B. Challenge of Mussolini's Fascism
1. Nature of Twentieth-Century Fascism
2. Historiography of Italian Fascism
3. Mussolini's Rise to Power
a. Italy in 1914
b. Impact of World War I
c. Origins and Growth of Italian Fascism
i. Benito Mussolini
ii. Birth and Growth of Fascist Party, 1919-22
iii. "March on Rome" (Oct. 29-30, 1922)d. Consolidation of Fascist Power4. Impact of Fascism on Italy and Europei. Legally, 1922-1924e. Character of Fascism in Power
ii. Illegally, 1924-1928i. Mussolini's Ideology
ii. Popularity of Fascism
iii. Fascist Culture
iv. Fascism in the 1930s
___________________________________________________Bibliography, Discussion Questions, Lecture Notes
B. The Challenge of Mussolini's Fascism
Required Reading: Textbook, pp. 219-224.
I. Silone, Bread and Wine.Supplementary Reading
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Fascist Modernities (2001)
R.J.B. Bosworth, The Italian Dictatorship (1998)
R.J.B. Bosworth, Mussolini (2002)
A. Cassels, Fascist Italy (1968) Still a good survey.
J. Diggins, Mussolini and Fascism: The View from America (1972)
S. Payne, Fascism: Comparison and Definition (1980)
Denis Mack Smith, Mussolini (1982) Summary of scholarship to 1980.
R. Sarti, ed., The Ax Within: Italian Fascism in Action (1974)
E. Tannenbaum, The Fascist Experience: Italian Society and Culture, 1922-1945 (1972)
Discussion Questions:
1. How does Fascism differ from Russian Communism?
2. Explain how and why Mussolini came to power in 1922.
3. What was the character of Mussolini's fascism? How did it change Italy's political, social, economic, and cultural life?
4. How did Italian fascism differ from Hitler's National Socialism? Why did it never take root in Italy as completely as National Socialism took root in Germany?
5. Why did Mussolini's fascism collapse so quickly during World War II?
6. In what ways has Fascism shaped contemporary Italy?Questions for Bread and Wine (This novel provides one of the most revealing contemporary portraits of Fascist Italy that we have. From this largely autobiographical account of the 1930s we can see not only how deeply Fascism penetrated in Italian society but also to what extent it influenced Italians--especially the peasantry. How other important segments and institutions were willingly coopted by Fascism can also be seen.
1. Why do Italian peasants in this novel know so little about Fascism? Why is Fascist propaganda so ineffective? What sources of information are available to Italians in the countryside?
2. What political views do most Italian peasants hold in "Bread and Wine?" What is their attitude toward government? What barriers does the Fascist government face in trying to manipulate culture and society for political purposes?
3. In what ways does Fascism affect rural people in this novel?
4. What place does the Catholic Church occupy in peasant society described here? How does the church accommodate itself to Fascism?
5. Why is the Socialist and Communist opposition to Fascism so ineffective? To what extent is this a result of social and economic backwardness, the socialist message, or the persons representing socialist or communist opposition?
6. What are the most popular aspects of Italian Fascism according to Bread and Wine?
7. What is the symbolic significance of Pietro's final departure in the novel?
__________________________________________________________________________Lecture Notes 1. The Nature of Twentieth-Century Fascism (Completed in class)
2. Historiography of Italian Fascism
3. Mussolini's Rise to Power
a. Italy in 1914Italian unification did not bring what many Italians dreamed of: power, prosperity, and great power status. Why?
(i) Italy was Europe's poor house at a time when Europe was approaching its zenith of power and prosperity. It lacked the basic elements of the modern state: industrialization, modern transportation, and efficient government. Between 1900 and 1913, about 650,000 Italians a year were emigrating because they saw no future in Italy.
(ii) Italy's Parliamentary Democracy was the worst in Europe. Without a tradition of democratic self government, well developed party system, or strong leadership, Italy's parliamentary government worked very poorly and scarcely affected the lives of the masses living in rural poverty. To complicate matters, illiteracy stood at over 50% in 1910. Italy's government proved unable to grapple with the most urgent domestic problems.
