Benito Mussolini Primary Sources

Evaluation of Sources

Source D

Source D is an extract from an online encyclopedia that gives information about how Italy operated under Mussolini. The entire text is in the Appendix.

Origins:

Source D is a secondary source from an online encyclopedia. The encyclopedia focuses on the rise of Benito Mussolini and how Italy functioned under Benito Mussolini.

Value:

Source D is about how Mussolini was able to control information and media from the people of Italy. Source D clearly illustrates that Benito Mussolini was a dictator because it explains how he was able to restrict information and control the lives if people.

Reliability:

Source D is reliable because since it is a secondary source it gives insight to the effects of the dictatorship

of Mussolini. It also reliable because it gives insight of how Mussolini was able to maintain information from people. The source is not holding back any form of information because the author is not in fear of any interrogation. The source gives factual information. The source is not written in emotive or persuasive language.
Limitations:
Source D is not a first-hand encounter. It may be possible that some information is exaggerated or that some vital information is left out. There is no name of any teacher or journalist to verify that he/she swore under oath, therefore the oath can be viewed as a “speculation” by some critics.
Validity:
Source D is valid in the sense of it provides that Mussolini did in fact be a dictator. As a secondary source the source is based on real historical facts. The historical facts have been analysed and has been made available on an online encyclopedia.

Source L
Source L is from an historical website that has a collection of propaganda posters of Nazi Germany.
Origins:
Source L is a primary source, which is a propaganda poster used by the Nazis against the Jews.
Reliability:
Source L is reliable because it is a poster of the time in which the Nazis were in power in Germany. The Source shows how the Nazis resented the Jews. The source shows insight of the kind of posters that the public was exposed to.
Limitations:
The poster is limited because it does not provide the whole context. The poster only shows a fixed position, one does not know what happened before and what happened after the poster was made. A reader might not understand what is happening on the poster unless if a reader has historical knowledge. The poster is also biased and only shows one point of view.
Validity:
The source is valid for its purpose because it is meant to portray the Jews in a negative perspective, however it is also not valid because blaming the Jews for all of Germany’s problems was not sensible.
Value:
Source L is highly valuable because it shows the kind of posters that were available at that time. It provides the perspective in which the Nazis viewed the Jewish community. Source L also makes it apparent that the Nazis were against the Jews.

Essay
To what extent were the economic policies and rise to power of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler similar?
Benito Mussolini was the Prime Minister of Italy from the 29th of July 1883 until the 28th of April 1945. Adolf Hitler was the leader of Germany from 1933 until 1945. Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler’s economic policies and their rise to power were to a great extent similar. Both men had a strong desire to make their respective countries great. They used propaganda to manipulate people. Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler used dictatorship to rule their countries.
Dictatorship is a manner in which a country is govern. It is a system where complete authority is given to one person or a small number of individuals to govern a country. Usually in a dictatorship state people are restricted to information and their right to freedom of expression is usually neglected.
The economy of Italy was not in a great state in the early 20th century; Italy’s economy was faced with a high unemployment rate. Italy was also in debt which held back the economic activity in the country. Benito Mussolini created economic policies that would bring relief to the Italian economy. Benito Mussolini implemented the Battle of Grain and it had a positive and a negative result. The Battle of Grain made it possible for five thousand farms to be established and 5 new agricultural farms to be created. However the subsidies that the government gave to farmers decreased the revenue of Italy and Italy found itself in further debt. [Source A]
Mussolini understood that propaganda was an effective tool to use at the time to twist the minds of people into believing he is the man that he is not. He controlled all forms of media and everything that was to be made public had to be checked and verified by Mussolini himself. Nothing could be published without it was checked by Mussolini himself. Using this tactic Mussolini was able to feed the masses information that he wanted to, therefore the knowledge of the public was very limited. [Source C]
The economic policies of Benito Mussolini, such as the Pontine Marsh, was an economic policy by Mussolini to provide work for those who were unemployed. This policy made people trust that Mussolini is a good leader. [Source A] However for Mussolini the economic policies were not implemented just to improve the economy, the economic policies also played an effective role in manipulating people to make himself more powerful. [Source B].
Under the leadership of Benito Mussolini, Italy was a Dictatorial state under a dictator. Mussolini controlled all the laws and had laws rewritten. Opposition was not tolerated. The freedom of thought was not encouraged because academics had to swear under oath that they will protect the image of the Fascist regime. This made it clear that Mussolini did not take too kindly to any opposition. Mussolini wanted to also make himself known and respected amongst young children who went to school. He knew that children can be brainwashed quite easily. It is apparent that Mussolini wanted people of all age groups to know, fear, and respect him. [Source D].
Benito Mussolini never wanted to come across as a weak man this is apparent in the official posters of the time of himself.

