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Fascism's Hidden Marxist Roots: Part One – The Philosophical and Historical Connections



(Opinion) Threads

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This is a complex and highly debated topic, and I have found myself on both sides of the argument. Once again, this is a subject where in the past I had to challenge my own beliefs and make significant adjustments in my understanding of fascism. Consider me a relaxed guide, leading you through some enlightening history. I'm not here to lecture or impose; I aim to present the facts, highlight patterns I've noticed, and let you decide whether you agree with me or not. If you do, that's great; if you don't, that's equally great! I'm not here to change your mind; only you can do that. Think of me as a modest provider of information, a guidepost. What you choose to do with this information, if anything, is entirely up to you.


Remember, don't just take what you're told at face value— we look at what actually happened, so dig into the sources yourself, and connect the dots. That's how real understanding clicks. Today, we're diving into why I see fascism as just another branch off the Marxist tree, and I am far from the only one: Same roots, same tactics for control, same hunger for world domination.


We'll keep it simple, factual, and step-by-step so anyone can follow along. This is Part One, focusing on the core connections through historical figures like Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini. We'll save the deeper dive into Nazism and modern twists for Part Two—there's a lot to unpack, and I don't want to rush it. Alright, let's get started.


For informational and educational purposes only.


First off, let's set the stage with what Marxism really is, because if we don't get this straight, the rest falls apart. Marxism comes from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels back in the 1800s. Their big idea, known as "conflict theory"—which basically says society advances through ongoing clashes between groups with power and those without—is spelled out in things like the Communist Manifesto from 1848. In their view, history moves forward through conflict between classes—the workers versus the bosses. The goal? Overthrow the system where a few rich folks own everything, and build a world where everyone shares the wealth equally.


But here's the key:

They viewed socialism as the initial phase following the revolution, during which the government assumes control of factories, farms, and similar entities to stabilize the situation. Ideally, this phase progresses into full communism—a flawless society without classes or a state, where everyone receives what they need. It seems utopian, doesn't it? However, Marx himself acknowledged that achieving this is challenging, nearly impossible without maintaining complete control throughout the process. Opinion: The core idea behind fascism was born. **


Now, fast-forward to fascism. Most people today think of it as this far-right monster, all about nationalism and strong leaders. But if we open our eyes to verifiable history, you'll see it's got deep Marxist roots— as I like to put it: Fascism and "communism" had a twisted little love child, and they named it progressivism. That is the monster we are dealing with today, and it is far more dangerous than its "parents" ever were by themselves.


The bridge here is Giovanni Gentile, a guy who's been kind of swept under the rug in history books. Gentile was the brain behind Italian fascism, the "philosopher" who gave it its ideas. He co-wrote "The Doctrine of Fascism" in 1932 with Benito Mussolini, the big boss of Italy back then. In that document, fascism is called a "total way of life," where the state swallows up everything—your job, your family, your thoughts—to make one big unified machine. Sound familiar? It's a lot like Marxism's push for the state to run society until classes vanish.


Gentile didn't pull this out of thin air; he built it on G.W.F. Hegel, the philosopher whose ideas about history clashing and evolving directly inspired Marx. Gentile even wrote a book in 1899 called "The Philosophy of Marx," where he broke down Marxism, praised its focus on action and change, but said it needed a national twist to really work. ** He called his version "actualism"—basically, the state as the ultimate force that fixes society's problems through collective (absolute) power. Gentile saw fascism as a beefed-up socialism, even saying something like "Fascism is a form of socialism, in fact, it's the most viable form."

He kept Marxism's core: Using the state to smash individualism and build a new world. The difference? Instead of class war across borders, it's national unity at home. But the endgame is the same—total and absolute control.


Why don't we hear more about Gentile if he is such a pivotal figure? Excellent question! After World War II, when fascism was effectively crushed, his ideas were buried. He was Mussolini's education minister from 1923 to 1924, reshaping schools to push fascist loyalty. But in 1944, anti-fascist fighters killed him, and in the cleanup after the war, Italy and the world wanted to move on. His books linking fascism to Marxism were sidelined—banned in some places, ignored in others. Post-war leaders, including communists and socialists who helped write Italy's new constitution in 1948, focused on making fascism look like a wild "right-wing" outlier. If they admitted its Marxist ties, it might make all those state-control ideas look bad together. So, Gentile became a footnote, helping hide how fascism grew from the same poisonous soil as socialism and "communism," which is, of course, Marxism. Meaning it is, at its core, a left-wing ideology.