(iii) Italian Society was bitterly divided by conflicts between the Catholic Church and the Italian state, and between the more developed North and underdeveloped South. These divisions precluded a sense of national identity and unity.
(iv) Italy also suffered repeated international reverses. Imperialistic adventures in Ethiopia had ended in disasterous defeat in 1896 at Adowa. Membership in the Triple Alliance had not been popular. Italy simply could not play the role of a great power in the early twentieth century.
World War I intensified these existing antagonisms while adding new problems. In fact, Italy emerged from the Great War torn by dissension.
b. Impact of World War I
Unlike other major powers in WWI, Italy did not suffer losses comparable to those of Italy, Germany, Russia, or England. The sacrifice, however, was monumental. Almost 500,000 Italians died in the conflict, though physical damage was limited. But the Great War created intractable new problems for Italy.
(i) Intervention Crisis. Italians had been divided about intervening in the conflict and remained neutral until 1915, when they were coaxed into the Allied camp by British and French offers of spoils at the cost of Austria. When promised spoils were not forthcoming, many Italians felt cheated. Much debate also ensued during and after the war about the importance of Italy's contributions to victory--which were limited.(ii) New economic Problems World War I unleashed massive inflation, and once it ended, large scale unemployment. Veterans returned not to a land fit for heroes, but to unemployment and discontent. Inflation jumped 50% between 1919-1921.
(iii) Failure of Parliamentary Government. Wartime tensions and demands exposed the shortcomings of Italy's parliamentary democracy. Government leadership, as before the war, inspired little confidence, remaining weak and passive in the face of mounting problems. (1) It was unable to normalize the economic situation at the end of the war as strikes, lock outs, and peasant land seizures increased. (2) It could not even maintain order in the streets. When strikers occupied the Alfa Romeo auto plant in Milan in 1920, the government stood helplessly by. When D'Annunzio, a flamboyant warrier poet, along with a rag tag band of followers occupied Fiume in Sept. 1919, the government again did nothing.
(iv) Political Power Vacuum and Socialist Danger
As a result of government inaction and incompetence, Italy entered a power vacuum. Political action was transferred increasingly to the streets as the prestige of parliamentary government rapidly declined. By 1920, Socialists seemed to be mounting the most concerted challenge for power amidst the political chaos. It appeared Italy might collapse into Bolshevism just like Russia in 1917. What was the evidence? (1) Socialists controlled one-half of all municipal governments in Italy. (2) Socialist party membership had surpassed 200,000. (3) The Socialists had support from trade unions, cooperative societies in the countryside.What most observers did not see was that the Bolshevik danger was illusionary. Why? (1) The Socialist Party in Italy, like socialist parties throughout Europe, had split into Moscow oriented communits and moderates. (2) The Socialist organizational structure was provincial and not national, which meant it was fragmented. (3) Socialist leaders were uncertain what to do.
By 1920, the Socialists had frittered away their advantage and began to lose ground. Their unorganized strikes paralyzed the country but evoked an increasingly hostile reaction. When they called a General Strike of all workers in August 1920, it turned out to be a flop, ignored by most workers. It rapidly became clear that the Socialist menace was vastly overrated. Just as the Socialist danger began to ebb, Mussolini and the Fascist Party marched onto the stage.
c. Origins and Growth of the Fascist Party(1) Centrality of Mussolini The Fascist Party originated with Benito Mussolini. Born in 1883 in the Romagna, known for its rebellious spirit, Mussolini was the son of a radical-socialist lower middle class craftsman. From his father he seems to have derived his hatred of the Italian monarchy, Catholic church, and privileged society. Poor but well educated, Mussolini was always a rebel. (At 11 he was expelled from school for stabbing another boy.) Despite volatile and sometimes violent outbursts and an unruly nature, he finally graduated at eighteen from a teacher training school (probably much like Appalachian was in the early days), having earned the highest grade in his final exams in literature, Italian, singing, and history.After a brief stint teaching, he became a radical agitator and something of a wanderer in Switzerland--to avoid the Italian draft. He returned to Italy in 1904, served his two years in the army, and then became a journalist. He slowly made a name for himself in Socialist circles with his powerful speaking and writing.
