Red fascism refers to the association of certain communist regimes with having strong similarities with fascism. Red fascism is commonly used in a pejorative way to describe Stalinism. However ideological similarities between communist and fascist governments have been noted. Michael Geyer and Sheila Fitzpatrick in Beyond Totalitarianism: Stalinism and Nazism Compared (2009), note close ideological similarities between Stalinism and Nazism.
Benito Mussolini positively reviewed Stalinism as having transformed Soviet Bolshevism into a Slavic fascism. Despite ideological differences, Adolf Hitler admired Stalin and his politics and believed that Stalin was in effect transforming Soviet Bolshevism into a form of National Socialism.
Famous quotes containing the words red and/or fascism:
“We have fought too much rhetoric and red tape to be lulled and comforted by a paid political advertisement showing a candidate tossing his grandchild in the air while a disembodied voice espouses “family values” in the background.”
—Bernice Weissbourd (20th century)
“Democracy is the menopause of Western society, the Grand Climacteric of the body social. Fascism is its middle-aged lust.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)