1. Compare and Contrast two different political ideologies
In the political worldthere are agreatmany differentideological preferences,these are usual shown
on a scale fromleftto right.Political ideologiesonthe leftof the spectrumare stereotypically
describedasfreedombased butwithalackof safety measuresforbadsituations,where aspolitical
ideologiesonthe rightare describedascontrollingbutwithmore safetymeasures.Dependingon
your ownpersonal beliefsyouwill be somewhere alongthisspectrumhoweverthere are twomajor
belief systems thatstandoutmajorlyonopposingendsof the spectrum;FascismandCommunism.
Comparingthese twoideologiestogethermayseemrelativelyeasy,howeverthe realityisthatthe
linesare sometimesblurred.
Both FascismandCommunismare noticeablydifferentfromeachothereveninthe mostbasic
sense.Fascismisaform of far right winggovernmentinwhichcertainrightsandlibertiesare
suppressedinordertocreate the illusionof safety,byremovingall aspectsof lifethatare seenas
enemiesof the state,thisincludesanypolitical opposition,socialgrouporeconomicsuppressant
that goesagainstthe regime1
.Onthe opposingside of the spectrumiscommunism.Communismisa
far leftwinggovernmentthatisviewedasagovernmentthatviewseverycitizenasequal andevery
value itemashavingthe same value2
,Communism,atleastonpaper,isdesignedtocreate a free
and equal societyinwhicheverybodyistreatedthe same,howeverasseenthroughouthistorythisis
not alwaysthe wayit hasperformed.
Fascisticgovernmentshave existedthroughout modernhistory atvarioustime,theyare often
characterisedbytheirdictatorial leaderships,strongmilitarypresence andcensorshipregimes.
Naturally,the mostfamousof all fascisticgovernmentsisthatof the Nazi party inGermanyduring
the earlytwentiethcentury,thisisone of the easiestnotable fascisticgovernmentsandsetsthe par
for howa fascistgovernmentoperates.Nazi Germanyhadall the characteristicsof a fascist
government;Ithada strong,charismaticdictatorial leaderinAdolf Hitler,theyexertedcontrolson
the mediaandissuedpropagandatomeettheirneeds andcontrol theircitizens3
,andof course they
controlledentire portionsof the populationtoensure theirdominance4
.By usingthese techniques,
the Nazi party dominatedandcontrolledGermanyforoveradecade,destroyingcivil rightsand
controllingthe populace,howevertheyaren’tthe onlyexamplesof afascisticgovernmentinhistory.
Otherprime examplesof fascistgovernmentsinclude thatof the ItalianFascistpartyof 1922 to 1943
ledbyBenitoMussolini5
,The Imperial Japanese Empire between1941 and1945 andthe democratic
actionparty of Venezuela6
.
Alongside manyfamousfascistgovernmentstherehave alsobeena greatmanycommunist
governmentsinrecenthistory,somewhatsimilarlytofascismtheyare characterisedbyastrong,
sometimesdictatorial leaderandcensorshippolicies.Thiscanvary howeverasthere are several
differenttypesof communismthatexist. The original formof communismisoftencalledMarxismin
reference toone of itscreators Karl Marx7
, thisformof communismhoweveronlyseemstohave
workedonpaperas those whoattemptedtofollow itinsteadcreatedtheirownformsof
communism. The firsttrue formof thiswas whenRussiabecame acommunistcountryinthe early
20th
centuryunderVladimirLenin,howeverthisformof communismwasdifferentfromMarxismin
1 (Merriam-Webster, 2017)
2 (Merriam-Webster, 2017)
3 (BBC, 2011)
4 (United States HolocaustMemorial Museum, 2017)
5 (Encyclopædia Britannica,2013)
6 (Encyclopædia Britannica,2005)
7 (Encyclopædia Britannica,2016)

