1. MASS CULTURE AND THE RISE OF MODERN DICTATORS

2. CULTURE FOR THE MASSES Wartime boost for mass media tools Public craving for news & non-fiction stories Thirst for practical knowledge and upward mobility Night schools

3. 1920s FILMMAKING Thriving international business Film industry specialization Vertical integration Star system

4. FILMS AND THE COMMUNIST UTOPIA Promising a shining future Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948) Potemkin (1925) Government-subsidized documentaries Death of Lenin (1924) NEP (1921-1928) – temporary compromise with capitalist methods Commanding Heights of the Economy

8. FASCISM ON THE MARCH IN ITALY Political chaos and postwar discontent Devastating human loss (5,1%) combined with inflationary pressures and unemployment Mutilated Victory: anger at Versailles Treaty Slump of the early 1920s

9. THE RED TWO YEARS (biennio rosso) Italy paralyzed by a wave of strikes and workers’ occupations of factories Disturbances began with food riots in Central and Northern Italy – June 1919 Factory workers demanded setting up of factory councils – Socialists hopelessly divided

10. FEAR OF BOLSHEVISM Propertied classes feared that Italy was turning Bolshevik Government perceived to be abetting and not resisting revolution Great Expectations….General strike in Turin (April 1920), army mutiny in Ancona (June 1920), land occupations in the South (Fall 1920)

11. FASCIST SQUADS Early Fascism: a movement? A party? From the start nationalistic and imperialistic Stood for a revision of the peace settlement -- issue of Fiume Dressed in black, driving around in lorries Behaving like bullies

14. BENITO MUSSOLUNI (1883-1945) Son of a Socialist blacksmith and a devout Catholic teacher Gift as a polemical writer during WWI March 1919 founded “Fasci di Combattimento” against traditional parties Program drew from both Left and the Rights of Italian politics: 8-Hour working day, minimum wage, nationalistic rethoric

15. MUSSOLINI TACTICS AND STRATEGY Revolution or Counter-Revolution? Mussolini spoke in imprecise terms about synthesis between free-market and a new form of working-class organizations Blended the threat of violence with the promise of moderation and stability

16. MARCH ON ROME 1922 30,000 marched on Rome – motley collection of uniforms and headgear Myth that 3,000 died Mussolini arrived by train – confirmed PM by King Victor E. III Mussolini and Parliament: Acerbo Law of 1923

17. TOTALITARIAN STATE All-embracing conception of politics “Everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state” Legal system: freedom of expression and associations destroyed Labor relations: Corporations Public work schemes – massive propaganda campaigns

18. MUSSOLINI MYTHMAKING Mussolini “The Man” Exercise vs. frailty (ulcers) Mussolini “The Father” Obedient wife and 5 children Mussolini “The Leader” 18 hour-working day, voracious reading of newspapers, playing the violin, and watching favorite films

19. ITALIAN SOCIETY Winning over Italy’s Youth “Believe, obey, Fight” Women under Fascism Medical care Dopolavoro Leisure, concerts The Ethiopian War 1935-1936