Rise of Fascism in Italy

Elements of fascism:

Ø      The individual should distrust reason and simply obey

Ø      Denial of equality – the strong have an obligation to destroy the weak

Ø      Violence is an essential tool

Ø      Government by an elite as the average person is incapable

Ø      Totalitarian – total state control of the lives of the individuals

Ø      Racism and Imperialism justified in that certain nations are elite and are obligated to control

Ø      Permanent mobilization – soldier valued above all other citizens

Ø      Anything is justified if it serves that states ends

Ø      Fascism emphasizes victory, glorifies war, is cruel to the weak, and is irrational and intolerant.

Ø      By providing a uniform, someone to blame, someone to hate and a leader, fascism restores self-respect

Fascism in Italy: Background

Ø      Post WWI, Italy was intensely dissatisfied with her efforts in the war and the “spoils” she was awarded by the treaties.

Ø      After the war, the economy was chaotic, the government was corrupt, and there was no order

Ø      “When times are bad, extreme political viewpoints become attractive”

Benito Mussolini:

Ø      After actually being a socialist for a while, Mussolini switched his views and started the Fascist Party

Ø      Skilled use of Fascist tools to gain some support – parades, propaganda, great speeches

Ø      Mussolini appealed to ex-servicemen, students, the middle-class and to all anti-Communists

The March on Rome – 1922

Ø      Mussolini’s Blackshirts began a march on Rome to gain power, as the Prime Minister has refused to allow the Fascists into government

Ø      This created a threat of Civil War

Ø      King Victor Emmanuelle feared a civil war, and offered the government to Mussolini to avoid this

Ø      So, Mussolini took power with relatively little bloodshed

Ø      By 1925, Italy was a Totalitarian State, ruled by a Fascist dictator, with all personal freedoms abolished, and all opposition eliminated.

The Lateran Accords: 1929

Ø      Mussolini concludes a treaty with the Pope and the Catholic Church

Ø      The Vatican would remain the domain of the Pope (had previously lost Papal estates)

Ø      Catholicism would be declared the only state religion, and a compulsory school subject

Fascist Imperialism

Ø      Italy had a small number of overseas colonies (3) and wanted more

Ø      Mussolini declared the Mediterranean Sea as “Mare Nostrum” Our Sea

Ø      This would obviously threaten Britain and France’s trade routes

Ø      To show his newly found power, Mussolini decides to invade Ethiopia in 1935

Ø      Emperor Selassie appeals to the League of Nations but gets little support – the economic sanctions did not affect Italy

Ø      It takes the Italian army of mechanized equipment 3 weeks to defeat the Ethiopian army of horseback and turn of the century rifles and swords

Ø      The British and French decide to appease Mussolini through the Hoare-Laval Plan

Ø      This meant “Take half, leave half”