Compare And Contrast Nazi And Italian Fascist Views On Race And National Identity

It is very clear that there are several differences in Nazi and Italian Fascist views towards race, however there is some common ground between Nazi and Italian Fascist views towards national identity. This essay will compare Nazi and Italian Fascist views in terms of race and national identity by discussing National Chauvinism, opposition from Nazi and Italian Fascists to existing ideologies, integral nationalism and ultranationalism. This essay will contrast Nazi and Italian Fascists views in terms of race and national identity by discussing the Jewish Question, the Nation and the Volk. This essay intends to argue that there are some identifiable similarities between Nazi and Italian Fascist views towards national identity. Nazi and Italian Fascists both believe in superiority, both are based on opposition to existing ideologies and both are integrally and ultranationalist. This essay also intends to argue that Nazi and Italian Fascists share quite opposite views in terms of race. Nazi and Italian Fascists have differing opinions over the Jewish question, what the nation is based on and who can be a member of the nation. The main argument of this essay is that several comparisons can be made between Nazi and Italian Fascist views towards national identity, however several contradictions can be made between Nazi and Italian Fascist views towards race, Nazism concentrates on race whereas Italian Fascism concentrates on the nation.

Nazi and Italian Fascists were both proponents of national chauvinism. National chauvinism is the belief in superiority of a particular nation and the inferiority of others. The Nazi's and Italian Fascists believed that people were divided into either inferior or superior races and the superior races had the right to pursue aggressive expansionist foreign policies. In Nazism the Aryan was the superior race, Aryan's were distinguished by their physical presence and beauty and were a complete opposite of the Jewish race. In Italian Fascism, the nation was superior, the Publication Partitio e Impere encouraged the Italian people to expand indefinitely to instil a sense of superiority over inferior people. The war in Abyssinia in 1935 was defended with the claim that the Ethiopians were incapable of ruling themselves, hence implying the Ethiopians were an inferior nation. Robert Pearce states that Mussolini was baffled by Hitler's ideas of racial purity and superiority as Mussolini concluded that the Germans were made up of several different races. Nazi and Italian Fascism differ over membership of the race and nation however both Nazi and Italian Fascism incorporate superiority of the race or the nation. In Nazism the Aryan race is superior and in Italian Fascism the Italian nation is superior. Nazi and Italian Fascism are similar as superiority and inferiority are major elements of Nazi and Italian Fascism. Nazi and Italian Fascism are both proponents of national chauvinism thus meaning both types of Fascism focus on superiority, Italian Fascism focuses on the superiority of the nation, Nazism focuses on the superiority of race. Nazi and Italian Fascism both encompass inferiority, Nazism centres on the inferiority of the Jewish race where as Italian Fascism revolves around the inferiority of other nations. Nazi and Italian Fascism are similar as they believed the nation or the race needed to expand in order to survive. Nazi and Italian Fascism are both nationally chauvinistic therefore superiority, inferiority and a desire to survive are all major elements of both Nazi and Italian Fascism however Nazism converges around race whereas Italian Fascism converges around the nation.

Nazi and Italian Fascism oppose existing ideologies therefore they can be described in terms of what they are against, thus meaning that Nazi and Italian Fascism are similar as they are both anti-movements. The Nazi view of race can be found in Hitler's Mein Kampf, Hitler blames the Jewish race for the downfall of the German people. Hitler's desire to eliminate the Jewish race indicates that the Nazis are anti-Jewish therefore demonstrating Nazism is an anti-movement. Hitler and Mussolini both used wounded national feelings to restore faith in the national identity of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Hitler and Mussolini were both portrayed as messiahs, the saviours of Germany and Italy. Hitler said that the Aryan race would secure Germany's future and ensure the survival of the Aryan race. Mussolini promised a return to the might and glory of the Roman Empire's foreign policy and rapid economic and social progress. Fascism in Italy and Nazi Germany was a response to the current existing ideologies of Marxism and Capitalism and in order to overcome these ideologies Hitler and Mussolini were attempting to bring about a rebirth of the national identity. A rebirth of national identity via the "New man", in Nazism the Aryan race represented the "New man" and in Italian Fascism the soldiers of the Roman Empire provided the model for the "New man". Nazism and Italian Fascism were anti -Marxist and anti-Capitalist therefore against the existing appearance of German and Italian national identity. A central part of Nazism was discrimination towards the Jewish race, making it heavily anti-Jewish. Nazism intended to bring about the "New man" biologically via the Aryan race whereas Italian Fascism intended to restore national identity by making Italy a glorious nation once again. Nazism specifies biological and racial rebirth whereas Italian Fascism dictates rebirth of the nation. Nazi and Italian Fascism are both anti movements, they are distinguished by what they are against, Nazism is anti-Jewish, both Nazi and Italian Fascism are anti-Marxist, anti-Capitalist and oppose their existing national identities. The only difference is that Nazism planned to restore national identity racially whereas Italian Fascism intended to concentrate on restoration of national identity through rebirth of the nation.

Nazi and Italian Fascism are both integrally nationalist, meaning that the individual and the national interest are one. Nazi and Italian Fascism are also ultranationalist, palingenetic ultranationalism was present in Nazism and Italian Fascism. Palingenetic ultranationalism is where society works together in order to achieve national rebirth. Italian Fascism was a totalitarian system that required Italians to participate and contribute in the national regeneration of Italy. Nazism stressed the importance of the Volksgemeinschaft where hard work and working towards the Führer would be rewarded. Nazi and Italian Fascism were trying to instil a sense of unity in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy by suggesting that the members of the nation were working in order to secure national goals and bring about a rebirth of national identity. Italian Fascism attempted to create unity through organic factors such as culture and consciousness and Nazism attempted to create unity through racial biology. Nazi and Italian Fascism are both integrally nationalist as in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy the individual and national interests of each nation are one. Nazi and Italian Fascism are both ultranationalist and using palingenetic ultranationalism, created a sense of unity through desire for national rebirth. Italian Fascism maintained a palingenetic approach, desire for national rebirth via the rebirth of the nation, unlike Nazism which adopted ethnocentric ultranationalism, a desire for rebirth biologically which resulted in Genocide. In Italian Fascism the nation is more important and in Nazism the race is more important.

