To what extent was the Galactic Empire 'fascist'?

[Einzige]

A cross-post from an old thread of mine on TFN. Given my interest in recent real-life politics, I thought I'd ask here as well.


Robert O. Paxton, in his excellent study The Anatomy of Fascism, holds that there are three primary characteristics unique to a fascist form of government (i.e. National Socialist Germany under Hitler and Fascist Italy under Mussolini) that differentiate it from a run-of-the-mill paternalistic despotism (such as, in his view, Portugal under António de Oliveira Salazar):


1. The first, and most obvious, is the lack of a Party to compete with the civilian bureaucracy or civil service in a generic dictatorship. In both Nazi Germany and Italy under Mussolini the bureaucracy was stymied by the existence of similar services under the direct control of Party leadership. This often caused the system to bloat. The lack of the total dominance of a single party in Franco's Spain (the falangistas existed, but after Franco's rise to power were marginalized in favor of the existing social system), for instance, leads Paxton to consider 'Fascist Portugal' a sort of aborted fascist state.

2. A radicalization of the fascist movement - fascism, like Communism, is very much a revolutionary movement in that it relies upon a glorification of physical violence and hierarchical social systems in extremis to keep itself alive and to instill within its adherents a self-perpetuating furor. According to Paxton, these radical strains of fascism often appear during the birth and the collapse of such a movement, and 'traditional' authoritarians - such as the aforementioned Salazar, a quiet scholar who wanted nothing to do with the fascist extremists in his nation - tend to shy away from this. Paxton takes Hitler's aborted Werwolf operation to be the most readily-identifiable incarnation of this radicalization. Fascisms tend to be vitalistic; dictatorships merely stodgily conservative.

3. The existence of a broad support base made up from members of all classes. While traditional tyrannies tend to be established by members of one class (such as the military in the instance of a junta), fascist societies are often established with the support of members of all walks of life. The industrial proletariat and the factory-owner might throw in for the same fascist party, for two highly different reasons: the former out of enthusiasm for its anti-bourgeois rhetoric, the latter out of an illusion that fascism is a mere reactionary form of conservatism.

Taking these three differences into account, I think any attempt to call the Galactic Empire a 'fascist' state is misbegotten. Other than COMPNOR, which seems merely to be a sort of political think-tank, there is no official 'Imperial' party, and while Palpatine certainly prompted his underlings to compete with each other for attention he never seems to have established a Party-based rival to the civilian government in place since the days of the Galactic Republic. Further, there is no evidence of any sort of radicalization, and Palpatine's rise to power differs from the real-life ascensions of Hitler and Mussolini in that, while the real-world nations were fully aware of the party platforms of the fascists, Palpatine gave no hint of his ambitions. The only similarity between the Galactic Empire and a fascist state is that both the fictional Empire and real-life fascist governments were established during periods of tremendous political turmoil and social upheaval, while most dictatorships are generally created during periods of stagnation.

The Italian fascist movement began as a perverse form of anarcho-syndicalism. Fascism's roots lie in revolutionary political theory, while 'mere' authoritarian dictatorships are much more banal. I do not feel either is an appropriate description of the Galactic Empire. But I don't follow very much of the EU, so I've gleaned most of what I know about the structure of the Empire from the films themselves.

[Srelex]

To be honest with you, your issue over the lack of a party isn't that applicable since political parties don't really seem to exist prominently in Star Wars. Furthermore, the Empire does apparently have a wide support base, a totalitarian, relatively centralized government (note that Nazi Germany also used governors in occupied territory), some form of leadership cult, so I'd say it qualifies as fascist or at least totalitarian by some definition.

[hunter5]

Probably not truly fascist

1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (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
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control <early instances of army fascism and brutality — J. W. Aldridge>

But upon further research it does qualify under definition 2

[Simon_Jester]

A cross-post from an old thread of mine on TFN. Given my interest in recent real-life politics, I thought I'd ask here as well.

