1. Fascism in Italy

2. Rise of Mussolini
Italy was in disorder after World War I; the government couldn’t fix the crisis
In 1919, Benito Mussolini organized veterans and other discontented Italians into the Fascist party
Fasces is a Latin word for a bundle of sticks wrapped around an ax, the symbol of authority in ancient Rome

3. Rise of Mussolini
Mussolini organized his supporters into black-shirted “combat squads” who broke up socialist rallies, smashed leftist presses, and attacked farmer’s cooperatives
In 1922, the Fascists made a bid for power, demanded the government make changes. Fearing civil war, King Victor Emmanuel III asked Mussolini to form a government as prime minister

4. Mussolini’s Italy
By 1925, Mussolini assumed more power and taken the title Il Duce “The Leader”
Critics were thrown into prison, exiled, or murdered
The secret police and propaganda helped spread Fascism
Mussolini brought the economy under state control
Not socialism, he preserved capitalism through a “corporate state”
Representatives of business, labor, government, and the Fascist party controlled industry, agriculture, and trade

5. Mussolini’s Italy
To Fascists, the individual was less important than the state
Mussolini called on women to “win the battle of motherhood”
Fascist youth groups toughened children and taught them strict military discipline

6. Fascism
No “real” definition for fascism because there is no single unifying set of beliefs
Authoritarian government that is NOT communist
Rooted in extreme nationalism
Glorified blind loyalty to the state
Anti-democratic
Pursued aggressive foreign expansion
Enemies of socialists and communists

7. Fascism In compared to Stalin’s Soviet Union and Hitler’s Germany:
A single-party dictatorship
State control of the economy
Use of police spies and terror
Strict censorship
Use of schools and the media to mobilize citizens
Unquestioning obedience to a single leader
Why fascism in Italy?
Promised order in a time of uncertainty
Revived national pride