By Cliff Montgomery – Jan. 13th, 2021The march had been planned for a while. Those who made up the march to the nation’s capital sometimes were fueled by hatred of anyone different from themselves. In part, their movement seemed to be based on racial, ethnic and religious animosity.The marchers often saw their own ethnic and religious group as being made up of the “pure ones” — the people who really built the country, who made it a great and wonderful nation — and saw perceived ‘others’ who were living there as nothing more than a drain on the country’s traditions and economic stability.
But the underlying factors that most motivated the crowd to march on their capital were:
- The failure of the conservative and liberal parties to create an economic platform that benefitted all, or even most, of the country’s people. Capitalism was doing little more than making the rich richer and the poor, ever more poor and desperate
- The rise of socialism among many who were suffering and demanding a better life. The marchers often possessed an innate fear of new ideas, and were therefore terrified of the sweeping changes to the country that would be made by a potentially successful socialist movement.
Such matters drove them to follow their leader, who was well-known for his deliberately overblown rhetoric and his bombastic manner. Many observers found the man loud, uncouth and a little ridiculous. But those very qualities were what won the hearts and captured the minds of his rabid followers.
He seemed to be one of them. He didn’t invent their grievances, their fury or their fears. But he gave a focus to those feelings, he provided a face and a voice to them. And so they would follow him to Hell, if he called on them to march there.
But that day he was calling on them to march on the nation’s capital, to end what their leader often called ‘the weak sham of liberal democracy’ and to strangle socialism in its cradle. They would use their numbers and display their fury. They would force the timid, soft politicians to hand over the government to their leader — by sheer terror if necessary. Their strength and purity would make the country great again.
Their great leader was the only one good enough, strong enough and pure enough by both blood and faith to rule absolutely. And they would continue using terror to keep him in power.
We have just discussed the 1922 March on Rome, perpetrated by Italy’s National Fascist Party. Their ‘great leader’ was Benito Mussolini.
As the Encyclopedia Britannica puts it:
“Widespread social discontent, aggravated by middle-class fear of a socialist revolution and by disappointment over Italy’s meagre gains from the peace settlement after World War I,” states Britannica, “created an atmosphere favourable for Mussolini’s rise to power.”
“On October 24, 1922, the fascist party leaders planned an insurrection to take place on October 28,” continues the encyclopedia, “consisting of a march on Rome by the fascist armed squads known as Blackshirts and the capture of strategic local places throughout Italy.”
“Waiting in Milan for the outcome of events, Mussolini left the work of organization to his subordinates,” adds Britannica.
“On October 28, to meet the threat posed by the bands of fascist [groups] now gathering outside Rome,” states the encyclopedia, “the government of Prime Minister Luigi Facta … ordered a state of siege for Rome. King Victor Emmanuel III, however, refused to sign the order.
“This meant that the army, which might have stopped Mussolini, was not called on to oppose the fascists,” adds the encyclopedia.
Britannica then points out that the fascist destruction of democracy in Italy was achieved via “a transfer [of power] made possible by the surrender of public authorities in the face of fascist intimidation.”
Thoughtful readers will remember that in June of last year, Trump declared that he was calling to the nation’s capital “thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers” to stop riots over the questionable murders of black Americans by U.S. police officers. Then, Trump had openly considered invoking the 213-year-old Insurrection Act – a move that would have allowed him to employ standard military troops against U.S. citizens, according to NBC News.
“If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” Trump said at that time.
Yet on Jan. 6th of this year — when his own rabid supporters were engaged in an open insurrection to overthrow democracy, before the entire world — Trump conveniently ‘forgot’ all about his declared duty to stop large-scale violent activities. In fact, “Trump had to be convinced to deploy the National Guard” to end the insurrection, NBC News has stated.
Britannica published a brilliant article on fascism which directly discusses Trump’s connections to the movement. Almost certainly written before Trump’s failed coup attempt on Jan. 6th, the encyclopedia declares that many “scholars … agreed that Trump himself was not a fascist or neo-fascist.”
“Yet Trump was arguably a borderline fascist, insofar as his behaviour and attitudes resembled those of historical fascist leaders in some respects,” adds Britannica.
“Those similarities included contempt for democratic values and the rule of law, demagoguery, appeals to racism, incitements to mob violence,” continues the encyclopedia, “attacks on the legitimacy of the press and of established institutions of government, and the exploitation of scapegoats.”
In short, Trump’s resume didn’t include something as blatantly fascist as a march of violent, rabid followers on the nation’s capital.
Until now.
In his book The Anatomy Of Fascism, historian Robert Paxton tellingly wrote that a country’s classic path to fascism tends to involve “a spectacular ‘march’ on some capital to take root.”
But, he adds, the drive to fascist tyranny can be stopped.
“Further fascist advances toward power depend … largely upon human choices, especially the choices of those holding economic, social and political power,” Paxton declared.
So can we now, at long last, just admit that Donald Trump is a full-blown fascist? The future of American democracy depends on it.
