The Culture of DictatorshipHistory 408 / September 25, 2012

The pageantry of fascism:Mussolini puts on a spectacle

The cult of personality: Mussolini portrayed as a

universal genius

- here: as a pilot at an airshow, July 1932

Public-works projects:Mussolini (allegedly)

makes the trainsrun on time

Modern art in Italian fascism

(here: An exhibition catalog commemorating ten years since the

“March on Rome,” 1932)

The PNF headquarters, Como

(built in the 1920s)

The Colosseo Quadrato, Rome (2nd half of 1930s)

The Palace of Congresses, Rome (1942)

Opera Nationale Dopolavoro (“National Recreational Club”)

Dopolavoro team at FIAT

Celebrating traditional family values

- Mussolini signs Concordat with the Catholic church,

1929

Youth programs:Hooray for

Fascist Camp!

Youth programs: instilling a martial spirit

Youth programs: get ’em young…

Here: cover of a school notebook

Italian propagandists set their sights on

Abyssinia (Ethiopia)

The combatants

Emperor Haile Selassie appeals to the League of Nations