fasisch

Fasisch is a German adjective used to describe things related to fascism, the political ideology and movement that emerged in the early 20th century in Europe, notably Italian Fascism under Benito Mussolini and, more broadly, various nationalist authoritarian movements. The term derives from the word fascio (bundle) and the Italian fascismo; in German usage it appears in historical sources from the interwar period and beyond.

In modern German, fasisch is relatively rare and is typically found in scholarly or historical contexts. The more common modern form is faschistisch. Fasisch is used to characterize regimes, parties, policies, propaganda, or actions as fascist in nature—such as one-party rule, suppression of civil liberties, militarism, a cult of the leader, and ultranationalist rhetoric. The distinction in some German-language scholarship is that fasisch can denote fascist characteristics or influence, while faschistisch is the standard descriptor for explicit fascist ideology or practice.

Historically, the term is associated with the fascist movements of the 1920s–1940s and with analyses of their methods and consequences. After World War II, usage declined in everyday language but appears in historical and academic writings that discuss fascism as a distinct, self-contained movement with specific organizational and ideological features. Fasisch, therefore, functions mainly as a historical-linguistic label rather than a frequently modern synonym for fascist.

See also fascism, fascist, Mussolini, Hitler.