Wednesday, February 5, 2014

What kind of autocrat are you?



While Peron was not as extreme of an autocrat as Hitler or Mussolini, the shift of Peronism in Argentina's political history still marks a curious transfer of power that is worth examining closely. Indeed, some historians argue that Peron had fascist tendencies, and that Argentina's military was sympathetic towards Nazi Germany. So...what do you think--would it be wrong to call Peron a fascist?

14 comments:

  1. Overall I think that it is fair to compare Peron to Hitler and Mussolini because even though he might not have been as tough as them he was still a very harsh leader, something that the US and Canada never really experienced. Even though Peron, Hitler and Mussolini didn’t do the same exact things like out of a guidebook, there are many parallels between them all by the way they ruled their countries. In the article it states, "Peron himself may have been guided by the fascist and corporatist policies he had encountered as military attaché in Mussolini's Italy...". This shows that Peron was clearly inspired by Hitler and Mussolini in many way by the way he used language to control people and strike fear into them by using a strong and powerful military presence.

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  2. I think that Peron was a fascist. It is not because he was slightly less violent that Hitler that he wasn't a fascist. Fascist does not mean killing all the people that you want. Fascist could be much less than that; for example, as Peron was constantly doing, using language to persuade people to be in your side (such as Hitler and Mussolini were doing too by that time). Also, he let Nazis that escaped Europe after and during the war to stay in the country so that they would be safe which means that he was helping out in some way Nazism and therefore supporting it. It makes sense that this happened because Argentina was really weak at the time so Peron just took the most radical ideas to try and make the nation stronger. Also, because it was sort of the easiest way to gain more power and strength by threatening people.

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  3. Yes, it is fair to call Peron a fascist. He was basically controlling the people of Argentina. The people were in need and needed someone to help them and Peron did that. Peron was inspired by Hitler and Mussolini but he did not try mimicking them. He just tried to go a different approach but use similar tactics. But what he did worked and strengthened the nation. Laura already said it he was generous toward that Nazi's by letting them move to Argentina during and also after the war to get away, so it also makes him Nazism.

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  4. Compared to the US, Peron was definitely a harsh leader, and i agree on the fact that it issss fair to call him a fascist. While technically there were laws on how the workers should have been being treated andsuch , the government didnt enforce them and "stood by unwilling to enfore existing labor codes" He did fix argentias economic problems, but at the same time, hitler helped germanys economy in some ways as well, but hitler was far from a good leader. AND peron helped nazis by letting them escape to his country, entailing that the government being run in argentina wassss slightly the same even though it was not as harsh like chandler said he was "inspired" by them.

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  5. It is fair to compare the two of them and to call Peron a fascist. He wasn't as extreme as others but he was still comparable. But why would anyone be "sympathetic" towards Nazi Germany? I mean yeah what was going on in their country was horrible but it was beginning to take over the world and cause other countries to fall under germany and hitlers control. Being sympathetic isn't good because it would make them an easier target and make them weaker. Calling Peron a fascist is reasonable because he was doing the same things that hitler and mussolini were doing, but not to the same extent. He didn't have as much power as them but his actions still were similar to theirs. Also, Peron isn't as well known as mussolini and hitler for many reasons. I think this because he wasn't as involved in the world wars but also he wasn't as extreme as them and didn't do crazy things to stand out like trying to take over the world and killing a ton of people like hitler and mussolini did.

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  6. peron should be considered a fascist leader. he took totalitarian actions on the states and people lives thousands of people were imprisoned killed and went missing under peron. he also blamed foreigners for the economic problems in the infamous decade and industrialized the state to the point where the classes were totally divided.

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  7. Even though Person was not as extreme as Hitler and Mussolini, It is true to say that Peron was a fascist. Not only was his policies fascist and corporatist which he was inspired by Mussolini, but also he had set up corporate nationalism within the country by nationalizing Argentina's large corporations, blurring distinctions between corporations and government. Also, Peron also ruled using violence to organize his administration and corporate the labor unions. Based on the things Peron did, it is fair to say that Peron was a fascist.

