▁N ol te ' s ▁basic ▁hypothesis ▁and ▁method ology ▁were ▁deeply ▁root ed ▁in ▁the ▁German ▁" ph il osoph y ▁of ▁history " ▁tradition , ▁a ▁form ▁of ▁intellectual ▁history ▁which ▁see ks ▁to ▁discover ▁the ▁" met ap olit ical ▁dimension " ▁of ▁history . ▁The ▁" met ap olit ical ▁dimension " ▁is ▁considered ▁to ▁be ▁the ▁history ▁of ▁grand ▁ideas ▁function ing ▁as ▁prof ound ▁spiritual ▁powers , ▁which ▁inf use ▁all ▁levels ▁of ▁society ▁with ▁their ▁force . ▁In ▁N ol te ' s ▁opinion , ▁only ▁those ▁with ▁training ▁in ▁philosophy ▁can ▁discover ▁the ▁" met ap olit ical ▁dimension ", ▁and ▁those ▁who ▁use ▁normal ▁historical ▁methods ▁miss ▁this ▁dimension ▁of ▁time . ▁Using ▁the ▁methods ▁of ▁phenomen ology , ▁N ol te ▁subject ed ▁German ▁Naz ism , ▁Italian ▁F asc ism , ▁and ▁the ▁French ▁Action ▁Fran çaise ▁movements ▁to ▁a ▁compar ative ▁analysis . ▁N ol te ' s ▁conclusion ▁was ▁that ▁fasc ism ▁was ▁the ▁great ▁anti - mov ement : ▁it ▁was ▁anti - li ber al , ▁anti - comm un ist , ▁anti - cap ital ist , ▁and ▁anti - bour ge ois . ▁In ▁N ol te ’ s ▁view , ▁fasc ism ▁was ▁the ▁re jection ▁of ▁everything ▁the ▁modern ▁world ▁had ▁to ▁offer ▁and ▁was ▁an ▁essentially ▁negative ▁phenomen on . ▁In ▁a ▁H eg elian ▁dialect ic , ▁N ol te ▁argued ▁that ▁the ▁Action ▁Fran çaise ▁was ▁the ▁th esis , ▁Italian