Germany in 1932: the country was in economic collapse, its political system in turmoil. The two mainstream parties were the center-right Centre party, and the center-left Social Democratic party (SPD). The two anti-democratic parties were Hitler’s National Socialists and the Communist Party (KPD).
The Social Democrats, while worried about Hitler, were sure that he could be constrained by the German democratic constitution. Meanwhile, the Communists refused to ally themselves with the Social Democrats against the Nazis, instead training their fire on the SPD. Writing in the Socialist Review, Donny Gluckstein notes:
Tragically it was at this time that the [Communist] party adopted what was called the "Third Period" line. At the very time when the crisis of capitalism was destroying the lives of millions and Hitler's Nazis were making huge electoral gains (rising from 2.6 percent of the vote in 1928 to 37.4 percent in 1932) the KPD concentrated its attention on attacking another part of the left. It made preposterous accusations against the socialists, accusing them of being "social fascists" and "1,000 times worse than an open fascist dictatorship". [Bold font added]
The result: Hitler gained power despite only getting 37% of the vote. He used the Reichstag fire to crack down on Communists and other opponents, eventually getting a vote in the German Parliament giving him dictatorial powers. The rest, of course, is history.
France in 2015 - economic stagnation and the threat of terrorism had led to the rise of the neo Fascist National Front. The National Front was founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen, an out and out admirer of Hitler, anti-Semite, and anti-Muslim bigot. The party is now led by his daughter, Marine Le Pen, who has softened some of their rhetoric while not changing their fundamental fascist orientation. The two “mainstream” parties were the Socialists and the center-right Republicains led by Nicholas Sarkozy.
In 2015, France held two-round regional elections on Dec. 6 and 13. On Dec. 6, the National Front shockingly won the most votes and looked certain to gain control of at least one French region for the first time in history during the second round of voting.
However, the Socialist Party prevented this from happening. They withdrew their candidates from regions where they were in third place. In those areas they urge their supporters to vote for the Republicains! Shamefully, the Republicains did not do the same on their end and withdraw candidates in regions where they were in third place. Regardless, the Socialists stuck with their plan. As a result, on December 13 not a single region in France was won by the National Front. From The Guardian:
The defeat of the FN was down to mass tactical voting, an increase in turnout and warnings by the left that what it called the “antisemitic and racist” party would bring France to its knees. All this combined to stop the FN translating its huge first-round score of nearly 28% into the overall control of any region.
I am not an historian, and am sure I am missing details and nuances in each of these examples. In any case the lesson is clear: fascism can be defeated when anti-fascists unite and vote together. When they do not unite, fascists can win. And after that, there is no guarantee of any future elections.
USA in 2016: Which brings us to the US in 2016, where for the first-time ever we have a true fascist at the head of one of our two dominant parties. Others can make the case for Trump as fascist better than I can: Robert Kagan’s “This is How Fascism Comes to America” is perhaps the best I’ve read. All he may need is his own version of a Reichstag fire (terrorist attack, most likely) and a cowed Republican congress will hand him our liberties on a silver platter.
At any rate, in July we will have one, and only one, candidate in a position to defeat fascism here. We will be writing our own history in our response to this threat. Let’s do so in a way that we will be proud to tell our children.
