ANALYSIS
Is Vladimir Putin a fascist? Is Russia a fascist country?
Yale historian Timothy Snyder says yes, because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the leadership cult surrounding Mr. Putin meet, in Mr. Snyder’s judgment, the criteria scholars use to define fascism. A dictator need not be exactly like Adolf Hitler to be a fascist.
The implications of that argument go beyond the importance in academia of accurately defining political ideologies. To call some a fascist is to evoke the worst crimes of the 20th century. It is a call to action, because fascism cannot be allowed to run amok.
In the U.S., it became fashionable to label President Trump a fascist because of his embrace of grievance politics, perceived racism and populist appeals to restoring some nebulous great era from the American past. But, as we have discussed on this podcast, Mr. Trump is not a fascist.
SEE ALSO: History As It Happens: Democracies and dictatorships
And in this episode of History As It Happens, Oxford historian Roger Griffin, who has studied the ideology of fascism for decades, argues that although Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is a monstrous crime, Mr. Putin himself is not a fascist – at least according to his generally accepted definition, which is based on how fascists have described their political movements.
“Fascism is a political ideology whose mythic core in its various permutations is a palingenetic form of populist ultranationalism,” said Mr. Griffin, who admits his one-sentence definition may cause listeners to reach for their dictionaries.
In less academic language, fascism seeks to create a new order through the rebirth of an imagined national community. It does not believe in social equality or the value of democracy. It requires mobilizing the masses to achieve its aims.
“The mythic core – the driving image – of fascism is a reborn, organic, non-liberal nation … The populism means it’s not just a despotic system where the ruler dictates down to the people, like Saddam Hussein. It wants to mobilize the people. It is essential to fascism that it is not just a personal dictatorship based on despotism. It has to somehow engage people power,” Mr. Griffin said.
Racial hatred, mass murder, genocide and aggressive war were synonymous with Nazi Germany, but such ideas and actions are not unique to fascism.
Listen to Mr. Griffin discuss Mr. Putin’s “fascism” by subscribing to History As It Happens, which is available wherever you find your podcasts.
