Fascism/Fascist

Origin of: Fascism/Fascist

Fascism/Fascist

Fascism now describes any extreme, authoritarian right wing views or behaviour, exemplified by the right wing political movement founded by Benito Mussolini in 1919 in opposition to Bolshevism or Communism. The word derives from the Latin fasces, a bundle of rods with an axe blade protruding from it, which signified the power and authority of magistrates in Ancient Rome. Mussolini adopted this as a symbol for his fascist political party.