Page 177 - Fascism: The Bloody Ideology Of Darwinsim

Fascism's Hatred Of Religion 177

Church, and to use it for his own ends. On the other hand, all religious
movements that emerged and that were outside fascist principles were
ruthlessly suppressed by the government.
The book Who is Franco? What is Falangism? explains how Spanish
fascism used religion in order to succeed:

Fascism needs the masses in order to attain its ends… It is sufficient to
use words such as religious truths and monarchy to motivate the
masses… Catholics were always powerful in Spain: Most priests are
outspoken supporters of fascism… So it was necessary to find and
publicize a theory of Spanish fascism. This was done by Gil Robles.
Robles has close connections to Spain's greatest landowners. He was
educated in Catholic Jesuit schools, and began his first political
activities in these same organizations… When fascism came to power in
Germany, Robles rushed there at once. His aim was to learn German
working methods. Robles tried to imitate German fascism in a number
of areas, but he was unable to put forward the "superior" and "Aryan
race" theory. So what was Robles to do? He resorted to an extreme
chauvinism, which he harmonized with Catholicism. "Spain comes
before everything. God is above Spain. You are as Catholic as you feel
yourself to be Spanish!" This Catholic chauvinism of Roble's came from
various characteristics of Spain itself… Robles used Catholic bodies and
cooperatives and Catholic youth groups. The Catholic press also
entered the service of fascism. Robles also ran the newspaper El Debate,
which was well-known among conservative circles. 130
The Church also served the fascists in other ways. Spaniards in Latin
America and other fascist groups set up their own versions of the Falange, so
these countries could be brought under Spanish control. The Catholic Church
in these countries was a primary motivating force in this scheme. 131
The story of how various fascist regimes came to power is generally
very much the same. For fascists, religion is an important tool to help them
achieve their ends. As a result of tactics similar to those employed in other
fascist countries, the Church in Spain supported Franco. However, as we have
already seen, fascists only maintain this positive attitude towards religion until
they are in power, after which they generally lose no time waging war against
it. The same happened in Spain.
George Orwell describes the situation in revolutionary Barcelona six
months after the revolution: