In the years immediately after the First World War, a promising new era of democracy seemed to be unfolding. The autocratic regimes in Russia, Germany and Austria, were all overthrown and replaced by republics. The seven newly created states in Europe all adopted the republican form of government. Democracy seemed triumphant in the post-war world. Yet within two decades, many democratic countries in Europe were taken over by some kind of dictatorship. Italy became a fascist state.
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
…show more content…
He was born in 1883. His father was a blacksmith and also an anarchist. His mother was a school teacher. His birthplace, Romagna, was known for its rebellious spirit. When he was young, Mussolini did not make much achievement in education. From 1902 and on, he picked up socialist ideas, mainly the syndicalism of Sorel. After 1904, he became a famous socialist journalist. His literary and speaking ability made him the editor of a socialist newspaper, Avanti, which would later on help him in politics. Mussolini was never a convinced socialist. The views expressed in his newspaper were not consistent. When anarchism was popular among the Italian workers, Mussolini advocated anarchist ideas in his newspaper. This seemed to signify that he was an opportunist, very interested in winning followers and …show more content…
He aimed to be the ruler of a one party totalitarian state. In the 1920's, he destroyed all effective opposition at home. He placed loyal Black Shirts in key government positions, created the Voluntary Fascist Militia for National Security, and promoted the Grand Council of Fascism into a part of the state. In July 1923, Mussolini was able to secure a new electoral law from the parliament. In an atmosphere of intimidation and violence, with the Fascist Militia using strong arm methods, the 'National List' presented by the Fascists. In June 1924 when the new Parliament convened, the Socialist leader, Giacomo Matteotti, denounced the Fascists of the use of force in the recent elections. Right after he denounced the use of force, he was murdered by the
In response to the democratic backlash after World War I, in response to the Treaty of Versailles and the economic failure after the war, countries turned to a totalitarian, fascist government, regulating every facet of life of the people it ruled. Fascist Italy was no exception—over the years 1921-1943, Italy instituted a population policy, controlling it and causing it to rise. Italy’s population policy consisted of the regulation of family size, often exercising Mussolini’s bid for control in extreme manners. The reactions consisted of an economic counterpoint of family size, and disapproval of this new regime.
Multiple historians have touched on the change in government during Fascist Italy’s reign in World War II. In Italian Fascism: Its Origins and Development, Alexander De Grand clarifies the many promises Benito Mussolini fabricated for the Italian people in order to get them to join his cause such as the improvement on poverty with the rise of a new Roman Empire. De Grand also gives an opposite view, with some citizens seeing Fascism as a “model of efficiency.” In Melton S. Davis’ Who Defends Rome?, t...
In the book written by Adolf Hitler, while he was in prison, Mein Kampf, Hitler states that the Aryan race is the dominate race. While Benito Mussolini’s book The Doctrine of Fascism, shows the views of man in a fascist state. While both the essay by Mussolini and the book by Hitler both show what a person should be like in their country either it is their religion, race or political ideas. Only one shows a more convincing philosophies, because it clearly states what the person wants to get across the world.
In the years following the First World War, a new era of democracy seemed to be unfolding and it was looked promising. The autocratic regimes in Russia, Germany and Austria, were all overthrown and replaced by republics. The seven new states in Europe all had a republican form of government. Democracy seemed to be doing good in the post-war world.
At the end of World War One, the Central Powers (which included Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary) were forced to submit to the Treaty of Versailles, which left the Central Powers with citizens who had a mounting disdain for government and organized power. In this chaos, Italy struggled to find a definitive government. As a result, from the end of WWI in 1919 to 1922 Italy, struggling in the ruins of WWI, found itself under the rule of five different governments. Following the infamous ‘March on Rome’, Benito Mussolini was chosen to be Italy’s head of government; however, Mussolini’s nascent fascist party (which was officially founded in 1919) toiled to rally around a set ideology. Though Mussolini had founded the Fascist party in 1919, the party had no set platform or ideology to organize itself around. James Whisker, a professor of Political Science at West Virginia University states, “Italian fascism had at least four principal phases.” Through these phases Italian fascism would come to fruition. The first...
