6 millions Jews’ lives were systematically destroyed. Most of them were killed in the extermination camps and some were fired to death. Nationalism is not a bad idea. It is naturally for a citizen to protect his/her nation. However, nationalism combines with rationalism is much better than rationalism plus extremism.
3.2. Totalitarianism
As mentioned above, Hitler’s racism and nationalism were very extreme. The idea of eliminating other races especially the Jews cannot be put in place if the leader is not absolute enough. Thus, Nazism requires the conception of totalitarianism or dictatorship in order to achieve its objective. In totalitarianism the dictator not only dominates the government but also political parties and other state affairs socially, politically and economically. Even though Mussolini’s Fascism and Hitler’s Nazism both consist of the concepts of totalitarianism but their views on it are different. Unlike Fascism which focuses its importance on the state, Hitler’s Nazism states that the state is only the political arena. The first significance prior to the state is race as Hitler’s claimed that race uses the state to build its strength and leadership and race is the main actor that play significant role in making the state strong. That’s why his first totalitarian policy is to make his race pure.
Nazism’s totalitarianism created centralization in Germany. All powers were handed to a dictator, head of government in Berlin. The legislature also gave up its power to government cabinet, which was headed by Hitler. The Judiciary had no independent power. It was only used as a tool for Hitler’s politics. All powers were centralized in one man’s hand. Besides taking power of the legislature and politicizing the court, Hitler also used military, civil police, media, newspapers and other printing materials as his tools to spread and influence his idea. Further than this, he also destroyed all books and films that opposed his views. This Nazism’s totalitarianism as a result had destroyed the tradition of power sharing in Germany. People have no say because it is a belief of Nazism that they were already under the lead of a heroic leader, thus their involvement in politics is unnecessary.
3.3. Elitism
Like Plato and James Madison, Hitler also gave much value on qualified people. He said that people are unequal: some are better, some are more intelligent, some are stronger, some are more talented etc… Therefore, their contributions to society are also unequal. However, Hitler did not discourage the weak Germans from fulfilling their obligation to the state. They are all welcomed to help the state but the difference lies in this: those who give the greatest service deserve the greatest benefit. Interestingly, people’s obligation is open for all people but their participation is not at all allowed. That’s why he rejected democracy and supported the idea of eugenics, which is the improvement of the qualities of a race by control of inherited characteristics.[7] Through Eugenics German race will be protected and purified.
Hitler rejected democracy because as mentioned above people are obviously unequal and normally there are more disqualified people than the qualified, so rooms will be given to the disqualified to dominate. On the other hand, Hitler also alleged the Jews of trying to use democracy as their tool to strengthen and develop their races in Germany. Democracy, he argued, is a political force of the weak and it reduces the government to the lowest domination. Democracy gives many voices to the masses and as a result of this the Jews will take this opportunity to get involved in politics and when they can control all factors in German then they will gradually eliminate the German races. That’s why he believed that powers must be given to the elite especially the heroic leader to enjoy his excellent government and leadership. He, furthermore, also said that the role of citizens is to provide services and fulfill their obligations which were handed down by the state. They may not ask but to follow the leader’s guidelines like the US army. Their question is not why but what.
3.4. Anti-Capitalism and Marxian Socialism
Politically, Hitler opposed the ideas of democracy and communism. Economically, he rejected the ideas of capitalistic economic system and socialism of the Marxist by creating his own socialism which he called a true socialism. However, it has no specific theory at all.
Nazi thinking of anti- capitalist can be easily found in the Nazi Party “twenty-five point program” which listed some important economic demands. Included in these demands were, “the State shall make it its primary duty to provide a livelihood for its citizens," "the abolition of all incomes unearned by work," the ruthless confiscation of all war profits," "the nationalization of all businesses which have been formed into corporations," "profit-sharing in large enterprises," "extensive development of insurance for old-age," "land reform suitable to national requirements," and to achieve this and other aims, "the creation of a strong central state power for the Reich.”[8]
What makes the Nazi Party formulated such economic programs? One thing to remember is that Nazi Party formerly was a worker’s party which can be interpreted as party for workers not for the capitalists. Because of strong will of the party leader capitalism must not be allowed to be implemented in Nazi Germany as it was, on the one hand, a tool used by the Jews to exploit the Germans and through capitalism the Jews will be easily reside in German territory and finally the may control Germany because they have strong involvement in business and economic factors. Hitler, on the other hand, also said that “We are socialists; we are enemies of today's capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance”.[9]
For socialism Hitler clearly pointed out that Nazi socialism has nothing to do with Marxian socialism. Although they both were called socialism but they have different notions. He even admired his Nazi socialism as genuine while Marxian socialism just an artificial one. He said that “Marxism is anti-property (private property); true socialism is not.”[10] He also continued by stating that “I absolutely insist on protecting private property” and that “… [w]e must encourage private initiative.”[11] Although Hitler strongly supported private property and private initiative, interestingly, he also strongly believed that government should be given power to regulate private property to make sure that benefit to the community and nation precede to benefit of the individuals and individuals must sacrifice for the good of the nation. Thus, the state must get rich prior to its people.
