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help! influences of totalitarian ideologies..

I need to write an essay:

To what extent were the 20th century totalitarian ideologies based on 19th century ideas?

I don't really know how to start, what to say, I've never studied any of the philosophers, wishing I took philosophy now.. but all I have to go on is:

Italian and German Fascism
- Gobineau (social darwinism and racial theory)
- Nietzche
- Otto von Bismark

Soviet Communism
- Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
- Hegel

I've studied said totalitarian ideologies, and also know about Gobineau but I'm clueless on how to go about structuring this essay and where to start researching! can anybody help me?

also its due in tomorrow, and I also have to write an essay on why chartism failed for tomorrow aswell.

:eek:

Reply 1

Oddjob39A

tropical-twist3

Take Nietzsche off the list - he despised facsists, hated the Germans and couldn't tolerate anti-semites.

His philosophy *espeically that of the SuperMan* was warped and corrupted by his sister and then altered beyond all recognition by the Nazis in a desperate attempt to gain some level of academic credibility.

Fascism was started by the Romans and the ancient right of senators to bear the 'fasces'

http://www.feastofhateandfear.com/images/fasci8_2.jpg

A symbol of their ability to have anyone who interrupted them in the street/harangued them - beheaded.

The German-fascist seig-heil - and even more so - the salute of Mussollini was a direct borrowing from the Roman legionary salute.

Reply 2

tropical-twist3

Oddjob39A

oh yeah someone mentioned it was corrupted by his sister, who i think i was told was a nazi or nazi sympathiser.
i think it was the idea of ubermensch that was supposedly the influence.
but then using this example of nietzche, be an example of how the nazi ideology was a perversion of nietzche's ideas?

Reply 3

Oddjob39A

tropical-twist3

yeah, you could say it was a perversion/warping of his ideas - but Nietzsche was, if anything, an atheist, anarchistic meritocrat; never a fascist (who were often religious or had religious sympathies i.e. Franco, Hitler, and were vehementley opposed to anything even remotely associated with anarchism. See - Spanish Civil War and the persecution of Communists by the NSDAP)

What you have to remember is that Fascism primarily arose due to the development of Bolshevism. It was something of a reactionary movement. See; Hitler's statements pre 1941 that the real enemy was always really the Soviet Union and also the Spanish Civil war. That's why Hitler created the mish-mash of national socialism; to steal working class votes, by terror or reactionary polices, away from the likes of the SDP and Rosa Luxembourg et al and also why the staged Reichstag fire (which cemented Nazi rule) was blamed on a young communist.

If anything, ironically, Marx and Engels were probably the ones who sowed the seeds for the development Fascism!

The Nazis persecuted the Jews and labelled them Sub-Human but captured Soviet POWs werent even sub-human - they were animals.

Reply 4

tropical-twist3

so my bit on nietzche, the extent of his influence is very limited, rather inspiration than influence?

Reply 5

Oddjob39A

tropical-twist3

so my bit on nietzche, the extent of his influence is very limited, rather inspiration than influence?

Inspired them yes, perhaps, but I wouldn't say he influenced them

Reply 6

tropical-twist3

cool ok. I'm going to try and make that my conclusion. although that'll be more diffcult with the soviet communists because they were more directly influenced by Marxism. but I'm sure I can find examples in which they changed his ideas to suit them. politicians always do.