1. Italian Fascism

2. A Definition of Fascism
Fascism is the totalitarian philosophy of government that glorifies the state and nation and assigns to the state control over every aspect of national life.
The State not only is authority which governs and molds individual will with laws and values of spiritual life, but it is also power which makes its will prevail abroad….For the Fascist, everything is within the State and…neither individuals nor groups are outside the State...For Fascism, the State is an absolute, before which individuals or groups are only relative….Liberalism denied the State in the name of the individual; Fascism reasserts the rights of the State as expressing the real essence of the individual Enciclopedia Italiana, 1932

3. The Characteristics of Fascism

4. Characteristics of Fascism
Ideology
Nationalism is most important form of loyalty
Subordination of the State
Glorification of Force
Individuals mean nothing
To believe, obey and fight
Myth of Rebirth
National rebirth after decline
Spiritual Revolution
Purge ‘aliens’ for unifying cause
Militarism
Sexism
Disdain for Human Rights
Religion & Government are Intertwined
Used religion as a tool to manipulate
Jews are the enemy
Disdain for Intellectuals & the arts
Fraudulent Elections
Control of Mass Media
Labor Power is suppressed

5. Totalitarianism on the Rise
Fascism
Middle-class oriented
Pro-Business
Anti-communist
Anti-democratic
Violence prone
Strength of government against enemies of the state
Work camps established for undesirables
Control over every aspect of people’s lives
Xenophobic
Communism
Working-class oriented
Pro-worker
Anti-capitalist
Anti-democratic
Violence prone
Strength of government against enemies of the State
Work camps established for Undesirables
Control over every aspect of people’s lives

6. The Rise of Mussolini

7. Immediate Post-WW I Italy
Fascism was a product of anxiety and fear among the middle class
Economic Distress
Weak Government
Fear of Communism & Socialism
Lack of democratic tradition
Appeal to Nationalism
A feeling of national shame and humiliation at Italy’s poor treatment by the others

8. Immediate Post-WW I Italy
In 1920, the Italian Socialist Party organized militant strikes in northern industrial cities.
In response  fascist group “Black Shirts” [squadristi] attacked the Socialists.
Mussolini will use them as
well!

9. Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) Believed:
By 1909, he was convinced that a national revolution was necessary.
The war was a turning point for Italy.
The returning soldiers would form a new elite state which would transform Italian politics and society!

10. Mussolini Comes to Power
1921 election  Fascists won only a small number of seats in Parliament.
October, 1922  Mussolini threatened a coup d’etat.
“March on Rome”  25,000 Black Shirts staged demonstrations.
King Victor Emmanuel III forced to name him premier.

11. Mussolini Forms a Government
1925  Mussolini seized dictatorial powers during a political crisis.
New laws passed to create a single-party state:
Political parties & trade unions were abolished.
Freedom of the press gone.
Special courts created to persecute political opposition.
Secret police created (OVRA)

12. The Lateran Accords (1929)
Settled dispute over the Church’s role in Italian politics
Terms:
The Papacy was granted sovereignty over Vatican City.
The Papacy was guaranteed Roman Catholicism as the sole state religion throughout Italy.
The Papacy accepted Italian sovereignty over the former Papal States.

13. The Lateran Treaty

14. Italian Fascist Propaganda

15. The Fascists encouraged the development of large families.
The Fascist Family
The Fascists encouraged the development of large families.

16. Education
The first sentence pronounced by children at school was Let us salute the flag in the Roman fashion; hail to Italy; hail to Mussolini.
Textbooks emphasized:
The glorious past of the ancient Romans.
The imperial destiny that awaited Italy’s future development.

17. Emphasis on Physical Fitness

18. Anti-Semitism 50,000 Jews lived in Italy in the 1930s.
Mussolini did NOT implement an extermination program.
75% of Italian Jews survived World War II.
8,000 died in German extermination camps.
1938 anti-Semitic laws passed
Manifesto degli Scienziati Razzisti [The Manifesto of the Racist Scientists].
Excluded foreign Jews [most of them were sent to German death camps].
Forbade Jews from teaching.
Excluded Jews from serving in government or military.

19. Mussolini Was Hitler’s Role Model