The Anatomy of Fascism (text only) by R. O. Paxton

by R. O. Paxton

Excellent Book

Genres: History

Paperback

Published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Timothy Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paxton does an excellent job of laying out exactly what fascism is.... At the end of the book. He looks mainly at the historical examples of Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy, the only "true" fascisms to exist. Unfortunately, Paxton lays out his examples with a bit of heavy-handedness against conservatism, when clinging to national value and identity isn't inherently fascist. He does a good job, however, examining other would-be examples across the world and across history. All in all, great essay, though a bit hard to read at times.

[Kraig Puccia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Throughout the course of Robert Paxton’s book, The Anatomy of Fascism, Paxton navigates the various European nations in which fascist movements took place, analyzing their similarities and differences to better understand the term “fascism” and develop a working definition. Reading this book, noting discussions forwarded by Allardyce, Griffen, and Kallis, there are noticeable similarities in some of their definitions to Paxton’s own conclusion. Many of the elements as we have previously discussed in class (idealist/vitalist/voluntarist philosophy, authoritarianism, state nationalized economic structures, warmongering, goals of empire, etc.) are included in Paxton’s own definition of “fascism,” but casts a much wider net in his writing as to broaden his definition to make “fascism” appear to be a far more dynamic process than others we have read describe. In his concluding remarks, Paxton offers the following definition of “fascism”:

“a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in an uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.” (Paxton 218)

This definition addresses many, if not all, of the prongs to satisfy Griffen’s “fascist minimum,” including the ideological negations, such as neoliberalism, communism, and conservatism (recognizing that right-wing groups were often the basis of support for the fascist party through alliances or partnerships), Paxton indicates that there were very necessary conditions necessary for fascist movements to take place. These conditions included the “obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood,” all of which were experienced and felt by Italy and Germany (for the purposes of “generic fascism”) following World War I, and created the conditions in which the populations were willing to abandon “democratic liberties” and pursue “redemptive violence.” In these two countries, and many others that Paxton analyzes, there is a perceived slight or failure on the part of democratic society such that the people were willing to surrender their civil liberties in favor of a strong leader.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Paxton’s book is his explanations for authoritarianism and its place in a fascist model. While Griffen and others recognized it blankly as an inherent aspect of fascism, Paxton contends that it was much more complicated than that, partly due to the conditions in which fascism was allowed to flourish. Fascist authoritarianism was not forcefully in charge in the same manner as the Tzars of Russia and how they wielded their power and influence, or other oppressive regimes in the past. Fascist authoritarianism worked because the people in charge realized and effectively channeled the support of the masses to achieve national economic success, organization, and unity. This was a new phenomenon in European politics, because whereas other conservative regimes had feared popular rule and mass political participation, the fascists welcomed participation by the people, making it a populist movement more so than anything else. The empowering message that fascism had for the lower and middle classes of European nations fostered unity, and with it, mass political participation and enfranchisement, which is contradictory to other elitist models favored by traditional conservative groups who favored an educated ruling class. Now, there was a distinct emphasis on anti-intellectualism to suppress opposition voices.

Lastly, the difference between Griffen’s and Paxton’s understanding of “fascism” as being something for export, or being widely available on the international stage, is interesting because whereas Griffen mentions that “Fascism is not for export,” according to Mussolini at least, Hitler was happy to see more nations turn fascist such that they could align themselves and their interests on the global stage. According to Paxton, this was not the case. Instead, Hitler did not actively advocate for countries to turn fascist, although he would be happy to establish satellite governments in those that did. Griffen, meanwhile, advocates stronger fascist factionalism on the world stage.

[Henry Yuen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but detailed study of the fascist movements in Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy. Paxton was a Columbia historian, and the work is analytical and does thoughtful comparisons and draws distinctions with other authoritarian movements. It gives a working definition of fascism, or at least the operational characteristics of it. It's of course very interesting to examine historical parallels with features of the present day... it's unsettling, to say the least. This was written in 2003, long before the rise of Trumpism and the Tea Party and all that. The copious end notes are also very interesting.

[Preston Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucid, compelling, accessible, thorough

[Matthew Buchholtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with clarity, precision, and restraint, its argument is rendered undeniable. Read it, learn it, love it. And whatever you do, don’t forget it.