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Explores the degree to which fascism was revolutionary. Domenico Settembrini's 1978 book on fascism, claiming that it was an "imperfect counterrevolution," was criticized by Italy's Left revolutionaries who did not want fascism equated with their idealistic communist goals. Yet, recent historiography has contested the view that the owner classes supported fascism's rise to power. Fascism was seen as a combination of nationalism & socialism, & the bourgeoisie were considered the foremost enemy of both movements. Mussolini's movement shared with communism the militaristic approach to politics, the rejection of middle-class values, the desire to create a new civilization, the suppression of independent thought, & the desire to destroy its enemies (La Rochelle 1998). Fascism was guilty of violence & crimes, but lacked the revolutionary goal of complete purification through the destruction of entire groups. Its legacy, however, was the spreading of the Bolshevik culture to its survivors. L. A. Hoffman

Fascism in Italy & Germany was the result of mass movements that seized power when the existing capitalist ruling classes readily yielded control. Fascist ideology, which is a variant of bourgeois ideology with a petty bourgeois character, appealed to individuals of all SC's. It called for unity & an end to divisive class struggles although it did not attack property relations which were the foundations of the existing class structure. Fascism is the last stage of capitalist society, in which the inherent contradictions of the system are brutally pushed to their ultimate consequences. In practice, fascism is the negation of bourgeois democracy & formal equality, & marks the end of the legal pursuit of particular interests. The mass basis for the fascist movement are the middle strata, who tend to have certain characteristic traits: (1) a narrow focus on particular needs, wants & conceptions; (2) an absolute identification with "natural" groups; (3) an intense hostility to other families, religions, nations & races, conceived of as out-groups; (4) an obsession with the past & a preoccupation with a return to "original" structures; & (5) a veneration of authoritarian figures & forces. A fundamental feature of fascism that is historically unique are the military organizations, or storm troops, that dominate the party, & are unconditionally brutal against real or pretended enemies. The "national socialism" of fascist ideology refers to the attempt to increase the satisfaction of the material needs of every member of all SC's within the national community at the expense of other nations. Fascism arises when the petty bourgeoisie is crushed between the ruling class & a strong Wc. It evolves into a movement that attempts to smash worker's organizations on its road to power, & ends up implementing the program of the big bourgeoisie since the petty bourgeois movement has no solutions for capitalism's crisis. A. Karmen.