The italian and german fascisms – social and ideological bases and geopolitical dynamics

Abstract

From a problematization of the category of "classical" fascism that points to the awareness of the concrete contexts in which a state fascism takes place, the article proposes the analysis of the characteristics of fascism in the Italian and German social formations in the beginning of the twentieth century. By emphasizing the complex relations between the elements of the social and ideological structure present in each of these social formations, as well as the geopolitical effects of these relations, the article sustains the thesis that Italian and German fascisms respectively assumed the concrete forms of weak or elastic fascism and totalitarian fascism. Finally, the article outlines a brief summary of the form assumed by the antifascist struggle in the Italian social formation, a landmark of the so-called popular fronts and of democratization from below the struggles against fascism, as well as the military role that it fulfilled from the east front, the USSR. The methodology used is that of bibliographic research.