ITALY AND THE RISE OF BENITO MUSSOLINI AND THE FASCIST PARTY

Benito Mussolini was born in 1883 at Dovia in Italy. He was from a middle-class family.
His father was a blacksmith while his mother was a teacher.
As a young boy, Mussolini was headstrong and stubborn and he got expelled from one school to another due to his violence.
He qualified as a teacher but later left to become a journalist in Switzerland.
In the beginning, he could not find employment and ended up doing odd jobs to keep him from starving.
Mussolini also studied the works of Nietzsche on the theory of “Superman” as well as other philosophers.
In Switzerland, he became a communist and organized strikes and demonstrations against the government.
In 1904, he was expelled from Switzerland due to his radical views. He went back to Italy and continued as a journalist.
In 1906, Mussolini became a socialist agitator.
In 1908, he went to Trent and continued with his journalism.
He became the editor of Avanti, which was a newspaper for the Italian Socialist Party.
In his socialist Views, Mussolini denounced Militarism, imperialism, religion, and War.
He was arrested for 5 months for his anti-militarist views.
When the First World War broke out, Mussolini changed his views and advocated for Italy to join the war on the side of the Allied Powers after the signing of the Secret treaty of London of 1915.
His desire was to see Italian territory enlarge by the acquiring of Trentino and Triesse which were promised to Italy in the Treaty by the allied Powers.
As a result of his advocacy for war, Mussolini was expelled from the Socialist Party.
In 1915, he joined the Italian Army and fought in the First World War.
However, in 1916, he was wounded by an accidental explosion and was discharged from the Army on medical grounds.
Mussolini was proud of the part he played in the war and saw himself as a hero and a survivor for his motherland.
He was however disappointed by the Treaty of Versailles for Italy and the chaos that prevailed in Italy after the war. In 1919, he formed the Fascio-de-Combattimento (battle group).
This was the beginning of the Fascist Movement in Europe.
In 1921, Mussolini formed the Fascist Party.

REASONS FOR MUSSOLINI’S RISE TO POWER

The rise of Mussolini and the Fascist party to power was an s a result of the Post Unification and the Post-War Problems in Italy.
Italy’s Post-Unification Problems.
There was a wide gap in the level of development between the rich Industrial North and the peasant-dominated poverty stricken south where ignorance, disease, hunger, and unemployment were widespread. The people were unhappy with the Government’s failure to solve this imbalance in development.
The Democratic system of government failed the Italian people. It was corrupt and inefficient and many people were prepared to use force to remove it.
Following the Unification of Italy, the Pope and the Catholic Church lost a lot of land to the new State of Italy. This led to friction between the State and the Church.
The new state of Italy banned all Italian Catholics from voting and entering Parliament.
As a reaction to this ban, the Pope banned all Catholics from supporting the Government.
This greatly weakened democracy in Italy since the majority of Italians were Catholics.
The continuity in the increase of the Italian Population also led to severe land shortages. This resulted in conflicts between the Landowners and peasants which the government could not solve. The only other option was to acquire land outside Italy.
Life in the towns and cities of Italy was characterized by violence, riots strikes and rebellions which the government could not solve.
Post War problems in Italy.
After the 1^stWorld War, Italy faced a number of problems which also contributed to Mussolini’s rise to power.
Most of the post unification problems were carried over to the post war period.
This made the situation worse in Italy after the 1^st World war.
The Post war problems were;

The Versailles Peace Settlement:

The Italians were disappointed by the Versailles Peace Settlement of 1918. Italy was not given the territories she was promised by Britain and France in The Secret Treaty of London in 1915.
This was despite her participation in the war on the side of the Allied Powers as per agreement.
Italy was also not given a share of Germany’s territories as she had hoped.
This was despite the fact that 6,000 Italians died during the war.
The Italian people blamed their government for failing to get what Italy fought for during the War.
Mussolini used this to rise to power by promising that he would get back was due to Italy once he was in power.
As such, most patriot Italians supported Mussolini.

Democracy:

The failure of democracy in Italy also led to Mussolini and the Fascist Party to rise to power.
After the war, many political parties existed in Italy and none of them commanded a clear majority in parliament to form a government.
As a result, Coalition Governments were formed from time to time but they failed to give Italians a stable government because they quarreled more than finding solutions to Italy’s problems.
Italians wanted a government of a strong party and Leadership. Therefore, Mussolini and his Fascist party were seen as a solution.

Economic and Social Problems;

Italy’s post-war economic and social problems helped Mussolini to rise to power.
The production of goods fell and prices doubled while the Lira lost its value.
Unemployment also worsened with dismissed workers, demobilized soldiers and the Jobless youths.
The unemployed crowded the cities and this led to wide spread violence, riots and strikes which led to the total Breakdown in Law and order.
As such, Mussolini promised to solve all these problems once he came to power and was fully supported by the Italian people.

