The Anarchist and Fascist Overlap

by Lizardi and Zoltanous

Introduction

Marxist-Leninist circles often compare fascism to anarchism, aiming to diminish its credibility by aligning it with what they consider the anarchism's chaotic and irrational stance. This approach seeks to devalue fascism by associating it with anarchism's perceived lack of coherence and seriousness. However, the relationship between fascism and anarchism is more complex than these criticisms suggest. The roots of fascism are entangled with anarcho-syndicalist thought, drawing on the ideas of figures like Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and incorporating elements of communism. Historical personalities like Nicola Bombacci and Ugo Spirito, who were in close contact with Benito Mussolini, aimed to integrate anarchistic and communistic principles into their political endeavors. Koichi Toyama, a Japanese fascist, highlighted this complexity, suggesting in an interview that anarchists, often seen as destructive and visionless, could find their true calling within fascism. This idea echoes Mussolini's assertion that “Every anarchist is a baffled dictator.” A deeper exploration into this subject uncovers the profound ways in which anarchism has contributed to and intersected with the development of fascism, underscoring the significant influence of anarchistic ideas on the fascist ideology.

French Fascism

Syndicalism, a revolutionary ideology, posits that trade unions or worker unions would spearhead the workers' revolution through general strikes, subsequently taking charge of the economy and society. While Syndicalism is not inherently anarchist, its early years aligned closely with Libertarian Socialism. The origins of Syndicalism can be traced back to anarchist thinkers such as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Mikhail Bakunin, but the most relevant figure in this context is Georges Sorel, a French Syndicalist theorist prominent in the early 20th century. Initially a liberal conservative, Sorel shifted towards Marxism and Social Democracy in the 1880s, eventually settling on Syndicalism as his chosen ideology. What prompted Sorel's transition to Syndicalism was the perceived inaction of social democracy and its failure to achieve worker control of the means of production. He was drawn to Syndicalism due to its emphasis on direct action, particularly the general strike, and its rejection of parliamentary politics. These concepts formed the crux of Sorel's works, Reflections on Violence and The Decomposition of Marxism. Additionally, Sorel emphasized the importance of Heroism, Martyrdom, and Myth in his writings. He believed that these ideas would inspire and mobilize the working class towards revolution. When Sorel referred to Myth, he did not imply something fictional, but rather a narrative or idea that would ignite the revolutionary spirit among the working class.

Despite having abandoned liberal conservatism decades earlier, Sorel retained certain social conservative tendencies and influences. Throughout his writings, Sorel often drew parallels with early Christians to illustrate the significance of Myth and Heroism. He highlighted how their unwavering belief and martyrdom played a crucial role in the resurgence of the Church. Another significant work by Sorel was The Illusion of Progress, in which he argued that the bourgeois doctrine of the Theory of Progress was employed to justify bourgeois rule and suppress the old system. Sorel also criticized the centralization of capitalist society, its erosion of family bonds, and the erosion of traditional values.

According to historian and social critic Christopher Lasch, Sorel believed that syndicalism surpassed socialism in its recognition of proprietorship, which socialists dismissed as a source of petit-bourgeois provincialism and cultural backwardness. Syndicalists, as Sorel argued, valued the emotional attachment that genuinely skilled workers felt towards the productive forces entrusted to them. They respected the peasant's love for their fields, vineyards, barns, cattle, and bees. Lasch argued that Sorel, along with Syndicalists and Guild Socialists, delivered a potent critique of capitalism by highlighting its failure to fulfill its initial, morally enticing promise of universal ownership. Rather than poverty, these groups identified slavery as the fundamental problem, as expressed by G. D. H. Cole.

They recognized that capitalism's reduction of labor to a mere commodity required the erosion of social ties that restricted the free movement of labor. The dismantling of medieval guilds, the shift from local self-governance to centralized bureaucracy, the dilution of family bonds, and the emancipation of women were all perceived as measures to devalue labor, disguised as societal advancement. While Marxists endorsed the collectivization trends of capitalism and called for further collectivization of production, Syndicalists, Populists, and Guild Socialists decried modern capitalism on deeply conservative grounds, as it signified, in A.R. Orage's words, a "progressive shattering to atoms of our social system."

