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Benito Mussolini's Doctrine of Fascism Essay

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DOCTRINE OF FASCISM
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 …show more content…

War is inevitable, as it is simply the manifestation of the strength and vigour of the Italian people that wishes to expand itself, never looking back. Peace was considered as merely a “mask to surrender and cowardice.” Mussolini stressed that Italians required “forces, duty, and sacrifice” in order to rise again to their former greatness, that of the Roman Empire. This is also Mussolini’s rationale for harsh and severe actions against any who would resist or try and undermine fascism. Finally, there remains perhaps the most basic and yet most profound idea present in the entire doctrine; being the notion that life is a struggle. The entire doctrine constantly discusses this concept, and in fact Mussolini uses it to justify the entire doctrine. Mussolini states that, “fascism wants a man to be active and absorbed in action with all his energies,” a desire which he considers synonymous with fascism’s own desire to be constantly progressing. Italians were not only encouraged to frequently be taking action, but it was considered their “duty to conquer out of life what was really worthy to them.” Mussolini is essentially stating that he believes that a virtuous Italian should be constantly struggling with his life, never becoming complacent and always fighting to better himself. Fascism, being an extension of the human spirit, naturally mirrored these qualities. Wolfgang Schieder, analyzes

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