But Mussolini was never an orthodox Socialist. Rather he seemed guided by opportunism and his revolutionary impulses. "At no time in his live," says Ivone Kirkpatrick, " was he guided by well-defined principles.... he drifted on the current of events." In the years before World War I, Mussolini followed the Socialist cause because it seemed to be the growing political power. By 1912, he had become a major voice in the Socialist party, editing its party newspaper Avanti (Forwards). His advocacy of violent revolution often alienated fellow Socialists who could not see any impending revolution on the horizon. Thus before 1914, Mussolini believed in most of the Socialist creed, especially the revolutionary side. He was: (a) a draft dodger, (b) anti-nationalist, (c) anti-militarist, (d) anti-monarchist, (e) an internationalist.
Impact of WWI
World War I made a decisive and lasting impact on Mussolini. In what ways?
(1) It made him a nationalist. As WWI fanned the flames of nationalism in Italy, Mussolini recognized that the tide was moving in this direction. Therefore, after a painful reappraisal he broke with the Socialist Party to advocate Italian intervention in WWI on the side of the Allies. As a result, he was expelled from the Socialist Party and lost his editorship of Avanti. Mussolini did not abandon his revolutionary socialism, but he simply added a nationalist element. He was now a national socialist.
(2) Equipped him with new political tools. Mussolini volunteered for combat and was severely wounded in January 1917 during a training mission. He did see combat. The results of combat were to be important for him. It taught him to appreciate violence, see how to organize large projects, and convinced him of his own destiny for greatness.(2) Birth and Growth of the Fascist Party, 1919-1922
Mussolini was at loose ends by the end of World War I. But he was determined to change Italy. Thus on March 23, 1919, in Milan, he founded the Fascist Party. It's early membership came from a course amalgam of disenchanted nationalists, demobilized soldiers, a few rich intellectuals, some professional criminals, and a few others.
Early growth was capricious. Combining socialist with nationalism proved unsuccessful in Nov. 1919 elections in which the Fascists won no seats compared to the Socialist Party's 156. It was estimated that Mussolini's party had no more than 17,000 supporters.
What turned the tide? What made the Fascist Party into a major political force in Italy? Two things: the "mutilated victory", and the Bolshevik Danger.
(a) Mutilated Victory. This was the widespread belief that Italy had fought and sacrificed for Allied victory and then had been ignored at the Paris Peace Conference. It was also the idea that Italians had fought for their country only to come home to mass inflation, unemployment, and political chaos.
(b) Bolshevik Danger. Even though the Socialist threat was ebbing, there was widespread fear of a Bolshevik Revolution. The government seemed too weak to prevent it. The continuing strikes, radical rhetoric, and widespread disorders mentioned above frightened many.These two sources of discontent were ready made for Mussolini and the Fascists. Mussolini shrewdly made the Fascists into the protector of the nation against Bolshevism and national humiliation at the hands of the Allies. Mussolini was the only one who promised to preserve the status quo and prevent a Bolshevik Revolution. Four important groups were attracted to the Fascist Party by this program: wealthy landowners and industrialists worried about their property; nationalists who felt Italy had been cheated out of its wartime spoils; war veterans who returned from service and sacrifice to find only unemployment and political disorder; and the army, which feared the Socialists would dismantle the army.
As the defender of the status quo, Mussolini's Fascist Party grew quickly. In 1920, party membership surpassed 30,000; in 1921 it was over 100,000. By October 1922, when the March on Rome occurred, it had grown to 300,000. But as the membership skyrocketed, Mussolini was faced with new problems of controlling this unruly populist movement. He tried with modest success to build up a party organization, but he also realized that the tide could turn as quickly against his party as it had against the Socialist. Thus he decided that he had to embark on a revolutionary coup d'etat to keep momentum going.
