So, comparative to the other aforementioned countries, Italy was nowhere near Great Power status. Not even Italy’s allies, Germany and Austria-Hungary, were convinced of Italy’s power or intentions. The only one who saw Italy as a Great Power was Italy itself. Italy self-identified as a Great Power, but had none of the financial or diplomatic prowess needed to make it a reality. The liberal state of Italy that existed in 1914, the one that joined the war in 1915, had been founded on the idea, the “false concept” , that Italy was a serious Great Power. Italy, to a large extent, existed in order to be a Great Power. The Risorgimento, the unification of Italy, grew from powerful patriotic and nationalistic ideas about the “greatness” and the inherent …show more content…
The answer is two-fold. Because Italy had constructed this myth, it became self-perpetuating. It was ultimately inevitable that Italy would enter the First World War, because it was ultimately a war of the Great Powers. If Italy was not involved, then it was an admission “that her pretensions to being a Great Power were false”. To admit that would lead to Italy’s ultimate downfall. Italy’s society and political system relied heavily on this myth to continue functioning. Italy was a Great Power, so all the things it was doing (the continuation of the Triple Alliance, the disastrous invasion of Libya, the sustained presence in European politics) were necessary and justified for the continued greatness of Italy. If Italy did not join the war, it would render all these actions, all this struggle, moot and could seriously upset the internal stability of the country. If Italy admitted it was not a Great Power, then their ambitions were pointless, their finances doomed, the Risorgimento forever rendered incomplete. Admitting this to the actual Great Powers by not joining the war also weakened Italy’s status in Europe as a whole, excluding Italy from the discussion table and increasing their reliance on other countries to greater than it already was. Italy had to join the war to prevent a total collapse of its domestic and political sphere, to keep up
A famous quote by FDR at his First Inaugural Address was, “Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself” came to mind when thinking of most European democracies position’s when it came to the military aggression by Italy and Germany. However, it is easy to understand why they would make concessions, albeit short-lived, rather than run the risk of another World War and all of the noxious energy that comes with it. On the other hand, to trust the “devilish nature” of both Hitler and Mussolini would turn out to be costly moves that were fortunately corrected by the strength of the United States and its Allies in time.
During the early 20th century emerged a time of vast political conflict throughout Europe; due to the extreme support of Fascist ideals, returned great hardship and recession for the Italian population. Fascist Voices by Christopher Duggan is not simply just a dense twenty-year history of Italy, though also a rather up-close look on how Italians felt under the fascist regime of Mussolini. To many modern Italians, the man known as Il Duce, or Benito Mussolini was a hated totalitarian tyrant responsible for great evils and injustices; who in the end got we he deserved, as humiliated Italians drug his corpse throughout Milan at last hung up his body in public to be spat upon with disgust by local Italians. Depicted in Duggan’s book his prose of Italian praise for a man of almost divine status is proven from the analysis of over 200 letters and diaries sent to Mussolini during his reign. Although there was a prevailing discontent throughout Italy, little of the criticism was directed solely at the charismatic figure of Mussolini himself. Christopher Duggan’s book undeniably proved how the support of Il Duce and his fascism regime appealed to so many Italians.
Next, we will discuss the Risorgimento, a 19th-century movement for unification of Italy that would ultimately establish the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Before this time, the Italian peninsula
Ginsborg P (1990). ‘A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics: 1943-1980’ Published by Penguin; Reprint edition (27 Sep 1990).
Italian Fascism became an extremely important phenomenon under the reign of Benito Mussolini during the Second World War. With a run of 22 years, Fascism and its creator became the focal point of Europe during this time. Many Italian citizens, as well as critics believed that Fascism could be a third option, or the in between of Capitalism and Communism, two ideals that Mussolini refused to accept. With the Allies landing on the shores of Italy in their advance to Fascist capital, Mussolini fought for his ideals while the Allies aimed to liberate the country and the citizens who did not follow Mussolini’s government. Why did Italy change from a fascist government to a new government in the siege of Italy during WWII between 1943-45? Italy fought to create a new government in place of the fascist government headed by Benito Mussolini because of the multiple failed promises including a new Roman Empire as a means to overpower King Victor Emmanuel, and to improve on the poverty. The bombing of Rome, the fascist capital of Italy, was targeted by Allied troops entering Italy in order to capture Mussolini, and the armistice that the Italian citizens believed would eradicate Benito Mussolini and Fascism with the help of the Allied powers.
