In this context 'it is essential to recall how real the possibility of communist revolution seemed in Italy in 192I and in Germany in I932' (P. Fascismgrew from the back rooms to the public arena most easily where the existing government functioned badly, or not at all' (p. 'One of the most importantpreconditions', he argues, 'was a falteringliberalorder.

Paxton emphasizesthe importanceof understandingthe motivationsof liberal and conservativepoliticiansand elites in helping to bring both Mussolini and Hitler to power. Their success,Paxton argues,lay in their abilityto transformtheirmovements into catch-all parties. In so doing they rejectedmuch of the anti-capitalistrhetoricof the earlyyears in order to cooperate with business interests and 'bourgeois' party leaders. In examining these, Paxton stresseshow electoral participationand the prospect of power forced Mussolini and Hitler to eschew the radicalrhetoric of their respectivemovements so as to appeal to a wider electorateand to potentialcoalitionpartners. This inevitablymeans that most of the book deals with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Indeed, the vast majoritydid not get beyond stageone. The problemwith Paxton'sfive-stagemodel, however, is that, as he himself admits, most fascistmovements did not complete the five stages. He sets out to examine fascismas a phenomenon in five stages:i) the creation of movements 2) their rooting in the political system 3) the seizure of power 4) the exercise of power and 5) the longer term in which fascism either radicalizedor succumbed to entropy.

Rather than accepting fascistrhetoric at face value, therefore, Paxton argues in favour of observing 'fascismin action within the complex web of interactionsit formswith society' (p. Since fascismprided itselfon being an ideology of action ratherthan of philosophy,Paxton'sargumentwould, on the face of it, appear to be convincing. I4)and tells us little of how fascismwon and retainedpower. Paxton argues that the ideal type creates a 'static picture of somethingbetterperceivedin movement' (p.

IN this survey of fascism, Robert Paxton rejects the concept of the 'fascist minimum' which seeks to understandthe fascistphenomenon througha general but concise definition. The Anatomyof Fascism.Penguin Books, London and New York, 2004. School ofHistory PHILIP BOOBBYER UniversitofKent Paxton, Robert 0. Nevertheless, you can see from this ground-breakingstudywhy Stalinfound him such a reliablepair of hands. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:ħ70 SEER, 84, 4, 2006 Perhaps the answer is 'yes', and that was his tragedy.

Robert paxton the anatomy of fascism