Whats the difference between Communism and Fascism before WWII?

Question:Between WWI and WWII, what was the difference between communism and fascism? Didn't they both control the economy, and weren't they both totalitarian? They sound similar but my history teacher told us they were very different? Can someone with knowledge about this stuff help me out?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Between WWI and WWII, what was the difference between communism and fascism? Didn't they both control the economy, and weren't they both totalitarian? They sound similar but my history teacher told us they were very different? Can someone with knowledge about this stuff help me out?

I just wrote a University History Exam Today. First of all for examples of Communism you have to look at the USSR(1917-1990) or the Chinese under Mao Zedong (1947-present) or Cuba(1959-present). If you want examples of Fascism look at Hitler and Germany before WW2 also Italy and Mussolini.

Fascism is totalitarian, and tries to control the economy through one central party. Communism is supposed to be the rise up of the working class people who will all accept the same pay as each other so everyone is equal and they will govern themselves. The reason they look the same is because Communism never really worked out that way, and one leader always took over and made it totalitarian.

Communism
An economic or political system based on the sharing of all work and property by the whole community.

Fascism
A totalitarian philosophy of government that glorifies the state and nation and assigns to the state control over every aspect of national life.