{"id":46051,"date":"2026-01-12T22:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T06:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=46051"},"modified":"2026-01-12T22:41:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T06:41:16","slug":"1943-u-s-army-pamphlet-on-fascism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/12\/1943-u-s-army-pamphlet-on-fascism\/","title":{"rendered":"1943 U.S. ARMY PAMPHLET ON FASCISM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(Image from YouTube.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heather Cox Richardson<\/strong><\/a> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

January 9, 2026 (Friday) Facebook post<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning in 1943, the War Department published a series of pamphlets for U.S. Army personnel in the European theater of World War II. Titled Army Talks, the series was designed \u201cto help [the personnel] become better-informed men and women and therefore better soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On March 24, 1945, the topic for the week was \u201cFASCISM!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are away from home, separated from your families, no longer at a civilian job or at school and many of you are risking your very lives,\u201d the pamphlet explained, \u201cbecause of a thing called fascism.\u201d But, the publication asked, what is fascism? \u201cFascism is not the easiest thing to identify and analyze,\u201d it said, \u201cnor, once in power, is it easy to destroy. It is important for our future and that of the world that as many of us as possible understand the causes and practices of fascism, in order to combat it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fascism, the U.S. government document explained, \u201cis government by the few and for the few. The objective is seizure and control of the economic, political, social, and cultural life of the state.\u201d \u201cThe people run democratic governments, but fascist governments run the people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe basic principles of democracy stand in the way of their desires; hence\u2014democracy must go! Anyone who is not a member of their inner gang has to do what he\u2019s told. They permit no civil liberties, no equality before the law.\u201d \u201cFascism treats women as mere breeders. \u2018Children, kitchen, and the church,\u2019 was the Nazi slogan for women,\u201d the pamphlet said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fascists \u201cmake their own rules and change them when they choose\u2026. They maintain themselves in power by use of force combined with propaganda based on primitive ideas of \u2018blood\u2019 and \u2018race,\u2019 by skillful manipulation of fear and hate, and by false promise of security. The propaganda glorifies war and insists it is smart and \u2018realistic\u2019 to be pitiless and violent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fascists understood that \u201cthe fundamental principle of democracy\u2014faith in the common sense of the common people\u2014was the direct opposite of the fascist principle of rule by the elite few,\u201d it explained, \u201c[s]o they fought democracy\u2026. They played political, religious, social, and economic groups against each other and seized power while these groups struggled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans should not be fooled into thinking that fascism could not come to America, the pamphlet warned; after all, \u201c[w]e once laughed Hitler off as a harmless little clown with a funny mustache.\u201d And indeed, the U.S. had experienced \u201csorry instances of mob sadism, lynchings, vigilantism, terror, and suppression of civil liberties. We have had our hooded gangs, Black Legions, Silver Shirts, and racial and religious bigots. All of them, in the name of Americanism, have used undemocratic methods and doctrines which\u2026can be properly identified as \u2018fascist.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The War Department thought it was important for Americans to understand the tactics fascists would use to take power in the United States. They would try to gain power \u201cunder the guise of \u2018super-patriotism\u2019 and \u2018super-Americanism.\u2019\u201d And they would use three techniques:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, they would pit religious, racial, and economic groups against one another to break down national unity. Part of that effort to divide and conquer would be a \u201cwell-planned \u2018hate campaign\u2019 against minority races, religions, and other groups.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, they would deny any need for international cooperation, because that would fly in the face of their insistence that their supporters were better than everyone else. \u201cIn place of international cooperation, the fascists seek to substitute a perverted sort of ultra-nationalism which tells their people that they are the only people in the world who count. With this goes hatred and suspicion toward the people of all other nations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, fascists would insist that \u201cthe world has but two choices\u2014either fascism or communism, and they label as \u2018communists\u2019 everyone who refuses to support them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is \u201cvitally important\u201d to learn to spot native fascists, the government said, \u201ceven though they adopt names and slogans with popular appeal, drape themselves with the American flag, and attempt to carry out their program in the name of the democracy they are trying to destroy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only way to stop the rise of fascism in the United States, the document said, \u201cis by making our democracy work and by actively cooperating to preserve world peace and security.\u201d In the midst of the insecurity of the modern world, the hatred at the root of fascism \u201cfulfills a triple mission.\u201d By dividing people, it weakens democracy. \u201cBy getting men to hate rather than to think,\u201d it prevents them \u201cfrom seeking the real cause and a democratic solution to the problem.\u201d By falsely promising prosperity, it lures people to embrace its security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFascism thrives on indifference and ignorance,\u201d it warned. Freedom requires \u201cbeing alert and on guard against the infringement not only of our own freedom but the freedom of every American. If we permit discrimination, prejudice, or hate to rob anyone of his democratic rights, our own freedom and all democracy is threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Image from YouTube.com) Heather Cox Richardson  January 9, 2026 (Friday) Facebook post Beginning in 1943, the War Department published a series of pamphlets for U.S. Army personnel in the European theater of World War II. Titled Army Talks, the series was designed \u201cto help [the personnel] become better-informed men and… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46051"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46052,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46051\/revisions\/46052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}