Robert O. Paxton, in his excellent study The Anatomy of Fascism, holds that there are three primary characteristics unique to a fascist form of government (i.e. National Socialist Germany under Hitler and Fascist Italy under Mussolini) that differentiate it from a run-of-the-mill paternalistic despotism (such as, in his view, Portugal under António de Oliveira Salazar):

I'm not sure I agree with your assessment...

(1) While the Empire lacks a formal Party, COMPNOR definitely plays the role, even to the point of competing with the civilian bureaucracy. One of the Empire's strongest internal security organs, the ISB, operates entirely under COMPNOR control. COMPNOR is also primarily responsible for propaganda; COMPNOR members serve as political officers within the military ranks. They are quite a bit more than a mere think tank.

2. A radicalization of the fascist movement - fascism, like Communism, is very much a revolutionary movement in that it relies upon a glorification of physical violence and hierarchical social systems in extremis to keep itself alive and to instill within its adherents a self-perpetuating furor. According to Paxton, these radical strains of fascism often appear during the birth and the collapse of such a movement, and 'traditional' authoritarians - such as the aforementioned Salazar, a quiet scholar who wanted nothing to do with the fascist extremists in his nation - tend to shy away from this. Paxton takes Hitler's aborted Werwolf operation to be the most readily-identifiable incarnation of this radicalization. Fascisms tend to be vitalistic; dictatorships merely stodgily conservative.

Look at what happened to Palpatine and the forces under his immediate control towards the end. Even before Endor, we see steadily increasing violence and brutalism during the last five years; after Endor the Palpatine clones are even more unstable, even more prone to incite chaos, and even more obsessed with superweapons.

It's a radicalizing movement if ever I saw one.

3. The existence of a broad support base made up from members of all classes. While traditional tyrannies tend to be established by members of one class (such as the military in the instance of a junta), fascist societies are often established with the support of members of all walks of life. The industrial proletariat and the factory-owner might throw in for the same fascist party, for two highly different reasons: the former out of enthusiasm for its anti-bourgeois rhetoric, the latter out of an illusion that fascism is a mere reactionary form of conservatism.

We don't really have a clear picture of the demographics of the Empire. Someone has to support them, but we don't know who because most of the EU concentrates on the Rebellion- which means focusing on people at the fringes of the Empire, either physically or politically.

[Patroklos]

To be honest with you, your issue over the lack of a party isn't that applicable since political parties don't really seem to exist prominently in Star Wars. Furthermore, the Empire does apparently have a wide support base, a totalitarian, relatively centralized government (note that Nazi Germany also used governors in occupied territory), some form of leadership cult, so I'd say it qualifies as fascist or at least totalitarian by some definition.

I am not sure where you are getting this notion, but political parties are very real and a very big component of political life in the Empire prior to the disolution of the Senate and even afterward.

A lot of this is explained in the EU surrounding the prequels, where it became necessary to flesh out the specifics of the Senate and its many factions. But honestly, this was well know before the prequals. Even from ANH, it is clear Leia is an oppoition thorn in the Empire's side via the Senate and that she has been able to be so openly before being implicated in high treason (finally giving the Emperor a legitimate reason to shut her up).

As for the rest, if that is really all you require to declare something fascist then there are very few polities in human history that are not fascist. You are deluding the word into irrelevance.

[Srelex]

I am not sure where you are getting this notion, but political parties are very real and a very big component of political life in the Empire prior to the disolution of the Senate and even afterward.

A lot of this is explained in the EU surrounding the prequels, where it became necessary to flesh out the specifics of the Senate and its many factions.

As for the rest, if that is really all you require to declare something fascist then there are very few polities in human history that are not fascist. You are deluding the word into irrelevance.

Specific examples and names of such parties?

