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"He's not just German, he's East German! He's a Commu-Nazi!"
A mix of Communism and Fascism is frequently used as "the government we don't like" in fiction. The trope is in action when the heroes enter a Communist country and find that it's Putting on the Reich — or when soldiers in Fascist army call people Tovarisch.
This is common in American Comic Books in the late 1940s, for obvious reasons. It is not common in any country with any direct experience with Communism, Fascism, or both. Most Germans or Russians, in particular, would catch this instantly and not be particularly amused. Another common variation, especially during Cold War - era Spy Fiction, is the use of East German spies as antagonists, allowing writers to combine the worst aspects of both national (and ideological) stereotypes.
Obviously, the two systems were distinct; exactly how much they differ has been the cause of many a Flame War, but in the end, Commie Nazis are quite firmly creatures of fiction. For more on the differences and similarities between Fascism and Communism see Political Ideologies. It is also worth remembering that, although the Soviet Union was neutral at the early stages of World War II, Germany tried to invade the country some time later, and the Soviets joined the war in the Allied side. Furthermore, actual communists in Germany were one of the groups targeted by the Nazis.
This trope exists because, for very obvious reasons, Nazis became Acceptable Targets for US media since WWII; and when WWII ended, the Cold War began and Communism became the new acceptable target. To say that a character was Nazi was enough to establish it as evil, same for Communism, so a character that is both Nazi and Communist should be double evil, right? More or less, there's the little detail of that thing called real life: there are Nazis, there are Communists, but there is not such a thing as Communist Nazis. Thus, it is only used for humor, or for very contrived situations.
See also Nazi Nobleman for a different conflation of two groups that historically didn't get on.
Examples
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Comic Books
- Captain America: The Red Skull started out as a Nazi villain, but in the 1950s suddenly became a communist. This was later retconned so that the "Communist Skull" turned out to be an imposter who wasn't so much a communist as simply being anti-American, with the original Red Skull returning to his fascist roots.
- One Hellboy story has Neo-Nazis involved in a project called "Red November".
- Justified, since the Nazis did use the color red in much of their regalia (as they were trying to win over ex-Communists).
- The Norts in Rogue Trooper appear to be based upon both Nazis and Soviets.
- The Hammer Empire in Danger Girl spoof this trope, taking the most outrageous aspects of both (although mostly Nazism).
- The country of Borduria in the Tintin album Tintin The Calculus Affair (1956). Borduria is depicted as a stereotypical half-Eastern Bloc and half-fascist country complete with its own secret police (ZEP) (led by Colonel Sponsz) and a fascist military dictator called Kūrvi-Tasch who promotes a Taschist ideology. A statue of Kūrvi-Tasch appears in front of a government building, in which he wears a moustache similar to Joseph Stalin's and gives a Nazi-like salute.
- Actually, Borduria started out in King Ottokar's Sceptre as a full-blown fascist nation, flying Messerschmidt 109s, plotting an Anschluss against its neighbor, and ruled by the Iron Guard party and its very subtly named leader "Musstler." Twenty years later in The Calculus Affair, Musstler and the Iron Guard had been replaced by Kurvi-Tasch and the Taschist Party, which is when all the East Bloc analogies came in. So not sure if it's "Commie Nazi" so much as "Nazi and then Commie."
- The fifth Lethal Legion, in West Coast Avengers, was made of resurrected historical villains who receive superpowers and appearance of supervillains. The group included Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Stalin. But initially, they did not care a dent about the Avengers: when they recognized each other, both of them tried to kill each other.
Film
- The East Germans in Top Secret! were all supposed to be communist, but wore Nazi uniforms. Of course, this was Top Secret!, so it was deliberate.
- The Christian dystopia movie If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?, predicts the persecution of Christians in an America that has been taken over by Commie Nazis.
- The B-Movie Laser Mission, starring a pre-Crow Brandon Lee, can be summed up as "Cuban Secret Nazi Communists in Africa plan to start World War III by using a diamond laser to create a nuclear weapon and only Bruce Lee's son can stop them."
Literature
- The Party in Nineteen Eighty Four intentionally combined aspects of Communism and fascism, as well as their symbolism. This was because, being a Trotskyist, Orwell thought that certain socialist movements, particularly the Soviet Union, had betrayed the ideals of socialism and might as well have been fascist.