Fascism is one of the great political ideology in the 20th century. It is a kind of authoritarian government that, according to Wikipedia, “considers the individual subordinate to the interests of the state, party or society as a whole.” Two of the most successful and to be in the vanguard of fascism government is Italian fascism – led by Benito Mussolini, and Nazi Germany – led by Adolf Hitler. Fascism in Italy and Germany, though in many regards very similar - have the same political ideologies, still have many aspects to them that make them different from each other.
Fascism is defined as, “an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.” Peter Hyland reports that throughout the 1920s and the 1930s, an economic depression was growing and becoming widespread throughout the world. People were losing faith in their democracies and in capitalism. Leaders who gained power supported powerful militarism, nationalism, and initiated the return of an authoritarian rule. J.R. Oppenheimer says that the rise of fascism and totalitarianism in Europe and Russia instigated a “critical step on the path to war.” In 1922, Benito Mussolini held leadership in Italy, promising a proficient and militaristic nationalistic state. During his control as prime minister, he gained a large group of followers, banned the disparagement of government, and used extreme violence against his enemies within the parliament.
country. The Italians did not take help or aid from anyone for any reason. They brought
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...
Before the Congress of Vienna the French occupation had far reaching affects on Italy. The power of the Church and the Pope was reduced, changes were made in landownership and land was redistributed. A new middle class began to appear. Agriculture was improved and the peasants were freed from their old feudal ties and obligations. Then when Napoleon was defeated and the restoration of the old regime and monarchs was started, Italy again became a country divided into eleven independent states, excluding the tiny principalities and the Republic of San Marino. So Italy was not unified after the Congress of Vienna due to a number of reasons, such as the foreign influence of the Central European Powers, parochialism within the states, the lack of a common language and a strong economy coupled with the poor geography that separated Italy from itself and the rest of Europe.
The positive effects of Benito Mussolini’s reign in Italy benefitted the country greatly. By putting Cesare Mori in charge of eliminating the mafia, he caused 11,000 of Italy’s criminals to be arrested, which caused the country’s crime rates to plummet. The nearly absolute end of the mafia brought peace and order to Italy, which the country’s citizens desperately needed. He also defended his country’s interests by going against the allies for not giving Italy the land that was promised to them if they joined them in the first world war. Mussolini also upgraded infrastructure in Italy and improved the Italian economy.
The Successes and Failures of Mussolini's Domestic Policies in Italy Between 1922 and 1939 Similar to those of Hitler, Mussolini’s main goals were to create an Italian state with a strong identity and role within Europe with a powerful military force. From the day he became Prime Minister on October 29th, 1922 of a coalition government, he lacked a certain skills in the organization. It was not quite clear what exactly Mussolini wanted to do, and it seemed as though he made decisions with no. previous planning, as opposed to Hitler and the Nazis who knew exactly. what they were striving for.
World War II was the bloodiest war in all of war history. The war went on and eventually turned against Germany and the Nazis. The Nazis did not however relax their assault against the Jews. As the war went on the Nazis killed the Jews in greater and greater numbers (Strahinich 17). Mussolini was jealous of Hitler but he was naturally drawn to form an alliance with Germany. Italy could have joined with allied countries but they would not have gone along with Mussolini's expansion plans while Hitler did. Italy seized Albania in 1939. To make sure Germany would win the battle Italy invaded France on June 10, 1940 but they were unsuccessful. Even though Mussolini failed, Hitler still rewarded Mussolini for attacking France.
Italy had joined the Great War of 1914-18 on the 'Allied' side, under the belief that if the allies won, Italy would gain territory along the Balkan coast and a small part of what was the Austro-Hungarian Empire. WW1 had proved disastrous for Italy, the land they had been promised in the Treaty of London, the deal made with Britain and France was not given to them. The people of Italy felt that the government had not delivered what they had promised. The middle classes of Italy were concerned by the sudden popularity of Socialism among the lower classes, as they campaigned for workers rights and removal of businesses from owners.
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. Benito Mussolini created a group of fascists to represent a means to stop the socialists and the communists coming into his nation.