Chaotic situation, irrationality and national humiliation often lead to totalitarianism. Both the Fascist and Nazi regimes owed their rise to the people's disillusionment with the Paris Peace Settlement and postwar difficulties. Though being a victorious power in World War One, Italy could not get all she wanted on the Paris Peace Conference. Especially Fiume was given to Yugoslavia, Italy's rival in Adriatic.
a united Italy, it was one which strode in a path towards it. A lack
Italy achieved her unification in 1870. She had a constitutional monarchy like that of Great Britain, but democratic society failed to develop in Italy because the government was controlled by corrupt politicians, called the party bosses. They controlled the elections by bribing the voters. Once they were in power, they were more interested in achieving personal gains for themselves than in solving the social and economic problems of the people. As a result of this political corruption, Italy remained a poor country. Industrial progress was slow. Italy was poor in natural resources and lack of fertile land. Many of the farm laborers were landless and were often unemployed, so millions of Italians were forced to emigrate.
To begin with, this is determined by Italy's weak and foreign expansion policy. In 1871, the long-torn apartness of Italy achieved unity, providing favorable conditions for the development of capitalism. But the reunification is completed from top to bottom, retaining a large number of feudal remnants, which seriously hindered the further development of the Italian economy, resulting in the backwardness of Italy, mainly in three aspects: First, backward agriculture, food production is extremely
Taking all of these motivations into consideration, there were also differences between certain groups in the military. It can be argued that groups of people who did not experience enthusiasm for the war since its beginning were those that did not have these motivations to continue fighting. For example, unlike France and Great Britain, Italy entered the war at a later period with the state’s war aims of gaining territory from Austria-Hungary. However, most Italians did not know the true reason for the declaration of war and were not supportive of entering conflict, compared to the soldiers from countries such as Germany and France who were excited to fight and express patriotism.
Benito Mussolini decided to get Italy involved in World War II. This decision had a negative impact on Italy. After World War I, the Italian people were angry that Italy did not get more land from the peace settlement. Getting Italy involved in World War II was not necessary. Getting involved in this war could have easily been avoided, but Mussolini decided to help and tries to give Italians what they wanted. What the Italians hoped to gain from World War I was never received. The gaining of land for Italy seemed as if it was a necessity to Mussolini. To gain more land, Mussolini led Italy into World War II. Things did not work out as expected for Mussolini. Thinking he had everything under control and that everything would go his way, things backfired and many men were lost during World War II. He also made Italy mar...
Because of this, they are often seen as the beginning cause to WWII, which isn't necessarily true. Italy alone didn't do anything bad enough to start a war, but when you put Italy's, Germany's and Japan's actions together then you get the reasons for WWII. Italy being a Fascist country wasn't a problem, until he started killing his oppositions and taking land by force that wasn't his. Had the League of Nations worked properly, then Mussolini would probably have been stopped after the Corfu incident, but as it stood he was given what he wanted and allowed to think that using force was acceptable. Most of the incidents that occurred in Europe in the 1920s and 30s could have been solved if someone had done something different or if something else
World War II, which only lasted about five years, changed the course of history forever, and affected millions of lives. Among the major nations that were involved in the war, Benito Mussolini and his Italian army sought to settle their differences with many nations. Benito’s fascist views, his idea of a nation built by one race, and his relationship with Adolf Hitler ultimately led to his involvement in the war. His responsibility, in essence, was to ally himself with the superpowers of the world, and lead his people into a war that they could not fight.
The allied powers promised Italy land in exchange for joining them against the central powers during WWI. But, Italy was mostly ignored during the Treaty of Versailles and received very little land. This can be seen as one of the reasons Mussolini aligned with the Axis powers in WWII. He knew that the allies did not treated Italy fairly so he went against them in the next war. He also began invading countries in Africa such as Ethiopia so that Italy could establish itself as the rightful leading power of the Mediterranean. While the invasion of other countries may seem bad, Mussolini did it to increase the power of his own country. He fought for Italy first, proving himself a true nationalist. Another example of this can be found when Hitler came to power and it became apparent to Mussolini that Austria was threatened. He wanted Italy to have influence in Austria, so he threatened to go to war with Germany in the event of an invasion of
In the early years of the twentieth century, Italy has created a new system of government, however suffered social and economic conditions. Improvements were made however, poverty and literacy were still problems that have not been solved well. While entering World War I, the nation was neutral up until joining the British and French in exchange for certain advantages. However, it was unsuccessful as Italy failed to take control of the territories that it claimed at the Versailles Peace Conference, and suffered significant losses. The ideology of fascism occurred when the power of Italy was shrinking and the idea of being a pacifist became weak.