Critically compare and contrastfascism and communism.In this essay, I will be analysing the key differences andsimilarities between communism and fascism and providing descriptions of thesystems with in depth background information on how they came represent the modern-dayidea of what they stand for. This includes their origins, purpose, views and keythemes.Communism is the idea that all property and wealth are ownedand controlled by the state to create a classless society. A classless societyis one in which there are no differences between the wealthy and the poor,between genders or between races. The most common form of communism is Marxistcommunism although there are other forms as well. This socioeconomic systempromotes equality and communal hard work to progress a nation’s economy andsocial wellbeing.Fascism is not so easily defined as various social scientistshave different opinions of what fascism is. In a general sense, Fascism is aneconomic system with heavy emphasis on political structure but mainly focuseson a nation state’s social layout being determined by the ruling dictator. Themain themes that are promoted are militarism, youth and masculinity and anyidea that challenges the state is undesirable. For example, liberalism,communism, conservatism and democracy are actively shunned and gender and raceequality are not relevant.The idea of a communist philosophy dates to 1516 in the form of a fictional book called Utopia written by Thomas More which was about a society where common ownership of property was the way of life. The most recognised origin of modern day communism is seen to be associated with the Prussian-born Karl Marx and German philosopher Friedrich Engels who published the 1848 Communist Manifesto. Marx saw the industrial revolution as the exploitation of the working classes through capitalism. In their book, the two proposed a system where property is owned communally through a classless state, eliminating the differences between the wealthy elite and the working classes. They believed that the formation of such a state would remove many of societies issues caused by inequality and lead mankind towards a new age of progress. Marx and Engels never described how such a society could be formed which left others to determine how this could be achieved. Around 1917 just after the Russian revolution, Vladimir Leninwas the leader of Russia’s communist party and he established the direction andstructure that his ideology would take. He envisioned a global communist statewhich was not different from Marx’s idea of a worker’s revolution. Lenin’s goalwas to influence communism and develop it across Europe but internal powerstruggles led to the dismissal or exile of prominent party leaders such as LeonTrotsky which left the Russian communist regime at the mercy of opportunistsafter Lenin’s death. This left the path open for Joseph Stalin to take powerand he believed that solidifying his power was more important than dealing withtheoretical struggles. Communisms development in the modern world was majorlyinfluenced by economic issues arising in the 1930’s, most prominently inpost-colonial territories, like much of Africa and Asia and in regions such assouth America where it was politically unstable. Any gains made by communismwere undermined by the lack of economic successes in major communist countriessuch as Russia and China as they tried to take the role of leader in the pushfor communism through military influence and economic dominance which did notwork.Fascism’s primary goal is the glorification of the nation as one state. The origins of fascism can be followed back to nationalist movements in the late 1800’s. Charles Maurras and Geroges Sorel, two French nationalists, wrote about extreme nationalism as a way to develop a more organised and prosperous society. Their writing had an adverse effect on an Italian names Enrico Corradini who advocated the nationalist movement and believed in a state run by the aristocracy with support from anti-democratic groups. This combined with Futurism, a 20th century idea that change must be forced to be progressive (even through violence if need be), led to fascism taking root in Italy just prior to World War One. Fascism was not straightforward however as it took many different forms throughout Europe with many countries taking different approaches to what should define it. This succeeded (Italy, Germany, Spain) or failed (France) based on different circumstances.Despite how differently the processes of development are,fascism does share many of the characteristics of communism. One of the keyelements that both systems share is the emphasis on substantial militarism combinedwith strong nationalism. Other factors that are similar are rejection ofdemocracy, economic conservatism that benefits the rich, opposition to culturaland political liberalism, the idea that power resides with the elites and undera social umbrella, and the desire to form a ‘people’s community’, whereeveryone’s desires are second to the good of the state. In practice, there area few more elements that are similar which is the collaboration of corporationsto benefit the national agenda and complete control of the media causingoverwhelming levels of propaganda.The two systems have varying approaches to social structureand hierarchies. Communism, the type that’s inspired by the communistmanifesto, has the belief that class hierarchies should be removed by the stateand ownership of property and industry should be seized by the government,therefore removing capitalist ideals and combining the classes. They are alsoagainst other social constraints such as ender specific roles. On the other hand,fascism holds to a rigid class structure in which every citizen has apre-determined specific role. This often leads to women being restricted tohousework and raising children and there is normally one ethnic or racial groupthat is superior to the others. For example, unity through ethnicity ornationality is prioritized over diversity and individuality like in Hitler’sregime. Germany under Hitler idolised the Aryan race and the governmentactively sought the eradication of various minorities such as the Jews, Polesand Gypsies throughout world war