Fascism is one of the great political ideologies of the 20th century. It is a kind of authoritarian government which, according to Wikipedia, “considers the individual subordinate to the interests of the state, party or society as a whole”. Two of the most successful and pioneering governments of fascism are Italian fascism – led by Benito Mussolini, and Nazi Germany – led by Adolf Hitler. Fascism in Italy and Germany, although in many ways very similar, have the same political ideologies, they however have many aspects that make them different from each other. Before analyzing the similarities and differences between the fascism that emerged in Italy and Germany from the beginning of the 20th century, it is best to find out what fascism is. In reality, there is no clear definition of what fascism is, but it could be considered a militant political movement that emphasized loyalty to the state and obedience to the leader. It was based on the principles of authoritarianism: the government tried to organize and control people's lives as much as possible with strong discipline. Politically, fascism is a kind of extreme nationalism with only one one-party state, which means there is no possibility for democracy to exist. Economically, the government claimed to control all industrialists by placing all economic activities under the corporate state. Society under fascism was encouraged by the military, industrialists and the middle class. On culture, to keep people under control, they threatened and censored that they would only have to support fascist policies. Above are some representative characters of fascism. One obvious difference is the very first intention: Hitler's Nazis wanted to avenge what the world had done to them after the First World War,...... middle of paper...... somehow, they were one of the causes which led to the Second World War. It was one of the darkest periods of human beings, but we could not deny the truth that Mussolini and Hitler were excellent leaders. Works Cited “Adolf Hitler”. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 7 May 2010 “Benito Mussolini”. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 7 May 2010 “Fascism”. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 7 May 2010 “Fascism in Germany and Italy”. Essays online. 10 July 2007. 7 May 2010 “Italian fascism”. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 7 May 2010 “Nazism”. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. May 7 2010