. German
, under Adolf Hitler, was inspired by Italian Fascism but only came to power ten years later in 1933. Similar movements appeared throughout the world including
. Although
, strictly speaking, refers only to Italian fascism, the word is often used to describe similar ideologies and movements. Italian Fascism is often considered to be a proper noun and thus denoted by a capital letter "F", whereas generic fascism is conventionally represented with the lower-case character "f". Italian Fascism is considered a model for other forms of fascism, yet there is disagreement over which aspects of structure, tactics, culture, and ideology represent a "fascist minimum" or core.
. This encyclical addressed politics as it had been transformed by the
, and other changes in society that had occurred during the nineteenth century. The document criticized capitalism, complaining of the exploitation of the masses in industry. However, it also sharply criticized the Marxist concept of
, and the proposed socialist solution to exploitation (the elimination, or at least the limitation, of private property).
called for strong governments to undertake a mission to protect their people from exploitation, while continuing to uphold private property and reject socialism. It also asked
to apply principles of social justice in their own lives.
Seeking to find some principle to compete with and replace the Marxist doctrine of
. Its analogy of the state as being like a body working together as "one mind" had some cultural influence on the early Fascists of Catholic nations. It also indicated the state had a right to suppress "firebrands" and striking workers. Further
that resembled medieval guilds for an industrial age. This relates far more directly to
form of Fascism than anything in Italy. The encyclical intended to counteract the "subversive nature" of both
.
can also be found in the ideology of fascism as developed by Mussolini. Although it also contains ideas like "the members of the working classes are citizens by nature and by the same right as the rich" or "the State has for its office to protect natural rights, not to destroy them; and, if it forbid its citizens to form associations, it contradicts the very principle of its own existence," that never fit easily with Italian Fascism.
.
background, but his influence waned as the movement shed all connection to the working-class autonomy of syndicalism.
had a strong influence on fascism as well, particularly as some syndicalists intersected with D'Annunzio's ideas. Before the First World War, syndicalism had stood for a militant doctrine of working-class revolution. It distinguished itself from Marxism because it insisted that the best route for the working class to liberate itself was the
rather than the party.
ejected the syndicalists in 1908. The syndicalist movement split between
and a more moderate tendency. Some moderates began to advocate "mixed syndicates" of workers and employers. In this practice, they absorbed the teachings of Catholic theorists and expanded them to accommodate greater power of the state, and diverted them by the influence of D'Annunzio to nationalist ends.
(Beyond Marxism) emerged, Mussolini was excited and wrote to the author that his criticism "destroyed any scientific element left in Marxism". Mussolini was appreciative of the idea that a corporative organization and a new relationship between labour and capital would eliminate "the clash of economic interests" and thereby neutralize "the germ of class warfare.'"
that rejected both capitalism and Marxism.
The reality of corporatism and of class collaboration in Fascism is, however, disputed.
(1936), claiming it was only an ideological claim, invalidated by the reality of the economic policies of Fascism. He underscored the absence of real representation of workers' in such Fascist labour organizations, and the nomination by the state of representants of workers instead of their election.
Main article: Fascio Early history Many historians claim that the
March 23,
1919 meeting at the Piazza San Sepolcro was the historic "birthplace" of the fascist movement. However, this would imply that the Italian Fascists "came from nowhere" which could be considered false. Mussolini revived his former group,
Fasci d'Azione Rivoluzionaria, in order to take part in the 1919 elections in response to an increase in Communist activity occurring in Milan. The
Fasci di Combattimento were the result of this continuation (not creation) of the Fascist party. The result of the meeting was that Fascism became an organized political movement. Among the founding members were the revolutionary syndicalist leaders Agostino Lanzillo and Michele Bianchi.
In 1919, the fascists developed a program that called for:
As the movement evolved, several of these initial ideas were abandoned and rejected.
Mussolini capitalized on fear of a Communist revolution
a
democratic republic,
separation of church and state,
a national army,
progressive taxation for inherited wealth, and
development of co-operatives or guilds to replace labor unions.