[Patroklos]

[6] The New Order Party is implied by mention of “party officials” and “wealthy party functionaries” in the Dark Empire Sourcebook; its existence is made explicit by the mention of its local affiliate, the Esselian New Order Party (ENO) in “Rawmat Recession Threatens Ralle’s Coalition” (Galaxywide NewsNets, The Official Star Wars Adventure Journal Vol. 1, No. and “Alien Workers Reach Accord with the Hall” (Galaxywide NewsNets, The Official Star Wars Adventure Journal Vol. 1, No. 9), which contested seats in the Esselian Empire’s unicameral legislature, the Esselian Hall, in opposition to Hall President Cambira Ralle’s ruling Forad-Cardean coalition. The NOP’s ideology of Correct Thought is conjectured from The Imperial Military Guide to Correct Thought, mentioned in Force Commander. The term “unmutual” was used by the Imperial Security Bureau in its evaluation of the ideological suitability of one Cadet Han Solo in the Dark Empire Sourcebook (specifically, the ISB cleared him of any involvement in “‘unmutual’ intent or anti-Imperial actions,” as Senator Simon Greyshade (Vorzyd V) put it).

The Rationalist Party, an organized political party of technophile free marketeers, first appeared in Planet of Twilight; in 48 rS it was represented in the New Republic Council, and was said to “have adherents both in the Republic and in nearly every piece of the Empire still big enough to field a fleet” (with “too much influence in both the New Republic and in the various fragments of the old Empire” for the Party’s wishes could not be disregarded out of hand). It is identified herein as the same pro-business party that nominated Senator Ainlee Teem (Malastare) for the Supreme Chancellery in The Phantom Menace.

[7] The Rights of Sentience Party, a vigorous supporter of indigenous species’ political rights, first appeared in Planet of Twilight; in 48 rS it was represented in the New Republic Council, and had a heated rivalry with the pro-business Rationalist Party. It may have some connection with the Rights of Sentience League that attended the Eriadu Trade Summit of 3 rS in Cloak of Deception. The Conservative Caucus is the name herein given to the “faction of Bail Antilles” that “thinks only of the Core Worlds” mentioned in Cloak of Deception; it was evidently sufficiently powerful that its nominee was one of the three main contenders for the office of Supreme Chancellor after Finis Valorum’s Chancellery was brought down by a vote of no confidence in 3 rS in The Phantom Menace. The inability of the opposition parties to work together is derived from Senator Gno’s remark in The New Rebellion that the Imperials had taken advantage of disunity, so that “small disagreements became major,” and “major disagreements were ignored, until the government was so factionalized it didn’t work at all.”

http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=122169

It really isn't that hard to conceptualize. At no point is it stated that all of the Senate's many political affiliations instantaneously disappeared after the declaration of the Empire. The Senate remained for decades after this, and we know of at least two Senators who made a distiguished and famous career out of being in open opposition to the Emperor's policies without any real consequences until they declared or were openly caught supporting open rebellion (Mon Mothma, Leia).

[Simon_Jester]

As for the rest, if that is really all you require to declare something fascist then there are very few polities in human history that are not fascist. You are deluding the word into irrelevance.

Point of information: "deluding" and "diluting" are not the same.

And no, I'd say Einzige's criteria for fascism are quite reasonable, all things considered. Particularly the part where the structure of The Party competes with normal organs of government. In non-fascist states, there are powerful political parties, yes, but these parties don't have their own armies or their own law enforcement agencies. Only in fascist (or communist) states does this sort of thing become common.

Also the part about radicalization. Every fascist government on record has gone through periods of political radicalism, where they advocated (or practiced) extreme measures to achieve social goals. Whereas many non-fascist dictatorships get by with few or no such periods, because they're rule by a person, not by an ideology.

[Elfdart]

The feldgrau is a dead giveaway.

[Tiriol]

The feldgrau is a dead giveaway.

Isn't that uniform from Imperial-era Germany? Not that it changes your point, but I'm just curious.

EDIT: yes, it appears to be. The picture link name gave it away and I was stupid enough not to check it before posting...

[Illuminatus Primus]

The Galactic Empire is a kind of stalled fascist state by this criterion; the COMPNOR and populist totalitarian fractions of the monarchist coalition never become dominant over the conservative-elitist-militarist wing. Its more like a blend of the various quasi-fascist states like wartime Imperial Germany, late Imperial Japan, Salazar's Portugal, Franco's Spain, etc. As the war dragged on, in became increasingly dominated by the armed forces and Palpatinist technocrats/insiders.