Page - 325 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the spectre of fascism 325 ism.Atthesametime,hewasinclinedtoacknowledgepositiveeffectsachieved by thewar economyand its imposed control over the labour andwagemar- ketandplannedeconomy, includingaloweringof theunemploymentrate,an increaseinworkproductivity,thedevelopmentofneweconomicbranchesdue toarmamentpolicies,andtechnologicalprogress.Naturally,thisdoesnotmean that Bauer overlooked theunfavourable sides of imperialism’s evolution.On thecontrary,he stressed that labour legislationdisadvantageous to thework- ing class hadpreceded the statist economy. Indeed, fascist labour legislation usheredinmanynegativechangesforworkers:thetradeunionsweredissolved, strikesprohibited,wageagreements annulled, forced labour introduced, and wagesdeterminedby the state.Nevertheless, reflectingonhis conclusions in Rationalisierung, Bauer recognised the superiority of fascist statismover free marketcapitalism,eventhoughhewasfullyawareoftherestrictions imposed by ‘wareconomy’.Granted,hedidnot consider statismtobeacure for all of capitalism’s ills. For instance,hedidnot think that it couldovercomecrises– hemerelybelievedtheywouldbedifferentunderfascism.AccordingtoBauer, crises causedby anundersupply of goods for peaceful purposeswere inevit- able. Bauerdrewattentiontothefact thatthewareconomyservedthestatemil- itaryratherthantheimmediateinterestsofsocialclasses.Thewarimperialism of the fascist states forcedothercountries to raise theirarmamentsexpenses. The contradictions between the capitalist countries led to economic fluctu- ation as the fear of war restricts the flow of capital towards peacetime pro- duction.Bauer’sconclusionwascorrect: thefascistcommandeconomywould meet its limitsandprecedewar.ForBauer, therewasanintegral linkbetween the imminence ofwar and the development of imperialism. Thiswas not a completelynovel insight,butratherreiteratedthethesescontainedinBauer’s articleson imperialismandhis first theoryof fascism.According toBotzand Butterwegge,Bauer’sprognosis that the synthesisof fascismand imperialism would inevitably leadtoconflictwasnot toodistant fromCommunistassess- mentsoffascismfromthe1920sand30s.65Note,however, thatBauer’sanalysis wasfarmoreprofoundthantheCommunists’ rhetoric,whichignoredthehis- torical,political, andeconomic factors thatallowedfascismtogrow–e.g. the weaknessofparliamentarydemocracy, theconsequencesofWorldWar i, the commandofpoliticsovertheeconomy,andtheeffectsofeconomiccrisis. In1938,Bauermadetwoprognoseswithrespecttothefateof fascism–one wasofapurelypoliticalnature, theotherwassociological-political.According 65 SeeBotz1985,p. 189;compareButterwegge1990,p.556.