Mussolinian and Fascist Italy During 1930s-World War Two - Term Paper Example

Mussolinian and Fascist Italy During 1930s-World War Two The above question can be viewed as a paradoxical one,because in reality,as history strongly indicates, one could not do without the other. Mussolini needed to utilise the strongarm tactics of the Fascist Party just as the Party needed him as their leader to advance their political ideologies. That can be like asking could there have been a Hitlerian Germany or a Gestapo Germany. It would not have really mattered,because at the time they both needed each other. Like Hitler-who later became his ally during World War Two,Mussolini wanted to be a world conquerer,who in effect wanted to recreate a "New Roman Empire". He was in effect,like Hitler,a political opportunist. The concept and theory of Fascism is opposite of Marxian Socialism. The latter is “the materialist conception of history of human civilization can be explained simply through the conflict of interests among the various social groups and by the change and development in the means and instruments of production” where as Fascism is “now and always, believes in holiness and in heroism; that is to say, in actions influenced by no economic motive, direct or indirect”, as explained by Mussolini in definition of fascism. The reasons greatly increase the influence of fascism, even more than Mussolini himself. If we deny the economic conception of history then the existence of an unchanging class-war is also eliminated. In order to fully understand the purpose of the Fascist Party and Mussolinis intent and to logically draw our own conclusions, we have to look at the history of the organisation itself and its obectives. The National Fascist Party(Partito Nazionale Fascista;PNF) was established by Benito Mussolini(1883-1945) on November 7,1921. The roots of the Fascist Party dates back to the 1870s when groups of Italian democrats and socialists protested against oppressive policies of their government. The term "Fascist" is derived from the latin word "Fasces"(which dates back to the ancient Roman Empire),which was an ax intertwined with bands;by the late 19th Century came to have a political meaning,the Italian term "Fascio"(meaning "bundle") came to mean strength through unity. The rationale was that while the independent rod(or ax handle) was fragile,as a intertwined bundle they were strong. By the mid-late 1890s,there were various Fascist groups throughout Sicily. The most famous of these groups were the Fasci Italiana, during 1895/96.(1) The Fasci still continued to form even more offshoot groups,to which a young man by the name of Benito Mussolini belonged to one of such groups. But by August 1914,there was another schism in the union when Alceste Ambris,a leader of the Unione Sindicale Italiana(USI),began a ferocious attack against neutrality,and strongly urged his people to intervene against German reaction and to support France and Britain during the First World War. In fact he compared the War to the French Revolution. This caused a division within the Unione;the majority were for neutrality, the others dissented and started their own group,the Fasci dazione riviluzionaria internationalista(International Action of Fascist Revolutionaries) on October 1,1914. On December 11,1914, Benito Mussolini started his own independent group,Fasci dAzione revoluzionaria(Fascist Revolutionary Action),which was a fusion of the two previous groups,Fasci dAzione riviluzionaria internationalista and an earlier group that he formed,the Fasci autonomi dazione rivoluzionaria. On January 24,1915,all the leaders of the various fascist organisations met in Milan together and formed one national organisation. In 1919,following the end of the First World War,Mussolini reconstituted the Milan fascio,using the new name Fasci italiana di combattimento("League of Combat"). In 1921 it became known as the National Fascist Party. Now that the NFP was finally established as an independent entity, it almost immediately began its reign of terror-a reign that would last over 20 years. On October 27,1922,Mussolini and his party began a pseudo-coup-detat known as the "March on Rome" in which the Fascists came to power and ousted Romes Prime Minister Luigi Facta. Factas opponent,King Victor Emmanuel III refused to support him and instead handed over power to Mussolini,who was supported by the military,the business class and right-wing support. At first, the early years of Mussolinis rule were characterised by a right-wing coalition government made up of Fascists,nationalists and two Catholic ministers from the Popular Party. But Mussolinis domestic goal was the establishment of a totalitarian state with he as the supreme ruler. Thus,to that end, he obtained dictatorial powers for one year. In 1923 the Italian government passed the Acerbo Law,which transformed Italy into a single constitency and integated Fascism into the political scene. This