Fascism, Nazism and Conservatism
European fascism drew on existing anti-modernist conservatism, and on the
conservative reaction to communism and 19th-century socialism.
Conservative thinkers such as historian Oswald Spengler provided much of
the world view (Weltanschauung) of the Nazi movement.
In Britain, the conservative Daily Mail enthusiastically backed Sir Oswald
Mosley's British Union of Fascists, and part of the Conservative Party
supported closer ties with Nazi Germany.
When defeat in World War II ideologically and historically discredited
fascism, almost all Western conservatives tried to distance themselves from
it. Nevertheless, many post-war Western conservatives continued to admire
the Franco regime in Spain, clearly conservative but also fascist in
origin. With the end of the Franco regime and Portugal's Estado Novo in the
1970s, the relationship between conservatism and classical European fascism
was further weakened.
Militarism is perhaps the most striking similarity between Fascism and
contemporary American conservatism. Of course, there are many liberals in
America who support the military and even call for increased military
spending.
Even so, American liberals are traditionally more skeptical of the military
than American conservatives. It is often said that Neoconservatives, like
Hitler, see the military as a paradigm for problem solving (even in
situations that may render militarism impractical or unethical).
The relationship of fascism to right-wing ideologies (including some that
are described as neo-fascist) is still an issue for conservatives
and their opponents. Especially in Germany, there is a constant exchange of
ideology and persons, between the influential national-conservative
movement, and self-identified national-socialist groups.
In Italy too, there is no clear line between conservatives, and movements
inspired by the Italian Fascism of the 1920s to 1940s, including the
Alleanza Nazionale which is member of the governing coalition under premier
Silvio Berlusconi. Conservative attitudes to the 20th-century fascist
regimes are still an issue.
Under an ideological definition of Socialism, for example one stating that
only a system adhering to the principles of Marxism can qualify as
socialist there is a well-defined gap between Nazism and socialism. Nazi
leaders were opposed to the Marxist idea of class conflict and opposed the
idea that capitalism should be abolished and that workers should control
the means of production. For those who consider class conflict and the
abolition of capitalism as essential components of socialism, these factors
alone are sufficient to categorize "National Socialism" as non-socialist.