Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini was born in 1883, and is known as the founder of Fascism as well as the leader of Italy from 1922 to 1943.
Before coming to power, he experienced numerous jobs such as schoolteacher, soldier, journalist, and editor, actively working in the socialist movement. However, he moved to right during World War One.
After World War One, most Italians felt betrayed by the Allies for not gaining what had hoped for from the war. Because of the Treaty of Versailles, she did not gain territory, “Italia Irredenta” where were the regions with ethnic Italian population living outside of Italy, and also Italian people terribly suffered from poverty. Under her immature democracy, the Italian people were greatly dissatisfied with their living conditions and a revolution was expected anytime by everyone. With the Italian people’s point of view, “Democracy is a weak system, incapable of fulfilling national desires”, Mussolini came to power, promising that he would help improving their economic condition and regaining the power in the Roman Empire.
In 1919, he founded his own party called the Fascisti. The main goals of the party were to restore law and order to Italian society. However, their program was vaguely socialist, and the socialist elements were soon dropped when he realized that stronger, support could be gained for a movement against socialism and the rights of the masses.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/mussolini_benito.shtml
Before coming to power, he experienced numerous jobs such as schoolteacher, soldier, journalist, and editor, actively working in the socialist movement. However, he moved to right during World War One.
After World War One, most Italians felt betrayed by the Allies for not gaining what had hoped for from the war. Because of the Treaty of Versailles, she did not gain territory, “Italia Irredenta” where were the regions with ethnic Italian population living outside of Italy, and also Italian people terribly suffered from poverty. Under her immature democracy, the Italian people were greatly dissatisfied with their living conditions and a revolution was expected anytime by everyone. With the Italian people’s point of view, “Democracy is a weak system, incapable of fulfilling national desires”, Mussolini came to power, promising that he would help improving their economic condition and regaining the power in the Roman Empire.
In 1919, he founded his own party called the Fascisti. The main goals of the party were to restore law and order to Italian society. However, their program was vaguely socialist, and the socialist elements were soon dropped when he realized that stronger, support could be gained for a movement against socialism and the rights of the masses.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/mussolini_benito.shtml
What's Fascism?
Fascis: a Latin word which refers to a bundle of rods, firmly tied together, with a beheading axe protruding from the center. This configuration symbolizes the absolute authority of the state in ancient Rome.
Fascist parties and movements came to power in several countries between 1922 and 1945 such as the National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista) in Italy, led by Benito Mussolini and the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) or NAZI party, led by Adolf Hitler.
Mussolini ran a country with a political ideology of Fascism which was largely defined by the actions, rather than the thoughts, of its principal proponents. Although the Italians initially supported Mussolini with great hope that their life would be better, they terribly suffered from his numerous selfish and cruel actions. They had lost civil and human rights as well as freedom of the press, speech, assembly, and freedom from arbitrary arrest were all abolished. Having no oppositions, Mussolini murdered, Giacomo Matteotti, the leader of the socialists who spoke against the fascists and all anti-fascist political parties had been eliminated by 1926.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/mussolini-fascism.asp
Fascist parties and movements came to power in several countries between 1922 and 1945 such as the National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista) in Italy, led by Benito Mussolini and the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) or NAZI party, led by Adolf Hitler.
Mussolini ran a country with a political ideology of Fascism which was largely defined by the actions, rather than the thoughts, of its principal proponents. Although the Italians initially supported Mussolini with great hope that their life would be better, they terribly suffered from his numerous selfish and cruel actions. They had lost civil and human rights as well as freedom of the press, speech, assembly, and freedom from arbitrary arrest were all abolished. Having no oppositions, Mussolini murdered, Giacomo Matteotti, the leader of the socialists who spoke against the fascists and all anti-fascist political parties had been eliminated by 1926.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/mussolini-fascism.asp
14 defining Characteristics Of Fascism
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed
to the government's policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/202210/fascism
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/BRI411A.html
The Blackshirts
All Italians were expected to obey Mussolini and his Fascist Party. By the use of the Blackshirts (a.k.a. the “Fasci di Combattimenti”) as paramilitary lines, he attempted to maintain his authority and limit freedom in their personal life. The Blackshirts consist of ex-servicemen, middle class youths and anti-Communist and these groups were put in uniform, the Blackshirts, giving the members of importance. It as the Blackshirts who murdered the socialist Matteotti – an outspoken critic of Mussolini. The motto of the Blackshirts was “Me ne frego” (I do not give a damn). Compared to Hitler’s S.S. (shutzstaffel) in Germany, Mussolini’s Blackshirts were probably less feared, they maintained an iron rule in Italy. As one of their favored ways of making people confirm was to tie a ‘troublemaker’ to a tree, force a pint or two od castor oil down the victim’s throat and force him/her to eat a live toad/frog etc. Because of this punishment, people kept their thoughts in themselves.