Sorel's conservative tendencies eventually led him to join forces with Charles Maurras, the head of the French Action, resulting in a blend of Nationalism, Monarchism, and Syndicalism. This alliance, along with the founding of Cercle Proudhon, influenced the thinking of early Italian Fascist intellectuals such as Gentile, Sprito, Corradini, and Mussolini. During World War I, Sorel dropped his nationalist sentiments but voiced support for Lenin and Mussolini, whom he saw as remarkable leaders. Cercle Proudhon, established by Sorel's followers Édouard Berth and George Valois, was central to the fusion of socialist, nationalist, anarchist, and syndicalist thoughts in France. It is regarded by some as the first proto-fascist group, inspiring trade unionists in Italy who later played a role in shaping fascism. 

Cercle Proudhon advocated for an ethic that merged nationalism with trade unionism, seeking to overthrow the liberal regime in favor of a society led by a commanding vanguard and united against the bourgeoisie. This ideological synthesis laid groundwork for fascism. Proudhon's economic ideas also influenced national-socialist thinkers like Jung, Feder, and Augier, who were formulating a socialist "Third Way" akin to fascism. George Valois celebrated modernism and urbanism, aspiring to a classless, syndicalist society through his vision of the Citée Française. He linked Sorel's philosophy to fascism and traced its origins to the Jacobin movement, which endeavored to topple the old order and usher in popular governance. The French Revolution's spirit and the myth of a nation led by a militant elite shaped the underpinnings of both communism and fascism.

Mosse noted that fascism evolved into a secular religion based on Rousseau's principle of popular sovereignty, which emerged during the French Revolution. Sorel's ideas of collective virtues echoed the sentiment of a heroic struggle against decadence and moral weakness. Anti-Semitism was prevalent among the revolutionary syndicalist-anarchists of Cercle Proudhon, rationalized through their anti-capitalist and anti-materialist stance. This critique of capitalism often carried anti-Semitic implications. Sorel's collaborations, particularly with Maurras and the creation of Cercle Proudhon, significantly influenced the rise of Fascism in Italy. The French Revolution's ideals, coupled with anti-Semitism, were also pivotal in shaping the ideology of early fascism.

“Positivism which created the regime of money, essentially a leveling materialistic and Cosmopolitan regime. Delivered up to France the essence of bourgeois materialism, the Jewish speculator and financier.”

— Édouard Berth quoted in Fascist Ideology in France: Neither Right Nor Left by Zeev Sternhell

Georges Valois, Philippe Lamour, and Thierry Maulnier were proponents of avant-garde movements such as Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism, and the Return to Order movement. They found parallels between the ideology of Circle Proudhon and Sergei Eisenstein's Theory of Montage, perceiving modern art as an impetus for radical societal change. Drawing inspiration from Georges Sorel, they aspired to a transformative revolution that would overthrow current institutions, establish an anti-capitalist regime, and unlock the artistic and innovative capacities of the Nietzsche-inspired "New Man." Moreover, certain academics like François Richard view some protagonists of French fascism, including Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Lucien Rebatet, as exhibiting traits of anarchism. Their aristocratic, elitist stances, combined with their opposition to mass culture, resonate with the tenets of anarcho-individualism. Céline, an ardent anti-Semite and sympathizer of the Nazis, expressed the following sentiment:

“I am an anarchist to the tip of my feet. I was always one and I will never be anything else.”