Nazi economic theory looks strange. On the one hand, it strongly opposed capitalist economic system but it supports private property which is one the main criteria of capitalism. Not only Nazi socialism, capitalism also strongly encourages private property. On the other hand, it opposed Marxian socialism but it supported the idea that government should regulate private property for the benefit of the nation. By looking at this brief analysis I can conclude that while Nazi economic theory is rejecting capitalism, it is also at the same time supporting socialism and vice-versa. Nazi economic theory is not only logical, but its founder, interestingly, cannot even specify explicitly what his theory is about as Hitler later said that “The basic feature of our economic theory is that we have no theory at all”.[12]
Another interesting thing is that, even though Nazi party had set some of its economic programs, Hitler himself did not think that economy is the first priority the state has to pay much attention on since the year 1922 when he became leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party. He proclaimed that “world history teaches us that no people have become great through its economy but that a people can very well perish thereby”[13], and later he concluded that “the economy is something of secondary importance”.[14] He said the most important thing that the state or leader should think about is the war of expansion. He even blamed some of his precedent leaders since Bismarck for their concerning only the internal peaceful development of economy but never thought of territorial expansion through war.
However, Hitler might forget that how can a country conduct a successful war if its economy is weak. He also forgets that he can win the wars at the first stage against other countries was a result of good internal economic performances in Germany. Of course, although economic theory of Nazism is strange, illogical and not theoretical, it produced good and fast results for German economy before the war i.e. within three years when Hitler was in power from 1933-1936 the German GNP increased by an average annual rate of 9.5 per cent and the rate for industry alone rose by 17.2 per cent.[15] Furthermore, they had strengthened building infrastructures and a lot of money was also spent to produce warfare equipments.
3.5. Imperialism
Imperialism is the policy dominating of other nations by acquiring dependencies. As stated above, Hitler first importance is expansion through war not internal peaceful economic development. Thus, imperialism must be inevitably put in place by the Nazi Party. Actually, Hitler was clever in the fact that he invaded other states then put these states as his country satellites which in return these states have to sell raw materials to Germany in low price and they have also to buy final products from Germany. Hitler used this strategy to continue his war by saving his raw materials and resources but using other countries resources as his expense for war. Further more, he also forced people of satellite states to work for German factories by giving them low price. We can say that this is Hitler’s an arrow-with-two-bird strategy.
Hitler who was strongly influenced by Social Darwinism believed that the strong must dominate the weak in this on going struggling world and war and military play importantly active roles in this process. He extremely thought that the world was still a state of nature which to survive is to fight. He also wrote in his Mein Kampf that “Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.”[16] Thus, you are not worth to live in this world if you don’t fight. You should be better killed than to live. Hitler thought that conflicts in the world are endless and conflicts ended only when there are no people on earth. To him war is inevitable. He said first war take place between nations against nations, then between individuals against individuals. For him none would be blamed for fighting. This is the world nature. Want or don’t want they are forced to protect their rights. As result of this extreme thought Hitler had used all his pretexts to invade other countries around Germany and his final aim is to control the whole world.
3.6. Militarism
Militarism was used by Nazi Germany in order to achieve its imperialistic and expansionistic objectives. As mentioned above Hitler’s first importance is war expansion, so in order to successfully conduct this expansionism the military must be potentially strong. Different from its counterparts, war is the prime goal of the Nazi rather than use it as a last resort. Since the time when Hitler became a German chancellor, he never used diplomacy as the prime goal to resolve the conflicts because he thinks that it requires long time and complicated Because of this he continuously invaded from one country to another by using his strong military force until his death.
Similar to what mentioned above, furthermore, war is something inevitable. It is the main process for national domination to be achieved and great nations grow only from military power. As a result of this conception, Hitler had influentially convinced the Germans to strongly committed and sacrificed to their nation by using force because their final goal is to create the Greater Germany and they think only military force can make them achieve it.
4. Conclusion
Not all conceptions in Nazi theory are bad. Some of them are very rational. For example, like Thomas Hobbes, Hitler said that conflicts between nations against nations and individuals against individuals are not naturally unavoidable. It is naturally true but to what extent the conflict is another question. I also believe that men are naturally selfish and greedy and because of this natural characteristics men cannot avoid conflict with the other even they don’t want to do so but they are forced to protect their own interests and rights. However, I do not support the idea that men should all the time use war to solve conflicts. War I think creates more conflicts than it is peacefully solved. Even though it takes time but cost no life. I also do not support the notion blaming the Jews that they were the destroyers and blood suckers of all aspects in Germany. For example, Hitler blamed the Jews that Germans lost the war (WWI) because of them. It is not necessarily true. During the war the Jews living in Germany did not join hand or ally with German counterparts or support them financially. Actually, German lost the war because of its weakness both militarily and especially the fall down of its economy and strong attack from the victor allies.




