“Compare and contrast Italian and German fascism in the interwar years.”
While both Italian and German fascism in the interwar years were very similar, they were ultimately more different due to their political ideologies, foreign policies and the structure of their respective parties. Fascism, while not having a concrete definition can be defined by multiple attributes. Fascism usually consist of a ultra right wing, oppressive and authoritarian government that places a heavy emphasis on national identity. As such, fascist governments promote violence and the expansion through wars with the intent of imperialism.
Italy was the birthplace of fascism, as Benito Mussolini headed the Republican Fascist Party. Under Mussolini, Italian fascism was
…show more content…
However, the German’s ideals of expansion were drastically more global than that of the Italians. While both believed that territorial expansion was a necessity for superiority, fascist Italy’s main focus of expansion was based upon that of the once powerful Roman Empire. This began with The Abyssinia Crisis of 1935, in which Italy invaded Ethiopia. The Abyssinia Crisis not only showed the pursuit from Italy towards becoming according to Overy what would be considered an empire, but also showed the lack of enforcement from the League of Nations as it pertains to collective security. British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain stated, “The circumstances in which the dispute between Italy and Abyssinian began appeared to offer an opportunity for the exercise of that policy which could hardly be more favorable for its success. The aggression was patent and flagrant, and there was hardly any country to which it appeared that a policy of sanctions could be exercised with a greater chance of success than upon Italy.” The foreign policy of Italy were explicit and began to be followed through with, due to the lack of influence from the League. So, while the Italian movement focused around becoming a “have” power and regaining their superiority though the Roman Empire, the German foreign policy revolved around the Lebensraum, or the land to …show more content…
While much of my previous knowledge of country ideology has been through historians such as Weinberg and Overy and Finaldi, I have found that the most helpful way to learn about the ideology and goals of different countries is through the use of speeches from different political leaders at the time. While the historian's point of view helps to summarize the speeches in their entirety, the speeches from the leaders allows for personal interpretation based upon the language and the events that precede it. While I have found speeches to be helpful, the limitations must still be thought of. First, many of the speeches are originally given in foreign languages, where translations are needed. These translations could change the meaning of some themes and could hinder one's ability to understand the magnitude to the language that is used in its original form. It can also be limited because much propaganda was used at the time. The speeches mostly being given to the entire country leave much room for the leader to use propaganda for the country to believe in his beliefs, rather that what the leader may be saying to his cabinet. While there is a wide range of ways to find information, it is also hard to look at secondary sources, because while they make different arguments, the arguments are based off of facts, that could be interpreted in many different
Benito Mussolini was the founder of Italian Fascism and premier of Italy from 1922-43 and ruling as a dictator from about 1925. In 1919
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.
One of the most relevant differences between the two fascist regimes lied in their differing attitudes towards culture and religion. In Germany there was no uniform agreement on religion. In Italy the Catholic Church exercised a strong influence on the people.
The etymology of “fascism” is denotative of power and dominance. For example, the term derived from the Roman fasces which were bundles of rods bound to each other, carried in advance of Roman magistrates. The rods were symbolic of power to punish through severe beating and the axes which extended from the center were symbolic of punishment by death (Grolier Education p.110).
After WW II, Fascism, “Instituted in Germany by Hitler” (America a Concise History 695) created an authoritative government. Hitler was controlling the government and making people do what he said and wanted. They believed that they were the superior race. Fascism came about in Italy in the years of 1920, but developed in the countries Germany, Spain, and France (America a Concise History 695). WW I caused the rise of fascism because Italy was destroyed and took an economic downfall so Mussolini decided to take it upon himself along with Adolf Hitler to get their countries back again. As stated in Chapter 24, “fascists leaders worldwide disparaged parliamentary
One of the most relevant differences between the two fascist regimes lied in their differing attitudes towards culture and religion. In Germany there was no uniform agreement on religion. In Italy the Catholic Church exercised a strong influence on the people.
Q6. Fascism began to rise after the fallout of World War I, this new militant political movement attracted many people who had felt angry or frustrated with the war. As you can imagine, during this time millions of people were unhappy with the turnout of World War I, many countries were on the edge of their breaking points. Countries were trying to return to the previous normal they obtained before the world had fallen into a deadly and pointless war. People were full of spitefulness and anger and they wanted answers; henceforth, the popular idea of fascism was created. Fascism was a political movement that promotes an extreme form of nationalism and militarism, the movement also relied heavily on the loyalty to the state and their one strong
The rise of Fascism in Italy contributed to World War II because of it’s militaristic and nationalistic
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.
The Common Factors that Led to the Establishment of Totalitarian Regimes in Italy and Germany in the Inter-War Period
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,
It became the foundation of the fascist movement in Italy following World War I. Mussolini used the newspaper to spread his ideas of fascism. On June 6, 1919, an issue of Il Popolo d’Italia listed and described the goals of fascism. However, fascism did not begin to take off until October of 1922.
Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister in 1922 due to the depriving affects that world war one had on Italian society. The war destroyed Italy economically leading to a rise in socialism. This in turn lead to highlighting the weaknesses of the liberals as the country was torn apart in the red years. This strengthened the appeal of fascism as it was the cure that Italy needed to get rid of the socialists. The fascists needed only to organise their party and take advantage of the open opportunity to seize power in Rome.
Fundamentally, both Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler had the same burning desire to each make their nation a respected and economically impregnable Great Power. Mussolini wanted to return Italy to its glory days of the ancient Roman Empire, a domestic policy amongst others which was used as propaganda and to ultimately consolidate his power. A strong economy and a united state were vital for both countries in case of the outbreak of yet another catastrophic war. "Everything in the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state", stated Mussolini in need of desperate backup at home. Post WWI left both Germany and Italy with grave problems economically, which further repelled into social problems such as high unemployment and
As a result of how Italy was created but not fully unified, the new Italian state suffered from a variety of weaknesses which the new liberal state was unable to tackle these. This made Italy susceptible to the appeal of fascism, and therefore aided Mussolini’s rise to power.