— Louis-Ferdinand Céline, March 18, 1934

Robert Brasillach, a French author and Nazi collaborator identified with European fascism, characterized fascism as embodying a spirit of nonconformity, fundamentally opposed to bourgeois attitudes and marked by a sense of irreverence. He observed that numerous nationalist allies, who eventually aligned themselves with Italian Fascism and Nazism amid occupied France, displayed a predisposition towards anarchic behavior and were naturally drawn to it. In a conversation recounted by Paul Serant in Fascist Romanticism, Brasillach jokingly referred to themselves as "anarcho-fascists." In collaboration with his brother-in-law Maurice Bardéche, Brasillach published Histoire de la guerre d'Espagne in June 1939. This work expressed support for the nationalist uprising in Spain and paid tribute to the anarchist insurrection in Barcelona in 1936 led by the CNT. Brasillach regarded this event as a remarkable display of heroism in the history of revolutionary movements.

Italian Fascism

Justus Franz Wittkop, a German historian, underscores the intricate connection between anarchism and Fascism, pointing out instances where anarchism morphed into Fascism. This transition is particularly noticeable within certain Italian avant-garde circles. The preliminary version of Fascism, known as squadristi or Sansepolcrismo, drew heavily from the era's utopian socialism and bore a resemblance to anarcho-syndicalism, almost like a sibling ideology. In those times, Fascism retained ideological ties to anarchism as an alternative socialist strategy to Marxism, integrating the economic theories of thinkers like Bakunin, Sorel, and Proudhon into a form of National-Syndicalism, which subsequently developed into Corporatism.

A striking instance of this ideological overlap was the occupation of the Adriatic city of Fiume (now Rijeka) by Gabriele D'Annunzio, a figure often described as a warrior-poet and forerunner of Fascism. D'Annunzio, alongside a corps of devoted legionnaires and World War I combatants, seized control of the city and instituted the Carnaro Regency, a provisional city-state. The constitution for this entity, penned with the assistance of Alceste De Ambris—a revolutionary syndicalist who later became a Fascist — fused elements of anarcho-syndicalism with nationalism and democratic republicanism. D'Annunzio even expressed his support for a "communism without dictatorship" and declared his anarchic inclinations during an interview with an anarcho-syndicalist journalist from the anarchist daily Umanità Nova.

Fiume under D'Annunzio represented a libertarian-like space for those who sought to challenge societal conventions in life, art, and action. It embodied a de facto form of anarchism, characterized by its rejection of the existing order. D'Annunzio's regime even issued strong proclamations and denunciations against Giovanni Giolitti, the architect of the arrest of the prominent anarchist Errico Malatesta. It is also well-known that Benito Mussolini, the founder of Fascism, was the son of an anarcho-syndicalist blacksmith and began his career as a journalist within the ranks of the anarcho-syndicalist movement. Mussolini, a member of the Italian Socialist party that encompassed various sectors of the revolutionary left, acknowledged his socialist roots, stating that his socialism was influenced by Bakunin, learned from his father's teachings.

A picture of Benito Mussolini

In the late 19th century, Alessandro Mussolini, father of Benito Mussolini, was involved with the Anarchist International movement led by Mikhail Bakunin in Italy. This early exposure to anarchism played a role in shaping Benito Mussolini's initial socialist beliefs, positioning them closer to anarchism than Marxism, as noted by anti-fascist historian Gaetano Salvemini. Mussolini's own ideology, which later evolved into Fascism, was deeply influenced by revolutionary syndicalism and the work of Georges Sorel, who advocated for revolutionary violence over Marxism's historical determinism. Mussolini himself acknowledged the significant impact Sorel's syndicalist thought had on his development of Fascism, particularly valuing Sorel's emphasis on the power of revolutionary methods to energize, discipline, and strengthen Fascist groups.

Mussolini's admiration for Sorel was also rooted in Sorel's critique of the degenerative effects of parliamentary politics, which resonated with Mussolini's own disdain for traditional political systems. By 1904, Mussolini had embraced revolutionary syndicalism, aiming to realize Sorel's vision of a socialist revolution. This ideological stance was shared by key figures within the Fascist movement, such as Edmondo Rossoni, Sergio Panunzio, A. O. Olivetti, Giovanni Gentile, Michele Bianchi, Alceste De Ambris, Paolo Orano, and Guido Pighetti were all influenced by Sorel's theories. Additionally, Sorel's engagement with nationalist and syndicalist groups in France, like Action Française, highlighted the intersections between nationalism and syndicalism that would later be crucial to Fascist ideology.