BIBLIOGRAPHY:
BOOKS:
Baradat, Leon P. Political Ideologies: Their Origins and Impact, Third Edition. Prentice Hall, 1979.
Starigyn, Stan. Contemporary Political Theory. PUC.
Dougherty and Pfaltzgraff.Jr. Contending Theories of International Relations. J.B. Lippincott Company, 1971.
Ziegier, David W. War, Peace, and International Politics, Eighth Edition. Longman, 1999.
INTERNET SOURCES:
http://www.hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler#Mein_Kampf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler#Economics_and_culture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_fascism#Political_economy_of_Nazi_Germany

http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Total%20Biblio/Mussolini%20Bibliography.htm







[1] http://www.hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/

[2] Dougherty and Pfaltzgraff.Jr, “Contending Theories of International Relations,” J.B. Lippincott Company, 1971.
[3] Baradat, Leon P, “Political Ideologies Their Origins and Impact,” Prentice Hall, p232, 1979.
[4] Ibid
[5] Ibid
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nazism
[7] Oxford Dictionary
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_fascism#Political_economy_of_Nazi_Germany
[9] Ibid
[10] Ibid
[11] Ibid
[12] Ibid
[13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_economy_of_Nazi_Germany

[14] Ibid
[15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_fascism

[16] Hitler, Adolf, “Mein Kampf: Nation and Race” 1925

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

The Future American Fascism

THE FUTURE AMERICAN FASCISM

Introduction

Fascism or National Socialism ideology appeared in Europe already especially In Germany or Italy and so on. Their ideas were about wanting to control the Europe. If Fascism appears in United States as political turmoil what will movement shows in this country? American fascism does not take name as Fascism or National Socialism brand as in European; it can simply take the name as “Americanism” or later called American Party which direct control under the ideology of perfect society.

American fascism will not able to promote racial theory of chauvinism base on race, that is so far white American are concerned, in reality there is no American race unless American Indian. American people lives every where in the world, where all white people come together to enter the nation, so it will be throw into the political turmoil. Therefore, American fascism will have to take place opposite the fascism in German Nazism.

In United States, if there is racial appear it will be probably non-American reject to the race. In this country, there are a lot of people come from different countries in the world, the racism will be the big issues, especially will attack against Japanese, Chinese, Negro or Jew. On the other hand, those people who declare themselves as American nationality will support this event. So there will be having only one interest group in this country while aliens will be kicked out. The situation will become dark and the number of unemployment also increases rapidly.

For instance, in nineteenth century, American Party or Know Nothing Party had already used the ideal that only native-born Americans were to whole the office. While it will be continued as the program of fascism, surely it should be suicide for any native group to attempt to win the country with any program that create hostility who those born on the out side who number today fifteen million and with their relative forty million, in United States.

American philosophy always ideal with the new world, new social order, where the old world of racial were combined all together In Europe and in American only thinks in new way, so there will be big Europe racial campaign fuse in to one and big antagonism appears as political chaos.