This repositioning of fascism might have begun with deliberate choices by key figures in politics and academia to create a clear 'bad guy' divide, but it doesn't require an ongoing conspiracy to persist. As with many ideas, what starts intentionally can take on a life of its own—perpetuated by everyday people, educators, and scholars who've been shaped by the narrative, passing it along without questioning. This self-reinforcing cycle keeps the classification alive, even as evidence of fascism's Marxist roots sits in plain sight.

And hey, I'm not the only one spotting this—intellectuals like Dinesh D'Souza have dug deep into it too. In his book "The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left" from 2017, D'Souza lays out how fascism was born on the left, with roots in socialism, and got rebranded as right-wing after the war. He also points to Gentile as a key player, calling him the "forgotten philosopher" who reworked Marxist ideas for fascism. He also highlights how post-war academics emphasized nationalism to push fascism right, shielding leftist ideologies from association with its horrors. D'Souza's documentaries, like "Death of a Nation" in 2018, back this up with historical clips and quotes, showing Mussolini's socialist start and how the left flipped the script to distance themselves from fascism's stains. It's great corroboration—check out his work because it highly influenced my own research; it lines up perfectly with what we're seeing here.


Now, let's talk Mussolini himself—he's the "living proof" (metaphorically speaking of course) of this connection. Benito Mussolini started as a die-hard socialist. Born in 1883 to a socialist father, he joined the Italian Socialist Party at a young age and ran their newspaper, Avanti, from 1912 to 1914. There, he pushed straight Marxist ideals: Class struggle, worker revolutions, anti-rich rants. He quoted Marx like a bible. But World War I split things—he backed Italy jumping into the conflict, seeing war as a spark for change, kind of like Marx's dialectics, where conflict leads to progress. The socialists kicked him out for that, so in 1919, he started the fascist groups. However, he didn't ditch his socialist roots; he simply tweaked them to fit his own vision.


Early fascist plans, like the 1919 manifesto, called for stuff right out of the socialist playbook: Tax the rich hard, take church land for the poor, let workers run factories, shorten workdays, and nationalize war industries. Mussolini even said in speeches that fascism kept the "alive" parts of socialism but added national pride. By 1925, as dictator, he set up corporatism—where the state grouped workers and bosses into guilds it controlled, ending strikes and directing the economy for "national good." That's not free-market stuff; it's state control, just like Marxist planning in Russia under Lenin. The method differed—fascism rallied around Italy first, not global workers—but the goal was the same: A powerful state owning society's direction, aiming for expansion and dominance. Mussolini's Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935, echoing Marxist dreams of spreading ideology worldwide.


This brings us to the tactics—they're almost identical. Both fascism and Marxism use total control: one-party rule, crushes opposition, spreads propaganda, indoctrinates children, and builds leader cults. Fascism had secret police like OVRA; Marxism had the Cheka in Russia. Both hate liberal democracy—too weak, too individual-focused. They want a "new man" shaped by the state. Gentile's ideas made fascism "spiritual Marxism," where the nation replaces class as the big unifier. Strip away the national flag, and it's all but impossible to tell them apart. They're not adversaries battling over land or wealth; they're siblings competing for the whole bag of marbles- dominance over humanity.


And yeah, this all adds up to why fascism got shoved to the "right." Academics and leaders after the war latched onto nationalism as the big difference—calling it "ultra-nationalism" or "reactionary"—to make fascism seem opposite to communism. But that's extremely flimsy in my opinion when we look at the rest: Shared anti-capitalism, state economy, revolutionary fire. Without nationalism, fascism is exposed for what it truly is, just another Marxist tweak.


The shift wasn't a snap; it was a slow burn through schools and books. Post-war textbooks in Italy and the US painted fascism as "extreme right," ignoring socialist bits like worker guilds. Over 20-30 years, it stuck—generations learned it that way. The lie became the truth in people's minds through good old-fashioned repetition.


Wrapping Up Part One: Fascism's Marxist roots are clear—same philosophy via Gentile, same socialist start with Mussolini, same tactics and domination dreams. The only real split is method: Nation vs. class. But don't stop here—dig in, check facts. In part two, we will hit Nazism and a lot more. Remove the political bullshit, the designed-to-deceive textbooks, agenda-driven rhetoric, and just run it all through a good old-fashioned common-sense filter, and the pattern becomes undeniably clear to me, and it proves fascism to be just another twisted version of Marxism, making it a left-wing ideology at its core. That is my case for proof, so you decide.


If you want to dig even deeper, see you in part 2.



Bibliography and References for Part One

 
 
 

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