Communism;

The growth of communism in Italy after the First World War contributed to Mussolini’s rise to power.
The growth of communism was a direct threat to the industrialists and rich landowners. Communism was spreading at a very fast rate among the poor and industrial workers
. Mussolini and his Fascist Party won support from the rich and powerful industrialists and land owners who opposed communism as he promised to wipe out communism once he came to power.

Colonies;

Italy’s need for colonies also helped Mussolini and the Fascists to assume power in Italy.
Colonies were necessary for the raw materials and markets for finished products.
Rapid population increase led to the demand for more land.
More than 80% of Italian territory was mountainous while migrations to the USA and the rest of Europe were forbidden because the other countries were preserving jobs for their demobilized soldiers. Mussolini promised to acquire territories for Italy

State Conflict with the Church;

The Conflict between the Church and the State also contributed to Mussolini’s rise to power.
The conflict was as a result of the seizure of Church property by the State in 1870.
The Pope urged the Catholics to stop taking part in State affairs.
The majority of Italians being Catholics supported the Church in the conflict with the state.
Mussolini took advantage of this situation and promised to solve the problems between the Church and the State once he came to power.
This earned him almost 90% of the votes from the Italian people.

STAGES OF MUSSOLINI’S RISE TO POWER

Italy’s post-unification and post war problems provided the background for Mussolini’s rise to power.
The stages of his rise to power were;
The First step that Mussolini took to rise to power was to form a Milan Fascist Group called the Fascio-de-Combattimento (Fighting/Battle group) in 1919.
The squad was made up of several hundreds of dismissed workers, demobilized soldiers and jobless youths.
This group attacked the communists and broke up their meetings while their opponents were tortured and made to drink castor oil.
The Patriotic young men were dissatisfied with the Chaos and the general disorder and the inability by the government to deal with it.
They were willing to support any man who promised to find solutions to Italy’s problems.
Mussolini turned out to be their potential savior.
The second step Mussolini took to rise to power was that he turned the Fascio-de-Combattimento into a political party called the National Fascist Party in 1921.
The Party adopted Black Shirts as its symbol and uniform.
During the 1920-1922, there was confusion in the Italian Parliament because there were many political parties that were evenly marched.
The Political parties formed coalition governments which were not effective.
In order to strengthen the fragile Italian Government, Mussolini demanded cabinet posts in 1922 when 22 Fascist members were elected to parliament.
However, this demand was rejected.
Mussolini’s last step in his rise to power was the famous historic “March on Rome” in 1922.
After the rejection of his demand for cabinet posts for the Fascist representatives in the Italian government, Mussolini decided to challenge the government by force.
Mussolini demanded for the resignation of the Italian Prime Minister Luigi Facta. Facta refused to resign and instead recommended stern Military action against the Fascists.
As such, on 28^th October 1922, more than 100,000 fascists volunteered to undertake a historic “March on Rome” unopposed.
The army could not disperse the Fascists and the Italian King Victor Emmanuel III dismissed Luigi Facta and his government and invited Mussolini to form a new government. Mussolini became the Italian Prime Minister on 30^th October 1922.
This marked the rise of Mussolini and the Fascist Party to power.

THE CONSOLIDATION OF FASCIST DICTATORSHIP IN ITALY

After coming to power, Mussolini took steps to consolidate Fascist rule in Italy.
He combined the post of Prime Minister with that of Home and Foreign affairs minsters.
He then persuaded the government to allow him to rule as a dictator for one year under the pretext of maintaining law and order.
However, Mussolini kept these dictatorial powers until his death in 1943.
During the one Year, Mussolini turned the Fascist Army into a private army.
Its main aim was to deal with opponents of Fascism.
In the same year, Mussolini increased the strength of the Italian army.
He also gave key posts in the army and local governments to loyal members of the Fascists Party.
In 1924, Mussolini decided to hold general elections in order to give legitimacy to his government.
Before the elections were held, the Acerbo Laws passed in 1923.
These laws gave 2/3 of the seats in Parliament to any Party that obtained the largest number of votes in the impending elections.
In order to ensure Fascist victory, the Fascists beat up, tortured and terrorized their political opponents.
When the elections were finally held, the Fascists rigged the elections and finally won 85% of the votes and were given the 2/3 of the seats in Parliament.
Giacomo Matteotti was the leader of the Socialist party and a well known critic of Mussolini and the Fascist Party.
He criticized the results and conduct of the 1924 elections.
He also wrote a Pamphlet entitled “Fascists Exposed” in which he brought out the evidence concerning the violence and rigging of the elections by the Fascists.
On the 10^th of June, 1924, Matteotti was murdered. Mussolini and the Fascist Party were blamed for his death.
Many political parties protested while some withdrew from parliament and were not allowed to return.
Mussolini and the Fascist Party organized fake trials for those who were said to have been responsible for the murder but were either acquitted or given light sentences.
Following the death of Matteotti, there was an increase in criticism against Mussolini and the Fascist party.
In 1925, Mussolini shut down all anti-fascist newspapers.
Intowns and cities, all democratically elected mayors were replaced with Fascists
. Mussolini began to assume more and more power, for example, he made laws without the consent of Parliament and the King in some cases.
In 1926, Mussolini abolished all non-Fascist organizations and this meant that all non-Fascist political parties were banned.
The Fascist Party became the only party in Italy.
By this time, Mussolini became a full time dictator.