The Nationalism of culture member of ruling classes of Europe did not necessary prevent them from having their own type of internationalism. European internationalism, however, was an internationalism emphasized national different. So doing, the Variety of reactionary of such internationalists should support the ruling classes in which they think that their ruling classes were better than others and must conquer or subject the others. For instance, Germany was one of the examples that want to conquer the world and finally this country fell down. By this model the school of thinkers, each nation of Europe should have its own independent and culture to make European richly cosmopolitan nation.

American internationalism was just the opposite. It did not reject the other races. It took them all into its friends and respected them in its own image. The internationalism of America was really a super nationalism. Apparently, just as the United States was greater than one country geographically, but equal to the whole continent of Europe in area, so it was more than one nation socially but a whole world in itself, ethnically and sociologically. In Europe, too, racial struggles were bound up with class struggles. In America, just as there was a general classlessness, so all races were fused into one.

We see already as the theory of race in Germany of ruling class, If American take this model as theory of ruling class, American theory will take this advantage for controlling the whole world and is a world philosophy that take it as assimilate to all people. So it will be the theory of imperialism that American wants to conquer the world.
Germany as the history of fascism that wanted to conquer in Europe but fell as its practice it could not bring peace and prosperity into the world but only conflict and war. American took over and become leader. American has opportunities of using the imperialist objective of the future fascist or American Party with its program of Americanism. It is made up of history in Europe which should be organized all together so that will be listening to the reason. In this way, we see that it is the door which will be shut down of communism and class war like Germany, before the war felt that to control in Europe. So American under its duty of fascism feels that want to organize the world. Therefore, it is the program of American fascism that plan for the world, utopia for the world.

Utopia always has been connected intimately with the ideals of America. By its newness, by its uniqueness, by its apparent violation of historical laws, by the intrinsic experimentation of its life, America always has appeared as the new Jerusalem. The idea of being able to violate the traditional has gone hand in hand with the widespread belief in luck that prevails in this country.

The utopia is the idea of perfect society that brings a thousand of voters to get the plan of good society which the former fascism had already used and collected thousand of people to follow this idea. In United States, the utopia is not a dream of impossible to the reality but is a dream of a real world through scientific experiment.
Although, the ideal of utopianism in American is not the ideal of poetry but the ideal of scientist that plan to organize in society. The industrialism of American life is well known as modern technology that prevents utopianism from having any thing but a scientific character. The developing of modern technology is a plan of Americanism or American Party that try to advance of its program.
In other countries, fascism has fought openly the slogan of the French Revolution, "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity," using its own passwords, "Order, Discipline, Hierarchy." In the United States, however, an incipient fascist movement may well use these very liberal terms for its own purpose. There is nothing more conservative in America than these traditional concepts. Fascism could not overthrow them.

In American, the government has never been controlled direct by big business men, That is to say the wealthy heads of corporation have not sought political pots in order to take charge by government. Big Business people mostly are middle classes. In United Stats that is the history of middle class are initiative take advance in things political, where bourgeois family always bargain the political situation. In this reason, we see that American nation focus more in middle class.

