Mussolini's Dictatorship

From his rise to power to the fall of his dictatorship, Mussolini aimed at regenerating the Italian population to form a powerfull and united Nation centered around the fatherland and its leader. An aim that is, in 1919, difficult to instore in an Italy still segmented by huge economical differences, divergent social consciousness and marked an instable political sphere. However, the Italian society of the after war period in 1918 favored the installation of a new national religion based on the importance of the Nation and of a powerfull man able of guiding it. Indeed, the end of the war marked a turning point in the national history of the country: first manifestations of national consciousness aroused, a feeling that a large majority of the population did not sense since the unification.Surely World War one developped a national bond and consicousness throughout the national participation and mobilisation that had been required during the war, and had been the occasion for many Italians to meet their counterparts and discover their country. In 1918, the national grieving of the soldiers who gave their blood and sacrifice themselves for the nation brought Italians together more than ever and the need of a power consolidating the nation was growing. Fascim presented itself as an antisocialist and nonconformist mouvement and integrated itself perfectly in this context giving Italians the possibility to unify for a thriving nation, participate in its defense and in the construction of its grandeur1. Instead of imposing itself as the new religion of the country, Fasscim filled the void of a society in crisis by giving Italians a new meaning to their existence and by sacralising the nation as the supr...

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