law provided in effect a political springboard for Mussolinis rise to dictatorship. There were attempts to destroy the Fascists by exposing or trying to assassinate its members. In 1924, for example, socialist deputy Giacomo wrote a book against the organisation,exposing their strongarm tactics and acts of violence. He was killed on June 10,1924. In 1926 he was "slightly wounded on the nose" as a woman shot him{10}. A year later a 15-year-old-boy attempted to assassinate him in which he was executed on the spot{11}. He also survived assassination attempts by Gino Lucetti{12} and American anarchist Michael Schirru{13} In January 1925,Mussolini declared his rulership a dictatorship in which he had little opposition. In the next three years he made sweeping changes in the government. In late 1925 his position was changed from president to head of the government in which he was no longer subject to parliament. Now he had sole control of the Italian government. He was now known as II Duce("The Leader"). Italy under Mussolini had become a virtual police state. He was the head of the Fascist Party and the armed MSVN,also known as "Blackshirts",who would terrorise those who dared defied him. Italy,like many countries following World War One, emerged in a poor and weakened condition. Following Mussolinis rise to power in 1922, he shaped the countrys economy along facist ideology. He initiated such reforms as "The Battle for Grain",which was Italys version of The Green Revolution in which 5,000 new farms were established and five new agricultural towns were reclaimed by draining the Pontine Marshes. His other initatives were the "Battle for Land" reclamation and "Gold for the Fatherland",which greatly helped to combat Italys economic recession. In the year 1932, Mussolini with the help of Giovanni Gentile, wrote the Italian Encyclopedia on the definition of fascism. The Fascist accepts life and just loves it without even knowing anything and despising suicide. Mussolini believes that life is a duty, a struggle and a conquest. “Fascism stresses more on the future and the development of humanity apart from the political considerations of the moment. It does not believe in the possibility or the utility of perpetual peace. It thus repudiates the doctrine of Pacifism, born of a renunciation of the struggle and an act of cowardice in the face of sacrifice. War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have courage to meet it” (Mussolini, 1932) . Mussolini also pushed for state control of businesses. In 1935,for example,he claimed that three quarters of Italian businesses were under state control. In fact that very same year,he issued several edicts that forced all banks,businesses and private citizens to give up their foreign-issued stock exclusively to the Bank of Italy. In 1938 he instituted wage and price controls. He attempted to turn Italy into a autarky,or a self-sufficient economy that does not deal in foreign trade with other nations. “The Fascist State organizes the nation, but leaves a sufficient margin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone” (Mussolini). Fascism stands against the system of democratic ideology and repudiates it. It strongly believes that the majority can direct human society. The expansion of the nation is an essential manifestation of vitality and opposite is a sign of decadence. According to Mussolini, Peoples who are rising even after a period of decadence are always imperialist; and renunciation is a sign of decay and of death. “It is the doctrine adapted in order to represent the tendencies and the aspirations of people. Just like the people of Italy, who are rising again after many centuries of abasement and foreign servitude” (Mussolini). It was abundantly clear that Mussolini wanted to establish a rulership by propaganda,and he made it very clear to his subjects that this was his objective. As dictator of Italy, Mussolini wanted to subjugate the minds of the Italian people to make them totally subservient to his demands,and of course he used political and nationalistic propaganda to that end. He utilised the Press,radio,education and films to create the illusion that fascism was the ultimate doctrine of the 20th Century,that would replace even liberalism and democracy. Mussolini was also clever enough to use his dictatorship to further his personal political ends. Even though professedly an atheist,he became a baptized Roman Catholic in 1927 as a political move to take away certain Catholic opposition that critcised him for taking away their papal property and virtually blackmailing the Vatican. However,Mussolini was not a practising Catholic. In fact he used his anti-Communist views to sway many Catholics to his side. The whole system was geared to promote fascism. Mussolini virtually rewrote parliamentary law. All teachers in schools and universities had to take an oath that they would defend the fascist regime. Even the Press was forced to submit to