Introduction

Mussolini's fascist state was established more than a decade before Hitler's rise to power. It was a reaction to both the apparent failure of liberal democracy and fear of communism. In this topic, you will consider why and how fascism was able to exploit the situation to win over a large proportion of the Italian population.

Overview

Fascism was a product of a general feeling of anxiety and fear among the middle class of post-war Italy. This fear arose from a convergence of interrelated economic, political, and cultural pressures. Under the banner of this authoritarian and nationalistic ideology, Mussolini was able to exploit fears regarding the survival of capitalism. These were caused by the post-war depression, the rise of a more militant left, and a feeling of national shame and humiliation Italy's 'mutilated victory' at the World War I peace treaties. In addition, democratic institutions had never become firmly rooted in the young nation-state.

This same post-war depression increased the appeal of Marxism among the urban. This created a fear of the growing strength of trade unionism, communism, and socialism among the elite and the middle class. Benito Mussolini and fascism emerged as a ‘third way’: the alternative to both the 'weak' Italian liberalism, and communist revolution.

In March 1919, Mussolini, a former soldier, socialist and journalist, formed the Fascist Party in Milan. The party had some socialist and nationalist aims and its symbol, the fasces, had links to the Roman Empire. Mussolini started to win support for his new movement by exploiting the failures of the Italian government to solve the problems facing Italy after 1919, as well as the popular outrage over the ‘mutilated victory’. By 1920, support for fascism was growing and Fascist squads were fighting the socialist threat directly. Fascism began shifting to the right and by 1921 its political aims were mainly nationalist. In the 1921 elections, Giolitti added the Fascists to the list of pro-government parties, giving them respectability and 35 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

By 1922 the appeal of fascism was attracting more support from all sections of society across Italy. Mussolini had now emerged as a popular political leader who would do anything to win power in Italy, and his party claimed to have over 250,000 members. Many of the traditional elites in Italy such as the Church welcomed Mussolini’s promises to deal with the left and solve the ‘Roman Question’. Even the King was moving towards favouring Mussolini as a possible long-term solution to Italy’s political problems and weaknesses. In his 1990 article, ‘Sleeping Car to Power’, Dennis Mack Smith described the broad appeal of Mussolini’s Fascist Party: ‘Fascism had elements of both [the left and right] … It was revolutionary, but could also sometimes claim to be conservative. It was Monarchist but also republican, at different times. It was Catholic, but also anti-clerical; it claimed to be Socialist, but could also be strongly Capitalist whenever it suited the Duce to be so. Fascism was not a doctrine, not ideas, not ideology, but was really a means for winning power by a single man’.

Read and Make Notes

Read pages 118 to 121 in European Dictatorships 1918-1945 and carefully make notes on the topic.

Tasks

Answer the following questions:

1. What were the elements of fascism?
2. In what sense was it a ‘third way’?
3. What was its appeal?

Use the following resource to expand your answers:

READ – Origins of the Fascist Party (PDF)

Watch

Now watch the following video:

WATCH – Fascism and Mussolini (Khan Academy)

Consolidate

Based on the video and your notes, create a mind map covering the key features of the appeal of fascism.

Terminology

Write definitions of fascism, communism, socialism and nationalism.
Make sure you understand all the key terms covered in this topic. You may like to make flashcards of key terms now, to help you with revision later on.

Stretch Activity

Read this resource and answer the question that follows:

READ – Fascism and the Radical Right (International Encyclopedia of the First World War)

How did the experience of war strengthen the extreme right in Italy?