Do Fascists fear Communists?

[Culicarius]

So while going through school and being in history classes and listening to those around me, I was led to believe that Communism and Fascism are essentially the same thing. Now I of course know how much bullshit that is.

Now I think (and I'm wondering if I'm right or going in the right direction) that they're more opposite; fascism is far right while communism is far left. Fascism consolidates power in the government and its elites whereas communism is stateless and the workers hold power. From lurking around here it seems that Nazi Germany had a lot of anti-communist propaganda, no? I imagine Italy was the same in that case.

And I've read up on people like Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht who seem to have been murdered in cold blood by a right-wing army, in which many of its members then joined the Nazi party. (Friekorps I think it was?)

Am I correct in thinking that fascism and communism are opposites, and essentially fascists are afraid of communism because its ideas directly contradict their own and present a threat to their power?

[tuwix]

I think that fascists aren't afraid of communism because they know nothing about it. They are afraid of anarchists because they beat them.

[Atsumari]

Back in the day, they were very afraid of communists because the two factions became rivals after liberal governments collapsed often leaving them as the two major factions to seize power.
Nowadays, it seems like the far-right fear of the radical left because of "degenerate values" such as race mixing, feminism, and homosexuality rather than national pride, at least that is the impression I got when talking to them.

[Sewer Socialist]

Yes, the many communists of RevLeft will agree that fascism is a far-right reactionary movement, while communism is a radical left-wing movement. Historically, fascism is often a reaction to a threatening communist movement, a last ditch effort of the bourgeoisie to maintain their position at the top of class society.

[jullia]

Well, there is an expression who said:
"Fascist isn't an ennemy, it's an angry guy, angry in the wrong way"
I'am not sure if this sentance really accurate.:confused:
I think, it's just a "political" sentance to fight against the rise of nationalism and the fall of communism.

[Comrade #138672]

They used to be very afraid, because back then there was actually a communist mass movement.

[Tim Cornelis]

Basically if you make a list of core characteristics of fascism and you then just think of the absolute opposite of those, you have communism.

Fascism:

Reactionary,
Ultranationalist
Class collaborationist
Totalitarian state
Private property under state control


Opposites:

Radical,
Internationalist
Class struggle
Stateless
Common ownership under free association



Historically, fascism is often a reaction to a threatening communist movement, a last ditch effort of the bourgeoisie to maintain their position at the top of class society.

"Like Bonapartism, Thalheimer argued, fascism came to power after “an unsuccessful proletarian onslaught ended with the demoralization of the working class, while the bourgeoisie, exhausted, distraught and dispirited, cast around for a saviour to protect its social power.”13 This interpretation had far more accuracy than the Comintern’s Third Period line that fascism was capitalism’s last-ditch defense against the rising threat of proletarian revolution."

http://sdonline.org/47/two-ways-of-looking-at-fascism/

I agree with Thalheimer here. Fascist movements did not come to power at the height of class conflict.

[The Idler]

Nazism became a popular working-class movement because it aped workerism and class war (even talking about opposition to capitalism) when the mainstream didn't think class struggle as a reality. Most mainstream parties still reject class struggle so naturally a party that identifies this reality gets popular with workers. Fascist workers class consciousness turns out to be quite different from socialist class consciousness though. Look at Ernst Röhm and Strasserism for left-wing fascism. Needless to say, fascism is a disaster for the working-class.

[contracycle]

They are opposite poles, but they share this in common: they both do away with the obfuscatory mysticism of capitalism. As such, the idea of a 'third way' is bollocks - 'political centrism' is a hostage to events.