- In the Len Deighton novel SS-GB, Nazi Germany conquers England. By November 1941, with England under their thumb, the Nazis are still "good friends" with the USSR (In Real Life, Germany invaded the USSR on June 22, 1941). One character states that, "Nazi bastards and Communist bastards are all alike".
- Moonraker by Ian Fleming has the Soviet Union lending a nuclear warhead to a group of Nazi rocket scientists planning to blow up London, which is unlikely, to say the least. What's to stop them firing it eastward instead?
- In Christopher Anvil's Pandoras Planet, the plot thickens when Communist-settled planets and Fascist-settled planets resort to an alliance to dispose of the Classic American-settled planet. However, they don't REALLY trust each other, and are prepared to stab each other in the back as soon as those pesky Columbians are eliminated — a fact the Centran supreme commander is gleefully ready to take advantage of.
- In the Sword Of Honour trilogy by Evelyn Waugh, protagonist Guy Crouchback is eager to enlist for service in WWII when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invade Poland and divide it between them, hoping he'll get a chance to fight against both of the world's worst ideologies- "The enemy at last was plain in view, huge and hateful, all disguise cast off. It was the Modern Age in arms". Instead, Britain allies itself with Stalin's USSR, and most of the novel is about Guy's growing disillusionment with an increasingly ignoble cause.
- in Gary Paulsen's Harris and Me, mention is made of the 'Commie Japs', presumably North Koreans, by a veteran of the Korean War.
Live-Action Television
- Amusingly averted in the M*A*S*H episode, "A Smattering of Intelligence," in which Hawkeye and Trapper fool one secret agent into thinking Burns is a communist and convince the other that he's a fascist. They compare notes and realize that someone must be lying, as it's impossible to be both.
- The evil organization Kaos in Get Smart, as "generic bad guys" were clearly a mixture both communists and Nazis, with everyone having either a German accent or a Russian accent. This was always done with a wink and a nod, since Get Smart was a parody of spy shows and movies.
- In The Most Dangerous Game "homage" episode, "Island of the Damned", the villain is alleged to have successively belonged to the Nazis, the Communists, the Mafia, and KAOS, at which Smart exclaims, "If there's anything I hate, it's a joiner!"
- The Peacekeepers in Farscape: they're totalitarian, but their official ideology is rarely discussed (they're officially anti-species-mixing, but at least one and quite possibly two Half-Human Hybrids have reached high positions), and their design aesthetic is an equal mix of Nazism and the Soviet Union in its short-lived early Modernist phase
- The Cardassians in Star Trek, their internal policies are definitely Communist, complete with Kangaroo Courts and a rogue KGB-esque intelligence service, but their foreign policy is disturbingly Nazi, right down to the concentration camps and rampant Cultural Posturing.
- Although the Daleks of Doctor Who are blatant Nazis by another name, their first story uses them to reflect Cold War fears of nuclear warfare.
- Played straight in MacGyver; the episode "The Enemy Within" began with Mac on a mission behind the Iron Curtain narrowly escaping from East German troops dressed in World War Two era Wehrmacht uniforms.
- Played straight in Airwolf episode "Fallen Angel," in which Archangel is captured by Karl Kruger, an ex-Nazi war criminal now working for the East Germans. Previously averted in "Fight Like A Dove," which also featured an ex-Nazi named Kruger, but this one working for Archangel.
Stand-Up Comedy
- In George Carlin's routine "Beard", he discusses how, at the time, people with thick, bushy beards were sometimes considered "Commie Nazi Fag Junkies". He then goes on to note on how many levels that doesn't work.
Tabletop Games
- The Imperium of Man in Warhammer 40000 is neither Fascist nor Communist, but has distinct elements of both — including "Commissars" named for the Soviet ideological officers and dressed like Nazi agents. This is probably a case of Future Imperfect.
- The entire setting is something of a melting pot of historical influences, spiked with generous helpings of grim dark. The Death Corps of Krieg in particular are the most straight examples, being patterned after WWI-era German trench infantry while being lead by Commissars patterned after WWII-era Soviet political officers.
- The Kriegs are actually an amalgam of WWI references: the colour scheme and helmets are unmistakably German, but the coats are French and the gas masks are Russian.
Video Games
Web Originals
Western Animation
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