Research

Paper
In
MAPEH
Submitted to:Sir Richard Gabilo
By:John Robert E. Narciso
 Economic Policy
Mussolini launched several public construction programs and government initiatives
throughout Italy to combat economic setbacks or unemployment levels. His earliest, and
one of the best known, was Italy's equivalent of the Green Revolution, known as the "Battle
for Grain", in which 5,000 new farms were established and five new agricultural towns on
land reclaimed by draining the Pontine Marshes. In Sardinia, a model agricultural town
was founded and named Mussolinia, but has long since been renamed Arborea. This town
was the first of what Mussolini hoped would have been thousands of new agricultural
settlements across the country. This plan diverted valuable resources to grain production,
away from other less economically viable crops. The huge tariffs associated with the project
promoted widespread inefficiencies, and the government subsidies given to farmers pushed
the country further into debt. Mussolini also initiated the "Battle for Land", a policy based
on land reclamation outlined in 1928. The initiative had a mixed success; while projects
such as the draining of the Pontine Marsh in 1935 for agriculture were good for
propaganda purposes, provided work for the unemployed and allowed for great land
owners to control subsidies, other areas in the Battle for Land were not very successful.
This program was inconsistent with the Battle for Grain (small plots of land were
inappropriately allocated for large-scale wheat production), and the Pontine Marsh was
lost during World War II. Fewer than 10,000 peasants resettled on the redistributed land,
and peasant poverty remained high. The Battle for Land initiative was abandoned in 1940.

He also combated an economic recession by introducing the "Gold for the Fatherland"
initiative, by encouraging the public to voluntarily donate gold,jewellery such as necklace
and wedding ring to government officials in exchange for steel wristband bearing the
words "Gold for the Fatherland". Even Rachele Musolini donated her own wedding ring.
The collected gold was then melted down and turned into gold bars, which were then
distributed to the national banks.

Mussolini pushed for government control of business: by 1935, Mussolini claimed that
three quarters of Italian businesses were under state control. That same year, he issued
several edicts to further control the economy, including forcing all banks, businesses, and
private citizens to give up all their foreign-issued stocks and bonds to the Bank of Italy. In
1938, he also instituted wage and price control .He also attempted to turn Italy into a self-
sufficient autarky, instituting high barriers on trade with most countries except Germany.

In 1943 he proposed the theory of economic socialization.

The law codes of the parliamentary system were rewritten under Mussolini. All teachers in
schools and universities had to swear an oath to defend the fascist regime. Newspaper
editors were all personally chosen by Mussolini and no one who did not possess a certificate
of approval from the fascist party could practice journalism. These certificates were issued
in secret; Mussolini thus skillfully created the illusion of a "free press". The trade unions
were also deprived of any independence and were integrated into what was called the
"corporative" system. The aim (never completely achieved), inspired by medieval guilds, was
to place all Italians in various professional organizations or "corporations", all of which were
under clandestine governmental control.

Acerbo Law

In June 1923, the government passed the Acerbo Law, which transformed Italy into a
single national constituency. It also granted a two-thirds majority of the seats in
Parliament to the party or group of parties which had obtained at least 25% of the votes.
This law was applied in the elections of 6 April 1924. The "national alliance", consisting of
Fascists, most of the old Liberals and others, won 64% of the vote largely by means of
violence and voter intimidation. These tactics were especially prevalent in the south.

Creation of Fascism
By the time Mussolini returned from Allied service in World War I, he had decided that
socialism as a doctrine had largely been a failure. In 1917, Mussolini got his start in politics
with the help of a £100 weekly wage from MI5, the British Security Service; this help was
authorised by Sir Samuel Hoare. In early 1918, Mussolini called for the emergence of a
man "ruthless and energetic enough to make a clean sweep" to revive the Italian nation.
Much later in life Mussolini said he felt by 1919 "Socialism as a doctrine was already dead;
it continued to exist only as a grudge". On 23 March 1919, Mussolini reformed the Milan
fascio as the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento (Italian Combat Squad), consisting of 200
members.

