Fascism, in its milder version, and Bolshevism were heresies of socialism, Igor Boțan, the permanent expert of IPN’s project, stated in a public debate titled “What do Fascism, Nazism and Stalinism have in common?” that was hosted by IPN News Agency.

“Why do the great historians believe that Fascism and Bolshevism are heresies of socialism?  Because we remember the first Communist-Marxist International that was followed by the second revisionist International and this raised the slogan “criticism at Marx is possible” and asserted that the class relations can be peaceful through trade union movements, through peaceful movements. The Bolsheviks were those who asserted that solidarity can exist only in the form of class solidity. The separation started as a result. The so-called Leninist-Stalinist period started, when world war was turned into civil war in which 12 to 17 million peasants in Russia were killed,” stated Igor Boțan.

The expert reminded of the main theses of Marxism: class struggle and dictatorship of the proletariat. He noted that where dictatorship of the proletariat started together with the victory of Bolsheviks, only instruments were to be developed and this happened. “After the February revolution until the November putsch, the Bolsheviks had boasted of having 42 publications by which they promoted their Communist, Socialist ideas. Immediately after they took over, they introduced censorship in order to control the whole information space and promote their ideas. I consider it is important to realize why Fascism, in its milder version, and Bolshevism were heresies of socialism,” said Igor Boțan.

He noted that the Soviet heresy continued after World War II as the Soviet Union was among the winners and the winners make the rules. “But this regime also failed ultimately as it could not happen in a different way. It was doomed to failure as, from the viewpoints of social organization, freedoms of the people, freedom of creation, it could not cope with the competition of the liberal system that advanced from technological and scientific viewpoints at a time when the Soviet regime was unable to do this,” concluded the expert.

The public debate entitled “What do Fascism, Nazism and Stalinism have in common?” was the ninth installment of IPN’s project “Impact of the Past on Confidence and Peace Building Processes” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.