Italian Fascism

Section 20.103

Differences between Dictatorship and Totalitarianism

• Dictatorship• Older & only a theory

of government• Expedient• Designed for

emergencies• Believed to be

temporary

• Totalitarianism• Created after WWI• Not just a government

but theory of life and human nature

• Permanent form of society and civilization

• An everlasting emergency

The Birth of Fascimo• Advancement of Democracy still held in

1920– Russia, Turkey, China’s failure to

develop liberal institutions didn’t count as they were “backwards” nations

• But democracy was jolted when Italy (major force in European history and parliamentary since 1861) became fascist in 1922

• Mussolini– Born in 1883– Son of a blacksmith– Followed the career of professional

revolutionary– Influenced by Sorel’s Reflections on

Violence, Nietzsche• Became intensely nationalist during WWI• Wanted Italy to join the Allies and wanted

Austrian territory of Italia irredenta (unredeemed Italy)

• Only reached rank of corporal during war

Fascio di combattimento• March 1919 organized his first

fascio di combattimento– Fighting band of ex-soldiers

• Fascio: bunch or bundle (or rods)– Carried by the lectors (ancient

Rome) as a symbol of state power and meant to conjure up ancient glories

• Italy went to the treaty negotiations believing they would receive ample compensation for the 600,000 lives they lost in WWI

• Had been promised territory in secret treaty of London in 1915

• Received some of the Austrian territories they wanted

• Received none of the Turkish territories they wanted

Social Unrest• After WWI depression and unemployment led

to social unrest• Tenant farmers seized land and refused to pay

rents• Peasants burned crops, killed livestock• Workers staged sit down strikes• Communist (Left wing socialists) of the

Comintern (after the 3rd International) spread discontentment

•  Blackshirts or Fascists fell into conflict with the communists– Brawling in the streets and other acts of

violence persisted• 1919 election the Catholic Popular (Christian

Socialist) party had impressive showing• 1921 elections Mussolini’s Fascists won 35

seats out of 500– Fascists ranks were growing

Mussolini: Upholding Order & Property• At first encouraged factory seizures and seemed anti

capitalistic• Although there was not a real threat of “Bolshevik”

style revolution, the propertied interests felt threatened

• Mussolini tossed out idealism and pledged to uphold law and order– IE to protect propertied class

• Gave financial support to Mussolini• Nationalists, unemployed and discouraged (from

unionism) lower middle classes joined• Blackshirts abused Communists and Socialists in

various ways to stifle their movements– Forced feedings of castor oil

• Moved against labor unions as well– Squadristi (vigilante fascists squadrons) broke up

strikes, committed arson, murder• Reinforced his claim as paladin of law and church

– A few years earlier he was republican and anticlerical

March on Rome• Blackshirts marched on Rome from various

directions (October 1922)• Mussolini waited in Milan• Coalition government (liberal dem) had allowed

fascism to exist (as it rid nation of leftist troublemakers)

• Tried to enforce martial law but king backed down• Forced the cabinet to resign• Under the Kings authority Mussolini (Premier) and

his coalition were granted emergency powers to restore order in Italy for 1 year

• Before the year was up Muss forced through Parliament a law– Party that wins the most votes in an election receives

2/3 of the seats in the Parliament

• This was his solution to the instability of coalitions• Fascists won 3/5 of the seats anyway (Why?)

– His gov. controlled the political machinery– His cronies (Squadristi) greeted voters at the polls

Matteotti’s Murder• Well respected Socialist deputy Matteotti

exposed hundreds of cases of the heavy handed tactics (fraud, violence) of the Fascists– was murdered

• Italian press called for Mussolini’s resignation

• At first Muss said he would punish the perpetrators but later took responsibility

• refused to resign and began to centralize his power– Reduced the Italian parliament to a nonentity– Put the press under censorship– Destroyed the labor unions– Deprived labor of the right to strike– Abolished all political parties

El Duce• Criticized democracy as factional

– Out of date government that only accentuated class struggle

• Led to selfishness, futility, empty talk

• Preached the need of vigorous action under a strong leader

• El Duce (The Leader)• Denounced liberalism, free trade,

laissez-faire capitalism, Marxism, materialism, socialism, and class consciousness– Said these were evil offspring of capitalism

and liberalism

• Preached national solidarity and state managed economy

• Brought a certain efficiency to Italy that was missing (trains always on time)

The Cooperative State• Mussolini began what had been contemplated by

Left and Right since lat 1800s– Left wing syndical organization called for labor

to control sectors of the economy– Conservative syndical organization called for

state control of sectors of the economy• Supported by Catholic Church after the

Lateran accord (1929)• Seemed a revival of the guild system

– Except Mussolini’s state controlled virtually everything

• Similar to a corporate board of directors• Divided all economic life into 22 major sectors

– Each had its own corporation• Division leaders (made up of labor,

employers, and government) were to direct the activities within their sector

– directed labor, Organized the employers, Monitored working conditions

– Determined wages, prices, and policies

State Control of Economic Life• National council of division leaders

were to plan the economic activities of the nation– Focus on self-sufficiency

• Said that the state should be organized around the nations economic occupations

• IE. State determined all answers to economic questions (What to produce, Who makes it, gets it, at what price, …?) but allowed private enterprise (profit) to exist

• Mussolini called it a dictatorship of the state over many classes cooperating

Depression• Mussolini blamed the world for the

depression• Called for self sufficiency • Started public works projects

– Hydroelectric power– “Battle of wheat” proclaimed to increase wheat

production

• Little reform was made between the social extremes of wealth and poverty

• Fascism failed to provide economic security or material well being for those it demanded so much sacrifice of individual freedom

• Spirit of recapturing the past glories of Rome was enough distraction for the population that it was less critical of Fascism

• Imperialist adventures gave a sense of greatness & distracted the Italians

The Appeal of Fascism• A possible alternative to

democratic or parliamentary government

• Communists, socialists, labor leaders, and liberals hated fascism

• Wealthier or established people liked it because it reduced the threat of Bolshevism

• Tentative democracies in Eastern Europe that struggled under the concepts of majority vote were attracted to fascism

• Mussolini said fascism “was born of the need for action”

Mussolini 1933 by Diego Riverafrom DR Museum