Fascism; The Italian Experience

Kevin J. Benoy

Fascism• Strictly speaking, “Fascism”

refers only to the movement presided over by Benito Mussolini in Italy from 1919-1943.

• However, many other regimes display similar policies and have come to be described by this term. Examples include German National Socialists, the Spanish Falange, The Romanian Iron Guard and the Hungarian Arrow Cross.

Fascism• Heinz Lubasz wites in Fascism;

Three Major Regimes that in all instances, the beginnings of fascism “Are marked by the dual impact of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution upon countries in which profound social and economic changes, long under way, were gravely stressing the rather fragile political order, alarming the traditional elites and threatening the situation of vast sectors of the population at large.”

Fascism• Fascism rejects the major

philosophical trends of the past two centuries, which stressed individual liberty and the equality of men and races.

• Instead, it embraces Social Darwinism. Liberals use the slogan “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” Fascists substitute “to believe, to obey, to combat.”

Fascism• Consistent characteristics of fascism are:

• Unquestioning acceptance of rule by a dictator.• Ultra-nationalistic beliefs.• Desire for economic self-sufficiency (Autarky).• Exalting of military virtues and of the experience of a nation in

total war, putting aside class and regional conflicts.• Commitment to the use of violence to further party and

national aims.• Creation of national myths and a great reliance on pageantry

and symbolism.• Commitment to all-important collective goals – especially

overcoming external and internal enemies.

Fascism• Fascists seeking

philosophical justification, like Benito Mussolini, referred back to the work of French radical anti-liberal socialist, Georges Sorel – who claimed the working class needed irrational myths to carry out its historical role.

• Sorel claimed that violence was “sublime.”

Fascism

• Other thinkers, like Gaetano Mosca and Vilfredo Pareto, pointed out that there had always been a ruling class and a few who led the masses.

Fascism

• Gustave Le Bon and Scipio Sighele suggested that crowds are susceptible to manipulation by leaders who can arouse in them heroism or savagery.

Birth of Italian Fasicm• Of all the victorious

powers of WW1, Italy emerged most dissatisfied:– It experienced little

battlefield success.– The peace that followed

war did not live up to grandiose expectations of the Italian government or people. Resentment of Italy’s allies ran deep as a result.

Birth of Italian Fascism

• Society was badly strained:– Inflation threatened to

middle class interests. The lira went from 5 to the dollar in 1914 to 28 in 1921.

– Socialists and Communists were seen as dangerous by the privileged in Italian society.

Birth of Italian Fascism• Post-war elections could

not produce stable governments.

• Lack of political control was clear when Gabriele D’Annunzio protested the government’s renunciation of its claim to Jugoslav territory by leading a band of adventurers in the invasion of Fiume. The city was later absorbed into Italy.

Birth of Italian Fascism• On March 23, 1919, the

Fascist movement was born in Milan.

• Led by Benito Mussolini, a soldier and former Marxist who fell out with Socialists for their opposition to the war, the movement initially held a many socialist values, but they focussed most strongly on anti-Bolshevism and a call for labour-management cooperation in the interest of the nation.

Birth of Italian Fascism• Insignificant in 1919, the

movement gained increasing support – especially following Mussolini’s support of D’Annunzio.

• Paramilitary expeditions against Socialists and socialist trade unionists brought Mussolini support of important backers.

Birth of Italian Fascism

• “The Ground was prepared for them, they were supplied with arms and transport, and they were promised immunity from punishment...for everybody was hoping to make use of fascism.”

– A. Rossi, The Rise of Italian Fascism.

Seizing Power• In 1921 the Fascists were

included in the National Block coalition with liberal democrats and nationalists.

• As weak government followed weak government, Mussolini prepared to seize power.

• A general strike was called by the leftists to forestall the Fascists, but it failed.

Seizing Power

• On October 28, 1922, Mussolini launched his March on Rome.

• The King refused to back the legal government, calling on Mussolini to form a new one, which he did on October 31, 1922.

Mussolini in Power• At first Mussolini included

liberal and other ministers in his government.

• Soon it became clear that he was moving toward totalitarian government.

• The Fascists established the Voluntary Militia for National Security, a paramilitary group using violence to further Party interests – with the backing of the state.

• The electoral system was also changed to favour the Fascists.

Mussolini in Power• The 1924 election was

marred by violence – which continued after the Fascists elected 64% of its own and allied candidates.

• Later in the year, Fascists assassinated an opposition deputy – but the King refused to ask for Mussolini’s resignation.

• On January 3, 1925, Mussolini declared a total dictatorship.

Italy Transformed• Italy became a police state

between 1925 and 1926.• Political and trade union

activity were cut back.• Freedom of the press was lost.• On Christmas Eve, 1925,

Mussolini declared himself responsible only to the King and announced that he alone would set the agenda for Parliament.