The fascism movement must rely on middle class. Slogans of equality will go hand in hand with slogans against the class war. If fascism arises in this country there will be not much because there are many interest groups will appear to prevent the class struggle from even appearing in such a revolutionary formation. Fascism in Italy sprang up in order to crush communism. Fascism in the United States will appear in order to prevent a native communism from rearing its head.
This is also true since once the American proletariat really moves in the direction of communism, the end for world capitalism will soon be in sight. There will be no long process between beginning and end in America, as there has been in Europe. In American if nothing else, guarantees directness and speed in social evolution. Therefore, the chief job of the American ruling class must be to prevent the masses from even starting to move in the direction of communism.
Europe is always at war and engaged in interminable fights. An end to this chaos; an end to eternal wars! Peace and plenty; planned economy for the world! These are the catchwords that American fascism can use, and in this way American super nationalism will offer itself as a substitute both for the anarchical internationalism of the European bourgeoisie and the Marxist internationalism of the proletarian communist.
European fascism has been born in a struggle against the existing constitution and framework of government that has permitted communism and the labor movement to grow. In its attack against communism, fascism has also blamed the liberal constitutions which had allowed the subversive movements to advance to such strength. In America, however, fascism can arise well within the framework of the Constitution, through a Constitutional dictatorship. After all, the Constitution arose without a labor movement in America and has continued until today without much of a labor movement. Under the Constitution, dictatorial powers of the President may be provided, company unions formed. Such a Constitution of theoretical classlessness and pragmatic lynching of labor need not be fought by fascism. The Constitution may have to be modified in interpretation and even in letter, but American fascism may well advance against communistic labor with the slogan "Obey the Constitution" on its lips.
It must never be forgotten that, in the main, agriculture in America was developed after capitalism had become powerful in England, the mother country, and thus agriculture did not precede capitalism, but borrowed all capitalist features in its production of land products. The American farmer was a capitalist adventurer, going where profit was high. He had no feudal traditions. He migrated from New England to the Middle West and from the Middle West to the Far West. Within each state, the mobility of the farmer was notorious. Even among the Negro share-croppers it is estimated that their migration within the South was far greater than even their extraordinary trek to the North.
All in all, all fascist philosophy has been a turning back to the past, but America has no past to which to turn back. Fascism is a sign of a defeated country, a country afraid. The Americans know no fear. They have never been defeated. They do not appreciate their limitations and would not recognize them if they saw them. Why should the American middle class turn back? In Europe, fascism is the sign of the weak and desperate; in America, it will take the feature of saving the world.
Old World fascism is a movement that proposes to the middle class that it can keep its security and position only by crushing the working class; in America such a theory of progress by crushing others never has been adopted. There has been generally wealth enough for all, so that one did not have to bother his neighbor. Wealth came from one's own initiative and hard work rather than from pushing others down. At least, the contrary was never admitted by the middle class of the United States, where the class struggle was still in an unconscious state. Here, the middle class always idealized labor, and it has been from the middle class that the native laboring elements have come. On the other hand, the native labor movement always has been closely allied to the middle class. It is hard to believe that the millions of middle class members can adopt as their philosophy in America that their position can be secured.
Therefore, we see that the fascist movement in the United States is the movement towards complete governmental control, collectivism in all forms of life, destruction of the labor movement, and compulsory abolition of classes, will take on forms in this country entirely different from those anywhere else.
The mere formation of fascist groupings, the continued centralization of the State, and the wiping out of political democracy and parliamentarism are bound to create a profound reaction in the ranks of labor itself, leading to open class formations in the interests of labor. Once the labor movement will have organized on its own account, it will clear the political atmosphere. The middle class is floundering today precisely because it has no one took for aid. The labor movement, strangely politically silent, with no adequate program and organization of its own, makes no attempt to fight for power.
When labor does begin to move, however, it is bound to show such strength as to win to its side large numbers of the middle class whose interest labor really carries forward. If fascism results in the stimulation of the labor movement to counter with its own mass organizations, then it will have accomplished the setting off of the spark of the struggle for power between capital and labor in America. From this it can be seen that fascism can have no long future in America.

Bibliography
1. Papers of the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1851, edited by M. F. Williams, pp. 1 and 2.
2. One American writer has put it: "The commonest axiom of history is that every generation revolts against its fathers and makes friends with its grandfathers." (L. Mumford: The Brown Decades, p. 3.)
3. The Correspondence of Marx and Engels, Letter of Engels to Florence Kelley Wischaewetsky, No. 203, pp. 453-454.4. The same, Letter of Engels to Schlueter, No. 222,

Monday, May 21, 2007

Submission Ends Review Begins

Thank you, Vichet and Sokha. This concludes the submission period and opens up the review period which will go on till next Monday. Stan