In most of his posters he is in military uniform which indicates his authority and is not shown in a negative perspective. Mussolini knew that people did not want a weak leader so he was able to portray an ideal image of how a true leader should be and because of this people were able to have faith in him to fix the problems that Italy was facing. [Source J].

Benito Mussolini was in control of the press and this meant that he did not allow any political cartoons that will work against his image. The use of caricature on cartoon of Mussolini were kept to the bare minimum and did not portray him in a negative perspective. [Source H].

Benito Mussolini had a desire to make Italy a world class empire. Under the leadership of Mussolini Italy was able to invade Ethiopia as a manner of expanding their empire and to also establish its presence on the African Continent. By invading into another country Mussolini was making his influence greater in world politics. However when a country is invaded the citizens of that country are most likely to be exposed to human rights horror as they are seen as second class citizens. When Mussolini invaded the countries he was to be in control of another country. [Source

I]
Similarly Adolf Hitler wanted Germany to be an empire that would rule the world for over one thousand years. [Source E] Hitler did not hold back to what he wanted Germany to become he invaded several countries in Eastern Europe and showed signs of wanting to invade more countries. [Source K].
Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, Germany was a dictatorial state and political opponents were not treated very kindly. The Nazis were able to fill their opponents with so much fear that they would end up giving up opposing them. On the 5th of March 1933, the Nazis gained the majority rule in the German Parliament. Their majority rule made it possible for them to have less opposition and to make their voice heard in the German Parliament. During this period the rights of people were neglected and people feared speaking against the Nazis because they feared the devastating effects of it. Without opposition it was easier for Hitler to do whatever he wanted without having to give explanations to anyone. [Source F].
As the Nazis were in the majority in the parliament they made it possible for an Act to be passed which gave Hitler sole authority for four years (The Enabling Act). Hitler used the four to eliminate opposition. The Enabling Act gave Hitler legal powers to run the country on his own without any opposition, this Act was the stepping stone of Germany becoming a dictatorial state. Having the law on his side Hitler was able to do all he wanted to without having any opposition. Hitler had seemed to have reached his goal of gaining power constitutionally, however he did use intimidation to eliminate any opposition. [Source G].
Hitler was against the Jewish community, he blamed the Jews for all of the problems that Germany was facing at the time. He distributed propaganda posters to deliberately manipulate the masses to have a negative perspective towards the Jews. [Source L].
However there are some differences to how Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini reached out to the people and how they rose to power. Adolf Hitler rose to power by using intimidation towards opposition in order to make it easier for him to be the leader of Germany. He made sure that the Nazis will have the most seats in Parliament and therefore making it easier for the Nazis to have constitutional power. [Source G]. Benito Mussolini used the success of his economic policies to gain confidence from people because he knew that the weak economy was negatively affecting the masses. [Source B].
Personally, I think Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler were very similar, however their ambitions to make their own countries great was out of control because it tampered on the rights of individuals. However I do understand that before 1945 Human Rights were not given much respect.
Therefore Benito Mussolini’s and Adolf Hitler’s rise to power and economic policies are highly similar. Mussolini and Hitler ruled their countries under authoritarian control which to a large extent limited the human rights of people.
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