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| Mussolini and Hitler: two of a kind |
Review
By
Andy Brooks
The
Ruling Class, Fascism and the State: Neil Harris, New Worker pamphlet.
READERS
may think they know all they need to know about Hitler and his legions. But
much of this “knowledge” is simply based on war-time propaganda and post-war
bourgeois assumptions about the roots and rise of fascism.
An endless stream of war-films and documentaries
along with the emphasis on the 20th century in the school syllabus only spreads
the confusion further or as Neil Harris says: “It is nearly a century since
fascism first appeared in Italy, and yet it is as misunderstood now as it was
then. That the story of Hitler and the Nazis’ rise to power are such a major
part of the history taught in our schools makes this a concern, because the
confusion is no accident.
“It is a version of history that is acceptable
to the ruling class and follows a simple but flawed narrative of the 20th
century, namely that the great depression of the 1930’s produced two challenges
to bourgeois democracy and capitalism: from the left, Communism and from the
right, Fascism.”
Neil demolishes the attempt by the
ruling class to portray fascism as an aberration that has nothing to do with
bourgeois rule and at the same time dispels some of the popular myths of
half-baked Marxists and Trotskyists about the rise of Hitler and Mussolini that
are widely held by sections of the broader left today.
In this pamphlet, based on an
opening at a New Communist Party School a couple of years ago, the author uses
the class line to answer three key questions: Why did fascism take over in one
country and not another? Why was it necessary to have a counter revolution when
a revolution was not imminent? And does a fascist seizure of the state, change
the nature of the state?
This is essential reading for anyone
interested in history or involved in the anti-fascist struggle. Neil Harris’ conclusions
may surprise you but you can judge for yourself by ordering this pamphlet,
which cost £2.50 post free from New Worker Lit, PO Box 73 London SW11 PPQ.
