FASCISM

1. FASCISM TO IDENTIFY THE CONCEPT OF FASCISM IN EUROPE.

2. IDEOLOGY • THE STATE – Fascists declared that individuals were insignificant apart from the state and that the sole function in life was to serve the state. • ANTI-LIBERAL – They opposed the individual at the expense of the state. They opposed democracy and the formation of political parties that disturbed the unity of state. • ANTI-COMMUNIST – Enhance the state and oppress class struggle which can weaken state. • ANTI-CAPITALIST • THE LEADER – In contrast to its opposition to the individual, they proposed one party leader. • THE PAST – Symbolism harked back to ancient Rome and the Dark Ages. • ACTION – ‘Struggle for and battles against’. The fevered atmosphere led to an emphasis on militarism and ultimately to World War II.

3. The first World War began in 19__ and ended in November 19__. Afterwards the victorious allies made a peace conference in January 19__. Make two columns in your copy for victorious and losing countries: • Write down four changes which the war produced. • Which of the four changes was the most important? Why?

4. THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShRA8HRMR4Q It was attended by: President Wilson of the USA wanted Germany to be treated fairly and suggested a League of Nations to keep peace. David Lloyd George, prime minister of Britain, wanted to impose harsh terms on Germany. President Clemenceau of France wanted revenge for France; he wanted to keep Germany weak. • The conference was held after Britain, France, and the USA defeated Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I. They had two problems to deal with: • What to do about Germany. • How to stop war breaking out again.

5. Treaty of Versailles • The Treaty of Versailles was made with Germany. • The Rhineland was demilitarised (no German soldiers could be there). • Germany lost the Polish Corridor to Poland. • Union with Austria (Anschluss) was forbidden. • The German army was reduced to 100,000 soldiers. • Germany had to accept the War Guilt Clause (admit it caused the war). • Germany had to pay reparation (compensation) of £6.6 billion to the victorious allies. • Germany had to sign the Treaty, but Germans were very angry with the terms.

6. REASONS FOR THE RISE OF FASCISM IN EUROPE • The effects of the First World War. • Economic depression. • Unstable governments and weak democracy. • Fear of communism. • Strong leadership and the use of violence.

7. MUSSOLINI AND FASCIST ITALY • WHAT CAUSED MUSSOLINI’S RISE TO POWER IN ITALY? • Italian nationalists were disappointed that they failed to gain the city of Fiume and the region of Dalmatia following the First World War. • A depressed economy: 2 million soldiers were unemployed; 500 % inflation; all classes suffered. • Industrialists and landed gentry thought that communists would take over Italy. • Italian governments were weak and many blamed democracy for changes in government. • Mussolini formed the Blackshirts. They has 250,000 members, had the support of industrialists and landowners and broke up strikes. • He ordered the March on Rome (October 1922) to take power by force. The king appointed him as prime minister.

8. MUSSOLINI – EARLY LIFE • Write a paragraph on the following: • Mussolini’s early life. • The March on Rome.

9. DICTATORSHIP • Mussolini developed a dictatorship: • He passed a law that said that the party who got the majority of votes would get two thirds of the seats in the next parliament. Fascists were the largest party. • The socialist leader was murdered by the Fascists and the Socialist party withdrew from parliament. • All political parties, other than the Fascist party were banned. • He set up a secret police – OVRA. • He controlled the press and radio.

10. PROPAGANDA • Propaganda was important to Mussolini: • He called himself Il Duceand promoted himself. • He got the media to promote the Fascist party. • Schools and youth organisations praised Mussolini. What effect do you think this had?

11. ACHIEVEMENTS • Fascist changes and achievements: • Improved road system – autostrade • Drained the Pontine Marches near Rome. • Promoted the Battle for Grain and the Battle for Births. • The Lateran Treaty made peace with the Catholic Church.

12. CHURCH STATE RELATIONS • Relations between the Italian government and the Pope and Catholic Church had been poor since Italy was united in 1870. When Mussolini came to power he improved relations by: • Bringing back compulsory religious education in primary schools. • Allowing crucifixes in the classroom. • Marrying in a Catholic ceremony. • Mussolini and the Pope agreed the Lateran Treaty and Concordat (1929). • The Pope recognised the Italian state and Italy recognised the Pope’s control of the Vatican City. • Italy paid £30 million compensation for taking Rome from the Pope in 1870. • The government paid the salaries of the bishops and priests. • Religious instruction was given in state schools. • This increased Mussolini’s popularity in Italy and abroad – some saw it as his greatest political success.

13. CHURCH STATE RELATIONS • FURTHER CONFLICTS: • Mussolini was jealous of the power of Catholic Action, a lay Catholic organisation of nearly 700,000 members. He limited it to religious activities. • In the late 1930s, the Catholic Church became critical of Mussolini’s new anti-Semitic policy. The Church tried to protect Italian Jews by hiding them in convents and monasteries. • Pope Pius XII wanted to keep Italy out of World War II but Mussolini ignored his wishes. • The strength of the Catholic Church in Italy shows the limitations of Mussolini’s fascism. Fascism was not strong enough to bring the Church under the control of the state.

14. FOREIGN POLICY • He wanted to expand Italy’s power around the Mediterranean Sea and invaded Abyssinia and re-create the glories of the Roman Empire. ‘I want to make Italy great, respected and feared’. He gained initial success when he refused to return Corfu to Greece and received £50 million compensation for the death of Italian soldiers on the Greek border. • Despite being a peace maker in the 1920s (Kellogg-Briand Pact, which outlawed war). • Mussolini invaded Abyssinia because he wanted to expand his empire. • Despite initially disagreeing over the unification of Germany and Austria, Mussolini and Hitler improved their relations through the Rome-Berlin Axis and the Pact of Steel, which made them allies in war. • Italy was weak in World War II and were supported by the Germans. • When the Allies invaded Italy, Mussolini was captured and killed by Italians who were opposed to him.

15. Would you agree that the leadership of Italy was a disaster for Italy? Mussolini was neither born great nor had greatness thrust on him, but had to fight his was out of obscurity by his own ambition and talents. So well did he succeed that he ruled Italy as a dictator for over 20 years and attracted more popular admiration that anyone else had received in the whole course of Italian history. At a peak of success he then fell an easy victim to the flattery that he invited or ordered from his cronies, and was beguiled (tempted) into playing for the yet higher stakes of world domination. But he lacked the necessary resources, whether the material resources of a rich country, or the requisite (necessary) personal qualities of mind and character. By the time of his death in 1945 he left to his successors an Italy destroyed by military defeat and civil war, he was, by his own admission, the most hated person in the country; and having once been praised to excess, was no being blamed for doing more harm to Italy than anyone had ever done before.

16. Would you agree that the leadership of Italy was a disaster for Italy? World War II

17. WHAT DEVELOPMENTS TOOK PLACE IN CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS IN ITALY UNDER MUSSOLINI?