The F Word in Europe

#Russia #Putin #Ukraine #Orbán #NATO

That would be Fascism, of course, a word that’s being thrown around a lot lately. Putin and Company have said they’re fighting Fascism in Ukraine, and the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, has been accused of flirting with authoritarian rule and Fascism himself, as well as being highly sympathetic to Putin. More recently, a British MP, Kim Johnson, called the current Israeli government “Fascist,” though she later retracted the claim under pressure from Labour Party leadership.

And the “Brothers of Italy,” party which currently is in power in that country, is routinely described as having neo-Fascist “roots.”

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 former President George Herbert Walker Bush tooted that “democracy is breaking out all over,” or words to that effect. Not so fast, right?

Well, democracy is in a bit of a mess in Europe, with yet another allegedly far-right party nipping at the gates of the Élysée Palace in Paris.   

But everyone seems to be missing the real rise of Fascism in Europe, which is in Russia. Vladimir Putin has given multiple reasons for invading what long had been a sisterly neighbor of Russia, claiming at times that Ukraine is not a real country, or that the war is really against NATO, or that he’s simply rooting out Fascists – you know, Fascist babies and grandmothers, Fascists who are daring to defend their own land, people like that.

But most striking is his appeal to defending the motherland, or dying with honor; even the Russian Orthodox church has gotten on the new Fascist bandwagon, led by Patriarch Kirill, who has said all previous sins will be forgiven for Russian soldiers who die in this new, holy war.

This is a new take on “Repent now or forever rot in Hell,” more like, “Kill now and enter Heaven.”

How is Fascism defined, at its simplest? Well, it’s not a simple constant, but it certainly grows out of nationalism and ultra-nationalism in a political sense, and megalomania for its leaders in a psychological sense. Here’s a dictionary definition, though: “a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.” I give Russia a 5 out of 6 here, depending on how you’re counting.

While the former Soviet Union claimed to be both socialist (meaning it promised to adhere to Karl Marx’s famous maxim, “From each according to his ability, and to each according to his need), and internationalist (one world government, essentially), it in fact already was a Fascist state, suppressing minorities if they made too much trouble, extending its influence, if not always its borders, through Communist client states (such as in East Germany, Poland and Hungary, usually against the wishes of the majority of people in those countries, but they didn’t have much say in the matter), and especially in World War II, where almost no Red Army soldier was dying for “socialism” or “internationalism,” but were responding to intense nationalistic appeals to save the mother country. It should be acknowledged, though, there were plenty of Nazi collaborators in Ukraine in World War II, as it was that country which suffered most harshly under dictator Joseph Stalin’s murderous rule in the 1930s. Russians today may know that history, but I wonder how much they really know Stalin, including his treaty with Hitler that green-lighted Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, and which led to the partition of Poland between Germany and Russia.

I don’t know how this war will end, but lots of analysts are predicting that a Russian “special military operation” 2.0 is about to launch soon, that the Russian Army is actually training for an invasion this time, not merely assembling forces that would march in and take over in a week. I doubt the Russian Army is as bad as it looked for most of 2022, but we’ll see. Right now, they’re leveling the playing field, as it were, by leveling everything in sight, what generals know as “shaping the battlefield.” It’s not good.

And, it must be acknowledged that we in the West share some blame for this catastrophe. The expansion of NATO was always a red line not to be crossed from Russia’s point of view (no, Putin doesn’t get a veto over who is allowed to join NATO, and we now know what new member countries feared, but no major power likes potentially hostile forces on its borders. Perhaps there there could have been a third, more neutral alliance among the former Warsaw Pact countries, perhaps with NATO guarantees, but not specifically as members of NATO). And, we must not forget that we have had the Monroe Doctrine for 200 years ourselves – even when we were a smaller and weaker nation we didn’t want European countries menacing us close to our perceived sphere of influence.

But all that was then and this is now. It doesn’t matter how hypocritical we may be. Putin is a Fascist and a murderer, and people are willing to die to resist his aggression. Maybe that’s what is most remarkable about this evil war.

Be sure to check out “Don’t Go,” my latest collection of short stories from the Stephen F. Austin State University Press and available from Amazon and all online booksellers, or order directly from the publisher or your favorite local bookstore.

https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781622889297/dont-go/