Rise to power Mussolini's fascist state was established nearly a decade before
Hitler's rise to power (
1922 and the
March on Rome). Both a movement and a historical phenomenon, Italian Fascism was, in many respects, an adverse reaction to both the apparent failure of
laissez-faire economics and fear of
Communism.
Fascism was, to an extent, a product of a general feeling of anxiety and fear among the
middle class of postwar
Italy. This fear arose from a convergence of interrelated
economic,
political, and
cultural pressures. Under the banner of this
authoritarian and
nationalistic ideology, Mussolini was able to exploit fears regarding the survival of
capitalism in an era in which postwar
depression, the rise of a more militant left, and a feeling of national shame and humiliation stemming from Italy's 'mutilated victory' at the hands of the
World War I postwar peace treaties seemed to converge. Such unfulfilled nationalistic aspirations tainted the reputation of
liberalism and
constitutionalism among many sectors of the Italian population. In addition, such democratic institutions had never grown to become firmly rooted in the young
nation-state.
This same postwar depression heightened the allure of Marxism among an urban proletariat who were even more disenfranchised than their continental counterparts. But fear of the growing strength of
trade unionism, Communism, and
socialism proliferated among the
elite and the middle class. In a way, Benito Mussolini filled a
political vacuum.
Fascism emerged as a "third way" — as Italy's last hope to avoid imminent collapse of the 'weak' Italian
liberalism, and Communist
revolution.
In this fluid situation, Mussolini took advantage of the opportunity and, rapidly abandoning the early syndicalist and
republican program, put himself at the service of the antisocialist cause. The fascist
militias, supported by the
wealthy classes and by a large part of the state apparatus which saw in him the restorer of order, launched a violent offensive against the syndicalists and all political parties of a socialist or
Catholic inspiration, particularly in the north of Italy (Emiglia Romagna, Toscana, etc.), causing numerous victims though the substantial indifference of the forces of order. These acts of violence were, in large part, provoked by fascist
squadristi who were increasingly and openly supported by
Dino Grandi, the only real competitor to Mussolini for the
leadership of the fascist party until the Congress of Rome in 1921.
The violence increased considerably during the period from 1920-1922 until the
March on Rome. Confronted by these badly armed and badly organized fascist militias attacking the
Capital,
King Victor Emmanuel III, preferring to avoid any spilling of blood, decided to appoint Mussolini, who at that moment had the support of about 22 deputies in
Parliament,
President of the Council. Victor Emmanuel continued to maintain control of the
armed forces: if he had wanted to, he would have had no difficulties in booting Mussolini and the completely inferior fascist forces out of Rome. Therefore, it is not appropriate to refer to Mussolini's rise as a "
coup d'état" since he obtained his post legally with the blessing of the
sovereign of the nation.
Establishment of the Fascist state As Prime Minister, the first years of Mussolini's reign were characterized by a coalition government composed of nationalists, liberals and populists and did not assume dictatorial connotations until the assassination of
Matteotti. In domestic politics, Mussolini favoured the complete restoration of State authority, with the integration of the
Fasci di Combattimento into the armed forces (the foundation in January 1923 of the
Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale) and the progressive identification of the Party with the State. He supported the wealthy industrial and agrarian classes through the introduction of legislation that provided for privatization, the liberalization of rent laws, and the banning of unions.
In June of 1923, a new majoritarian electoral law was approved which assigned two thirds of the seats in Parliament to the coalition which had obtained at least 25% of the votes. This law was punctually applied in the elections of
6 April 1924, in which the fascist "listone" obtained an extraordinary success, aided by the use of shenanigans, violence and intimidatory tactics against opponents.
The assassination of the socialist deputy
Giacomo Matteotti, who had requested the annulment of the elections because of the irregularities committed, provoked a momentary crisis of the Mussolini government. The weak response of the opposition (the
Aventine Secession), incapable of transforming their posturing into a mass antifascist action, was not sufficient to distance the ruling classes and the Monarchy from Mussolini who, on
3 January 1925, broke open the floodgates and, in a famous discourse in which he took upon himself all of the responsibility for the assassination of Matteotti and the other squadrist violence, proclaimed a
de facto dictatorship, suppressing every residual liberty and completing the identification of the Fascist Party with the State.
