Renaissance Princedom Mussolini

Renaissance Princedoms and Italian Fascism
The Italian Peninsula has had many different governments throughout its history. During the Renaissance, one form of government that took place in city-states of the Italian Peninsula was a princedom. One strong supporter princedoms was Niccolo Machiavelli. He wrote a book, called “The Prince,” in which he outlined how he believed that princes should act when ruling a princedom. This form of government ended in the region when it became a united country during the 19th century. After World War One, a new form of government, called Fascism, was implemented in Italy under the control of Benito Mussolini. These governments show how the politics of the Italian Peninsula evolved over time. While many strategies

of the Italian Fascist government under Benito Mussolini differed from Niccolo Machiavelli’s view of Italian Renaissance princedoms, much of Mussolini’s actions and his quest for power and territory remained similar with the princedoms.
I chose to compare and contrast Italian Renaissance princedoms and Italian Fascism for a few reasons. First, I chose these as my topics because of my cultural connection to Italy. I have Italian ancestors on both sides of my family, including my grandparents on my father’s side. Because of this, I wanted to learn more about events that took place in Italian history, which lead me to pick these topics. Another reason why I chose to compare and contrast these governments is because I have always been interested in the Renaissance. Near the beginning of the semester, when going over the end of the Renaissance, I was interested in learning more about the political thought of the Italian Renaissance, especially the thoughts of Niccolo Machiavelli. I decided that I wanted to learn more about princedoms, so I chose to use it as one of my topics. These were the reasons I chose to compare and contrast these two topics.
Italian Fascism began to take place in the ear 20th century. Many people around Europe, including Italy, at this time were upset with liberalism, democracy, and communism. Fascism operated on extreme nationalism and totalitarianism and was formed as a response to these other ideologies (Perry, pg.446-447). In October of 1922, Benito Mussolini, the main supporter of Fascism in Italy, and other Fascist supporters marched to Rome to overthrow the existing government. Mussolini succeeded and was appointed prime minister by King Victor Emmanuel III, the king of Italy (Perry, pg. 449-450). After he became prime minister, Benito Mussolini took steps to turn Italy into a totalitarian regime, with him becoming the dictator. To establish this regime, Mussolini “eliminated, non-Fascists from his cabinet, dissolved opposition parties, smashed the independent trade unions, suppressed opposition newspapers, replaced local mayors with Fascist Officials, and organized a secret police to round up troublemakers” (Perry, pg. 450). Mussolini would then go on to take many more steps to try to secure his position of power.
During his time as dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini used manipulation and militarism to keep and extend his power.

One of Mussolini’s main tools of manipulation was widespread propaganda. Mussolini used propaganda to obtain the support and loyalty of the Italian citizens and to advance his military campaigns. Some of the propaganda portrayed Mussolini as a strong leader, often having Mussolini “photographed bare chested or in a uniform and a steel helmet” (Perry, pg. 450). The propaganda also promoted loyalty and obedience, the restoration of the Roman Empire, and promoted war (Perry, pg. 450). Another way that Mussolini solidified his power was through gaining the support of the Catholic Church. He did this by making the Vatican City, the residency of the pope, an independent state, repealing laws that went against the Catholic Church, and adding mandatory religious lessons in schools (Perry, pg. 451). Mussolini also used war to try to gain power and take over new territories for Italy. He did this by invading Ethiopia, allying with Hitler, giving support to Francisco Franco, trying to invade Greece and North Africa, and joining World War Two (Ryan). These are the aspects of Italian Fascism under Benito

Mussolini.
During the Renaissance, princedoms were a common form of dictatorship for many Italian city-states.