“We are syndicalists, because we think that by means of the mass it may be possible to determine an economic readjustment…”

— Benito Mussolini, speech delivered at Florence, October 9, 1919

Zeev Sternhell noted the critical role of merging syndicalism with nationalism in transforming Italian revolutionary syndicalism into the foundation of Fascist ideology. Mussolini's pioneering efforts to link Fascism with syndicalism emphasized the ideology's nationalistic and productive dimensions, aligning with Italian syndicalists' view of social upheaval as a means to achieve economic prosperity and rapid societal transformation. They also saw imperialism as a pathway to economic progress, drawing nationalists such as Gabriel D'Annunzio to the Fascist cause. The ideology of Fascist syndicalists, including Mussolini, was characterized by a focus on increasing production to create wealth, prioritizing productivity over the redistribution of wealth. This perspective was notably articulated by Panunzio, a prominent theorist of Italian Fascism and Syndicalism, who critiqued Bolshevik economic strategies and emphasized the significance of productivity for societal reform. Panunzio's critique highlighted the differences between Italian Syndicalism and International Socialism, particularly in the context of the Bolsheviks' failure to initiate a successful social revolution in Russia, further distinguishing the unique path Italian Fascism sought to tread.

In his exploration of philosophical individualism, Mussolini also referred to Max Stirner, the German thinker known for his egoist philosophy and connections to early anarchism. Mussolini wrote about Stirner in a 1908 piece for a Romagna newspaper and again in 1909 in Il Popolo d'Italia, where he critiqued the notion of guaranteed happiness espoused by others. He championed the release of the intrinsic forces within individuals, arguing that real human existence is found solely within oneself. Mussolini even proposed a revival of Stirner's ideas, suggesting that they should be made fashionable once more. Leszek Kołakowski, a Polish scholar, proposed in his work Main Currents of Marxism that Fascism's engagement with Stirner's ideas of egoism is logically consistent. Kołakowski posited that Fascism's draw towards egoism was coherent with Stirner's focus on the primacy of the individual and his opposition to all forms of collective authority.

“Fascism was above all an attempt to dissolve the anti-social ties created by history and replace them by artificial bonds among individuals who were expected to render explicit obedience to the state on grounds of absolute egoism. Fascist education combined the tenets of social egoism and unquestioning conformism, the latter being the means by which the individual secured his own niche in the system. Stirner’s philosophy has nothing to say against conformism, it only objects to the Ego being subordinated to any higher principle: the egoist is free to adjust to the world if it is clear he will better himself by doing so. His ‘rebellion’ may take the form of utter servility if it will further his interest; what he must not do is to be bound by ‘general’ values or myths of humanity. The totalitarian ideal of a barrack-like society from which all real, historical ties have been eliminated is perfectly consistent with Stirner’s principles: the egoist, by his very nature, must be prepared to fight under any flag that suits his convenience.”

— Leszek Kołakowski, Main Currents of Marxism

Mussolini's affinity towards anarchism was criticized by reformist socialist Filippo Turati. However, his close friend and first biographer, Torquato Nanni, revealed that Mussolini, during his time as the editor of the socialist newspaper Avanti, kept a copy of Stirner's The Ego and Its Own on his desk. It is worth noting that Stirner's work was not banned after the Fascist regime came into power, contrary to popular belief. Even after the establishment of the Fasci di combattimento, which Mussolini saw as an "anti-party," he maintained his attitude of distancing himself from political and trade union movements. The Fasci Anarchici Individualista was even formed, with figures like Stanis Ruinas being associated with it. On April 6, 1920, Mussolini expressed his rejection of the state in all its forms, including the bourgeois and socialist state, stating that, as individuals who embrace individualism, they have no comforting belief in the state due to the darkness of the present. Mussolini shared a bond of friendship and mutual respect with the prominent Italian anarcho-communist leader Errico Malatesta, even referring to him as "the Duce of anarchism" during the tumultuous Red Week in 1914. Their acquaintance dated back to Mussolini's time in London, a year before the events of Red Week.

