Mussolini And Fascist Italy

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.

There is no doubt that Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini shared many similar characteristics. They shared movements that were typical of National Socialism: they adopted a radical nationalism, militaristic hierarchies, violence, the cult of charismatic leadership, contempt for individual liberties and civil rights, an anti-democratic and anti-socialist orientation, and a refusal to socialize industries.

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

Throughout all the worlds significant and powerful leaders, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were two men that similarly abused their powers in ways never seen before.

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).

“Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but above all, thou shalt not be a bystander” (A), these wise words were spoken by Yehuda Bauer, 65 years after the start of the Holocaust. Italy, under the rule of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, was one of the many countries who turned her back on the Jewish people. Because of political, social and economic reasons, Italy was a bystander to the heinous crimes inflicted on the Jewish population.

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

In this Italian form of fascism, a few of Dr. Lawrence Britt’s defining characteristics of fascism are evident. Britt asserts the following are common of fascist regimes: “controlled mass media”, “religion and government are intertwined”, and “rampant cronyism and corruption”. Italian fascism saw numerous anti-fascist newspapers suppressed, and/or editors of such papers replaced with fascist supporters. Furthermore, Mussolini saw that his Catholic practices were brought to the masses through ‘legislation’. Mussolini passed laws

Mussolini and Hitler’s time in power was around the time its countries were most vulnerable. Their power was so successful because of their full and unconditional support from its people. If they were failing somehow, through their use of propaganda they made it seem like they were booming, socially, economically and politically. Adolf Hitler, born and raised in 1889, Austria. Dying in April 1945 Germany, he commit suicide just two days after Mussolini died by firing squad alongside his mistress, in Italy. Benito Mussolini was born in 1883 Italy where he bullied many kids (Downing, 2001). Hitler was able to successfully work his way up from the inside of government, which overall explains why Hitler’s 12 years in power went more smoothly than Mussolini’s 18 years. Due to both leaders having fascist policies allowed their countries to be alike. Their personality cults did not necessarily help them rise to power but it certainly consolidated their positions once ‘Fuhrer’ or ‘Duce’. Also, their propaganda use strongly encouraged the people to support their leader and gain respect for them. The events prior to their rise played a significant role when analysing their personalities, ideologies, and propaganda. To a large extent, their

Two famous dictators from World War Two are Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Both came to power by taking advantage of the economic and governmental problems their country’s have endured, because of the Great Depression. Adolf Hitler became the dictator of Germany and a leader of the Nazi party. Benito Mussolini became the dictator of Italy and also became the leader of the National Fascist Party. Both of these leaders ended up in jail at some point in their life. Adolf Hitler was locked in jail for leading a revolt against the government in Germany. Mussolini was put in jail for fleeing the military service in 1902. Hitler also fled military service, only from Austria.

Mussolini was able to reach even the deep outskirts of the nation. To help with this, Mussolini created the Ministry of Popular Culture, which was in charge of most radio broadcasts and literary items, in 1933. However, people were becoming distraught with what they were hearing on the radio. Many social groups were calling for specific radio broadcasts catered to their needs. Mussolini and the regime took this is a huge step forward in their radio usage, in which they created radio broadcasts that allowed them to penetrate deeper in all parts of Italian society. The social groups got their specific radio broadcasts, with fascist infused ideas included. The idea of catering radio broadcasts to specific groups lead to the creation of the School Radio and the Village Radio, which are exactly what they sound like. In order to test this idea of broadcasting to specific social groups, Mussolini started with the Village Radio; this broadcast was made for the sole purpose of introducing fascism to the rural Italian population. It was a huge success, so Mussolini moved onto the School Radio. Just like it sounds, the school radio was broadcasted to schools around the country. The radio broadcasts were in the afternoon hours, so the kids could listen to them after school. The School radio was so effective that it actually became a part of the school curriculum. These radio broadcasts glorified Mussolini and fascism, as well as praising the Italian army and Italian achievements. Overall, these initiatives allowed Mussolini to reach deeper parts of the population, which even included school

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.

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

In the early days of Mussolini’s regime (he came to power in 1922), Italian foreign policy seemed rather confused: Mussolini knew what he wanted, which was ‘to make Italy great, respected and feared.’ But he was not sure how to achieve this, apart from agitating for a revision of the 1919 peace settlement in Italy’s favour. At first he seemed to think an adventurous foreign policy was his best line of action, hence the Corfu Incident and the occupation of Fiume in 1923. By an agreement signed at Rapallo in 1920, Fiume was to be a ‘free city’, used jointly by Italy and Yugoslavia; after Italian troops moved in, Yugoslavia agreed that it should belong to Italy. After these early successes, Mussolini became

How far do you agree, that the Bienno Rosso was the most important reason for Mussolini and Fascism’s rise to power in Italy, 1919-22?