FASCISM IN ITALY

FASCISM IN ITALY

                            

Causes:

·         Discontentment after the Treaty of Versailles:

Italy joined the Allies in the First World War to gain territories of Turkey and Germany. But by the Treaty of Versailles she could get only Southern Tyrol and Trentino, and the coastal region of Dalmatia. She could get no part of the German and Turkish colonial empires.

·         Economic Crisis:

        Italy suffered heavy losses in terms of life and property in the First World War. After the war many soldiers became unemployed Trade and commerce were ruined leading to large scale unemployment. There was shortage of food grains.

·         Political Instability:

Democracy was introduced for the First time in Italy in 1919. Elections failed to give a clear majority to a single party. As a result, there was complete instability in the country and between 1919 and 1922 six coalition governments have been formed. The various political parties have their own policies and programmes and there is no continuity in their policies. They were unable to deal effectively with the problems of unemployment strikes and riots that took place from 1921-1922. This situation was fully exploited by the Fascists under the leadership of Mussolini, who gave the people the idea of having a strong national government.

·         Threat of Socialism or Communism:

The Socialists which included the Anarchists, Social Democrats and The Communists created conditions conducive for the growth of Fascism in Italy. Inspired by the Russian revolution, the Communists inflame the atmosphere with Revolutionary ideas. Peasants took away lands from their landlords; workmen introduced strikes, damaged machines and took hold of the factories. Communists began to organize new movements for capturing power. People wanted a strong central government, a powerful leadership who would establish peace and prosperity by ending lawlessness and insecurity prevalent in Italy. The industrialists saw the growing strength of the Labor Unions with alarm and provided Financial Support to Fascism.

·         Leadership provided by Mussolini:

Mussolini played an important role in the history of Italy. He had a charismatic personality. His speeches praised the past glories of Italy and won the faith of his countrymen. Mussolini was called “Duce” which means the Leader.

RISE OF FASCISM

The first successful Fascist takeover was in Italy under Benito Mussolini. He was born in 1886 in the rough hill country of North Central Italy. His mother was a devout Catholic and schoolteacher, while his father was an atheist and anarchist who liked to smash ballot boxes on Election Day. Benito himself was a troublemaker who had a bad habit of knifing his classmates. As a young adult, he fled to Switzerland to avoid the draft and was converted to socialism there. In 1904, he returned to Italy and served his time in the army in return for a pardon. He then became the editor of several socialist newspapers in which he advocated both political assassination and pacifist resistance to a war with Turkey, calling the national flag a rag fit to be planted on a dung heap. When World War I broke out, he first advocated neutrality, and then, probably after accepting French bribes, called for Italian involvement on the Allied side.

Italy made a poor showing in the war and paid a heavy price for it. Government expenditure during the war was twice its expenditure for the whole period 1861-1913. As a result the economy was in shambles and the country was plagued with unemployment, inflation, riots, strikes, and brigandage. It was then that Mussolini first joined and soon became leader of the Fascist Party, which stood for upholding claims of veterans and the nationalist interests of Italy while crushing any anarchist elements in the country. Ironically, the Fascists did more to promote anarchy than anyone else in Italy at that time. Mussolini would send out his gangs of thugs, the Blackshirts, to riot against Communists and other groups while claiming his men were protecting the peace.

Oddly enough, Mussolini's strategy of spreading chaos in the streets while posing as the champion of law and order who could save Italy started paying off. Even without the Blackshirts' antics, Italy needed law and order, and many people, especially the middle class who feared the Communists, looked to the Fascists as the answer to Italy's problems. In October 1922, they made their move.

It was actually the local party bosses who started a series of riots that stormed various city halls and forced concessions from local governments. This encouraged them to march on Rome and seize control of the national government. Benito himself was hesitant to take part, but when the Ras went ahead without him and it looked as if they might succeed, he put himself at the head of the march as if it were his idea all along. The march itself was a fiasco, getting bogged down in a massive traffic jam, but it scared the government enough to offer Benito the power to form a new government, which he did with typical bombast and bluster. Then, through intimidation and rigged elections, Benito tightened his grip on Italy. He bullied the Italian Parliament into giving him emergency powers that allowed him to shut down other parties, censor the press, and end other civil liberties. By 1925, Italy was a fascist dictatorship.

The riots and strikes did settle down after Mussolini took power, but little else went right for Italy and the Fascists. Mussolini claimed he made the trains run on time, but that was a gross exaggeration, as was just about every other claim he made. He did try to build up Italy's aircraft, shipping and power industries, but the Depression and Italy's lack of natural resources, along with poor planning and corruption, severely limited any economic progress. Mussolini's big dream was to make Italy a major power, thus reviving the Roman Empire. Here again, little progress was made, although Benito made wildly inflated claims about Italy's military strength.

Whatever his failures as a national leader, Mussolini appeared to be a shining example of Fascist strength when compared to the more timid democracies in Europe, and was a hero to other aspiring Fascist leaders of the day. Among these was a struggling German politician by the name of Adolph Hitler.

IMPACT OF FASCISM

1.       Mussolini devoted himself to make Italy a strong nation and carried out administrative and economic reforms. He took measures to stall the further devaluation of the Italian currency. He set up hydro-electric power plants to overcome the shortage of coal. He brought more lands under cultivation and tried to improve and expand the transport system.

2.       A number of measures were taken to reduce unemployment. All factories and mills were nationalized to improve the lot of workers. Various syndicates were established to improve relation between capitalists and the working class. Mussolini started an impressive public works programme which included the building of roads, canals, bridges, schools and hospitals.

3.       All efforts were undertaken to eradicate illiteracy to make elaborate provisions for education. Many new schools, libraries and colleges were set up.

4.       Various steps were taken to increase the military might of the country. Military training was made compulsory and efforts were made to increase the naval power of Italy to match the navy of France and Germany.

5.       A Pact (Treaty of Lateran) was made with the Pope by Mussolini in 1929. By this pact the Pope agreed to accept a subordinate position to Mussolini and recognize the Italian government over Rome. In return the Pope was permitted to keep in possession of the Vatican and the St. Peter’s Cathedral. Under the pact, the Fascists recognized the Roman Catholic religion and the State Religion.

6.       Mussolini embarked upon an aggressive foreign policy to revive the past glories of the Roman Empire top make Italy a great nation.

7.       Besides these positive aspects, there were many negative effects of Fascism in Italy. All efforts were made to curb political freedom. After gaining power, Mussolini became a dictator and took all military and civil powers into his own hands. All political parties except the fascists were banned. The system of Jury was abolished and special courts were set up where Fascist military and civil officers were empowered to decide political cases. Press was censored. The Freedom of Speech and organizing meetings were prohibited. Mussolini crushed his opponents brutally.