What is a Fascist?
Dan Snow's History Hit
00:00
The History of Fascism in Italy and Germany
Why do we remember fascism as right wing? And what happens, those kind of leftist ambitions within it? Well, it's complicated because fascism and Nazism are so difficult. Fascism in Italy grows out of somebody who's actually moved from communism to nationalism. The only trace of socialism is the idea of there being a very large dose of what we now see as a welfare state. But this was driven by demographics. Italy under fascism was basically socially engineered to create more babies. That meant better health and maternity clinics and demographic policies which sort of look left wing. But it's really for nationalist purposes - exactly the same thing in Germany.
Transcript
Play full episode