A book written by Niccolo Machiavelli, “The Prince,” described the ways in which Machiavelli believed that princedoms should be run. Many of his methods could be characterized by the use of deceit and ruthlessness to stay in power. One main point of Machiavelli’s was his rejection of Christianity and morals in politics. He believed that “politics has nothing to do with God’s intent or with moral precepts originating in a higher world” (Perry, 187). Machiavelli’s, “The Prince,” reflected this belief and in his book; he encouraged princes to do everything in their power to keep control. According to Machiavelli, “the prince may use any means to save the state when its survival is at stake” (Perry, pg. 186). All of his views on how a prince should govern went against the past beliefs that political power came from God. Machiavelli also extended these views to include ways to keep the citizens of a princedom satisfied and how to avoid invasion from other

princedoms.
In his book, Niccolo Machiavelli outlines many ways for princes to stay in power and take over new lands. When a prince first gains power, usually through war, Machiavelli states that the prince must completely destroy the old ruling power, so that they do not take revenge against him (The Prince). Another effect of destroying the old ruling power is that it would make the citizens fearful of rebelling against the new prince. Machiavelli also states that the only way to maintain power is by keeping the citizens of the princedom content with the prince’s rule. He believed that as long as the new prince kept things similar to the previous rule, such as keeping the taxes and laws, the “people will live quietly and peacefully” (The Prince). Machiavelli believed that the prince of a city-state should only be concerned with war. In “The Prince,” he states that “A prince must have no other objective, no other thought, nor take up any profession but that of war” (The Prince). He believed that the only way a prince could take and maintain power was through warfare. This focus on warfare is seen throughout Machiavelli’s “The Prince.” These are the aspects of how Niccolo Machiavelli believed that princedoms should be run.
There are many similarities between Italian Fascism under Benito Mussolini and Niccolo Macchivelli’s view of Italian Renaissance princedoms. One major similarity between these two government systems is that they both relied heavily on militarism. Under princedoms, Niccolo Machiavelli believed that war was the only way to seize and maintain power. Benito Mussolini used the threat of military violence to establish his Fascist regime and used war as a way to unite his citizens and to expand his territory. Furthermore, both of these government systems relied on keeping the common people satisfied to stay in power. In princedoms, citizens were more likely to rebel against the prince if they were unhappy with the prince’s rule. For Benito Mussolini, this situation played out with the Italian people arresting and eventually executing him after they grew upset of years of depression and military losses (Ryan). Finally, both forms of governments were totalitarian. Princedoms were usually ruled by princes that acted as dictators and Mussolini became a dictator during his rule over Italy. This shows the many examples of similarities between these two government systems, even though they are hundreds of years apart. These similarities likely exist because of the surge of totalitarian governments that took place after World War One. Italy’s Fascism under Benito Mussolini represented a rejection of liberalism and the desire for the old forms of governments, which included princedoms. Although there are many similarities between these two systems of government, there are also many differences.
There are a few important distinctions that can be made between Benito Mussolini’s Italian Fascism and Niccolo Machiavelli’s view of Renaissance princedoms. First, the methods for avoiding rebellions and internal unrest are drastically different between these two systems of government. Under princedoms, Machiavelli believed that instilling fear in the common people would avoid rebellions, while under Fascism, Mussolini used many forms of propaganda to keep the citizens happy. Another major difference between these governments is their view of religion in politics. Benito Mussolini used the support of the Catholic Church to keep and strengthen his power, while Machiavelli believed that princes should not care about Christianity or morality when making decisions. Finally, the reasons for each government being put into place is different. Fascism, including Italian Fascism, was largely a reaction against liberalism and communism, while princedoms were not a reaction against any ideologies, but a common government system at the time of the renaissance. These differences between Italian princedoms and Italian Fascism are largely due to what the best course of action in establishing a dictatorship was during each time period. During the time of princedoms, being ruthless and avoiding morality was likely the easiest way to become a prince. However, Benito Mussolini benefitted from the support of the Catholic Church, so he used the church to gain more power. Also, princes had a much smaller population to deal with, making it more effective to instill fear than it would have been for Mussolini. These differences between the time periods led to the different governing styles between Italian Fascism and princedoms.
In conclusion, although Benito Mussolini’s quest for power and actions involved in obtaining power and creating a Fascist government were similar to Niccolo Machiavelli’s description of how a prince should act, many of Mussolini’s strategies differed from those of the princedoms. Both Mussolini’s Italian Fascism and Machiavelli’s view on princedoms were dictatorships that used military power and the satisfaction of the people to gain and maintain power. However, Mussolini relied on the Catholic Church and propaganda to keep his power, while Machiavelli believed that princes should not use morality or religion and should instill fear in the common people to keep power. These similarities and differences are mainly due the feelings of the people after World War Two and the different situations that each time period faced.