2. that ratherthan beingleftthe peopletoperformitwasforcedintoplace throughauthoritarian
force,because of thisactionthe communismoff shootLeninismwasborn8
.Otherformsof
communismhave includedMaoismof Chinainthe mid-20th
century9
andVietnamese communism.
Whenlookingatthe base of the situationitisquite obvioustosee how differentthesetwo
ideologiesare,howeverif youwere todigdeeperwouldtheybecome similarinnature,oreven
furtherdifferent?One of the bestplacestostart whenlookingatthe differencesandsimilaritiesof
these differentideologiesistolookatthe typesof societytheycreate whentheyare inpower.Inan
ideal communistsocietyall personswouldbe treatedasequals,everyonewouldbe giventhe same
value andall goodswouldbe viewedthe same.Thiswouldcreate asocietyinwhichratherthan
wealthbeingadividingfactorinsocietyinsteadeverybodywouldhave the same value.Thisis
almostthe complete oppositeof whata fascisticgovernmentwouldinvolve.Underfascistrule there
wouldbe an elite partof societythatisviewedasmuchhigherupand betterperformingthatthe
restof society,thiscanbe seenthroughouthistorywithsuchexamplesasthe AryansinNazi
Germanybeingviewedasthe higherorderof people10
.
What actuallyhappenswithCommunismhoweverisvery similartowhathappenswithFascism
whenitcomesto social equality.Forexample,whenwe lookbackata communistrule tosee how
trulyequal people incommunistsocietiesare itiseasyto see that itis not alwaysthe case that
people are treatedthe same. Ideologicallyspeakingacommunistsocietywouldnothave any
personsbetteroff thananyothersin thatsociety,thisisthe ideal situation.Whathappenshowever
whenitcomesdownto actuallyperformingacommunistsocietyisthatthere will be an elite portion
of society,the rulingclass.Thisisevidentlyseenthroughoutthe historyof the USSRwhichwhile
mostlybeingacommuniststate insteadhadanelite rulingclassthatcontrolledthe willof the restof
the populationtoensure thattheyperformedthe waythatwere told.Thisisn’tjustsimilartohowa
fascistgovernmentworks,itsnearenoughone andthe same11
.Controllingall aspectsof lifefor
societytoensure thattheyremainstrongand inpower.
An obviouslysimilarwayinwhichthese twoformsof governmentperformisthe wayinwhichthey
presentthemselvestothe outside world,thatisthatbothcommunismandfascismgovernmentsare
bothveryparanoidand private aboutthe workingsof theirgovernments.The prime exampleof this
interms of a communistgovernmentisthatof the Peoplesrepublicof NorthKorea,a government
that isstill tothisday a performingcommuniststate12
.NorthKoreaisanincrediblysecretive state
that has veryfewtiesoutside of itsowncountry,thisis because of a tacticknownas self-reliance
that manycommunistandfasciststateshave alsoreliedonhistorically.Self-reliance intermsof a
countrymeansthat the country itself will have nooutside helpintermsof importingorexporting
goods,butalso disallowingthe countriesinhabitantsfromhavinganycontactwiththe outside
world.
Thisform of self-reliance inwhichacountryonlysupportsitself isknownasautarky,thisiswhena
countryonlyprovidesinternal trade andnotinternational trade13
.ThisishugelyobviousinNorth
Koreain thatall inhabitantsof the countryare disallowedfromleavingthe countryatall and have
no methodof viewingthe outside world.Self-reliancetechniqueshave alsobeenusedbyfascist
statesto a lesserorsimilarextenttoensure thattheyare able to survive.The mostobviousfascist
8 (Encyclopædia Britannica,2002)
9 (Encyclopædia Britannica,2010)
10 (United States HolocaustMemorial Museum, 2017)
11 (Merriam-Webster, 2017)
12 (Central Inteligence Agency, 2016)
13 (Encyclopædia Britannica,2016)

3. countryto use thistechnique wasagainNazi Germanywhouseditduringthe secondworldwar to
attemptto survive whilesurroundedbytheirenemies.Nazi Germanycalledthistheirfour-yearplan
to make Germanyself-sufficientinpreparationforwar14
.
While there isplentyof evidence tosuggestthatfascismandcommunismare the same problem
witha differentname attachedtothemthere isalsoevidence toshow how theywere differentin
nature.Ideologicallyspeakingtheyare complete oppositesof eachother,acommunistsocietyisa
societycontrolledandruledbythe peopleforthe people15
,whereasonthe opposingscale afascist
societyisa societyruledbythe elite under the control of asingle charismaticleader16
.Another
largelyopposingviewpointthe twoideologieshave isthatof theirworldview.A fascistgovernment
isveryself-centred,theywill believethatwhatevercountrytheyoriginatedfromisthe birthland
and ishigherandgreaterthan any countryin the world,hence theywilltrytoexpandtheirterritory
to increase the true land.Onthe opposingside tothisiscommunism, Communistsocieties,while
still seeingthemselvesasabove otherformsof societydonotsee theirlandof beingthe true landof
communismandputtheirbelief incommunismitself.Thiswill allow forcommunismtospreadover
time to othercountriesandencourage themtotake up that view point,ratherthaninvadingother
countriesand forcingthemintotheirregime,thisallowsforothercountriestoexistsolongasthey
are intrinsicallycommunistbynature.
To summarise the differencesandsimilaritiesbetweenthese twoseparate ideologies theyare both
incrediblyvastandcomplicatedsystemsof governmentthatthoughideologicallydifferentbothhave
hugelysimilarstandardswhenitcomestoputtingthemintopractice.
14 (Trueman, 2016)
15 (Merriam-Webster, 2017)
16 (Merriam-Webster, 2017)

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