Fascism in Action

"Professor ... [i]n 1868... wrote, "A state is unable to commit any crime." This... paraphrased..l.l doctrines of Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814)... who said:in relations with other States neither law nor right exists, except the right of the strongest. These relations place in the hands of the prince responsible to Fate the divine right of the Majesty of Destiny and of the Government of the world."

"During the sixteenth century, Niccolo Machiavelli... in... The Prince (1513): "The Prince must know how to do wrong." This idea the fascist state joins with the thought that political frontiers are... power-political situations... a temporary front line held... during the lull between wars.14 Nations... must grow or wither, expand or decline, but... cannot stand still.15 The struggle for... space and power is unavoidable and everlasting. ...[T]he state and ...leader must do everything, regardless of... [ethics], which... promote... interests of his State. The leader "must not fear to kill nor to bear the brand of infamy."16 Treaties which stand in the way... must be regarded as "scraps of paper"... falsehood and deceit are... instruments of international politics."

"How thoroughly these principles were applied by Hitler... he... with only apparent inconsistency, could say in 1935... "National Socialism has no aggressive intentions against any European nation";17 in 1936, "we have no territorial demands to make in Europe"18 (shortly thereafter to foment the international crisis over the Sudeten lands of ); in 1938, "we do not want any Czechs"19 (annexation shortly thereafter); in January 1939, "in these weeks we are celebrating the fifth anniversary of the conclusion of the nonaggression pact with Poland. Between them and us peace and understanding shall reign"20 (unannounced invasion came 8 months later); in September 1938, "we have called upon the constructive elements in all countries to fight in common against "21 (to be followed in 1939, by a nonaggression pact hailed as a "triumph for common sense").22"

"The economic ideal of fascism... is economic autarchy. No imports, keep out the foreigner, substitutes (Ersatz), expansion by conquest, colonization, amalgamation, barter arrangements, agreements... are... favored... The era of free world trade and individualism is regarded as past. The future, they say, belongs to the giant totalitarian fortress economy."

"Such ideas go back hundreds of years to... seventeenth and eighteenth century English mercantilists... Philipp Hoernigh... (Austria a Ruler of the World If It Wills It)... Kameralists in Prussia... to Colbert and other mercantilists in France, Italy, and Spain."

"Friedrich List... is frequently held... most responsible for popularizing modern fascist or totalitarian economics. Returning from the United States where he had come under the influence of the... nationalism of Henry Clay and the protectionism of Alexander Hamilton, List in 1842, published The National System of Political Economy in which he insisted that Germany needed complete and economic isolationism coupled with expansion over... the North and Baltic Seas to the Black Sea and the Adriatic."

"When List's ideas... joined... geopolitical teachings of Haushofer... [their] program... called for a greater German Reich... [concentrating] all strategic technological skills and productivity. All other European states were to be colonies providing s, and when... [needed,] low-paid labor.26 ...Ernst Hasse spoke ...1905 of filling Germany's ...heavy and dirty work by "our condemning alien European stocks, the Poles, Czechs, Jews, Italians ...to these helot's occupations."27"

"[A]reas beyond fascist political dominance... for international economic relationships is... . It is waged in times of peace, as well as during... hostilities, only in less violent form."

"The economy... is one of mercantilism, economic autarchy, corporate aggrandizement coupled with colonialism and imperialism, a self-sufficient area thoroughly organized and controlled, continuously waging ."

"The economic doctrines of fascism... run... counter to democratic principles. Basic freedoms... as freedom of occupation, free competitive markets, free international flow of goods, services and capital, and free private enterprise... are... greatly restricted or eliminated."

"[F]ascism... is deeply rooted in ancient ideas and institutions. Politically, it has drawn generously upon the theories of absolutism, the supreme right of kings, dictatorship and tyranny, ideas older than the ancient Pharaohs, Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, and Caesar."

"[F]ascism reverts to a mercantilism, the supposed destruction of which, by Adam Smith in... Wealth of Nations... is often considered... the beginning of scientific economics."

"[F]ascism is an effort to turn back the spread of Christian concepts of the brotherhood of man — against all liberal, humanitarian ideas which have pioneered the emancipation of the underprivileged, racially, culturally, and socially."

"In subsequent chapters we shall see how it actually worked out..."

"Fascism in Action: Documented Study and Analysis of Fascism in Europe. House Document 401, 80th Congress, ist Session, 1947. 206 p. 45¢ 80-1:H, Doc. 401. The tenets of fascist totalitarianism as they affect politics, economics, and the life of the individual. Illustrated by frequent references to original sources."