(3) March on Rome (Oct. 27, 1922) During the summer of 1922, plans were laid to overthrow the Italian government. Orders went out for all "Blackshirts " or Squadristi as they were called, the paramilitary thugs of the party, to move to Rome on Oct. 27, to restore order in Italy.
Meanwhile, Mussolini himself took a train to Milan, near the Swiss border, just in case things did not work out. But the only possible resistance evaporated when King Victor Emanual III lost his nerve and refused to sign a declaration of marshal law, and agreed to appoint Mussolini premier. Mussolini left Milan for Rome on Oct. 30, 1922, to be sworn in as the head of the Italian government.
So why did Mussolini gain power?
(1) failure of Italy's parliamentary democracy
(2) Fascist assumption of the mantel for fighting Bolshevism, reviving nationalism, and restoring order.
(3) Blackshirt or Squadristi terror that intimidated enemies of Fascism. It was never rampant, but just enough to keep Italians edgy and on guard
(4) Connivance of upper aristocracy and elites
(5) Weakness of organized labor, Socialism, and other groups that could have opposed the Fascists.d. Consolidation of Fascist Power, 1922-1928
(1) Legally, 1922-24.e. Character of FascismInitially, Mussolini portrayed his government as constitutional and moderate. The Fascists did not have a majority in parliament and simply cobbled together a large number of parties in a coalition. To demonstrate his conventionality, Mussolini took lessons in deportment and protocol, and began wearing diplomatic attire on ceremonial occasions. He appointed economic liberals to the Finance Ministry and promised to balance the budget. Mussolini also picked moderates and liberals for his cabinet. Parliamentary procedures were continued as in the past. Mussolini also restored order in the streets as promised--easily done because most of the disorder had been created by the Fascists. The new Premier impressed Italians also with new public works projects, educational reforms, and making the trains run on time.
Nevertheless, Mussolini was also slowly consolidating his power by legal means. (1) The Blackshirt toughs, responsible for so much of the violence and disorder before 1922, were transformed into a state militia under Mussolini's control (similar to what Hitler did in Germany with the SS)
(2) Fascists were appointed to more and more government and non-government leadership roles.
(3) The 1924 elections were rigged to ensure a Fascist parliamentary majority. (This was accomplished with the Acerbo Election Law pushed through parliament by Mussolini. It provided that any political party that received one-quarter of the votes in the election would automatically received two-thirds of the seats in Parliament. The Fascists emerged triumphant.)(2) Illegally, 1924-28
Beginning in 1924, Mussolini began to depart from legal means. It was the only way Mussolini could keep control of both the country and the still volatile Fascist Party, which threatened leap into a more radical "second revolution." Following the assassination of Socialist leader Matteotti (June 10, 1924) by upstart renegade Fascists, Mussolini began to crack down. (1) Press freedom was destroyed. (2) Parliament's powers were destroyed. (3) Non-Fascists were eliminated from the cabinet. (4) Opposition parties were barred from Parliament. (5) A secret police was created. (6) Non-governmental agencies like trade unions were taken over by the Fascists. (7) The Electoral system was overhauled so that no other party could nominate candidates for Parliament. (8) Economic life of the country was brought under control of state-sponsored corporations.
Thus by 1928 Mussolini's control was almost complete. Elections that year allowed voters to vote for only one list, the Fascist List. Yet this consolidation of power was accomplished within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. Italy was still a monarchy under King Victor Emanuel III, the legislature still existed, and elections had been held.
(i) Mussolini's IdeologyMussolini's ideology always remained inconsistent, unclear, and sometimes contradictory. His radical socialist beginnings and militant nationalism created confusion. Once in power, however, proclaiming a creed became increasingly important for the regime. After a few feeble attempts to define Fascism in the late 1920s, Mussolini (with the help of a party ideologue named Gioletti) wrote an article in 1932 for the Italian Encyclopedia outlining the Fascist Party's ideology. A copy of the full article is on our web site. What are the main themes?
