What Is Fascism?

Fascism originally was a term coined to describe the national-socialist movement spawned by right-wing political forces in Italy before World War II. The movement’s dictatorial head was wartime Italian leader Benito Mussolini. Nazism (national socialism) was a similar movement dominated by Adolf Hitler and used as a platform for his rise to power. This movement was characterized by extreme racism, brutal suppression of opposition and a drive to create a world-ruling master race. Fascism has since come to be used as an umbrella term embracing political movements that are national-socialist and particularly authoritarian in outlook.