Soviet Union


Name: Chum Angvichet Professor: Stan Starygin
ID: 06553



The Fall Of The Soviet Union


This is a paper on the topic of Communism. I will take The Soviet Union Communism into discussion especially trying to point out the reasons why the USSR communist fail in term of economics, management and how they applied the communist theory. Moreover I will discuss the concept of dictatorship of the proletarians and try to reflect it into Soviet practiced during the time that it collapsed.
In 1917, an important year for the Russia history, Russia became the first communist state, led by Vladimir Lenin, in the world and changed its name to The Soviet Union. The Soviet was trying to build a society without private ownership of the mean of productions. Under Lenin, the Communist Party controlled al level of government. Power was centralized and all economics assets were state own. Lenin died in 1924 and his successor, Joseph Stalin, created a totalitarian regime. Power was even more centralized. Under Stalin iron fist, the regime had so much power that it could destroy any undesired political opposition. However, economy was going downhill and the living standard for the population drop dramatically. Stalin left the state in such a bad cripple that none of his successor could reform the system without undermining the communist rule itself. But none were able to make any dramatic change until Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, came to power. What dramatic change did he make?
Mikhail Gorbachev, at 54, was the youngest member of the Politburo at the time he was name party leader. When he came to power, he used the power that the system granted the General Secretary to strengthen his political base and to carry out a program of reform. His first step was the transparency in the society. He also stressed that the ultimate test of the party’s effectiveness lay in improving the economics well being of the country and its people. He legalized private enterprise for individual and cooperative business and encouraged them to fill in the many gaps in the economy left by the in efficiency of the state sector. He even called for a “law governed state” in which state power, including the power of his own communist power, would be under the law. He welcomed any informal social and political associations that formed. He made major concession to the United State in the sphere of arms control which resulted in a treaty, for the first time in history, called for the destruction of entire classes of nuclear missiles.
Using his General Secretary’s power, Gorbachev planned his proposals for democratization through the Supreme Soviet, and in 1989 and 1990 Gorbachev’s plan for free election and a working parliament was realized as election were held, deputies elected, and new Soviets formed at the center and in every region and locality. When nearly half a million cal miners went out on striker in the summer of 1989, Gorbachev declared himself sympathetic to their demand. Gorbachev’s radicalism received its most dramatic confirmation through the astonishing development of the 1989 in Eastern Europe. All the regimes making up the socialist bloc collapsed and gave way to multi party parliamentary regimes in a bloodless popular revolutions and the Soviet Union stood by and supported the revolutions. The fall of the communism in the Eastern Europe meant that the Soviet was weakening. With all these change that Gorbachev made, then why was The Soviet Union still weakening? The economic growth model followed by Stalin and his successors attempted to realize economies of scale by concentrating much production in large enterprises. This meant that local government re entirely dependent on the economics health of a single employer. The country vast size and the heavy commitment of the resources to the military production in the Soviet complicated further the task to reform Soviet in a short period as Gorbachev intended to do.
As mentioned earlier, The Soviet Union abolished private ownership when it adopted communism. This is the biggest contribution to the fall of the Soviets. Mark saw that private ownership was the cause of exploitation and a prosperous society should not allow private property. Following Marx theory, when Lenin came to power and created the first communist state, he soon declared that there should be no private business. Everything should be state own. He thought that by doing this will the people have a secure job and be equal. They biggest problem arise from this is the productivity problem. Since everyone get equal share no matter how hard he try and since that jobs are secure, then he see little reason for trying to work his best. As everyone come realize this then productivity started to fall. People lost the motive to work and quality drops. Soviet goods were unable to compete in the foreign markets. With no private business then there is no inflow of capital since no one could come to invest. Investment is one of the key factors that push the economics forward and Soviet was without investment due to its communist principles.
Jobs were created by the government and they were unattractive. Human resources were misallocated because there was no competition on the market for labor force. Everything was decided by the government. Everything was planned, hence planned economy. Soviet had to suffer to these problems for many decades since Lenin came to power in 1917 until radical reform made by Gorbachev in 1989. It was at its worst condition when reform took place. I believe that the reform was a little too late since people were fed up with the government and its planned economy. People became tire of a life that had little room or none at all for improving. People were tired of the equity that the Soviet was trying to achieve. They want liberty and a “free life”. Gorbachev saw what the people wanted and he did try to change but from my point of view he was a little too late to come to power and try to reform. People wanted a radical change meaning then want communist out.