(a) Rejection of progressive/rationalist ideologies of the West (liberalism, socialism, rationalism, pacifism, democracy, equality-- the bases of 19th-century liberal Europe)
(b) Rejection of reactionary ideologies (absolutism, feudalism, church domination) Thus Fascism was not interested in going back to an earlier, conservative order dominated by aristocrats or the church)
(c) Embrace of a New Vision of Reality (rooted in Social Darwinism, providing a third way between socialism and capitalism, establishing the absolute authority of the state under one party, national regeneration, imperial expansion, a new activism, subordination of the individual to the state, and emphases on the leader.)Like many other dictators, Mussolini relied on this ideology when convenient and when it did not interfere with his grip on power.
ii. Popularity of Fascism
Mussolini's reign proved popular at several points. Initially, his ability to establish order, prevent a Bolshevik revolution, launch new public works projects, and make the trains run on time generated widespread popularity. There were several other initiatives that found widespread approval or recognition.
(1) Lateran Treaty (1929) Mussolini's most popular action by far came with the signing of the Lateran Treaty with the Vatican. This finally resolved the dispute with the Catholic Church that had simmered ever since 1871 when the Italian government seized all the Church's land except the Vatican. The treaty provided formal political independence and formal sovereignty over the Vatican for the Catholic Church. The Vatican, about 114 acres in the center of Rome, could now issue its own stamps, maintain its own radio station, have its own diplomats and act as an independent state. In addition, the Church was given increased influence in primary and secondary schools and marriages. Religious instruction was not compulsory in schools, and religious marriages were granted civil recognition. Finally, the Papacy accepted $92,000,000 from the Italian government as settlement for lands lost in 1971. In return, the Catholic Church agreed to recognize the Kingdom of Italy under the House of Savoy with Rome as its capitol. This agreement now made it possible to be both a good Catholic and a good Italian patriot. It was Mussolini's most popular accomplishment.
(2) Public Works Projects. Mussolini was a superb publicist and was repeatedly able to showcase projects to clear swamps, increase grain production, introduce educational reforms, and get the trains running on time. What outsiders did not see was the additional inflation generated by these highly touted public works projects or the increased price of grain created by attempts to make Italy self-sufficient in food. In spite of all the publicity for the new Italy, the standard of living for most Italians actually declined, and social services were severely curtailed.
(3) Corporatism. Pragmatic liberals and the American press were also impressed with Fascist Italy's new economic organization labeled Corporatism. Admirers saw this as a revolutionary alternative to liberal and socialist economic systems that seemed so imperfect in the wake of World War I. Most historians have paid little attention to this side of Fascism.
Ideally, the corporate state was to be a vehicle whereby class distinctions and privileges could be eliminated and the entire economy modernized. The concept was taken in part from the syndicalism and socialism of Mussolini's early years. It would function by creating corporations in each important branch of the economy in which both labor and capitalist owners would be represented along with experts from government. The advantages would be face to face meetings, friendlier relations, greater harmony, more concern for the general good, and a sense of national commitment. Corporatism would overcome class conflict with class collaboration.
The first Corporations were created in 1926. Corporatist reality proved much different than the ideal proclaimed by Mussolini. (1) Corporations in fact enjoyed little real authority and no autonomy. Government agents formulated policy and labor and business representatives simply gave advice. (2) Corporations did not overcome class conflict as promised either. They tended to favor business at the expense of labor. Trade unions were abolished but business cartels were permitted to continue. Workers gradually lost their right to organize, the eight-hour day, and protection of a minimum wage. The reality of this economic experiment disappointed Fascist party members who saw this as the "second revolution". But by the early 1930s there was little that these radical Facsists could do; power had been too centralized in Mussolini's hands to permit any challenge to his economic and social policies.
