Fascist Ideology Quotes
English conservatives were so fearful of socialism and communism that they applauded the efforts of even fascist dictators in putting down labor unions or anything that was favored by the left. Even Churchill ignored the anti-democratic and dictatorial behavior of Mussolini, as did many other British conservatives. The very regimes that some of the British aristocracy supported then turned on England and the democratic world and threatened their very existence. Churchill was chastened by the lesson he learned. The quotation also illustrates how political leaders learn and grow from their experiences and actions. Churchill was not prime minister when he sent this communication. For other politicians who made the same error as Churchill see {623198}. {623200} and {623201}.
Many notables of the left and the right supported Mussolini in his early political days. Virtually all of the worst dictators were welcomed by many when they first appeared on the scene. Human nature seems to have us all looking for exceptional leaders and statesmen and that is exactly what the dictator relies upon to acquire power, By the time most recognize the truth, the dictator has control of all the levers of compulsion. Many Americans were fooled just as the Europeans were. For others, see {623202}. {623200} and {623201}.
At the time Ford was considering running for President and some of the American right wing extremists were encouraging him to do so. Hitler had demonstrated how his fascist storm troopers would intimidate a major city as he had done it first in Munich and later in most other German cities. At the time, Ford and his supporters were delighted to have the support of such an important modern world leader as Hitler. The American Nazi Party's first president, Heinz Spanknoebel, was an employee at the Ford Motor Company. Fritz Julius Kuhn, leader of the pro-Nazi German-American Bund, worked at Ford off and on. As Hitler’s practices and policies were more and more exposed, and WWII began, this quotation made any political role for Henry Ford very difficult. Ford was the only American named in Hitler’s maniacal book Mein Kampf. He describes Ford as the only American who is not controlled by Hitler’s paranoid view of the Jewish conspiracy. Ford himself was an anti-Semite. See related quotes. Hitler awarded Ford the German Eagle Order Medal—the only American to have ever received it. It was reserved for those who assisted the Nazi Party outside of Germany. Benito Mussolini was another recipient.
The “Blue Shirts” were so called because of the color of the shirts that the young fascist thugs of the Nationalists wore in China—a color later adopted by the communists for dress. European Fascists tended to have young thug “enforcement” type battalions which were named for the color of their shirts: “Brown Shirts” in Germany, “Black Shirts” of the Fascist movement in England. Ironically, the Red Scare after WWII, convinced American leaders to support Chiang (who called himself and his party the “nationalists”) who was a deep admirer of fascism himself. Chiang’s version of Fascism which combined European type Fascism with traditional Asian warlordism and corruption alienated the majority of the Chinese peasants. America was forced to choose between Chiang led corrupt Nationalist fascists, and Mao led communists. We chose Chiang, but Mau and the Communists won. Chiang’s forces then seized Taiwan and this was the only part of China that did not go communist. After Chiang’s death, the island mini-nation became less fascist and more democratic, and by the 1990’s became a full-fledged democracy.
This quotation comes as a surprise to most readers who are amazed that the first American Legion National Commander described the role of the Legion as parallel to that of Mussolini and the Fascists of Italy. The early Legion leadership were themselves very right wing and fascistic themselves. See {640098} which shows that the Legion of that time was fomenting race hatred against Asians. The Legion leadership was not alone in its fascist tendencies; many of the right wingers from Charles Lindbergh to Joseph Kennedy—father of JFK were admirers of the fascists and advocated many of their practices. They even praised Hitler and Mussolini.
The class distinction that existed in Germany after WWI was immense. The Ehrhardt Brigade was an elite military unit which functioned as a right wing death squad in the German Revolution in 1920. Unlike other German military divisions whose anthems glorified Germany and threatened other nations, the “enemy” of the Ehrhardt Brigade was the working class German. This was the marching song that they sang while marching through the country. They were one of the units that made the Swastika popular and they were the kind of unit that presaged Nazism coming shortly. Imagine the class hostility that must have existed for such an anthem to be socially and governmentally acceptable.
