Abstract

Built on petty bourgeois ideology and uniting in its combat organizations mostly déclassé middle class elements, Fascist movements developed in almost all advanced capitalist countries. They surfaced nearly everywhere during the critical period following WWI and the 1929 world crisis. Only in Germany and Italy, however, did Fascism become a decisive political factor. In Italy it succeeded as the “political solution” to the post-war crisis, while in Germany it triumphed as both a political and an economic “solution” to the great world crisis. Why did Fascism become a decisive factor in these countries, and why were the Italians and German bourgeoisie unable or unwilling to find another solution to their problems?