Benito Mussolini The Doctrine Of Fascism Summary

Fascism admitted strong totalitarian overtones until it became interested in wars of colonial conquest. It had come to power because of the decaying social, economic and political conditions of post-World War I Italy. It had brought order out of chaos. Indeed, order was its strong selling point when, after a series of crippling strikes sponsored by the socialists, it had managed when the liberal democratic state could not manage.

During the Second World War, Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was the leader of the Italian Nationalist Fascist government. He was head of the Italian government from 1922 till 1943. The significance of Mussolini is that he played a key role acting as the Italian Prime Minister and established a totalitarian regime, during this time, as the unchallenged supreme leader, known as ‘Il Duce’. Fascism consisted of many contributors of which Mussolini with all his quirks was the key to most of its failures and successes, making him the most significant player that is worthy of being investigated. This topic is worthy of being investigated as Mussolini made a lot of decisions that lead to the death of many, but the question as to

Millions of people were extremely frustrated with the fallout of World War I, they wanted change and a strong leader to guide them through their times of trouble. The answer to the people's’ prayers had been given to them with the new political idea of fascism. Not only did fascism rise, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler also rose to power during these times of crisis. Fascism, Mussolini, and Hitler were all able to rise to power because the people had called for change, and they found themselves gravitating towards the ideas of these two intelligent men. Both men were able to persuade many people over to their side. Millions of people quickly adopted the new ideas of fascism, Benito Mussolini, and Adolf Hitler, the people saw them as the light at the end of their long dark tunnels they seemed to be lost

Mussolini consolidation of fascist power in Italy in the years 1922-1929 could have been mainly due to the use of force and intimidation. However this was not a straightforward process, since fascism was a new thing. In the years 1922 to January 1925 marked the transition from the liberal parliamentary system to the fascist state. Like many political transitions, it was an untidy and complicated process. Although from the start Mussolini’s intentions were quite difficult to establish, however it could be that Mussolini wanted to set up from the beginning a totalitarian one party state.

Benito Mussolini and his creation of Fascism was the glue that held Italy together. Fascism promised national unity and condemned the Socialist party. To understand how Fascism became powerful within Italy, it is imperative to acknowledge the driving force behind this regime. To put it bluntly, violence played an essential role in the development of the Fascist party. Mussolini’s practice of fierceness was able to create a formidable system of government that did not tolerate weakness. In 1919, Benito Mussolini give an Afternoon speech, where he stressed the difference between Socialism and Fascism. Here, he states, “We declare war, against socialism, not because it is socialism, but because it opposes nationalism” (Stone 2013, 38).

Benito Mussolini outlines several essential characteristics of his preferred political ideology, Fascism, in what has become known as the Doctrine of Fascism. In this paper, Mussolini outlines his vision of the ideology, and explains the major issues that Fascism will address once it becomes the leading political system in Italy. Mussolini’s major points as outlined in the Doctrine included an extreme emphasis on nationalism, organization and modernization of the state, persistent focus on religion, life as a struggle, and the notion that individuals exist only for the improvement of society as a whole. Wolfgang Schieder, after reviewing the Doctrine of Fascism, explains Mussolini’s success based on it and

Because fascism has been practiced in a variety of locations, at differing points in history, with no specific guidelines, every seemingly practical definition of fascism is simply too limiting to serve as a proper definition. Furthermore, to speak of fascism in generalizations prohibits one from truly understanding the completely confused concept. To avoid such generalizations, one must look at fascism as it was found in specific examples. Such examples include, Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany. Although these two instances are not all encompassing of the ideology, they exhibit fascism to the greatest proportions. Additionally, these instances allow one to get a vivid and practical notion to what fascism truly is.

