Italy During The World War II

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

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.

Within Italy, The Great War caused many problems and a great amount of distress. As a result of this, hundreds of new fascist groups started to emerge. In October 1922, Benito Mussolini became the Prime Minister of Italy and contributed a lot to the nation. He developed his power by forming the Fascist National Party in 1923 and eliminating political opposition. Mussolini and his followers ruled Italy through an authoritarian dictatorship. He made it clear that the war was a turning point for Italy and the returning of combat soldiers would form a new elite and bring about a new type of state to transform Italian politics and society. Mussolini set many

No, he did so by cultivating the Italian people’s frustration with the League of Nations when they were not rewarded more lands at the end of the war. So, Mussolini saw his chance to implement fascism into Italy and regain power for his country. After the war, there was considerable political unrest that the people began to become more unpredictable. Thankfully, fascism gave an illusion of happiness and freedom while only actually giving the people only essential freedoms and taking away all else (Document A). The political world of Italy wanted to feel like their country was powerful like it was before the war, and by catering to these feelings through fascism Mussolini was able to do so.

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

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

-Italy gave the most assistance of all foreign powers. Mussolini wanted to be involved for a number of reasons. First, involvement would be in line with his anti-communist/socialist/democratic outlook and his pro-fascist stance. Second, he wished to enhance his influence as the key power in the Mediterranean and thereby demonstrate Italy’s

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.

One of the major distinctions between Mussolini and Hitler concerning their foreign policies is that Hitler was in power for

'I want to make Italy great, respected and feared' said Mussolini in 1925. Mussolini's foreign policy included a number of positive and negative factors which all contributed to the rise, and the ultimately to the downfall, of both Mussolini and the Italian empire. Mussolini was intent on revising the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles and was very keen to show off Italy's power. He felt that Italy had been hard done by at the end of world war one and sought to claim what he felt Italy deserved. Mussolini's foreign policy clearly reflected his ambition to reinstate the Italian empire.

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

Alan Clarke said that the Germans felt it was forcing them “to take over Mussolini’s responsibilities in the Balkans in order to secure their southern flank” against the Soviets. Knowing this, it begs to question why Hitler had to secure his flank against a country that he was not at war with. Another historian, Graham Ross, also states that Hitler would have to rescue Mussolini from the results of his military incompetence. Mussolini’s failure to simply secure the Balkans for Axis power caused a setback in Hitler’s plans and therefore caused the Germans to take control. The Italians were much more humane and civilized when it came to fighting compared to that of the Germans, who were cruel and barbaric. This could be the reason why the Italians were unsuccessful in securing the Balkans. The Italians did not have the fighting mentality like the Germans did.

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.

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.

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