Western Civilization II / Unit 16 WC2 1504 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Fascism Defined: State, Hierarchy, the Mythic Nation, the Fasces
Captions available
The idea
Fascism glorified the state, rejected liberal individualism, and demanded hierarchy and authority: order without monarchy, populist not feudal. The nation was mythic and defined the person, in racial terms. The name came from the fasces, the Roman bundle of rods and axe: weak alone, strong together.
In practice
Action Française, monarchist since Dreyfus, turned fascist.
Where people slip
"Aryan" a pseudo-scholarly jumble, the anchor says.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it