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/black-shirts.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/68578/Blackshirt
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/black-shirts.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/68578/Blackshirt
The Acerbo Law
After the March on Rome in 1922, Mussolini became the leader of Fascist Italy that put him in a fairly weak position. At that time, Mussolini only had on 35 deputies in Parliament and 10 Nationalist allies to count on. Therefore, he started to rely on alliances with other parties and buying support from working class, the individual bosses, and the Roman Catholic Church. The idea of Acerbo Law (changing the voting system from a proportional representation to a system) later on allowed Mussolini to have a majority. The Acerbo Law was an electoral reform forced through Parliament in 1923. It assured a two-thirds majority in the Chamber of Deputies for the party that got the most votes in an election. After the 1924 election, this method gave Mussolini a huge majority. Finally, Mussolini became Prime minister of Italy in the October of 1924, and he continued to run Italy with multiple allies and a great amount of support by his side. “The Acerbo Law” was definitely necessary for Mussolini who took years to achieve his goals to gain complete control of Italy.
https://mussolinisregime.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/the-acerbo-law/
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/mussolini_dictatorship.htm
https://mussolinisregime.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/the-acerbo-law/
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/mussolini_dictatorship.htm
The March on Rome
Even after World War One, Italy was not a settled peace. Most Italians felt betrayed by the Allies for not gaining all the territory that she had hoped for at the end of the war. Under democracy that was immature, suffering from poverty, the Italians were discontent with their standard of living. Amongst especially the workers in the north regions and the industrial regions, socialism was a growing threat to the wealthy. In the condition of unrest and dissatisfaction, a majority of Italians followed the extreme, which was Mussolini who promised to grant fulfill national desires such as huge increase in employment and making Italy the superior race next to Germany.
Although Mussolini had great amount of supporters, he did not attain a complete control until he overthrew the government in 1922. By 1921, his party had 300,000 members; however, managed only thirty-five seats out of a total of 535 seats in the Italian Parliament, and chaos in public life continued. A protracted crisis in the government and the threat of civil war enabled Mussolini to demand the formation of a fascist government. In October of 1922, Mussolini led 26,000armed troops and threatened to march on Rome to force the government to restore order. The March marked the beginning of fascist rule. Luigi Facta, the Italian Prime Minister, asked the king, Victor Emmanuel Ⅲ to declare a state of martial law and to allow the use of army to suppress Mussolini and his followers. King at first agreed; however, fearing a civil war, he refused and asked Mussolini to form a government instead. 20,000 fascists began the March on Rome, but stopped 20 kilometers north of the capital where half of them promptly returned home.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/march_on_rome.htm
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/508871/March-on-Rome
Although Mussolini had great amount of supporters, he did not attain a complete control until he overthrew the government in 1922. By 1921, his party had 300,000 members; however, managed only thirty-five seats out of a total of 535 seats in the Italian Parliament, and chaos in public life continued. A protracted crisis in the government and the threat of civil war enabled Mussolini to demand the formation of a fascist government. In October of 1922, Mussolini led 26,000armed troops and threatened to march on Rome to force the government to restore order. The March marked the beginning of fascist rule. Luigi Facta, the Italian Prime Minister, asked the king, Victor Emmanuel Ⅲ to declare a state of martial law and to allow the use of army to suppress Mussolini and his followers. King at first agreed; however, fearing a civil war, he refused and asked Mussolini to form a government instead. 20,000 fascists began the March on Rome, but stopped 20 kilometers north of the capital where half of them promptly returned home.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/march_on_rome.htm
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/508871/March-on-Rome
The OVRA
Italy had a secret police.Under the regime of Fascist dictator, Mussolini, the OVRA- the secret police headed by Arturo Bocchini was established in 1927. The OVRA stands for Opera vigilanza e repression antifascista. It was operated almost completely outside the law, effectively giving Mussolini a free hand over the state, the party, the opponents, and dissenters. They were assigned to stop any anti-fascist activity or sentiment. Approximately 5,000 OVRA agents infiltrated most aspects of domestic life in Italy. By 1940, only ten people had been sentenced to death and only 4,00 people were arrested and sent to prison, which clearly proves that the OVRA was awfully effective.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/life_in_fascist_italy.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/life_in_fascist_italy.htm