Mussolini's Success in Italian Affaires

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Mussolini's Success in Italian Affaires

When Mussolini came to power in 1922, Italy was disunited and the

country was still reeling from the 'mutilated victory' after the First

World War. Italians felt hard done by regarding the Versailles Treaty;

while they had lost a large proportion of men, they felt that they

received unsatisfactory compensation. The Socialist Party was

perceived to be a threat by the majority of Italians, despite their

negligible success in local elections and disorganisation. The number

of people that emigrated from Italy at the time reflects the people's

dissatisfaction with their country; the quality of life in the South

was far poorer than that in the North, with higher illiteracy levels

and little modernisation in industry or transport. Thus, when

Mussolini's intention to make Italy 'great, respected and feared' was

welcomed by the Italian people; the country was in dire need of

improvement.

For a country to be 'great' it has to have a strong economy, a stable

system of government, a law-abiding society and a good quality of life

for its people. This would mean a good education system, no drastic

regional differences in terms of wealth and living standards, the

upholding of human rights and liberty and equality between the sexes.

However, Mussolini's domestic policies from 1922-1939 did not focus on

making Italy great in itself, but preparing it to be great in warfare

and as an international power. His policies were dominated by his

fantastical desire for autarky; he wanted Italy to be self-sufficient

so that in the event of a war she would not have to rely on imports

from other countries. He initiated...

... middle of paper ...

...is policies, both domestic and

foreign, were opportunistic; his belief that "You can usually get away

with 97 cents worth of mere public clamour and three cents of solid

achievement" had a bearing on everything he did. While propaganda

proclaimed him a genius, he did little to genuinely change or improve

Italian society and the international opinion of Italy fluctuated from

indifference to hatred during his dictatorship; Mussolini was

ridiculed in Britain, not respected or feared. However, as Mussolini

was able to convince himself and many Italians that he was successful,

perhaps this evaluation is a moot point. Some Italians today, like the

historian de Felice, are not completely derogatory of Mussolini;

context and point of view mean that there are slightly differing

assessments of Mussolini's successes and failures.

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