"Fascist" is an ideology, with a set of principles and ideas. To be "fascist" a state must be ideologically committed to these principles. Highways and dictators and fancy shirts are not fascism, unless they are used by a state that is ideologically fascist.
I disagree entirely with Rich on that matter. Even if the structures of totalitarian states resemble each other,
structures are not, in of themselves, ideological. Ideology is the realm of principles and motives. A communist or fascist party that practices and participates in electoral democracy does not cease to be communist or fascist on that basis, for example.
Rich wrote:Votes for women was part of the fascist party's programme.
1) No, it wasn't. Women did not receive full suffrage in Italy until 1945.
2) Fascism is explicitly hierarchical, and rejects equality and communal living. The Khmer Rouge even abolished the family unit, preferring to raise children communally. This is a significant departure from fascist ideology.
2a) For much of the Khmer Rouge's existence, even after coming to power, its leadership refused to reveal their name or identities, being referred to as "Angkor". This is a rejection of the hierarchical "great man" personality cults that characterize fascist movements. Eventually, Pol Pot did take a central role.
Rich wrote:The Kings were necessary in bringing both Mussolini and Pol Pot to power. Monarchism was a dead issue in Weimar Germany, so it doesn't really say much that Hitler didn't attempt to restore the Prussian, Bavarian or Austrian monarchies.
The fascist programme in Italy explicitly called for the abolition of the monarchy. Fascist movements in Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Romania were against the monarchy. Fascist movements in Spain and Britain were for the monarchy.
Mussolini's practical compromises are irrelevant to ideological character of fascism.
The Cambodian monarchy was abolished in 1970 and reinstated by the Khmer Rouge as part of their palingenetic reactionary programme.
Rich wrote:Himmler considered that farmers made far superior soldiers to urban people.
Agrarianism =/= Primitivism
And no fascist state was ideologically agrarian. They were full industrialists, modernists, and futurists.
Rich wrote:Mussolini was an atheist, so probably was Hitler. just to note Churchill was also an atheist and FDR, although more religious than Hitler or Mussolini was probably an atheist as well and showed little signs of actually believing in Episcopalian theology.
Fascist movements in Italy began anti-clerical, but softened. Fascist movements in Poland, Austria, France and Spain aligned with Catholicism explicitly, and were not anti-clerical. The fascist movement in Germany did not have an anti-clerical character despite the personal distaste for Christianity of some of NSDAP's higher-ups.
The Khmer Rouge was explicitly atheist, though it tolerated Buddhism.