Original scientific paper
The Meaning of Anti-Fascism
Ivan Prpić
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The collapse of the communist regime in Yugoslavia - established in the course of the antifascist freedom fight in World War II - triggered off the disintegration of Yugoslavia as a state. We have witnessed the emergence of national states on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Hence one of the central theoretical and political problems has been that of the relationship between nationalism and fascism and the interpretation of the meaning of fascism. Nationalism is a particular type of awareness of community devoid of social and political values. It is a specific belief of a certain group of people that they are one, though it would be difficult to enumerate objective characteristics which make them an efficient entity. The immanent alternative to nationalism, as a form of awareness, is the rule of law or a dictatorship. Fascism as ideology is a movement and a regime aimed at facilitating dictatorship. The purpose of antifascism is not only warring against the fascist state which started the war. It does not mean crossing swords with fascism due to a rationally inexplicable hatred for other peoples (though it is a major aspect of antifascism). True antifascism means partisanship of political humanism, the rule of law and democracy. Antifascism is political and moral attitude of the citizens of the nation in which fascist tendencies raises its ugly head, both for the purpose of protecting their own freedom and security and because fascism destroys their nation economicly, politically and culturally.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
105798
URI
Publication date:
16.1.1997.
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