An important factor in fascism gaining support in its earliest stages was the fact that
claimed to oppose discrimination based on social class and was strongly opposed to all
forms of class war. Fascism instead supported nationalist sentiments such as a strong unity,
regardless of class, in the hopes of raising Italy up to the levels of its great Roman past. The
ideological basis for fascism came from a number of sources. Mussolini utilized works of
Plato, Georges Sorel, Nietzsche, and the socialist and economic ideas of Vilfredo Pareto, to
create fascism. Mussolini admired The Republic, which he often read for inspiration. The
Republic held a number of ideas that fascism promoted such as rule by an elite promoting
the state as the ultimate end, opposition to democracy, protecting the class system and
promoting class collaboration, rejection of egalitarianism, promoting the militarization of a
nation by creating a class of warriors, demanding that citizens perform civic duties in the
interest of the state, and utilizing state intervention in education to promote the creation of
warriors and future rulers of the state. The Republic differed from fascism in that it did not
promote aggressive war but only defensive war, unlike fascism it promoted very
communist-like views on property, and Plato was an idealist focused on achieving justice
and morality while Mussolini and fascism were realist, focused on achieving political goals.

Mussolini and the fascists managed to be simultaneously revolutionary and traditionalist;

because this was vastly different to anything else in the political climate of the time, it is
sometimes described as "The Third Way". The Fascisti, led by one of Mussolini's close
confidants, Dino Grandi, formed armed squads of war veterans called Blackshirts (or
squadristi) with the goal of restoring order to the streets of Italy with a strong hand. The
blackshirts clashed with communists, socialists and anarchists at parades and
demonstrations; all of these factions were also involved in clashes against each other. The
government rarely interfered with the blackshirts' actions, owing in part to a looming
threat and widespread fear of a communist revolution. The Fascisti grew so rapidly that
within two years, it transformed itself into the National Fascist Party at a congress in
Rome. Also in 1921, Mussolini was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time. In
the meantime, from about 1911 until 1938, Mussolini had various affairs with the Jewish
author and academic Margherita Sarfatti, called the "Jewish Mother of Fascism" at the
time.

Biography
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini KSMOM GCTE (29 July 1883, Predappio, Province of Forlì-
Cesena - 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is
credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism.

Mussolini became the 40th Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by
1925. After 1936, his official title was "His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government,
Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire".Mussolini also created and held the supreme
military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy,
which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini
remained in power until he was replaced in 1943; for a short period after this until his death, he
was the leader of the Italian Social Republic.

Mussolini was among the founders of Italian Fascism, which included elements of nationalism,
corporatism, national syndicalism, expansionism, social progress and anti-communism in
combination with censorship of subversives and state propaganda. In the years following his
creation of the fascist ideology, Mussolini influenced, or achieved admiration from, a wide
variety of political figures.

Among the domestic achievements of Mussolini from the years 1924–1939 were: his public
works programmes such as the taming of the Pontine Marshes, the improvement of job
opportunities, and public transport. Mussolini also solved the Roman Question by concluding the
Lateran Treaty between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See. He is also credited with securing
economic success in Italy's colonies and commercial dependencies.

On 10 June 1940, Mussolini led Italy into World War II on the side of the Axis despite initially
siding with France against Germany in the early 1930s. Believing the war would be short-lived,
he declared war on France and Great Britain in order to gain territories in the peace treaty that
would soon follow.
Three years later, Mussolini was deposed at the Grand Council of Fascism, prompted by the
Allied invasion. Soon after his incarceration began, Mussolini was rescued from prison in the
daring Gran Sasso raid by German special forces. Following his rescue, Mussolini headed the
Italian Social Republic in parts of Italy that were not occupied by Allied forces. In late April
1945, with total defeat looming, Mussolini attempted to escape to Switzerland, only to be
quickly captured and summarily executed near Lake Como by Italian partisans. His body was
then taken to Milan where it was hung upside down at a petrol station for public viewing and to
provide confirmation of his de mise.