XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.atheism

Fascism, Nazism and Conservatism


In Britain, the conservative Daily Mail enthusiastically backed Sir
Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists, and part of the Conservative
Party supported closer ties with Nazi Germany.

When defeat in World War II ideologically and historically discredited
fascism, almost all Western conservatives tried to distance themselves
from it. Nevertheless, many post-war Western conservatives continued to
admire the Franco regime in Spain, clearly conservative but also fascist
in origin. With the end of the Franco regime and Portugal's Estado Novo
in the 1970s, the relationship between conservatism and classical
European fascism was further weakened.

Militarism is perhaps the most striking similarity between Fascism and contemporary American conservatism. Of course, there are many liberals in America who support the military and even call for increased military
spending.

Even so, American liberals are traditionally more skeptical of the
military than American conservatives. It is often said that
Neoconservatives, like Hitler, see the military as a paradigm for problem solving (even in situations that may render militarism impractical or unethical).

The relationship of fascism to right-wing ideologies (including some that
are described as neo-fascist) is still an issue for conservatives
and their opponents. Especially in Germany, there is a constant exchange
of ideology and persons, between the influential national-conservative movement, and self-identified national-socialist groups.
In Italy too, there is no clear line between conservatives, and movements inspired by the Italian Fascism of the 1920s to 1940s, including the
Alleanza Nazionale which is member of the governing coalition under
premier Silvio Berlusconi. Conservative attitudes to the 20th-century
fascist regimes are still an issue.
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