Fascism in Italy

Chapter 13

Section 3

Italy

Italy After World War I

� After WWI, Italian nationalists were outraged when Italy received just some of the territories promised by the Allies

� Italian nationalists argued that the Allies betrayed Italy after World War I

� Chaos ensued as peasants seized land, workers went on strike, veterans faced unemployment, trade declined, and taxes rose

� The government could not end the economic crises plaguing Italy

Benito Mussolini

� Into this turmoil stepped Benito Mussolini, the organizer of the Fascist Party

� Mussolini was an intense nationalist

� Mussolini’s supporters, the Black Shirts, rejected democratic methods and favored violence for solving problems

� Black Shirts used terror tactics to scare the opposition

Benito Mussolini

Fascist Blackshirts

Mussolini Speaking to His People

March on Rome

� In the 1922 March on Rome, tens of thousands of Fascists swarmed the capital

� Protestors demanded the government make changes to the economy and society

� Fearing civil war, the king, under intense pressure, asked Mussolini to form a government with Mussolini as prime minister

� Mussolini had legally assumed power in Italy because King Emmanuel II appointed him!

Mussolini’s Fascist Leadership

� Mussolini takes on the title Il Duce (the Leader)

� Mussolini soon suppressed rival parties, censored the press, rigged elections, and replaced elected officials with Fascists

� Critics were thrown into prison, forced into exile, or murdered

� Secret police and propaganda strengthened the regime

� In 1929, Mussolini also received support from Pope Pius XI in return for recognizing Vatican City as an independent state

� Pope, though, disagreed, with some of Mussolini’s goals

VaticanThe smallest independent state in the world.

Pius XI

What type of government was leading Italy?

� Italy was still a parliamentary monarchy –technically

� But Italy was now ruled by a terrorizing, fascist dictator – Benito Mussolini

� Italy evolved into an evil dictatorship

Italian Economy

� Mussolini brought the economy under state control, but basically preserved capitalism

� Representatives of business, labor, government, and Fascist party leaders controlled industry, agriculture and trade

� Mussolini’s system of government favored the upper classes and industry leaders

� Workers were not allowed to strike, and their wages were kept low

Loyalty

� In Mussolini’s new system, loyalty to the state replaced conflicting individual goals

� Italians owed loyalty/allegiance to the state firstbefore personal goals

� State was all-important

� Individual rights were secondary to the goals of the state

Obedience to the State

� “Believe! Obey! Fight” loudspeakers blared and posters proclaimed

� Fascist youth groups marched in parades chanting slogans

� Men were ruthless, selfless warriors fighting for Italian glory

� Mussolini awarded women for having 14 or more children (it was a women’s duty to bear children to serve the Italian state)

Influencing Young Italians

� Young children were taught loyalty and obedience to Italy

� Fascist youth groups emerged

� Tough discipline was taught to youngsters

� “Mussolini is always right”, people chanted in song

� Mussolini was developing the Italian people for an expansion of Mussolini’s dream of an expanded Italian empire

Totalitarianism

� Mussolini built the first modern totalitarian state

� In this form of government, a one-party dictatorship attempts to control every aspect of the lives of its citizens

� Today, we usually use the term fascism to describe the underlying ideology of any centralized, authoritarian government system that is not communist

� Fascism is rooted in extreme nationalism

� Fascists believe in action, violence, discipline, and blind loyalty to the state

Fascism

� They praise warfare

� Fascists are anti-democratic, rejecting equality and liberty

� Fascists oppose communists on important issues

� Communists favored spreading communism internationally and the creation of a classless society

� Unlike communism, fascists were most concerned with strengthening their own nation

Fascism

� Fascists are nationalists who support a society with defined classes (upper, middle, poor)

� Both base their power on blind devotion to a leader (e.g., Mussolini) or the state – individuals do not matter under Fascism

� Both flourish during economic hard times

� Fascism appealed to Italians because it restored national pride, provided stability, and ended the political feuding that had paralyzed democracy in Italy

Powerpoint Questions

� 1. What angered Italian nationalists after World War I?

� 2. Who were the party militants who rejected the democratic process in favor of violent action?

� 3. After the March of Rome, what did the king feel pressured to do?

� 4. Under Mussolini’s leadership, what groups controlled industry, agriculture, and trade?

� 5. Explain a totalitarian state.

� 6. How do you define fascism?

Powerpoint Questions

� 7. Why did fascism appeal to many Italians?

� 8. How does fascism differ from communism? Explain

� 9. What is fascism rooted in?

� 10. What four elements do fascists believe in? (four points)

� 11. What slogan did the fascists play on loudspeakers?

� 12. What did the Fascist Party teach young children?

The End