Probably superior to this piece is historian Robert Paxton's article "The Five Stages of Fascism" (http://theleder.com/docs/Misc/Paxton_Five%20Stages%20of%20Fas

Probably superior to this piece is historian Robert Paxton's article "The Five Stages of Fascism" (http://theleder.com/docs/Misc/Paxton_Five%20Stages%20of%20Fascism.pdf http://theleder.com/docs/Misc/Paxton_Five%20Stages%20of%20Fa...). It was later extended into a book length treatment (https://libcom.org/files/Robert%20O.%20Paxton-The%20Anatomy%20of%20Fascism%20%20-Knopf%20(2004).pdf https://libcom.org/files/Robert%20O.%20Paxton-The%20Anatomy%...) which is very worthwhile, and readable, if you are interested in what he calls (paraphrasing) the most significant political development of the 20th century.