Right-Wing Socialists, Not Conservatives

In the first half of the 20th century, Socialists with nationalistic and militaristic tendencies were viewed as the "right wing" of the Socialist movement. Nationalism and militarism were regarded by Socialists as "conservative" tendencies.

Mussolini was a Socialist

This usage of "right" is often conflated with the earlier political meaning of "right" applied during the French Revolution when supporters of the king (monarchists and aristocrats) sat to the president's right in the French National Assembly—comprising "the party of order". Supporters of the revolution sat to his left—comprising "the party of movement".

National socialists¹ and fascists,² like other Socialists, believe in all power residing in a totalitarian state—including state command and control of industry—without regard to individual rights, which are seen as subsidiary to state needs.

Hitler was a Socialist, too

Conservatives, to the contrary, believe ultimate power resides with the Divine, by which the state is guided. Individuals are granted rights, liberties, and freedoms by this Divine power. These individual rights, liberties, and freedoms drive a free enterprise economic system and democratic government.

No matter how "conservative" a Socialist group might appear to other Socialists, Socialism remains a distinctly separate band of the social-political spectrum from actual Conservatism. Claiming all power to the state—eliminating Divine guidance and individual rights, while eradicating the institutions designed to promote and protect them—leads predictably to Nazi horrors.

Protecting and preserving the institutions that facilitate the working of Divine guidance through the state, while preserving and protecting Divinely-derived individual rights—Conservatism—is designed to protect the people from excesses of the state. Conservative commitment to an individual's right to own firearms, by itself, might have prevented national socialist evils from spilling out.³

SEE: Conserving the Core, Right from Left, Political Spectrum Redrawn, and Leftism vs. American Conservatism.

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1. The full name of the Nazi party in Germany was National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) which arose out of the German Workers' Party (which Hitler joined in 1919).
2. Mussolini was with the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) until he was expelled for his opposition to the party's neutrality in World War I. He denounced the PSI, later founding the fascist movement.
3. The Nazis disarmed the people and stripped them of their right to bear arms.

MORE: Hitler Was a Socialist by Dr. John Joseph Ray; Stalin in Power: the Revolution from Above, 1928-1941 by Robert C. Tucker; Benito Mussolini – the socialist; Leftists become incandescent when reminded of the socialist roots of Nazism.