Another problem that brought the Soviet to its downfall was the bad management. The problem was that power was too concentrated at the top and system was working too slow. Paper works were not getting through the crowded bureaucratic layers. It distorted the flow of information, created fragmented authoritarian, and created miscommunication. Employers as well as the employees receive wages, not profit. Good management was not important because it did not link with any profit for the employers. Bureaucratic officials were generally more devoted to protecting and advancing their personal interest and career than serving the public interest. The government function inefficiency. There were producing surplus of unwanted good and generate shortage of desire goods by the population. Stores were full of out of fashion products and there weren’t enough food in the market. Thus, this situation created black markets. These markets became the channel in which the mass use to access into goods that they need rather than waiting for the planned economy to produced them. Black markets even bring the economy further downward because but what choices do he population had at the time.
The lack of management from the government showed the people that it is time for a change. But the people did see it as a change of leaders within the communist context; they saw it as a time to change the ideology. Communism was no longer working to their perspective. I think The Soviet gave communism a bad name. Moreover, as successors of Stalin, such as Gorbachev for example, relaxed on media controlled, the mass started to expose to the freedom and prosperous of the life that the Americans were enjoying. This gave them something to think about. This gave them something to make comparison and this gave them the urged of asking, why the Soviet communism can’t provide them with such a life as the Americans had, when the party claimed that communism was better than any other ideology. People saw a better solution to all their problems and it wasn’t just mere reforms that Gorbachev made. They saw the need to remove communism and adopted something else, which is nothing else beside Democracy. It was not the time to reform the market and change the way the economy worked, but it was the time to throw the old system out and adopted a new one. Planned economy must be replaced by free economy. Power must decentralize and passed on to every layer within the government. The people want radical changes beyond any reform that their leaders could offer. Communism in Soviet was coming to an end by choice and desire of the mass.
Now I will turn to discuss one concept in the Manifesto of the Communist Party, which is the dictatorship of the proletarians. I will try to reflect this concept into the practiced by the Soviet Union, which I believe also contributed to the downfall of the Soviet Union.
Marx believed that the proletarians should be the revolutionary group. Why? “Owing to the extensive use of the machinery, and to the division of labor, the work of the proletarians has lost all individual character and consequently, all charm for the workman. He became an appendage of the machine and it is only the most simple, most monotonous, and most easily acquired knack is required of him. Hence, the cost of production of a workman is restricted, almost entirely, to the mean of subsistence that he requires for maintenance and for the propagation of his race...”stated in the Manifesto of the Communist Party. The proletarians were being exploited due to the technology revolution. They were the one who work to keep the economy running but they were treated unfairly. The proletarians should be the one who own the mean of the production and be the master of themselves. They should be the one who own machines, factories and get a greater share out of the profit than anyone else. They should be the one who rule because they were the one who put in labors. The society should be under the dictatorship of the proletarians.
Soviet was in support of the dictatorship of the proletarians. It was the reasons that the Russia Revolution took place. They were trying to create a society that the working class ruled. Everyone who works in that factory is the owner of that factory. No one alone owns that factory. It is a collective property. The Government must protect the proletarians because the proletarians are the government. However, I think this was not the case when Stalin and his successors came to power. Proletarians, in my perspective, were not better off at all. In any case, they were even in worst conditions. Power was centralized in the hand of a few people in the government. They are the one who made all the decisions and all the planning and I’m sure that they were not at all under any influence of the proletarians. There were still exploitation, killing without reasons and they did not own anything. Collective property means that everyone is the owner which I translate that everyone owns nothing because all goods belong to other people beside you. The true cause of the revolution and the creation of the communist in Soviet were lost. As people realized this and later found out that life was not going to get better under communism, they demanded a radical change. They wanted communism out and adopted democracy.
In conclusion, I believe that the Fall of Soviet Union was due to the fact of economy inefficiency, mismanagement and how the government applied the communist theory. They did not stay true to the cause of the revolution and fail to deliver what they promised to the people. There were things that could have been done to extend the life of communism in the Soviet Union but I believe that their doom was unavoidable.
Communism can apply to a society that is already prospering where everyone is satisfied with what they need. It does not work to a poor society. For communism to wok I believe that we have to first use capitalism to bring up the living standard of the people and then apply communism little by little. Capitalism is the first step to a success communism. Every attempt to start with communism without passing through capitalism will fail.


Reference:
LEON P.BARADAT, Political Ideology, 3rd edition, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1988
JOSHUA S. GOLDSTIEN, International Relation, Brief Edition, Library of Congress, 2002
GABRIEL A. ALMOND, G. BINGHAM POWELL, Jr. KAARE STORM, RUSSELL J. DALON, Comparative Political Today, 8th Edition, Person Education Published, 2004
AUSTIN RANNEY, Governing: An Introduction to the Political Science, Prentice-Hall International Edition, 1993
Compiled by STAN STARYGIN, Communism, Fascism, and Democracy Supplement, Pannasastra University of Cambodia, 2007