Scribd
Upload
204 views4 pages

Fascism in Italy

Benito Mussolini rose to power in post-World War 1 Italy by establishing the fascist movement and promising to restore order and national pride after the country suffered economic and political instability following the war. Mussolini consolidated his power by banning opposition parties, establishing a secret police force, and imprisoning or killing critics. By 1925, Mussolini had assumed dictatorial control over Italy and established a totalitarian fascist state, with the fascist party and Mussolini in complete control of every aspect of citizens' lives, including education, leisure time, and the economy. Mussolini pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at expanding Italy's empire, invading Ethiopia in 1936.

Uploaded by

Ruslana Milcheva
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
204 views4 pages

Fascism in Italy

Benito Mussolini rose to power in post-World War 1 Italy by establishing the fascist movement and promising to restore order and national pride after the country suffered economic and political instability following the war. Mussolini consolidated his power by banning opposition parties, establishing a secret police force, and imprisoning or killing critics. By 1925, Mussolini had assumed dictatorial control over Italy and established a totalitarian fascist state, with the fascist party and Mussolini in complete control of every aspect of citizens' lives, including education, leisure time, and the economy. Mussolini pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at expanding Italy's empire, invading Ethiopia in 1936.

Uploaded by

Ruslana Milcheva
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

FASCISM IN ITALY

Post War Italy (1918-1922)


TASK 1: Italy was one of the four main winning powers of the First World War. Can you remember why Italy
joined the war? How successful was the Italian army?
Post war problems:
•Heavy casualties and war debts
•Economic crisis. Italy suffered heavy losses in the WWI. Trade and commerce were ruined Ideal
leading to large – scale unemployment, prices inflated, there was a shortage of food grains and
goods. conditions
•Disillusionment with the Treaty of Versailles.”Loser among the winners” Italy joined the Allies
in the WWI to gain territories of Turkey and Germany. However, from the Paris Conference, she
for radicals
annexed only Southern Tyrol and Trentino, and the coastal regions of Dalmatia. She didn’t get to seize
parts of the German and Turkish colonial empire.
•Growing influence of the Communists: Mass demonstrations inspired by Communism, the power
peasants took away the land from the landlords and workmen organized strikes and took hold
of factories. Popularity of Socialist Party was rapidly growing .The industrialists wanted a
powerful government who could establish peace.
• Political instability. Italy was governed by a series of coalition governments. These
Governments were unable to deal with problems of unemployment, strikes and riots.

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) and Fascism


Benito Mussolini had quite a colourful background. He had been a
socialist in his youth and had worked as a popular and successful
journalist for the socialist newspaper Avanti. During the WWI,
however, he rejected socialism and joined the army. When the war
ended, he worked in Milan, where in 1919 he set up the
Fascist movement. In 1919, he organized veterans and
other dissatisfied Italians into a movement. They took
the name from the Latin fasces, a bundle of sticks
wrapped around an axe. In ancient Rome, the fasces
symbolized unity and authority. (The word Fascism has
been derived from the Italian word “fascio” which
means union or league). In 1921, this political
movement gave a birth to The National Fascist Party.
Mussolini was a charismatic speaker. He promised to end corruption and replace chaos with
order. He also spoke of reviving Roman greatness, pledging to
turn the Mediterranean into a “Roman lake” once again. Fascism
attracted Italians because it promised to restore national pride,
provide order, and end the political instability that had
paralyzed Italy.

