Communism and Fascism

Amber Strobbe April 28, 2011 Communism/Fascism essay In this essay we are to compare and contrast communism and fascism. The two are alike in some ways but they were never meant to be alike therefore they are very different from each other. Communism is a theoretical economic system of a political movement based on common ownership and the means of production. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were both socialists who believed that communism was desirable for a system of government because it implies the full realization of freedom. They believed that with communism, people could do anything they wanted and nobody would be oppressed. Socialism and communism were often used interchangeably in the late 18th century. Still both Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels realized that socialism was a stage leading up to communism. There were still class differences in socialism and they believed that communism would be the last stage of society with no class differences, freedom for everyone, and no government. A lot of people in Russia were very pleased with this thinking, accepting it and hoping that soon their country would become communist. They believed that if there was freedom for them and at the same time no government or class differences, they could all live in agreement. Fascism was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. It was the system of government that exercised a dictatorship of the extreme right. It combined the elements of totalitarian, nationalism, militarism, and anti-Communism. It was opposed to socialism, liberalism, democracy and individualism. Basically, fascism was that the government had all authority, they governed and controlled every single person in the country. Fascist state had control over all aspects of political, social, cultural, and economic life.