The state of Mussolini’s Fascist Italy and Hitler’s Nazi Germany, can be highly comparable in their policies and ideologies. Fascism is a political ideology, in which the country is to be racially and culturally pure. Mussolini said himself that “Fascism desires the state to be strong and organic and to always be prepared for conflict”. Fascism includes things such as nationalism, hostility to democracy, racism, the love of symbols such as uniforms, parades and army discipline. It is a totalitarian philosophy which worships the state and nation. Fascism is an extreme right-wing that celebrates the nation or race as a pure community which exceeds all other loyalties and expectations (Downing, 2001). Most of the time it celebrates masculinity and male supremacy, rarely it will promote female solidarity (De Grand, 1995). Fascist aims are to prepare for conflict and violence and to prepare and educate the youth. Both were able to gain support from military associations,

In totalitarian states the first things to disappear are social freedoms. In order to consolidate power the government will take away rights. As people's rights are taken away the government gains increasing control over the individual. Mussolini was a firm proponent of people's rights being given up in order for the state to provide order “(the individual citizen) is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom” (Mussolini). The whole idea

In fact, learning about Benito Mussolini's plan on creating a fascist nation for Germany helps understand the backstory of the book. Benito Mussolini had assisted in the fascist movement in Italy from 1919 to 1922. "There was a lot of political unrest in Italy that had occurred after WWI" (Rizvi). Italy was facing high debts, high crime rates, high inflation, and many unemployed people. These issues caused Benito Mussolini to rise above everyone else and lead Italy back into one nation.

This somewhat new form of secular government supported extreme nationalism while it strictly disencouraged democracy and voice of opinion. As an Italian, one had to unconsciously give up natural rights in order to be protected by the state. Mussolini was infatuated with ideas of Italy becoming a new Roman Empire; he gained support by promising Italians that they would be powerful like their ancestors. Although Fascism and Mussolini’s ideals may have seemed favorable for Italy, his inability to successfully change Italy’s problems led him to cover the truth with propaganda, which ultimately could not save him from his demise.

Released in 1932, Benito Mussolini’s The Doctrine of Fascism offered fascist adherents a better understanding of its basis. Fascism hinged on his concept of the role of an individual, which was only relevant as long as it was viewed in relation to the state: “as it should be, qualitatively and not quantitatively, as the most powerful idea . . . which acts within the nation as the conscience and the will of a few, even of One, which ideal tends to become active within the conscience and the will

     When the word “fascism” is mentioned people usually associate the word with German Nazis’. There is more to fascism than just German Nazis.’ Fascism is an interesting topic that should be further examined and explained so it is no longer simply associated with German Nazis’. This essay will explain what fascism is (definition), how fascism groups are run, the ideology of fascism, and some past examples of how fascist governments operated.

When we think about fascism, we often immediately think of Hitler and Nazi Germany during WW2, but fascism was around since the early 1900’s. The ideological roots of fascism have been around since the mid-1880s (Sternhell, 1998), but the timing was never right to act on them until the First World War came into salience. There are often preconceived notions that all fascism is the same, but in fact, the inclusion of the politically right-wing ideas into the Italian Fascist movement in the early 1920s created divisions within the fascist movement. “The left side of the Fascist movement included people who were committed to advancing national syndicalism as a replacement for parliamentary liberalism in order to modernize the economy and advance the interests of workers and

The popularity of Mussolini’s fascism among returning veterans was not only because of the comradery that Mussolini shared with them, but also the role that veterans played in fascismo. Welk (1938, 8-9), notes a publication in which, Mussolini campaigned for the right of returned soldiers to lead Italy towards becoming a great nation and a new world power. In order to understand how powerful this image was, it is important to understand the Post-war Italian economy. Though Italy had claimed victory in 1918, it came at the cost of the lives of approximately 600 thousand Italian soldiers, and nearly everyone in Italy outside of war profiteers exited the war more impoverished. Particularly, the transition from war to peace time production was a slow and painful process. Thus, while Italy claimed military victory, the post-war economy was not only crippled but also disorganized. This left laborers eager to lend their ears to a solution, and two powerful but contrasting ideologies to vie for their support.