Fascism
The main principles of Fascism:
• Extreme nationalism – everything subordinate to the
interest of the nation, competition of nations
• Totalitarian system – state is more important than an
individual, the state has a total control over the people, control
of their thinking, leisure time
• One party, one leader – only a strong, charismatic leader
can save the nation
• Economic self-sufficiency/ autharky
• Militarism and violence – celebration of war, slogans like: ‘Might is Right’, ‘One minute at war is more
than whole life in peace’ ‚I want to make Italy great, respected and feared. ‘ The Mediterranean = “Italian
Lake” the Adriatic Sea = "our sea". “Italy will lead humanity through the 20th century”
Mussolini’s Rise to Power (1918-1922)
The Fascist Party organized its squads of actions (blackshirts) armed military units formed by Mussolini to
oppose and attack the socialists. Fascists opposed communists on important issues. Fascists were the sworn
enemies of socialists and communists. Violence between the two groups broke out in the streets and the
government did not interfere.
Under the conditions of possible communist revolution on October 28-30, 1922 Mussolini launched Fascist
March on Rome – 40 000 Fascists stormed the capital. Fearing civil war, the king asked Mussolini to form a
government as prime minister. He thus obtained a legal, constitutional appointment from the king to lead
Italy.
TASK 2: Why did not the king defeat the March on Rome? Why did not he send army, to suppress the
blackshirts?
Consolidation of Power
By 1925, Mussolini had assumed more power and taken the title Il Duce, “The Leader”. He may made laws
without consulting anyone else, the party system was done away with, secret police was established,
freedom of the press was abolished. Fascists impose their people on all important posts in the police, local
government and parliament. Critics were thrown into prison, forced into exile, or murdered. In theory, Italy
remained a parliamentary monarchy. In fact, it was a Fascist dictatorship upheld by terror. The Black Shirts,
rejected democratic methods and favored violence for solving problems.
Fascism and the Church
In 1929, Mussolini received support from Pope Pius XI in return for recognizing Vatican City as an
independent state, although the pope continued to disagree with some of Mussolini’s goals and methods.
Chatholicism was confirmed as the state religion and the church confirmed the regime.
Education
Men, women, and children were bombarded with slogans glorifying the state and Mussolini. The Fascist
slogan “Believe! Obey! Fight!” was announced by the loudspeakers and proclaimed by propaganda posters
everywhere.
Shaping the youngs’ minds was a
major Fascist goal. Fascist youth
groups taught children to obey strict
military discipline. Boys and girls
learned about the glories of ancient
Rome. Young Fascists marched in
torchlight parades, singing patriotic
hymns and chanting, “Mussolini is
always right.”
Mussolini says: "I take a man in the
cradle and I let go of him when he
dies." He has a fascist group for
every phase of life:
Babies: Son of the Wolf
Youth Organisations: Balilla (8-14)
Avanguardisti (14-18)
National Fascist Party (18+)
Adults: Dopolavoro – an umbrella mass organization of all clubs, societies, music groups, state controls
every aspect of leisure time
TASK 3: Why did the Fascists attempt to control every aspect of everyday life of the Italians?
Economy – the Corporate State
Fascist economy could be best described as a State controlled capitalism. Mussolini was drawing support
from the rich, so he had to satisfy them. His aim was to achieve self-sufficiency of Italy (autharky) and his
method how to achieve it was: Corporate State:Every branch of industry formed one corporation (eg. Car
industry). All together there were 22 corporations (21 for industry, agriculture and trade, one for artists).The
corporations were presided by a committee consisting of Facists. Strikes were forbidden. Public works played
an important role. Construction of electrified railroads, motorways met the needs of the unemployed.

Foreign policy
Mussolini wanted to establish the greatness of Italy and create an empire. In order to do this, Mussolini
invaded Ethiopia in 1936. The Italians, fought with modern weapons against poorly equipped Ethiopians. He
conquered this African nation that same year and in 1937, Italy was proclaimed an Empire
The Nature of Fascism
In this form of government, a one-party dictatorship attempts to control every aspect of the lives of its
citizens. Fascism is rooted in extreme nationalism. Fascists believe in action, violence, discipline, and blind
loyalty to the state. They praise warfare. Fascists also pursued aggressive foreign expansion.They are anti-
democratic, rejecting equality and liberty. To them, democracy led to corruption and weakness and put
individual or class interests above national goals.

How are Fascism and Communism similar? How are they different?

You might also like