MUSSOLINI’S HOME/DOMESTIC POLICIES

Aims of His Home Policies

He wanted to consolidate power to himself.
He wanted to bring law and order in Italy
He also wanted to achieve economic recovery and development for Italy.

Features of Mussolini’s Home Policies

Economic Battles.

The Battle of the South was launched in 1924. This was an economic policy to address poverty in the Southern Part of Italy. This battle was extremely unsuccessful.
The Battle of the Grain was launched in 1925. This was an agriculture policy aimed at making Italy self Sufficient in Wheat production. Awards of gold, silver and bronze were given to farmers who grew most wheat. This battle was very successful and by 1926, wheat production in Italy had almost doubled.
The Battle for land was launched in 1926 to increase the area of cultivatable land in Italy. This Battle involved the draining of Marshes and Swamps, ploughing tall hillsides and clearing forests and woodlands.
The battle for births was launched to increase the Italian population and ultimately, the Italian Army. Many incentives were given to people with large families’ e.g. free education and health facilities.
In 1926, the Battle for the Lira was launched. This battle aimed at restoring the value of the fluctuating Italian currency.

Creation of a Co-operative State.

The establishment of a co-operatives state was one of Mussolini’s major economic achievements.
It involved the abolition of Strikes and lock outs.
In 1926, Mussolini banned trade unions and employee associations and replaced them with 22 co-operatives.
The co-operatives were established for people within an industry.
Each co-operative comprised of representatives of Worker, employers and 3 members of the Fascist Party.
The co-operatives sent representatives to the General Assembly of Co-operatives which was headed by Mussolini.
The Assembly made important decisions about the country’s economic policy and about prices and wages.
These cooperatives were unsuccessful because they were dictated by the Fascists.
They were also generally ineffective and corrupt.
In 1938, Mussolini abolished Parliament and replaced it with the Chamber of Fascists and Cooperatives.
Through the introduction of the above measures, Mussolini and the Fascists controlled the political and economic life of the people of Italy.

Indoctrination and Propaganda.

To ensure that all Italians accepted and believed in Fascist ideas, a program of indoctrination directed at both the young and adults was introduced.
The young people were bombarded with Fascist ideas in schools from textbooks and after school; they joined the youth Organizations such as Fascist Youth Movement.
Adults were indoctrinated through newspapers, posters and rallies. These media glorified Mussolini and the Fascism.

Policy towards Religion.

Mussolini needed the Support from the Pope and the Church for his dictatorship to succeed.
He therefore decided to improve the state’s relationship with the Church. Mussolini signed the Lateran Treaty and the Concordat with the Pope in 1929.
By these treaties;
The Italian state recognized the Vatican as an independent State.
Considerable rights were given to the Pope and the Church throughout Italy.
The Italian State also promised to pay the Church 1,750 million Lira as compensation for the loss of Rome in 1870.
In turn, Catholicism became the official state religion of Italy and the Pope and the Catholic Church recognized the Kingdom of Italy and Mussolini’s rule.
Therefore, there was an understanding between the Church and the State and Mussolini was assured of support and encouragement for his Fascist rule from the Pope and the Church.

MUSSOLINI’S FOREIGN POLICY

Mussolini followed an aggressive and dangerous foreign policy.
This foreign policy was guided by extreme Nationalism.
Mussolini’s aggressive foreign policy led to international tension which contributed to the outbreak of the Second World War.

Aims of Mussolini’s Foreign Policy

He wanted to rebuild the Roman Empire by conquering land around the Mediterranean Sea especially in North Africa.
He wanted to revenge Italy’s defeat by Ethiopia in the Famous Battle at Adowa in 1896.
Mussolini also aimed at making Italy a world Power through the creation of a strong Army.
Mussolini also wanted to revisit the Versailles Treaty and get what was due to Italy.

Features of Mussolini’s Foreign Policy

Relationship with Other Countries.

