Oxbridge Rejection

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Consie

My worst answer was probably an attempt to pull the wool over an interviewers eyes. He basically asked the difference between fascism and Nazism and I was like 'isn’t fascism so circumstance dependant that it can’t be defined?' and he was like 'no......I repeat, define the difference'

So what did you ultimately say? I must say that is a very difficult question to give a 17/18 year old A level student, given the inter-disciplinary arguments about generic fascism or the lack thereof.

Reply 161

Chruchill

Isn't Nazism specific to Germany whereas fascism is a general ideology that can be held by anyone, they don't have to specifically follow the Nazis or be a member of the party.

Reply 162

Consie

There was actually a very nice, clearly set out, explanation of potential differences in that ‘Studying History Book’ by McRalid and that other chap but I just never read that bit, which was dumb given I sent in an essay on the Nazis. I think I said something about Nazism being distinct from, although slightly related to and sharing fundamental aspects with, fascism because it was so inextricable with German history shortly before Hitler got to power. The need for dramatic rebirth, national community, a new goal, ect (all of which are usually present to an extent in fascism), were particularly unique in Germany’s case because it had been in a rather unique position losing the first ever world war, getting a lot of it cut up, and having its first democratic government (something they deffo wernt used to) fail. There’s also the unique aspects of the 1924 period of hyperinflation (stemming from the uniqueness of losing WW1 and its reparations ect) and of course the ’29 crash. Those things helped characterise what Nazism specifically wanted to fix or change and thus altered it from being a generic version of fascism into quite a distinct ideology based around a specific nation’s specific history, so you couldn’t exactly transfer it and get similar results in another country. I cant remember if I referred to the particularly strong racial aspect (if you’re an intentionalist) and the personality cult of Hitler being particulary unique. I guess you get a racial aspect/personality cult in any fascistic regime given its highly nationalist and needs a storng leader, but I think everyone agrees Hitler was a one off.

The thing this, I don’t know much about fascism in general. I know nothing of Mussolini’s Italy, so it probably limited my answer a lot. I think Mussolini wanted to recreate Rome, which you could argue is similar to the idea of rebirth and e.g. Hitler idolising Freddy the Great, but I don’t think that stirs emotions up as much given rome was nearly 2 millennia before yet Germany getting brought to its knees was very, very, recent history in Hitler’s case.

If that sounds like bull****, its because it is, I was just trying to bat it away as quickly as I could so I could get onto another question.

Sorry to invade thread with me reminising.

I reckon the 'should we apologise for slavery' question and me having to summarise/argue about a document on the evolution of intellectual history is what got me in. I blew that document away baby.

EDIT: what Churchill said basically :P

Reply 163

Niccolo

Chruchill

Isn't Nazism specific to Germany whereas fascism is a general ideology that can be held by anyone, they don't have to specifically follow the Nazis or be a member of the party.

yes but I suppose that by the same token you could also argue that British conservatism is specific only to Britain, and that the type found in the US, for example, is different and ought to be named differently. Or is there a 'generic' conservatism, a codified set of conservative values to which conservatives worldwide subscribe? It gets a bit tricky when trying to distinguish between 'general' ideologies and specfic mutations or nuanced versions of these unique to each country; after all, how do we define the 'general' ideology itself? We only have how these ideologies have been applied, in practice, to go on. Most ideological traiditions-liberalism, socialism, conservatism-are broadly similar in some ways, but diverge (often widely) depending on the context or country in which they have been used, owing to specific historical circumstances. I guess I am just trying to say, how do we know what the 'standard' or 'generic' ideology is, given that this is the case? 'Isms' are thus only really useful when used as shorthand; they need, in my experience, to be qualifed. Unless of couse you are talking about the original fascism, as in where it was first coined-Italy. The whole thing confuses me slightly. I do not believe that there is a 'standard' or generic fascism, other than some constant and general themes consistent in each of its manifestations.

Anyone else have any thoughts? As you may have guessed, I love debating this!

Reply 164

Chruchill

The question was something like: What is the difference between Nazism and fascism? The fact that one of these is nearly always capitalised while the other one isn't gives the game away. The most reliable source on the planet, Wikipedia, gives Nazism as:

a form of National Socialism, refer(ing) primarily to the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers' Party), under Adolf Hitler.

However it defines fascism as:

an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests subordinate to the needs of the Nation, and seeks to forge a type of national unity, usually based on, but not limited to, ethnic, cultural, or racial attributes.

Therefore the difference is that Nazism is more or less a German subset of fascism.

Niccolo

The 'Conservatives' are specific only to Britain, and the 'Republicans' are specific to the USA. They are both meant to have a conservative ideology, but due to the different natures of each country blatantly don't follow the same policies. Any political ideology when applied to a party is really quite subjective. A party is generally liberal/conservative as compared to another, not outright liberal/conservative in my opinion.

I do not believe that there is a 'standard' or generic fascism, other than some constant and general themes consistent in each of its manifestations.

True, all ideologies are constantly changing. I mean look at Marxism and how that developed.

Damn this is so off topic...:P

Oxbridge Rejection

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