his fascist ideology. For example, journalists had to submit a certificate of approval before they could be allowed to work,to insure they would support Mussolinis fascist policies. The trade unions were also under fascist control as well. It was apparent that Mussolini wanted to be a world conquerer,and he wanted to utilise the facist cause to that end. For example,he conquered Ethiopia in 1935/36,leading to the Italo-Abyssinian War. In that same year-1936-he sided with Spains Francisco Franco,which ended any possibility of reconciliation with France and Britain. This reached the attention of another would-be world conquerer named Adolf Hitler,and the two drew close,particularly as the rapidly-approaching World War II years were on the horizon. In 1938, he,posing as a moderate working for European peace was working along with Nazi Germany to seize control of the Sudetenland. He formed a "Pact of Steel" alliance with Hitler in 1939,confirming he was the second part of the Axis Powers(which would later include Japan two years later). But the two men had conflicting ideologies. Hitler,for one,favored racialism and anti-semitism, and Mussolini wanted to advance his fascist views. He believed himself to be a modern-day Roman emperor who wished to "Italianise"the parts of the Italian Empire he desired to build. He wanted to promote cultural superiority,not racial superiority,which Hitler was trying to promote with his theory of "aryan superiority" of the races. Therefore,Mussolini initially did not hold to the same anti-semitic views that Hitler held. Ideologically, he could not bring himself to discriminate against the Jewish Community since some Jews were of Italian extraction;in fact some Jews were part of the National Facist Party. However,under Hitlers eventual influence,he later recanted some of his former views, even endorsing the Charter of Race decree,which deprived Jews of Italian citizenship or any position in the government. In fact,the German influence was so strong that it upset the estabished order in Italy which was highly unpopular with most Italians. Yes,Mussolini was unquestionably an ally of Adolf Hitler,who though he was influenced by his aryan views somewhat was still a die-hard fascist nevertheless. On June 10,1940, Italy entered into the Second World War. He has as his intentions expanding the Italian colonies in North Africa,further advancing his fascist cause by therefore taking land from the British and French colonies. But their attack on North Africa was not as successful as they had anticipated. The war Italy waged primarily against North Africa went on from 1940-43,in which they were miserably defeated with the help of the American Allies in the Tunisian Campaign. By September 1943 Italy was the first of the axis powers to be defeated by the Allies. Also,Mussolinis fascist empire was beginning to crumble. There were evidences of social breakdown and disorder throughout Italy as well. There were shortages of raw materials,clothing and food as the allied bombings were taking their toll. At this point,some of the prominent members of the Italian Fascist government began to turn on Mussolini. Because he in effect,failed to advance the fascist cause,he was called to the palace of King Victor Emannuel III and subsequently dismissed and arrested for his own protection against the Germans,with whom he was an ally and possibly feared they may have considered him to be a traitor. For a few days Mussolini was kept under isolation in a mountain resort in Abruzzo. Ironically enough,on September 12,1943,he was rescued by the very persons he was supposedly being protected from-the Germans in the Gran Sasso raid by German special forces. He was therefore sent to northern Italy where he tried to set up a new version of fascism known as the Italian Social Republic,which was formerly known as the Salo Republic because of its administration being in the town of Salo. However,he was nothing more than a puppet under proctection of his German liberators. On April 27,1945, Benito Mussolini and his mistress,Clara Petacci,as they attempted to go to Switzerland and in turn board a plane to escape to Spain,was captured by Italian Resistance Fighters,as he tried to hide his true identity by wearing a German uniform. He was identified by a young Italian political commisar,or an appointed officer named Urbano Lazzaro(1924-2006). References Modern History Sourcebook. Benito Mussolini: What is Fascism, 1932. [Online]. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.html. Mussolini, Benito. 1932. What is Fascism. Bibliography Blinkhorn, Martin. 1994. Mussolini and Fascist Italy. Routledge Publication. Farrell, Nicholas. 2004. Mussolini: A New Life. Phoenix Publication. Finer, Herman. 1964. Mussolinis Italy. Archon Books Publication. Knox, MacGregor. 1982. Mussolini Unleashed, 1939-1941. Cambridge University Press. Pollard, John F. 1998. The Fascist Experience in Italy. Routledge Publication. Read More