Trotsky, Gramsci, fascism

["Bryan A. Alexander" <bnalexan@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 10 Dec 1995, Louis N Proyect wrote:

> Louis:
>...
> In the meantime, I want to inaugurate the first in a series of posts that
> mark Trotsky's observations on fascism in some kind of chronological
> order. "What is Fascism" was written in November 15, 1931, shortly
> after the victory of Mussolini.
> ...
> The fascist movement in Italy was a spontaneous movement of large
> masses, with new leaders from the rank and file. It is a plebeian
> movement in origin, directed and financed by big capitalist powers. It
> issued forth from the petty bourgeoisie, the slum proletariat, and even
> to a certain extent from the proletarian masses; Mussolini, a former
> socialist, is a 'self-made' man arising from this movement.

Here Trotsky is missing the crucial agricultural component that gramsci
clearly articulates.  I don't know his writings enough to explain this,
but it's a serious problem.

 >
> Primo de Rivera was an aristocrat. He occupied a high military and
> bureaucratic post and was chief governor of Catalonia. He
> accomplished his overthrow

awkward phrasing, that!

with the aid of state and military forces.
> The dictatorship of Spain and Italy are two totally different forms of
> dictatorship. It is necessary to distinguish between them. Mussolini
> had difficulty in reconciling many old military institutions with the
> fascist militia. This problem did not exist for Primo de Rivera.

Here Gramsci's contradictions begin to shed light, leading us to examine
the city-country split in the military.  Again, Trotsky misses this.

>
> The movement in Germany is analogous mostly to the Italian. It is a
> mass movement, with its leaders employing a great deal of fascist
> demagogy. This is necessary for the creation of the mass movement.

Can we develop this "demagogy" in greater detail?  Example: say instead
"aggressive propaganda and mass organizing."  I'm not interested in
sanitizing but in closer analysis.

 >
> The genuine basis (for fascism) is the petty bourgeoisie. In Italy it has
> a very large base--the petty bourgeoisie of the towns and cities, and the
> peasantry. In Germany, likewise, there is a large base for fascism....

He extends his error to Germany, and hence to his larger model.
> ...

Back to Louis:
> My question: what are the substantial differences between Trotsky and
> the pre-prison writings of Gramsci on fascism? Are there any?


based on this short excerpt, I'd reiterate my earlier point.
        Also - and I'm aware of the dangers of working with minimal text
- this seems strikingly undialectical: no mention of contradiction,
idenity, process.
        Louis, what else can Leon add?
> >
>
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>


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