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The Rise of Fascism in Italy: Mussolini's Rule and Ideology

Explore the conditions in post-WWI Italy that favored the rise of Benito Mussolini and the Fascist party. Understand how Mussolini changed Italy and the values and goals of fascist ideology.

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The Rise of Fascism in Italy: Mussolini's Rule and Ideology

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  1. Warm –Up: https://youtu.be/l7lw30qKFLw 6 minutes

  2. Chapter 16: The Rise of Totalitarianism Section 3: Fascism in Italy Objectives • Describe how conditions in Italy favored the rise of Mussolini. • Summarize how Mussolini changed Italy. • Understand the values and goals of fascist ideology. • Compare and contrast fascism and communism. Essential Question: How and why did fascism rise in Italy?

  3. Terms and People • Benito Mussolini– Fascist leader of Italy • Black Shirts –Fascist party militants • March on Rome – a rally of tens of thousands of Fascists who marched on Rome in 1922 to demand government changes • Totalitarian state– a one-party dictatorship that regulates every aspect of the lives of its citizens • Fascism– any centralized, authoritarian government that is not communist whose policies glorify the state over the individual and are destructive to basic human rights

  4. Italy After World War I When Italy agreed to join the Allies in 1915, France and Britain secretly promised to give Italy certain Austro-Hungarian territories. When the Allies won, Italy received some of the promised territories, but others became part of the new Yugoslavia. The broken promises outraged Italian nationalist. • Peasants seized land. • Workers went on strike or seized factories. • Returning veterans faced unemployment. • Trade declined. • Taxes rose. • The government split into feuding factions. Following WWI, Italy was in chaos.

  5. A Leader Emerges – Benito Mussolini • Socialist in his youth • During the war, however, he rejected socialism for intense nationalism. • In 1919, he organized veterans and other discontented Italians into the Fascist party. • They took the name from the Latin fasces, a bundle of sticks • wrapped around an ax – • ancient Rome symbol of • unity and authority.

  6. Mussolini Gains Control • Fiery and charismatic speaker • Promised to end corruption and replace turmoil with order. • Spoke about reviving Roman greatness, pleading to turn the Mediterranean into a “Roman lake” once again. • Organized supporters into “combat squads” – Black Shirts, or party militants – rejected the democratic process in favor of violent action. • Black shirts used intimidation and terror to oust elected officials – many Italians accepted these actions because they lost faith in constitutional government. • In 1922, Fascists made a bid for power – March on Rome, tens of thousands swarmed the capital. • Fearing a civil war, King Victor Emmanuel III asked Mussolini to form a government as prime minister. • Thus, he obtained a nominally legal constitutional appointment from the king to lead Italy.

  7. Mussolini with members of the Fascist Party after the March on Rome (October 28, 1922)

  8. Mussolini’s Rule By 1925, Mussolini had assumed more power and taken the title Il Duce (eel Doo chay) meaning “The Leader” and ruled Italy as a dictator. Mussolini - • Suppressed rival parties • Muzzled the press • Rigged elections • Replaced elected officials with his Fascist supporters • Critics were thrown into prison, forced into exile or murdered. • Secret police and propaganda bolstered the regime.

  9. State Control of the Economy • To spur economic growth and end conflicts between owners and workers, Mussolini brought the economy under state control. However, he preserved capitalism. • Under Mussolini’s corporate state, representatives of business, labor government, and the Fascist party controlled industry, agriculture and trade. • Mussolini’s system favored the upper classes and industrial leaders. Although production increased, it came at the expense of workers. • They were forbidden to strike, and their wages were kept low.

  10. The Individual and the State In Mussolini’s new system, loyalty to the state replaced conflicting individual goals. • The individual was unimportant except as a member of the state. • Men were urged to be selfless warriors fighting for Italy. • Women were pushed out of paying jobs to bear more children – called on to “win the battle of motherhood.” To Fascists, the glorious state was all-important.

  11. Children were taught to obey strict military discipline • Encouraged large families • Schooling emphasized Italy’s glorious past and her destiny of imperial greatness • Every day students would salute the flag and recite “Hail Italy! Hail Mussolini!” • Strong emphasis on physical fitness

  12. The Nature of Fascism Mussolini built the first totalitarian state in which he regulated every aspect of the peoples’ lives. (Others dictators - Stalin and Hitler, followed Mussolini’s lead). Historians still debate the real nature of Mussolini’s fascist ideology. Today, we generally use the term fascism to describe any centralized, authoritarian government that is not communist who policies glorify the state over the individual and are destructive to basic human rights. • Fascism encouraged extreme nationalism and loyalty to the state. • It glorified action, violence, discipline, war and above all, blind loyalty to the state. • It aggressively pursued foreign expansion – “survival of the fittest.” • Antidemocratic – rejected faith in reason and the concepts of equality and liberty. • To them, democracy led to corruption and weakness and put individual or class interests above national goals.

  13. The Appeal of Fascism • Given the restrictions on individual freedom, why did fascism appeal to many Italians? • It promised a strong, stable government and an end to political feuding that had paralyzed democracy in Italy. • Mussolini projected a sense of power and confidence at a time of disorder and despair. • Mussolini’s intense nationalism revived national pride. • At first, newspapers in Britain, France and North America applauded the discipline and order of Mussolini’s government, but once Mussolini embarked on foreign conquest, Western democracies protested.

  14. Fascism Compared to Communism Fascists were sworn enemies of socialists and communists, yet they shared some goals.

  15. Democracy in Britain and France Communism in Russia and elsewhere Fascism in Italy Three governmental systems competed for influence in postwar Europe. With the Great Depression and the difficulties that faced the Western democracies, other nations looked to fascist leaders for guidance.

  16. How and why did fascism rise in Italy? After World War I, Italy faced economic chaos and political corruption. The country was ripe for an ambitious strongman to rise to power. Benito Mussolini’s rejection of socialism for intense nationalism brought him a unique coalition of the upper and middle classes and veterans. By bringing the economy under state control, he helped Italy avoid many of the other European states’ internal problems.

  17. Review Videos https://youtu.be/l7lw30qKFLw https://youtu.be/NihkNtV8-jA

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