By Daniel Guerin
Pathfinder Press 1939, 1965
The
Second World War is one of the most written about events in the history of the
world. However, few books give an
accurate view of why the political economic system of fascism erupted in
Germany and Italy. Daniel Guerin is one
of the very few who gave a comprehensive view of why the monstrous system of
fascism became a reality in these two countries.
In
order to explain the relationship between fascism and big business, first we need
to give some background. The first
theoreticians of capitalism were David Ricardo and Adam Smith. Both these economists understood that the
underlying forces of capitalism move the system towards a complete collapse.
Corporate
officers routinely strive to increase sales and cut costs. Because the priority of corporations is
profits, this means that eventually there are more commodities on the market
than people will buy. First, there are
recessions, then depressions. Both seek
to do away with the excess commodities by reducing production and eliminating
jobs. However, with depressions there is
no guarantee that the economy will ever recover.
This
is one of the reasons why Karl Marx and Frederick Engels argued that the only
way for humanity to escape this reality will be with a revolution of workers
and farmers.
The First World War
In
the early years of the twentieth century the British empire was falling
apart. British capitalists had
effectively dominated the economies of the world for quite a long time. Then revolutions erupted in Iran, Russia,
China, and Mexico. Although these
revolutions did not achieve their objectives, the days of British domination of
the world were numbered.
The
emerging world powers attempting to replace the British were Germany and the
United States. The defeat of Germany in
the First World War was followed by the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty forced the German people to pay
for the war and contributed to the collapse of the economy in that
country. However, by 1929 the capitalist
system plunged the entire world into an international depression.
When
capitalists loose their ability to profit off of investments, they continue to
have resources they use to revive their economy. In Germany and Italy capitalists used their
enormous resources to fund fascist political organizations. German capitalists actually funded the
fascist civilian standing army known as the SA.
This army was used to attack demonstrations of workers in an attempt to
break up any resistance.
Worker’s resistance and the lack of political leadership
We
should also understand that working people had a militant history in
Germany. Before the rise of the Nazis,
German workers had been able to force numerous concessions from capitalists. While there continued to be discrimination
against Jews, that discrimination had been weakened over the years.
Then,
after the defeat of Germany in the First World War a revolution erupted in that
country. The working class movement was
not properly organized, and two of the principal leaders, Karl Liebknecht and
Rosa Luxemburg were murdered while in the custody of the authorities. Working people of Germany have not had a
leadership of the caliber of Luxemburg and Liebknecht since that time.
Adolf
Hitler and many officials of the German National Socialist Party understood
that their movement could have easily been crushed in its first years. When armed thugs of the Nazi SA attacked
demonstrations of workers, the so-called leaders of those years told workers
not to defend themselves. They argued
that it was the obligation of the capitalist government to defend their
so-called right to demonstrate.
However,
before these demonstrations of workers the police would disarm the
demonstrators making it difficult to defend themselves from armed Nazis. This state of affairs caused the Nazis to
gain confidence, and for workers to become demoralized.
However,
even after the Nazis took power, the majority of German workers refused to
support their rule. In fact, Hitler
called his organization the National Socialist Party because he understood that
the idea of socialism was immensely popular with workers.
There
was another problem with the so-called leaders of the German Social Democratic
Party and the Communist Party. These
were the parties of the German Workers and together they controlled a majority
of the votes. The officials of these
parties refused to form a block to prevent the Nazis from taking power.
After
the Nazis took power the German congress called the Reichstag was burned to the
ground. The Social Democratic Parties
and Communist Parties were outlawed and the Nazis sent their officials to
prison.
The myth and reality of Adolf Hitler
The
Nazis argued that they would improve the lives for the German people. However, Daniel Guerin gives the true history
of what happened during their rule.
Wages
of workers and farmers were slashed in half.
Anyone who promoted a strike to protest these conditions could be sent
to prison. Even insubordination on the
job was grounds for a prison sentence.
Workers needed to belong to the fascist unions where they paid union
dues. This meant that resigning from a
job was against the law. Civil rights
vanished and Germany became a dictatorship.
These
were the conditions that German capitalists needed to continue to gouge out
their obscene profits. The problem was
that since German workers had considerably less money, there didn’t appear to
be anyone to purchase their products.
So,
the Nazi government became the primary customer of German corporations. The Nazis purchased new roads and built a few
new buildings. However, the commodities
the Nazi government wanted most were armaments to be manufactured in
peacetime. Therefore, the Nazi strategy
for rescuing the German economy was to militarily dominate the nations of the
world.
Why did masses of German people support the Nazis?
We
should keep in mind that there were masses of people who supported the
Nazis. This is why fascism is different
from a military dictatorship where the military has little support from the
people.
As I
mentioned, after the First World War, Germany experienced one of the worst
depressions in the world. Inflation was
astronomical and most middle class families experienced poverty. Because of the lack of a competent working
class leadership, the middle class looked for alternatives.
The
Nazis promised that they would bring back the old days when the middle class
had a better standard of living. As we
have seen, when the Nazis took power the standard of living for workers
deteriorated.
Adolf
Hitler was able to maintain power by murdering anyone who opposed his
regime. This included some of his most
ardent supporters. The Nazi regime
achieved a bit of stability because of their war against workers, their
military spending, and their occupation of other nations.
What are the lessons for today?
In
order to understand the reality we face today, I believe we need to look at a
bit of history. From the years 1877
through 1934 the labor movement in this country took part in numerous strikes against
employers. Most of these strikes ended
in defeat.
Then,
in 1934 there were three victorious strikes that transformed the labor
movement. During the next twenty years
millions of workers joined unions, participated in numerous strikes, and raised
the standard of living.
The
Civil Rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s followed the enormous strikes of
the labor movement of the 1950’s. Then,
the capitalist class of the world changed one of the ways they functioned.
As I
mentioned, the capitalist system will eventually move towards collapse. For this reason capitalists are continually
driven to drive down wages.
Since
working people in this country had made gains, capitalists made the investments
to move many of their enterprises to other countries. By doing this they lowered their production
costs, and created new markets for their commodities. The United States changed from being a
largely manufacturing to a service based economy.
This
shift of where commodities are manufactured enabled capitalists to avoid
depression for a half a century. So far,
they did not need to place a fascist government in power. However, the current international economic
crisis means that the relative stability of capitalism is over.
We
should keep in mind that when the fascists took power in Germany, they threw
out everyone who held a government office in the old regime. This means that if a fascist government were
to take over in this country the entire government would be replaced. Even the most hateful politicians of today
will not be acceptable if fascists take power.
Understanding
this working people will have the opportunity of preventing a fascist
takeover. When we think of the Black,
Latino, and working class communities of this country, my opinion is that they
will not sit idly by while fascists attack their communities.
Today
many liberals favor gun control and non-violent disobedience. Well, this only works if one’s opponent
chooses to be non-violent. The words of
Malcolm X continue to ring true. The
Black community will defend itself “by any means necessary.”
Understanding
this reality means that working people have the potential to prevent a future
fascist takeover. Yes, we have the
potential to make this a world where everyone will have a real opportunity to
live a rewarding life. My opinion is
that these are the issues working people need to consider today.