In March 1920, Mussolini publicly defended Malatesta, criticizing the government for detaining him for over five months without a trial, and expressed respect for individuals who selflessly sacrifice for their convictions. That same year, when the Liberal government tried to confiscate the printing supplies of Malatesta's anarchist newspaper, Umanità Nova, Mussolini extended an offer of resources from his own newspaper, Il Popolo d'Italia. However, his offer was declined. Despite Malatesta's anti-fascist views and criticism of Mussolini, he was held in high regard by Mussolini during the nascent phase of Fascism, with Mussolini showing a willingness to offer him protection after his rise to power. Mussolini wasn't alone in his transition from anarchism to Fascism. Several figures, like Maria Rygier, Leandro Arpinati, Filippo Turati, Fulvio Balisti, Guido Calogero, Mario Carli, Antonio Capizzi, Ferruccio Vecchi, Giovanni Papini, Massimo Rocca, and Berto Ricci, evolved from anarchism to embrace Sansepolcrismo, an early form of Fascism.

Both individuals suggested incorporating anarchistic features into the nascent Fascist ideology. Massimo Rocca, initially an advocate for extreme individualist anarchism, favored the rise of a “natural elite” comprising warrior-like criminals and emphasized the supremacy of instinct over reason. In 1919, Rocca aligned himself with the Fascist movement, ascending to a prominent position within the National Fascist party, where he advocated for squadristi violence and critiqued the movement's inclination towards legal conservatism, promoting what he called "anarchic statism." Despite his expulsion and exile in 1922, Rocca made his way back to Italy with the founding of the Italian Social Republic (RSI) in 1943. Similarly, Berto Ricci, who started as an anarchist activist and writer in Florence, joined the staunchly Fascist faction associated with Niccolò Giani's School of Fascist Mysticism. By 1927, embracing the Fascist ideology, Ricci voiced opposition to what he saw as the stifling, bourgeois cultural norms of the time, advocating for a form of nationalism that was revolutionary, authentic, and youthful. Mussolini praised Ricci's vision, which called for an ongoing revolution to counteract the regime's tendency towards complacency. Ricci viewed Hitler as a figure of significance, not for his role in bringing order in Germany, but for symbolizing chaos across Europe.

The establishment of the Italian Social Republic in September 1943 saw Bombacci, a Fascist leader with a Marxist-Leninist background, drawing inspiration from Néstor Makhno, the Ukrainian anarcho-communist. Makhno's ideologies influenced the RSI's Verona manifesto, which proposed the socialization of Italy's economy. During the tumultuous Years of Lead, Mario Merlino, a writer and avid member of the neo-fascist Avanguardia Nazionale, later aligned with the Italian anarchist movement in the late 1960s without disavowing his Fascist affiliations. He admired both Mussolini's Blackshirts and anarchist rebels, maintaining ties with key figures from both ideologies, including Pino Rauti and Stefano Delle Chiaie. Fascism's revolutionary zeal, rooted in anarchist and syndicalist traditions, aimed at the economic socialization of society. Its economic model, Corporatism, mirrored Nationalized-Syndicalism, which some argue is a twist on anarcho-syndicalism. This has led individuals like musician Douglas Pearce to controversially suggest that Fascists could be perceived as true anarchists for following their own aims and principles, drawing a provocative parallel between Libertarianism and Fascism despite the potential discomfort the comparison may induce.

"The right is censorship, reaction, fanaticism. And if I have a cultural affiliation, it's more to fascism than to the right, which disgusts me.

The fascism that I have known in my family is that libertarian, joyful, generous one. I think of the revolutionary fascism of the beginning and of the end, the one that does not conserve but changes, the one that is socialist and socializing."

