FASCISM IN ITALY
Mussolini's
Fascist Party became popular in Italy after the First
World War.
Italy had suffered badly during
the war - 460,000 soldiers were killed and the country was heavily in
debt. The Italian army had been heavily defeated and had only won its
first major victory at Vittorio Veneto in October 1918.
Italy had been promised extra land by Britain and France
during the war, but when the war ended it was not handed over. This
made it look as if the Italian Government had been ignored.
The governments after the war were weak. They were coalitions
(made up of more than one party) and were not able to take decisions.
There was rising unemployment and this led to unrest
in many cities and many people began to support the Communists.
Mussolini set up the Fascist Party and posed as a strong
man who could sort out Italy's problems. He promised to rebuild Italy
and recreate the Roman Empire.
Mussolini organised armed gangs, called the Blackshirts,
who dealt with troublemakers and criminals. They also broke up strikes.
In some cities, Bologna for example, the Fascists were the police force.
Mussolini's newspaper, "Il Popolo d'Italia",
spread his ideas. As unemployment grew and people became more desperate,
they turned to Mussolini to solve Italy's problems.
In October 1922 Mussolini threatened to march on Rome
if he was not appointed prime minister. The king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel
III, who supported Mussolini, refused to back the existing government
and invited him to become prime minister.
Once he was prime minister, Mussolini persuaded the king
to allow him to rule as a dictator for one year and then passed the
Acerbo Law. This stated that whichever party won the next general election
would receive two-thirds of the seats in parliament.
In April 1924 the Fascists won 60% of the votes and gained
375 seats out of 535. When a leader of the Socialist party, Giacomo
Matteotti, spoke out against the Fascists he was kidnapped and found
murdered. Mussolini was not involved, but it was a warning for the future.
In the next few years Mussolini set up a secret police
force, the OVRA, and built concentration camps on the Lipari Islands
for his opponents.
In what ways Mussolini changed Italy.
Mussolini was the first of
the Dictators who came to power in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. Most
of the others copied his ideas, but also avoided his mistakes:
All political parties, except for the Fascists, were
banned, and trade unions were almost made illegal. Instead workers and
employers were made to join "Corporations", which were intended
to sort out differences between them.
Newspapers and books were censored.
Education was controlled, and all schoolbooks were rewritten.
1922 was renamed the Year One. Boys were expected to become soldiers
and all children were encouraged to join the Balilla - an organisation
which trained them to be good fascists.
Women were discouraged from working, horse-riding, and
wearing trousers. Instead, they were encouraged to stay at home and
have as many children as possible.
Mussolini began a series of schemes to improve the Italian
economy; he called these the "Battles". He tried to make Italy
self-sufficient in food and to increase the Italian population - farmers
were encouraged to grow more wheat (the Battle for Grain), families
were encouraged to have more children (the Battle for Births), and land
for agriculture (the Battle for Land) was reclaimed.
Mussolini began to build motorways (autostrada) to provide
work for Italians during the Depression. He also built new public buildings
and claimed that he "made the railways run on time". He began
to build a new city "Mussolinia" in southern Italy as part
of the "Battle of the Southern Problem", which was intended
to make southern Italy more prosperous.
In 1929 Mussolini even managed to make an agreement with
the Pope called the Lateran Treaties. This settled an argument between
the Italian Government and the Pope that had been going on for nearly
sixty years. The Pope agreed to accept the Fascists and Mussolini agreed
that the Catholic religion would be taught in every Italian school.
He also promised to pay the salaries of Catholic priests and set up
the Vatican City in Rome. This convinced many Italians that they should
support Mussolini.
At first Mussolini was very popular. In the 1920s Italy appeared to
be becoming more prosperous and more powerful. Many Italians found work
in the industries that Mussolini set up and Italy seemed to be recovering
from the effects of the First World War. But in the 1930s Mussolini
began to become less popular in Italy.
Why Mussolini became unpopular.
Mussolini tried to build up
a picture of himself as a superman. He had photographs taken of himself
flying an aeroplane, driving a racing car, playing the violin, winning
a chess game, and even jogging. Unfortunately, many of these photographs
were faked and Italians began to realise that many of Mussolini's claims
were not true.
Many of Mussolini's plans were not well thought out and
failed. The Italian population actually fell, and while he grew more
wheat, there was less olive oil and fruits - which were important exports.
Although he tried to build the new city in southern Italy called Mussolinia,
only a few foundations were finished. If his plans did not work quickly,
Mussolini usually gave up.
Most Italians found themselves getting worse off by the
early 1930s. Mussolini's attempts to make Italy self-sufficient made
most things more expensive. Wages did not go up as quickly as prices.
From 1935 Mussolini came more and more under the influence
of Hitler - before that Hitler had been the follower and Mussolini the
leader. Many Italians did not like this. When Mussolini tried to begin
persecuting Jews, most Italians refused.
To try to regain popularity Mussolini began to build an empire. He invaded
Abyssinia in 1935. The Abyssinians did not have a modern army and it
was an easy victory. It made Mussolini popular for a time, but it also
meant that he became even more under the influence of Hitler. In 1936
they signed the Rome-Berlin Axis.
Mussolini declared war on Britain and France in 1940, but the Italian
armed forces were not very successful. He tried to invade North Africa
and Yugoslavia, but each time his army had to be rescued by the Germans.
In 1943 the Allies invaded Italy and Mussolini was overthrown. He was
rescued by German paratroopers, but at the end of the war he was caught
trying to escape in April 1945 and shot by Italian resistance fighters.
His body was hung upside down in the street.
Summary
In 1918 Benito Mussolini was
one of thousands of Italian soldiers who had returned from the fighting
during the First World War. In October 1922 he became prime minister
of Italy, and from 1925 ruled as a dictator.
Answer !
Why did
Mussolini's Fascist Party become popular in Italy after the First World
War?
In what
ways did Mussolini change Italy?
Why did
Mussolini become unpopular?
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