How come the term "fascists" became associated with German Nazis in Soviet historiography and popular culture? The most common use is "немецко-фашистские захватчики" I guess, it's in the memoirs, fiction books, movies, newsreels, everywhere. As far as I know Italy didn't have any prior beef with USSR, wasn't a major player in Spanish Civil War and didn't participate in any major operations against Red Army. How did Nazis became Fascists?
I'm going to go ahead and assume you're asking this in good faith, but to be clear: yes, Nazism is a fascist ideology. It is not identical to Italian fascism, but it is inherently an ideology in which a person's identity comes from a state, and is tied up in nationalism (in contrast to communism, which is also a collectivist ideology but where one's identity comes from one's class.)
For more reading on this:
It relates to the USSR’s policy towards Germany, specifically the DDR, after WW2.
During and towards the end of the war, the USSR saw Nazi Germany as their hated enemy. This changed later on when the USSR became responsible for East Germany, and the Political situation changed with the start of the Cold War.
Simply put, the USSR leadership didn’t deem it productive to demonize or bring up Nazi Crimes and demonize the Germans as a whole. Stalin and co figured that Germans - i.e. average German Citizens - were victims of Fascism as well, hence the creation of the Term “German Fascists”, to distinguish the Nazi Leadership from the rest of German ppl who they also victimized. This especially became important after the division of Germany, especially when it became an open Secret that Many Nazi Fugitives (most famous examples being Hans Globke, and later Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesenger) ended up in important positions in West Germany. The DDR and The Soviets could claim to be the “real” successor of Previous German states, because “their” Germans were “good”, unlike the “German Fascists” running West Germany.
Speaking of the Cold War, from about the late 40s until the Korean War and Stalin’s death in 1953, the USSR’s boogeyman of choice had changed. They believed that “Western”/American imperialism was the main threat, which meant less need to talk about past Nazi War crimes. So, again, they created the term “German Fascist” to draw a line between the Nazis and “Normal” Germans.