— Nicola Accame quoted Fascisti immaginari. Tutto quello che c'è da sapere sulla Destra by Luciano Lanna

Spanish Fascism

In Spain, the ideology of National-Syndicalism, also known as Falangism, evolved as a unique inversion of anarcho-syndicalism, drawing from the principles of the anarchist union, local self-governance, and rural collectivism. Falangist writer Manuel Souto Vilas aimed to tailor foreign fascist concepts to fit the Spanish anarchist context. The term "national socialism" suggested by Ramiro Ledesma Ramos was set aside, and the Spanish fascist movement adopted the name "National-Syndicalism" to signify its roots in and connections to the indigenous anarcho-syndicalism.

Falangist thinker and advocate of Spanish fascism, Ernesto Giménez Caballero, contended that National-Syndicalism evolved from an anarcho-syndicalist framework, even adopting the nomenclature and iconography of the anarchist cause. This explains the resemblance between the Falange's emblem and the flag of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), the foremost anarchist syndicate on the Iberian Peninsula, with its iconic red and black hues. Ledesma, a pivotal architect of Spanish fascism, regarded the CNT as the sole force capable of channeling the bold spirit of Spain. He aspired for a rapprochement between the CNT and the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista (JONS), the initial National-Syndicalist group that eventually converged with José Antonio Primo de Rivera's Falange. Although a formal fusion did not transpire, figures from the CNT like Sinforiano Moldes, Guillén Salaya, and Llorente defected to the JONS amid internal rifts within the CNT.

Ramos kept a watchful eye on the CNT's activities up to the point of the merger between Falange and JONS. The fascist periodical La Conquista del Estado, which he published, was distributed at CNT gatherings, underscoring the subversive and revolutionary ethos of the Spanish fascist movement that mirrored aspects of anarcho-syndicalism. From 1931 until the amalgamation with the Falange in 1934, Ramos championed a distinctly revolutionary program steeped in anarchist-syndicalist ideology, as reflected in one of his articles:

“Right now we’re running into almost one million members of the CNT. We are bound to seek it out and understand it and interpret it with friendly eyes. We must be together with the CNT, in these moments of immediate union battle, in these moments of weighing up social forces. This is how we believe that we are fulfilling our duty as architects of the conscience and of the next and genuine culture of Spain.”

— Ramiro Ledesma Ramos, Extraordinary Congress of The CNT

Ledesma grew increasingly disenchanted with the anarchist movement and began to distance himself from it. Meanwhile, José Antonio Primo de Rivera became captivated by anarchist thought and in 1935, even considered forming an alliance with the anarchists. Efforts were made to foster cooperation between the JONS and the CNT, with attempts taking place in cities such as Malaga and Seville. Diego Abad de Santillán, a key anarcho-syndicalist before the war.

"By the beginning of the year 1935, we received various invitations for a meeting with José Antonio Primo de Rivera to discuss a possible understanding or rapprochement. His supporters in Barcelona sent me letters, statements, and printed material so that I could form an idea of the doctrine of the initial movement. However, I chose to reject that dialogue because it was already too late to influence events we saw approaching in any way through that means. But the truth is that until then, there had been no expression of hostility from the leaders of that movement against us, nor had any manifestation emerged from our ranks that would have prevented the dialogue."

— Diego Abad de Santillán, Memoirs

Diego would later lament the lost chance for collaboration. He suggested that Spain's history might have unfolded differently had an accord been struck following José’s intentions. The Falange actively pursued agreements with the CNT, highlighted by a non-aggression pact signed in Seville. These burgeoning ties led to various interactions, including public assemblies and discussions. A remarkable instance was a dinner in Barcelona's Plaça Reial, which José Antonio himself and several CNT affiliates attended, events often organized by the charismatic cultural figure Luys Santa Marina.