two. These were not the only groups targetedunder the fascist ideals of ethnic dominance, any group with a real or evenperceived difference was targeted including homosexuals, disabled people andeven communists, throughout the Holocaust.Communism and fascism are both opposed to the democraticmodel but not equally and not in the same way. Fascism looks to be aboveparliamentary freedoms which is strange as fascist leaders such as Mussoliniand Hitler were active participants in democratic politics before their rise topower. After seizing power, these leaders looked to remove other politicalparties, they were against complete suffrage and quickly adapted into dictatorsas a direct cause of their fascist beliefs. Communism however, understands thatdemocracy may be the route to power but that the prevailing outcome ofdemocracy is single-party rule. If a communist majority is elected, then futureelections may take place but the communist party candidates are usually theonly ones eligible to run for office. Party leadership is also based onseniority over political experience and one ruling central committee governsdebate. They decide what is allowed and what is not allowed to be debated andeffectively they establish the party ‘line’ that is to be followed. Fascismpromotes a dictatorship whereas communism leans more towards the concentrationof power within a small group known as the part leadership.Relating back to the economy, fascism allows private businessto flourish so long as the overall economic system is primarily strengtheningthe power and glory of the state. Both Italy and Germany, during the height oftheir fascism in the first half of the 20th century, strived forself-reliance so they could sustain themselves without trading with othercountries. Communism’s main ambition is the equal redistribution of wealthamongst the populace. All people in the country receive an equal share ofdividends for their labour, such as money and food. For this to be enforced theindustry within a country is directly controlled by the government.Both fascism and communism see individual goals and ambitionsas second to the needs of society as a whole. In a communist state, privateproperty and religion are forbidden, the government directly controls wealthand labour and the choice of job or education is removed and the governmentassigns citizens where they are needed. Fascism is very similar as the statecontrols people’s careers and pathways in order to increase their strength butprivate property is not restricted.There are a few modern examples of communism in practise withChina (probably the most famous), Cuba and North Korea being the mostprominently known out of just over 10 communist countries in the world(compared to the 210+ countries). However, China has adopted a few basiccapitalist practises in order to continue the growth of the world’s largest andfastest growing economy. Cuba has also reopened relations with the U.S. Thereare no examples of modern day countries operating under the system of fascismbut neo-fascists (also known as neo-Nazis) are present in many countries.Communism’s view of the world as a whole is easily defined.Communism is an international movement in which a communist from one countrycan see themselves as allies and even friends with an unknown communist inanother country. They have a distrust of high level business as the owners arecapitalists and therefore do not share the same desire for social equality.Fascists are ultra-nationalists who mainly identify themselves with othernations with the same views and strong leaders. A fascist has a distrust forinternationalism and primarily focus on the advancement of their nation whichoften leads to international agreements not being abided by. The concept ofinternational law is not something that they agree with or follow. The two systems also have varying beliefs on war and theirinclusion to it. A fascist nation believes war is good for boosting moral andtherefore a positive thing for the state. The glory that can be attainedthrough the conquest of war is something the state places high value on. Theydeem that war has no adverse effect on the economy and the country gainsstrength through the subjugation of other inferior countries.To conclude, many people see communism, fascism and evencapitalism to be separate forms of government but they all have sharedelements. Capitalism is not part of this comparison but it makes sense to includesome of the features that are similar to communism and fascism. A capitalistsystem encourages the presence of the public domain works, which are shared byall, which follows part of the principle of communism that defines a unitedcommunity as does the practise of a public education system. Employee-ownedcompanies such as John Lewis PLC follow the communist model by allowing workersthe same privileges and rights as the owners. Lobbying is a trait derived fromfascism that is present in capitalist systems, particularly in the U.S, as itpromotes business wealth to influence political outcomes and legislation. Tocompare and contrast fascism and communism is not a simple task as theyconstantly overlap in places and the fact that capitalism also derives someforms of their system shows how complicated this comparison can be.Communism and Fascism are two types of government that are somewhatconnected to each other through loosely adapted philosophies as they both havesimilarities and they also have fundamental differences showing they are twoseparate systems with the underlying belief in the progression of the nationstate.BibliographyBooksKarlMarx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, 1848VladimirLenin, The State and Revolution, Russia, 1918ArchieBrown, the rise and fall of Communism, New York, Vintage, 2010CzeslawMilosz, The Captive Mind, Poland, Instytut Literacki, 1953ShannonKurt Brincat, Communism in the 21st Century, Praeger, 2013RobertO. Paxton, The anatomy of Fascism, London, Penguin, 2005StanleyG. Payne, History of Fascism 1914-1945, Wisconsin, University of WisconsinPress, 1996RogerGriffin, Fascism (Book), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1995Get Help With Your EssayIf you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!Find out more