Fascism in Italy

1
Fascism in Italy

• Chapter 13
• Section 3

2
Italy
3
Italy After World War I

• After WWI, Italian nationalists were outraged
  when Italy received just some of the territories
  promised by the Allies
• Italian nationalists argued that the Allies
  betrayed Italy after World War I
• Chaos ensued as peasants seized land, workers
  went on strike, veterans faced unemployment,
  trade declined, and taxes rose
• The government could not end the economic crises
  plaguing Italy

4
Benito Mussolini

• Into this turmoil stepped Benito Mussolini, the
  organizer of the Fascist Party
• Mussolini was an intense nationalist
• Mussolinis supporters, the Black Shirts,
  rejected democratic methods and favored violence
  for solving problems
• Black Shirts used terror tactics to scare the
  opposition

5
Benito Mussolini
6
Fascist Blackshirts
7
Mussolini Speaking to His People
8
March on Rome

• In the 1922 March on Rome, tens of thousands of
  Fascists swarmed the capital
• Protestors demanded the government make changes
  to the economy and society
• Fearing civil war, the king, under intense
  pressure, asked Mussolini to form a government
  with Mussolini as prime minister
• Mussolini had legally assumed power in Italy
  because King Emmanuel II appointed him!

9
Mussolinis Fascist Leadership

• Mussolini takes on the title Il Duce (the Leader)
• Mussolini soon suppressed rival parties, censored
  the press, rigged elections, and replaced elected
  officials with Fascists
• Critics were thrown into prison, forced into
  exile, or murdered
• Secret police and propaganda strengthened the
  regime
• In 1929, Mussolini also received support from
  Pope Pius XI in return for recognizing Vatican
  City as an independent state
• Pope, though, disagreed, with some of Mussolinis
  goals

10
Vatican
The smallest independent state in the world.
Pius XI
11
What type of government was leading Italy?

• Italy was still a parliamentary monarchy
  technically
• But Italy was now ruled by a terrorizing, fascist
  dictator Benito Mussolini
• Italy evolved into an evil dictatorship

12
Italian Economy

• Mussolini brought the economy under state
  control, but basically preserved capitalism
• Representatives of business, labor, government,
  and Fascist party leaders controlled industry,
  agriculture and trade
• Mussolinis system of government favored the
  upper classes and industry leaders
• Workers were not allowed to strike, and their
  wages were kept low

13
Loyalty

• In Mussolinis new system, loyalty to the state
  replaced conflicting individual goals
• Italians owed loyalty/allegiance to the state
  first before personal goals
• State was all-important
• Individual rights were secondary to the goals of
  the state

14
Obedience to the State

• Believe! Obey! Fight loudspeakers blared and
  posters proclaimed
• Fascist youth groups marched in parades chanting
  slogans
• Men were ruthless, selfless warriors fighting for
  Italian glory
• Mussolini awarded women for having 14 or more
  children (it was a womens duty to bear children
  to serve the Italian state)

15
Influencing Young Italians

• Young children were taught loyalty and obedience
  to Italy
• Fascist youth groups emerged
• Tough discipline was taught to youngsters
• Mussolini is always right, people chanted in
  song
• Mussolini was developing the Italian people for
  an expansion of Mussolinis dream of an expanded
  Italian empire

16
Totalitarianism

• Mussolini built the first modern totalitarian
  state
• In this form of government, a one-party
  dictatorship attempts to control every aspect of
  the lives of its citizens
• Today, we usually use the term fascism to
  describe the underlying ideology of any
  centralized, authoritarian government system that
  is not communist
• Fascism is rooted in extreme nationalism
• Fascists believe in action, violence, discipline,
  and blind loyalty to the state

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Fascism

• They praise warfare
• Fascists are anti-democratic, rejecting equality
  and liberty
• Fascists oppose communists on important issues
• Communists favored spreading communism
  internationally and the creation of a classless
  society
• Unlike communism, fascists were most concerned
  with strengthening their own nation

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Fascism

• Fascists are nationalists who support a society
  with defined classes (upper, middle, poor)
• Both base their power on blind devotion to a
  leader (e.g., Mussolini) or the state
  individuals do not matter under Fascism
• Both flourish during economic hard times
• Fascism appealed to Italians because it restored
  national pride, provided stability, and ended the
  political feuding that had paralyzed democracy in
  Italy

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Powerpoint Questions

• 1. What angered Italian nationalists after World
  War I?
• 2. Who were the party militants who rejected the
  democratic process in favor of violent action?
• 3. After the March of Rome, what did the king
  feel pressured to do?
• 4. Under Mussolinis leadership, what groups
  controlled industry, agriculture, and trade?
• 5. Explain a totalitarian state.
• 6. How do you define fascism?

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Powerpoint Questions

• 7. Why did fascism appeal to many Italians?
• 8. How does fascism differ from communism?
  Explain
• 9. What is fascism rooted in?
• 10. What four elements do fascists believe in?
  (four points)
• 11. What slogan did the fascists play on
  loudspeakers?
• 12. What did the Fascist Party teach young
  children?

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The End