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  8. It is really absurd, in my opinion, that Peron would be considered Fascist. Just because his policies has some similarities with Fascism, does not mean he is Fascist. Peron rules Argentina in his own Peronism, which is a mixed of everything. Peron emphasizes on the working middle-class. When he was sent to the prison, workers gathered together and protested to have him back in position. Peron also endorses women suffrage, although mainly just to gain popularity and votes. It was mentioned in the reading that the electoral vote for Peron is the most transparent one. Peron does use dirty tricks such as clamp down strikes using police; censor anti-peronism media. Overall, i would say he is a great leader. The end justifies the mean. Despite his ideology or strategy, he guides Argentina into its industrialization phase, which truly help the country develop.

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  9. I believe that it is not wrong to call Peron a fascist. The reading stated that Peron was an, “ anti- communist nationalist with fascist leanings attributable to his work as military attaché in Italy.” The fact that Juan Peron was an attaché in Italy during the time that Mussolini was in power shows that some of Mussolini’s ideology could have rubbed off on Peron. Although a fascist, under Peron’s rule Argentina went from a primarily agricultural society to an industrial one. The workforce also expanded under his dictatorship. Peron was able, “ to identify himself with the working-class aspirations [which] earned him the loyalty of the blue-collar workers.”

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  11. Although when thinking of a Fascist leader the thing that comes to mind is someone who lead their country with an iron fist and is extremely harsh that is not really a description of them. a Fascist is a "an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization." Yes, Peron was a not as extreme as Hitler who convinced the murder of thousands or as Mussolini who led armies bus he was a Fascist. He manipulated the people into siding with him using clamp downs with police officers . Not to mention that he helped Nazi Germans by helping escapees hide in Argentina. Not to mention he admired Mussolini. Although yes, his actions did help set in motion the industrial phase in Argentina and helped move them along he used Fascist means to do it.

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  12. In my opinion, Peron was not a fascist until he became the president. I remember the definition of fascism from earlier blogs contains the use of violence to achieve certain purpose. Before he was the president, he was the labor minister and the vice president of the junta. He was aggressive but useful. He helped the country to transform from agricultural into industrial faster. He had a project that "appeal to middle class, supported national industrialization catered to the educated youth". He did goods to the people and did not have violence. However after he became the president, as Giselle said, he helped Nazi Germans to escape to hide in Argentina and admired Mussolini. With those facts, I have to say that he had some fascist tendencies.

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  13. I think that Peron was not a fascist, and he never wanted to be a fascist. The way he rule Argentina was different from Capitalism and Communism. He created another different political system that was "stay different" from Capitalism and Communism, which is kind of doing a combination of Capitalism and Communism, and doing expansion outside the country, but not like Fascism. One thing that really made Peron different from a fascist was his belief, although he was affected by fascism Italy, he believed that people should hold the power of the entire country, which actually made Argentina worse because he forgot about the parliament and just saying what people "wanted" blindly. Everything is Peron's theory is about "people", that was somehow too idealism. Although he did things with fascism countries such as Germany and Italy, I believe that he was not a fascist. What made this confusion that people thought he as a fascist was that all he did "for" Argentina were just made people believed more in him and gave him more power to rule the country, in another word, helped him achieve his ambition.

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  14. I'm not sure why I missed this blog post so I'll post on it now. After going back and reading I believe it is safe to say that Peron could be considered to be a fascist. A fascist is someone who "is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views." Peron had the fascist qualities, but even though he did not use them to the extent of Hitler or Mussolini, they were still present. Maybe Peron did not have intentions to become a fascist, but I think it was inevitable when he "had been guided by the fascist and corporatist policies he had encountered as military attaché in Mussolini's Italy." Even though the people may not have wanted a fascist leader I think with the strong prescence of Peron and the need for guidance and supervision in their country, he as a leader was necessary.

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