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It was at the Fourth World Congress of the Comintern in 1922 that the plan took shape. Moscow formed the slogan “To the Masses” for its united front strategy and sought to join together the various communist and workers’ parties of Germany under a single ideological banner that it controlled. Both the communist and fascist systems were based on [[collectivism]] and [[economic planning|state-planned economies]]. Both also proposed systems wherein the individual was heavily controlled by a powerful state, and both were responsible for large-scale atrocities and [[genocide]]. In addition, the term "anti-fascism" was originally used by Stalin and the USSR prior to and during World War II as part of propaganda purposes to make the USSR seem mainstream by comparison to Nazi Germany.<ref>http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/why-you-should-never-use-the-term-anti-fascist/article/2632847</ref><ref>Davies, Norman: ''No Simple Victory''<br />"Anti-Fascism" did not offer a coherent political ideology. In terms of ideas, it was an empty vessel, a mere political dance....It gave the false impression that principled democrats believing in the rule of law and freedom of speech could rub along fine with the dictators of the proletariat, or that democratic socialists had only minor differences with Communism. What is more, it opened up a wonderful arena for the activities of disciplined activists, whose training in the Leninist techniques of splitting and dividing adversaries would run rings round wooly intellectuals....If you were a French trade unionist, tired of the wrangles of the Left, or a British Empire loyalist baffled by the complexities of modern politics or a Christian peace worker hoping to avoid another war, anti-Fascism was for you! Only in the background was the unspoken dialect that, if Fascism was to be Bad, the Good had to lie with the originator of anti-Fascism -- Joseph Stalin's USSR. </ref>

It was at the Fourth World Congress of the Comintern in 1922 that the plan took shape. Moscow formed the slogan “To the Masses” for its united front strategy and sought to join together the various communist and workers’ parties of Germany under a single ideological banner that it controlled. Both the communist and fascist systems were based on [[collectivism]] and [[economic planning|state-planned economies]]. Both also proposed systems wherein the individual was heavily controlled by a powerful state, and both were responsible for large-scale atrocities and [[genocide]]. In addition, the term "anti-fascism" was originally used by Stalin and the USSR prior to and during World War II as part of propaganda purposes to make the USSR seem mainstream by comparison to Nazi Germany.<ref>http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/why-you-should-never-use-the-term-anti-fascist/article/2632847</ref><ref>Davies, Norman: ''No Simple Victory''<br />"Anti-Fascism" did not offer a coherent political ideology. In terms of ideas, it was an empty vessel, a mere political dance....It gave the false impression that principled democrats believing in the rule of law and freedom of speech could rub along fine with the dictators of the proletariat, or that democratic socialists had only minor differences with Communism. What is more, it opened up a wonderful arena for the activities of disciplined activists, whose training in the Leninist techniques of splitting and dividing adversaries would run rings round wooly intellectuals....If you were a French trade unionist, tired of the wrangles of the Left, or a British Empire loyalist baffled by the complexities of modern politics or a Christian peace worker hoping to avoid another war, anti-Fascism was for you! Only in the background was the unspoken dialect that, if Fascism was to be Bad, the Good had to lie with the originator of anti-Fascism -- Joseph Stalin's USSR. </ref>

The 2016 annual report by Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), notes the same point: From the viewpoint of the “left-wing extremist,” the label of “fascism” as pushed by Antifa often does not refer to actual fascism, but is merely a label assigned to “[[capitalism]].”

The 2016 annual report by Germany's domestic intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), notes the same point: From the viewpoint of the “left-wing extremist,” the label of “fascism” as pushed by Antifa often does not refer to actual fascism, but is merely a label assigned to “[[capitalism]].”

While leftist extremists claim to be fighting “fascism” while launching their attacks on other groups, the report states the term “fascism” has a double meaning under the extreme-left ideology, indicating the “fight against the capitalist system.” Antifascism is a strategy, not an ideology. They argue that the capitalist state produces fascism, or at least tolerates it. Therefore, anti-fascism is directed not only against actual or supposed right-wing extremists but also always against the state and its representatives, in particular members of the security authorities.<ref>https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/de/service/glossar/_lA#antifaschismus </ref>

While leftist extremists claim to be fighting “fascism” while launching their attacks on other groups, the report states the term “fascism” has a double meaning under the extreme-left ideology, indicating the “fight against the capitalist system.” Antifascism is a strategy, not an ideology. They argue that the capitalist state produces fascism, or at least tolerates it. Therefore, anti-fascism is directed not only against actual or supposed right-wing extremists but also always against the state and its representatives, in particular members of the security authorities.<ref>https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/de/service/glossar/_lA#antifaschismus </ref>