Jessica Baos Espinoza

Professor Andrew Iverson

International Perspective
11 November 2014
Nazism and Fascism
The Second World War was one of the most important events in the history of
mankind because it involved most countries and the great powers of the world
which were divided into two alliances, the Allies (conformed by France, Great
Britain and Poland) and the Axis (conformed by Germany, Japan and Italy); this
war gave way to the beginning of a new world in economic, cultural but most of all
ideological aspects; during this period the world faced extremist regimes (Axis
powers) which sought to accomplish their objectives trough force and violence
following the pecking order. These authoritarian regimes achieved an international
degree of power that even nowadays seems unbelievable because Fascism
leaded by Benito Mussolini and Nazism leaded by Adolf Hitler influenced countries
in Latin America; one of the main reasons these regimes had such an impact in the
population was that they had a high standard for nationalism basing their ideology
in the organic state theory considering the state as a living being; another
important aspect was that the leaders of these regimes had a unique talent for
oratory which could convince their audience that the violent actions that were taken
were necessary to have peace and order but the most important argument of both

Nazism and Fascism is the racial hierarchy because they assured that the Aryan
race was superior and that all the weak races must be eliminated.
Its important to notice that these werent the only fascist regimes during the
WWII, the main ally of Italy and Germany was Japan which had a totalitarian
government influenced by Nazism but as every government the Japanese Empire
adapted Hitlers ideas to their culture; Emperor Hirohito was convinced that the
best way to achieve peace and order was trough a military government but he didn
t implement the radical racial ideas of Nazism. On the other hand there were
fascist movements in Latin America in the early 30s but it was not until the 60s
that Fascism would have and important role in Latin America.
While Fascism and Nazism were two radical modes of government they sought
a sense of belonging in their followers which in my opinion is the key to success for
these two governments, after the WWII in Germany and Italy there was some
resentment in the population, the depression and nonconformity were what drove
Mussolini and Hitler in their campaigns to acquire power because they gave the
people a sense of belonging which lead to a rise for the countries; its important to
notice that the racial hierarchy and the violence that totalitarian regimes entailed
were strongly linked with the nationalism because the nature of these governments
consisted of a state where the power was for the strongest and considered the
Aryan race the strongest, they should govern above others. Ultra-nationalism
during the WWII was used as a weapon against others so the population of the
totalitarian regimes felt repulsion to the people who were different from them, this

racist view culminated into what is considered the largest slaughter of the history
with approximately 11 million victims of which half were Jews.
The extreme violence lived in Europe during the WWII and the destruction
caused by it provoked the migration of many Europeans to Latin America; Mexico,
Brazil, Chile and Argentina received thousands of immigrants which caused a
mixture of cultures, ideas and governments. One of the most representative
European totalitarian influenced movements took place in Brazil where there was a
political party called the Ao Integralista Brasileira (AIB) which had Mussolini
ideologys bases, the main argument of this party was to preserve the family
values that the Catholic Church dictated because in their view the communists
threatened the catholic education of the population.
The main argument of Hitlers ideology was based on the superiority of the
Aryan race among others but Nazism also included very specific aspects regarding
the government such as the power that military governments causes because
Hitler considered the state as a military cell where every people should do what
they are meant to regardless what they thought or feel in order to have peace and
power. As I mentioned before ultra-nationalism was essential to achieve a high
degree of power because the people feels motivated by their leader; also its
important to have empathy among the leader in this case Hitler and the German
population because this way the people would follow whatever the leader
demands; it takes charisma, confidence but above all leadership to control a
country the way Hitler did.

Nazism was expanded throughout Europe imposing its extremist ideology and
bringing the terror with the killing of Jews on the concentration camps of Auschwitz
and Dachau this is why its known all over the world be; Hitler proved that one man
can make a big difference and made a statement of unstoppable power where
thousands of people helped him to accomplish his goal even when this goal was
an atrocity for humankind.
Such was the impact of Nazism in the world that in Latin America were
developed fascist movements, Mexico was a place of much interest during the
WWII because it was a primary point of German espionage, its here where Hitler
wanted to start its conquest to America. Mexico is a good example of ultranationalism and fascist trends because there have been incidents in history that
prove that the government has fascist bases, for example the Tlatelolco massacre
which was caused by the order the president Gustavo Daz Ordaz and it involved
the military force to restrain the students is remembered even today. Another
country that was also a victim of Nazism and this ideology is Argentina because
there have been groups that attempt to combat Nazism causing more chaos that
the government is dealing with until now, the FARC that exists since 1964 is a
paramilitary group that has caused revolts in the country and the government has
failed to stop it. Its main argument is the anti-imperialism but I think that this group
only seeks to cause anarchy because they make illegal actions such as extortion,
killing and kidnaps. I believe that there no need to do illegal actions in order to
achieve peace because history is witness that violence doesnt annihilates
violence.

In conclusion, I think that Nazism and Fascism have impacted several countries
around the world as it is for its radical form of government, the economic gains that
come with totalitarianism or by their brutal massacres, those regimes sat the bases
for the world order we have now because their destruction lead to the creation of
several organizations that seek for the world peace nowadays. In my opinion
Nazism can be considered as the biggest political and cultural impact because it
showed the humankind the power that man have and that if we work together as
these totalitarian regime we could accomplish either chaos or peace. Latin America
has suffered the consequences of the Nazism and Fascism because during the
WWII and after it because the totalitarian regimes influenced the political
government and ideology of the population. This essay attempted to prove that
totalitarian regimes are not just a simple topic because they involve many cultural,
politic and economic aspects.

References
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"Aryan race" http://princeton.edu/
Educatina. "Fascismo Italiano" Youtube. 06-02-2012. https://www.youtube.com/
"Fascism" English Online. http://www.english-online.at/
Helgio Trindade. El tema del fascismo en Amrica Latina.
Espaa: Estudios Polticos, 1982.
La Segunda Guerra Mundial. Exordio. 2014. http://www.exordio.com/
Marselo Risi. "Nazism. "BBCMUNDO. 09-11-2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/.
Mussolini founds the Fascist party. History. March, 1919. History.
http://www.history.com/
"Refuge in Latin America." Holocaust Ecyclopedia. June 2014. United States
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