iii. Nature of Fascist CultureFascist culture reveals a great deal about the Italian dictatorship: contradictions, revolutionary impulses, traditionalism, state control. Mussolini used culture to define the nature of Fascism and to create a New Man and a new society. He was never as tight-fisted in controlling culture as Hitler in Nazi Germany, but he used state patronage and control to support what he saw as a new Italian culture. This was a cultural community united behind the Fascist state and both preserving traditional forms of expression and opening the door to new forms of expression like Futurism. Mussolini seemed to view culture as a vehicle for both preserving the past and creating a new future--which sounds contradictory. His efforts proved no more successful in the cultural realm than they did in economics or ideology. When forced to choose, Mussolini always opted for state control over individual creativity. Dictators can't afford to allow individual expression in culture for fear that it will encourage individual expression and action in political or social affairs.iv. Fascism in the 1930s
While brutal, Fascism nevertheless lacked the utter ruthlessness of German Nazism. (1) Opponents were sent into exile not to concentration camps. (2) Censorship did not prevent all criticism of the regime. (3) The Catholic Church's position was respected and no attempt was made to formulate a new religion. (4) The Italian monarchy was retained, meaning that Mussolini was always subordinate to the King (symbolically). (4) Finally, Italians lacked the martial spirit of Germans. The could never be disciplined in the way the Germans submitted to discipline. Italians had refused to pay taxes before Mussolini and they continued to avoid taxes under Fascism.As a result, Mussolini could never impose his will upon Italy as effectively as Hitler. The limited bureaucratic infrastructure and economic underdevelopment also meant that the modern tools of enforcement were not available either.
Gradually, Italians began to tire of Mussolini and Fascism. Why? (1) Persistent economic problems were unresolved. Unemployment, declining wages, higher prices all made like worse, not better. (2) Mussolini's growing friendship with Hitler proved widely unpopular. It was seem by many as imitating the Nazi leader. (a) Italians didn't like new German methods like the military goose step. (b) The introduction of anti-Semitic legislation in 1938 alienated many Italians, including the king, Catholic Church, and many intellectuals. (There had been little racial anti-Semitism in Italy before Mussolini, though religious anti-Semitism had long been practiced by the Catholic Church. Some nationalists had spoken out against the small Jewish minority of 50,000 as not being Italian. But the decision to persecute the Jews was Mussolini's. Personal attitudes were less important than the Ethopian War of 1935 which strengthened Mussolini's desire to develop an idea of racial superiority over Africans and Jews just as earlier imperialist powers had done. Mussolini also saw anti-Semitism as a way to strengthen Italy's union with Nazi Germany.)
Ocassionally, Mussolini's popularity rose as during the Ethopian Crisis or during the Czech Crisis of 1938 when he mediated a settlement that seemed to avert war. But Mussolini's failure to embue Italy with Fascist dedication and discipline allowed Italians to slip into indifference about the regime. One indication of this indifference was Italy's delay in entering World War II. Most Italians welcomed this situation and did not cheer news of Italy's attack on France in June of 1940, even though prospects were good for acquiring new territory. That Mussolini was ultimately overthrown in 1943 by Italians also indicated how superficial his grip on power had been.
4. Impact of Fascism on Italy and EuropeFascism produced a number of lasting impacts on Italy and Europe.
(a) It led to the collapse of the Italian monarchy and the establishment of the Italian Republic (1946) The House of Savoy had collaborated with Mussolini and as a result lost credibility.
(b) Mussolini's failure discredited Fascism in Italy. As a result, Italians have preferred political chaos over strong man government.
(c) Economically, Fascism left Italian industry more highly organized and used to state support than ever before. This proved advantageous in the postwar economic reconstruction of Europe. Some of the actions taken during the Fascist era set the stage for Italy's emergence as a modern industrial power.
(d) In the end, though, Italian Facism failed to revolutionize, modernize, or elevate Italy into the front ranks of European affairs. The cost to Italy has been enormous and is still being exacted.