The Nazi's and Italian Fascists contrast over the Jewish question. Hitler expressed in Mein Kampf that the Jewish race would expand constantly in order to dominate the world. Mussolini admitted to carefully watching the Jews but he maintained that the Jewish question was not the same as in Germany . Anti-Semitism was absent in Fascist Italy as there were only 50,000 Jews which made up around 0.1 per cent of the population. Nazi and Italian Fascists differ as Italian Fascism was free from racism and anti-Semitism where as Nazism was not, Mussolini insisted Italian Fascism incorporated aspects of liberalism, conservatism and socialism. However after 1937 Mussolini was convinced that Germany would soon become the predominant European superpower and that it would be beneficial for Italy to align itself towards Nazi Germany. The Manifesto of Race (July 1938) contradicted Mussolini's previous anti-racist stance and declared that a pure Italian race had come into existence and that the population of Italy was Aryan in its origin. From 1938 - 1943 Italian Jews were not stripped of their citizenship but they were excluded and internment took place, however no anti-Semitic acts took place in the interment camps. Anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany and German occupied Europe was a campaign of extermination which resulted in between four and six million Jews being murdered. The crucial difference between Nazism and Italian Fascism is how the Nazi's and Italian Fascist's put their racial regimes into practice and how different their racial policies were. The Nazis murdered four to six million Jews and the Italian Fascists excluded the Jews. Nazism and Italian Fascism differ from the outset in terms of race as Italian Fascism defined itself by being anti-racist and free from discrimination whereas Nazism was racist from the outset. Mussolini adopted a racial policy in 1938, a contradiction to his prior anti-Semitic stances, which indicates how confident Mussolini was that Germany was to become Europe's main superpower. However, even though Mussolini adopted a racial policy in 1938, how Fascist Italy carried out this policy was completely opposite to Nazi Germany. Nazi and Italian Fascism differ as Nazism followed a policy of racial extermination whereas Italian Fascism followed a policy of racial exclusion.

Nazi and Italian Fascism differ over membership of the nation and what the nation is based upon. In Nazism race is central to everything, in 1939 Hitler stated "Europe cannot find peace until the Jewish question has been solved." Fascist Italy only adopted race legislation in the late 1930s in order to appease Hitler. In Fascist Italy those who shared the Italian culture or consciousness could become members of the Italian nation whereas in Nazi Germany "inferior races" could not become a member of the nation, becoming a member of the Volk depended on blood, not culture or language. In Nazism the Volk is based on race and race is the foundation of all culture, if race is the foundation of all culture, then only pure members can join the nation. Italian Fascism created an organic nation, a nation based on culture where as Nazism created a nation based on racial biology. Nazi and Italian Fascism contrast in terms of the biological make up of the nation. Nazism centres around race and purity where as Italian Fascism concentrates on culture and consciousness. In order to become a member of the German nation (the Volk) you had to be Aryan by blood and you could not be from an "inferior race." In Fascist Italy in order to become a member of the nation you had to share the Italian culture and share Italian consciousness. "Inferior races" could join the Italian nation, in 1938 Mussolini proclaimed his racial laws but Jews that had taken part in World War One or the Fascist movement were immediately exempted. One in three out of Italy's approximate 50,000 Jewish population was a member of the Italian Fascist party. Nazi and Italian Fascism do not conform when comparing the criteria of what is required to become a member of the nation. Nazi and Italian Fascism are different as in Nazism membership of the nation is based on race, purity and superiority while Italian Fascism allows so called "inferior races" to become part of the nation and the nation is based on culture and consciousness.

Nazi and Italian Fascism are both nationally chauvinistic, superiority of the race is the focal point of Nazism and superiority of the nation is at the heart of Italian Fascism. Nazi and Italian Fascism are both anti-movements, they stood against the existing ideologies of Capitalism and Marxism and wanted to bring about a rebirth of national identity, biologically in Nazism and through the rebirth of the nation in Italian Fascism. Nazi and Italian Fascism are both integrally nationalist and ultranationalist, the nation, national identity and national goals converged into one in order to create a sense of unity through national rebirth. Nazism embraced ethnocentric ultranationalism. Nazi and Italian Fascism differ in relation to the Jewish question. Nazism was anti-Semitic from the beginning where as Italian Fascism incorporated liberalism, socialism and conservatism. Mussolini did adopt racial legislation in 1938 but Mussolini's racial legislation did not cause the death of four to six million Jews. Nazi and Italian Fascism contrast each other as to who can become a member of the nation and what the nation is based upon. Nazism based membership of the nation on blood and superiority whereas Italian Fascism based membership of the nation on culture, consciousness and "inferior races" could join the Italian Fascist nation. Overall Nazi and Italian Fascism share similarities in terms of national identity as they are both nationally chauvinistic, anti-movements and are integrally and ultranationalist but Nazi and Italian Fascism are different in terms what the nation is based upon, who can become a member of the nation and how Nazism and Italian Fascism executed their racial policies. The defining feature between Nazi and Italian Fascism is that Nazism concentrates on race and not the nation whereas Italian Fascism concentrates on the nation and not race.

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