Journalist Felio A. Villarubias from El Ejército illuminated the Falange's outreach to the CNT. He noted that the Barcelona Falange, per José Antonio's directives, engaged with genuine CNT unionists who were worried about their movement's growing politicization. Nonetheless, these attempts were thwarted by the influence of the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI). José María Fontana underscored José Antonio's eagerness to forge bonds with the CNT. Conversations took place and connections were established, but the onset of the revolution prevented further cooperation. The Falangists held onto the belief that they could win over many anarcho-syndicalists, with the "national factor" being a possible hurdle. These endeavors continued even into the Spanish Civil War. Marciano Durruti, brother of the renowned anarchist leader Buenaventura Durruti, sought to facilitate an alliance between the Falange and the CNT in early 1936. Manuel Hedilla Larrey, FE de las JONS's second national leader, recounted his involvement in forming national-union opposition groups within the CNT and integrating discontented anarcho-syndicalists into the Falange to oppose the Republic.

Post-Civil War, some disenchanted "true" Falangists found themselves drawn to the underground CNT, disheartened with the unified Francoist regime. In addition, leaders of the Spanish Trade Union Organization aimed to assimilate former CNT members to temper the political climate. Figures like Ricard Fornells y Francesc, a renowned Catalan anarcho-syndicalist educator, journalist, and politician, worked with the Trade Union to blend CNT exiles from France into the Fascist union. Juan M. Molina, the CNT's general secretary, revealed that up to three hundred anarchists embraced this integration, hinting at a possible affinity for National-Syndicalism. In 1945, the Syndicalist Alliance was established, bringing together Falangists who were anti-Francoists and the elusive CNT anarcho-syndicalists. This move sought to formalize relationships that had roots in the early 1930s and gained momentum during the transitional era, especially after the Third Congress of the Authentic Falange in Zaragoza in 1979. Numerous Falangists joined the CNT, and a significant contingent of Catalan leaders in the early period of Spanish democracy had ties to the JONS, indicating a steady interchange of members between the groups.

Conclusions 

An in-depth analysis of historical developments reveals a discernible progression from anarchism to fascism, showcasing a complex evolution. This journey underscores notable ideological intersections, with both ideologies aiming for the establishment of a society akin to a symbiotic organism, each with its unique characteristics. The shared goal of a cohesive, syndicalist society positions them as pioneers in their respective movements. An intriguing instance of this ideological crossover is Mikhail Bakunin's engagement with nationalist factions and his connection to Richard Wagner, whose ideas contributed to Nazi ideology. Bakunin, along with other anarchists from his time, harbored anti-Semitic sentiments. The specifics of a lost letter Bakunin dispatched to Bologna in December 1871 remain a mystery, but another draft letter uncovers his biased views against Jews, including theories of conspiracies involving Marx and Rothschild. These connections become particularly significant when exploring the ideological underpinnings of Nazism, influencing not only Adolf Hitler's thoughts but also Otto Strasser's version of “national socialism,” which was notably shaped by the philosophies of Proudhon, Sorel, and Bakunin.

The story of Else Christensen, an anarcho-syndicalist associated with Strasser, stands out. She advocated for racially distinct Aryan communities, championing a society that eschewed capitalism and communism for a model based on ecological balance and a communal "folk-socialism." This analysis underscores a profound connection between fascism and anarchism, highlighting how, despite their apparent contradictions and historical antagonism, fascism has absorbed elements of anarchism, and certain anarchist strands have mirrored facets of fascism. Fascism views anarchism not just as a historical antagonist but as a foundational element that could have set the stage for a system emphasizing order and hierarchy, had anarchists embraced a mythological narrative. Fascists leveraged the anarchist enthusiasm for revolutionary upheaval, transforming it into a vision for a new, imperial grandeur. Understanding this dynamic interaction allows for a nuanced comprehension of the intricate exchanges between these two ideologies.

"It is said that anarchists have no vision and do nothing but destroy. The only way for them to find any vision is to find the possibility of Fascism."

— Koichi Toyama quoted in The Anarcho-Fascist Manifesto by the CNT/S-1611

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