At first, Mussolini desired a closer relationship with Britain and France and was therefore careful not to offend them.
Italy’s signing of the Kellogg and Locarno Pacts showed Mussolini’s willingness to co-operate with Britain and France despite being unhappy with the Versailles Treaty.
At first, Mussolini regarded Hitler with suspicion and feared a strong Germany nation especially if seized Austria.
In 1934, Mussolini blocked Hitler’s invasion of Austria at Bremmer Pass and joined Britain and France to form an anti-German Peace Treaty against Hitler’s actions
. However, Hitler and Mussolini became friends after 1936 when they with from League of Nations after bee branded as aggressors.

Corfu Crisis of 1923.

Mussolini had aggressive intensions against neighboring Greece.
In 1923, an Italian general Tellini and 5 members of the Italian commission were murdered by the Greeks while trying to settle a border dispute.
Mussolini accused Greece of the murder and demanded compensation and an apology. Greece wanted the matter to be settled by the League of Nations.
Mussolini refused the League’s intervention.
Before a solution could be found, Mussolini invaded the Greek Islands of Corfu.
This incident showed the aggressive nature of Mussolini and made the relations with Britain and France to be unstable.

The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia/Ethiopia.

Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia in 1935/1936 was a typical example of his aggressive foreign policy.
Mussolini had promised the Italians a colonial Empire in Africa.
After the Italians occupied Somaliland and Eritrea, they wanted to Expand into the Ancient Kingdom of Abyssinia.
Besides, the Italians never forgot their humiliating defeat in 1896 at the Battle of Adowa and wanted to revenge for that defeat.
Taking advantage of border incidents between Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland, Mussolini invaded and occupied Abyssinia.
The Italian air force bombarded Ethiopia and the army seized the capital and forced the leaders into exile.
The defeat of Abyssinia avenged the Italian defeat at Adowa and it meant further glory for Mussolini and an addition to the Italian Empire.
The Ethiopians appealed to the League of Nations for Italy to be punished.
The League Condemned Italy and banned the shipment of economic arms but there was no ban on oil, coal, iron, and steel.
The sanctions were too late and ineffective.
Mussolini and the Italians were angered by this criticism over the invasion of Ethiopia and especially from Britain and France, the main powers in the League of Nations.
Italy withdrew from the League of Nations in 1936 and continued with the occupation of Italy until 1943.
These events strained the relationship between Britain/France and Italy and also drove Mussolini and Hitler into being good friends.
Hitler supported the Italian Invasion of Ethiopia.

The Italian Involvement in the Spanish Civil War-1936

Mussolini’s interference in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939 also led to tensions in the world.
The Spanish civil war was purely an internal matter between the democratically elected government and its opponents led by General Franco.
General Franco wanted to set up a Fascist type of dictatorship in Spain.
Mussolini sent about 7,000 troops and weapons to Spain in collaboration with Hitler. Mussolini and Hitler drew closer with their joint support in the Spanish civil war.
This created tension with Britain and France and divided the world into two camps i.e. the Dictators and the democrats.

Alliances

Formation of Alliances was also part of Mussolini’s foreign Policy.
This also led to world tensions.
Hitler and Mussolini became closer after they were criticized by the League of Nations for their aggressive acts against other countries.
Both left the League and felt more and more isolated internationally.
Their co-operated in supporting the Spanish Civil war finally resulted into the signing of an alliance called the Rome-Berlin Axis in 1936.
In 1937, Italy joined the Anti-Commutern Pact between Germany and Japan which was formed in 1937 to fight against the spread of Communism.
The new alliance became known as the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis.
This was a military alliance and it lasted until the 2^nd World War. In August 1938, Italy and Germany signed the Pact ofSteel.
This was a purely military alliance between the two.
By this alliance, Germany and Italy promised to support each other in an event of War.
By signing this treaty, Mussolini sealed the fate of Italy and his own as the 2^nd World War brought about his down fall in 1943.

QUESTIONS.

What favored the rise of Mussolini to power in Italy after the First World War? Outline the main Features of his domestic policy from 1922 to 1939. {10,10}
Explain Italy’s disappointment with the outcome of the First World War. Outline the main features of Mussolini’s Foreign Policy. {4, 16}.
Describe the cause of discontent in Italy after the First World War. Outline the main features of Mussolini’s Foreign Policy between 1922 and 1939. {8, 12}.
Show how the Fascist under Mussolini rose to power in Italy by 1924. What were Mussolini’s Domestic Policies? {8, 12}.
What were the aims of Mussolini’s Foreign Policy? Describe his relationship with;

The Pope
Foreign Powers {6,7,7}

Describe Italy’s post Unification problems. Discuss the Italian Acts of Aggression that were committed between 1922 and 1939. {10,10}
(a) What were the post-war problems that Italy faced?

Who supported the Fascist Party?

What benefit did Fascism bring to the Italians? {7,7,7}.

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