Characteristics and Examples of Fascism

Characteristics of Fascism	Examples from Nazi Germany
- a political system based on extreme nationalism	- Hitler's party appealed to German nationalism and resentment over the Treaty of Versailles
- people must accept a dictator's rule without question	- once in power, Hitler called himself Führer (the leader) and demanded unconditional obedience from the people
- government relies on military power to keep control	- the Nazis took power peacefully, but then used their secret police to get rid of opposition, and built up the military
- government uses propaganda to convince the public its ideas have value	- the Nazis used propaganda to persuade Germans to believe their ideas (e.g. mass rallies, parades, films, etc.)
- government uses scapegoats upon which to blame the country's problems	- the Nazis used Jews, communists, and other groups as scapegoats for Germany's problems, and promised that life would improve once those groups had been punished