• Local government autonomy was eliminated and strikes and lockouts forbidden.

• Corporations were formed to coordinate production in the interest of the state.

Italy Transformed• In 1929, Mussolini signed

the Lateran Treaty with Pope Pius XI.

• The Vatican was recognized as a sovereign state.

• Roman Catholicism was made the official Italian state religion.

• The Vatican recognized the Italian state for the first time.

Totalitarian State• After an attempt on

Mussolini’s life on the last day of 1931, all remaining freedoms were abolished.

• All political parties were disbanded.

• A new criminal code was introduced.

• Opposition to the government was now an underground activity.

• Strikes and protests were ruthlessly put down.

• Opposition was impossible, as Italian writer Ignazio Silone so effectively described in his novel Bread and Wine.

Totalitarian State

• Prosperity came to favoured monopolistic corporations – like Fiat, Edison and Pirelli.

• All enjoyed higher profits with no threat of labour disruption.

Totalitarian State• Attempts to bring about

autarky were less successful.

• The 1920s Battle for Grain increased cereal production – but at the cost of other agricultural losses.

• Economic dislocation came with the Great Depression, but Italy’s attempts to become self-sufficient didn’t work.

Foreign Affairs• More importantly, for

autarky to succeed, Italy needed products produced abroad.

• Imperial expansion was seen as necessary.

• Mussolini began modestly, agreeing to the Treaty of Locarno.

• However, he soon embarked on imperialist expansion, trying to recreate the glory of ancient Rome.

Foreign Affairs• In 1923 Mussolini ordered the

invasion of Corfu after an Italian general was murdered there.

• Greece took the matter to the League of Nations, but more importantly, direct British pressure led to an Italian withdrawal.

• Italy embarked on massive rearmament in the 1920s and early 1930s to support its global position. Its air force was, for a time, the world’s most modern.

Foreign Affairs• In 1934, Mussolini acted

decisively to prevent a German take-over of Austria after Austrian Nazis killed the Austrian dictator, Engelbert Dolfuss.

• He guaranteed Austrian security and mobilized Italian forces on the Austrian frontier, threatening war with Germany.

Foreign Affairs

• There seemed to be no attraction between the two “fascist” leaders.

• In April, 1935, the Stresa Conference seemed to bring about a British-French-Italian front against the now re-arming Germans.

Foreign Affairs

• With Britain and France seemingly in his camp, Mussolini took on an old Nemesis – Ethiopia.

• In 1896 the Italians had been humiliatingly defeated at the Battle of Adowa.

• Mussolini now sought revenge.

Foreign Affairs• Public outcry in the

Western democracies against this naked aggression destroyed the Stresa Front.

• Newspapers reported on the one-sided war, where aircraft, tanks and poison gas were employed against ill-armed African forces.

• The public called for sanctions against Italy. Politicians sought to avoid any meaningful action.

Foreign Affairs• An attempt to patch things

up with a supposed compromise peace came to nothing when the Hoare-Laval pact was leaked to the press.

• The political fall-out cost Britain and France dearly. Not only had western politicians connived in a nasty imperialist aggression, but they were found out, costing several politicians their careers and destroying an alliance that might have contained Nazi Germany.

• The fall-out was terrible.

Foreign Affairs.

• Mussolini found himself isolated internationally.

• Public opinion ran against him in Britain and France. Government policies might become hostile.

• Hitler proposed closer ties between Germany and Italy.

Foreign Affairs• Cooperation was

cemented when both Italy and Germany cooperated in assisting a military uprising in Republican Spain.

• Italian army units served with the Nationalists.

• The Italian navy blockaded Republican ports.

Foreign Affairs• Out of this cooperation came a

formal alliance in October, 1936 – which came to be known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.

• Both countries pledged to work together to oppose communism.

• Italy still tried to deal with the British – coming up with an agreement to keep the status quo in the Mediterranean.

• However, it was clear that Italy was increasingly accommodating Germany.

• In 1937, Italy left the League of Nations.

Foreign Affairs• In November, 1937, Italy

joined Germany and Japan in an anti-Soviet alliance known as the Anti-Comintern Pact.

• In 1938 Italy stood aside as Hitler marched into Austria.

• Later in 1938 Mussolini posed as an honest broker at the Munich Conference. In fact, he worked in Hitler`s interests.

• In 1939 Italy and Germany signed the Pact of Steel – a defensive and offensive alliance.

Foreign Affairs• In 1939 Italy absorbed

Albania – with German blessing.

• Though the senior Fascist leader, Mussolini was now clearly the junior partner in an alliance headed for war.

• Nonetheless, when war did come, Mussolini wavered, not entering the conflict until it was clear that France was defeated.

finis