Fascism And The Great Financial Depression

The rise of Fascism in Italy contributed to World War II because of it’s militaristic and nationalistic

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 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

When looking at the nature of fascism, we have to look to how it originated. The social strata in the inter-war period and its structure and general opinion were a product of both direct factors and long-term factors. The 19th century was the century of the Liberalism as ‘the ideology’ in juxtaposition to the form of governance of the absolutist monarchies

Unlike in Italy, the rise of fascism in Germany occurred in one of the world’s most advanced economies, for the German modernisation and industrialisation process during the nineteenth century had helped to create a powerful state. Political extremism in Germany developed further from the failure of the state and society to manage the complex problems arising from the country’s sudden defeat at the end of the First World War in 1918.

Benito Mussolini returned to Italy claiming to “bring back Italy’s pride and make Italy a well-respected state again” (“Fascism,” n.d.). Mussolini wanted to solve Italy’s economic issues as well and pushed for a strong, national leader that could unite the people. Mussolini’s ideas appealed to Italian citizens because Mussolini wanted to solve, or at least claimed to, all the problems they were facing at the time. Mussolini began “delivering emotional speeches” in attempt to increase supporters, and in 1919, Mussolini established the first fascist regime in Italy (Martz, 2010). The Fascist Party gained a lot of attention and support because they blamed the unfair outcome of the war on the current, weak Italian democracy (Pollard, 2004, p. 29). Citizens easily put the blame on the liberal politicians and sought refuge from the opposing right wing political groups. Italy was very susceptible to Mussolini’s Fascist rule and ideologies because Italy was desperate for a change and solution to their instability. Martz (2010) states that Benito Mussolini’s charisma was a major contributor in establishing his support base and “a powerful fascist state.” Mussolini began to promote the idea that the “common will” of the people came before the will of the individual. Mussolini ensured that the citizens’ sacrifice and devotion to Italy was the only way to achieve true stability and unity (Martz, 2010). Mussolini’s charisma allowed him to easily

After creating the fascist party in 1919, Mussolini’s rise to power began, appealing to the soldiers and citizens who were faced with

Fascism is a government system led by an all-powerful dictator who emphasized racist and nationalist views. Some effects of Italy after the war caused numerous problems including negatively affecting the economy, riots, and unemployment (evidence). As fascism against democracy rose partially through nationalistic views, the people of Italy looked at fascist leaders like Mussolini to fix the many problems. Mussolini used the Black Shirts, his gangs of thugs, to promote the fascist views of anti-anarchy, while ironically causing chaos and suggesting that he was the ultimate champion of order and law (evidence). Although German and Italian Fascism contrasted in some ways the fascism of Italy allowed for Germany’s “final solution” to start being implemented in Germany, which was a cause of WW2.

Fascism is a term used by Benito Mussolini when he was leader of Italy in the 1930’s. Germany not long after started using the term when Hitler took over full power in the 1930’s. Democracy, Individual Rights, and Freedom was something that the Fascists did not want in their country. They wanted to dominate other nations in the world. They believed that if they set goals and stay obedient then they will be able to create a very powerful state.

In the 20th century there were a lot of rises and falls of many types of government. In some cases, two "world wars" influenced these events and multiple changes arose in power. The First World War gave way to such styles of rule as Fascism and Nazism. Very often these two ideologies are conflated as the same thing. However, while there are similarities between these concepts, a lot of differences also exist, that need to be mentioned. In order to understand these two movements, one should get to know the meaning of these terms. Such political ideology as Fascism is used in reference to the style of ruling that arose in Italy after The First World War and was represented by Benito Mussolini. And Nazism is embodied by the man who might be a

The economic instability of Europe developed totalitarian goverments that began rising during the depression in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Germany, Italy, and Japan all became countries subjected to the rule of dictated military rule leaving no room for opposition. Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy in 1922 (Calvocoressi, Wint, p 777, 1999). Mussolini had his own philosophy that his destiny was to rule over Italy as Caesar in a more modern version while re-creating the Roman Empire. In his attempts in

In 1919, the Fascist movement failed to get a single representative elected in the national election, which shows how removed from the government that the organization was at its outset. The lack of initial success also elucidates why political violence was such an attractive option for the initially unpopular and weak organization. It was not until 1921 that an official Italian Fascist party (PNF) was formed and while they gained some governmental representation, their influence on Italian policy remained negligible and thus despite being a part of the government, their political violence remained unsanctioned by the state and largely condemned by those in high governmental positions. It was not until 1922 that the Fascists would come close to exercising official government power. In fact, the 1922 March on makes it abundantly clear that up until they seized power, the Fascists were operating as a substate actor. The Fascist’s paramilitary organization (the Blackshirts) had to seize strategic locations around Italy and gain the support of the King in order to officially gain power, which demonstrates their lack of governmental authority up until this point. Mussolini made it clear that prior to 1922, the Fascists did not control the

Fascism was first detected after World War I in Italy. After the war, the people of Italy were ready for a new political aspect. Benito Mussolini was the man who brought this fascist ideology to Italy. Mussolini has been looking for the perfect opportunity to take complete control of a country and now was the time to do so. “In 1919 Mussolini and his followers, mostly war veterans, were organized along paramilitary lines and wore black shirts and uniforms.”(Halsall pg.2) After defeats at the polls Mussolini used his new financial backing to clothe a gang of thugs who

The Fascists’ social and economic policies up to 1939 significantly aided their control over Italy yet may not be cited as the sole cause. The Fascist party’s social and economic policies along with other factors attributed to the overall control of Italy. Through such policies it was a certainty that the Fascist party would hold complete power over the population of Italy in each aspect of an individual’s life whether it was their leisure time through the Dopolavoro or at work under the corporate state system which was formally introduced in 1934. This complete domination of the Italian peoples’ lives could be argued to have been the instrumental factor behind the Fascists’ control over Italy up to 1939. Other factors which assisted the

The fascists had support anywhere that either feared socialism or was nationalistic. The original support came from war veterans and the Italian army which was in general sympathetic to the cause. However as Mussolini changed the party agenda making it less extreme and right wing the backbone of fascist support arrived in the form of the petty bourgeoisie. Fascism also gained the support of the elite in Italy meaning that the party now had funding from big industrialists which it could use to secure its power. Fascism now had a strong appeal throughout Italy as it was now a respectable party not a political movement which had the support of powerful people that would enable it to crush the threat of socialism and restore the nation to its former (roman) glory. The actions of the fascists up to 1922 were the reason why Mussolini came to power or was able to seize it.