From 1925 until the middle of the 1930s, fascism experienced little and isolated opposition, although that which it experienced was memorable, consisting in large part of communists such as
Antonio Gramsci, socialists such as
Pietro Nenni and liberals such as
Piero Gobetti and
Giovanni Amendola.
While failing to outline a coherent program, fascism evolved into a new political and economic system that combined corporatism, totalitarianism, nationalism, and anti-Communism in a state designed to bind all classes together under a capitalist system. This was a new capitalist system, however, one in which the state seized control of the organization of vital industries. Under the banners of nationalism and state power, Fascism seemed to synthesize the glorious Roman past with a futuristic utopia.
Despite the themes of social and economic reform in the initial
Fascist manifesto of June 1919, the movement came to be supported by sections of the middle class fearful of socialism and communism. Industrialists and landowners supported the movement as a defense against labour militancy. Under threat of a fascist
March on Rome, in October 1922, Mussolini assumed the premiership of a right-wing coalition
Cabinet initially including members of the pro-church
Partito Popolare (People's Party). In April 1926 the
Rocco Law outlawed
strikes and
Lockouts and suppressed trade-unions, replaced by Fascist syndicates grouped into corporations. Headed by
Arturo Bocchini, the
OVRA secret police was created in September 1926, and the
Casselario Politico Centrale filing system on political opponents generalized . In October 1926 a "
Law for the Defense of the State" banned all political parties apart of the Fascist Party, established a Special Tribunal for the Security of the State and reinstated the
death penalty. Furthermore, in September 1928 a new electoral law decreed that the whole composition of parliament should be determined by the
Fascist Grand Council headed by Mussolini.
The regime's most lasting political achievement was perhaps the
Lateran Treaty of February 1929 between the Italian state and the
Holy See. Under this treaty, the
Papacy was granted temporal sovereignty over the
Vatican City and guaranteed the free exercise of Roman Catholicism as the sole state religion throughout Italy in return for its acceptance of Italian sovereignty over the Pope's former dominions. It must be said that some (not all) laws of the lateran treaty where kept alive until 1984 , when all of the lateran treaty was fully dismissed.
In the 1930s, Italy recovered from the
Great Depression, and achieved economic growth in part by developing domestic substitutes for imports (
Autarchia). The draining of the malaria-infested Pontine Marshes south of Rome was one of the regime's proudest boasts. But growth was undermined by international sanctions following Italy's October 1935 invasion of
Ethiopia (the
Abyssinia crisis), and by the government's costly military support for
Franco's Nationalists in
Spain.
See Economy of Italy under Fascism, 1922-1943 for further information. The moderate Socialist
Carlo Rosselli was assassinated in 1937 in France by members of the
Cagoule terrorist group, probably on orders of Mussolini himself.
Rule Main article: Second Italo-Abyssinian War Invasion of Ethiopia The Fascists passed anti-Semitic laws in autumn 1938, which excluded foreign Jews, prohibited all Jews from teaching and excluded them from the Fascist Party. Legislation enacting
racial discrimination were progressively put in place, in accordance to the "
scientific racism" theories upheld in Fascist political reviews, such as
La Difesa della Razza. Jews were excluded from the military and from the administration, while an "
aryanisation" of Jewish goods was put in place — actually, an
expropriation of their goods. An anti-Semitic
hate campaign was put in place, while the legislation was strictly applied. As it had little or nothing to do with them, neither the monarchy nor the Church protested against the latter.
Many authors have interpreted these anti-Semitic laws as an imitation by Mussolini of
Nazi racist legislation. However, historian Marie-Anne Matard-Bonucci (2007) has upheld, to the contrary, the idea that anti-Semitism founded its roots in the Fascist movement itself: with the establishment of the Fascist state and Mussolini's anthropological project of creating a "new (Italian) man," the needs arose of creating the figure of the "anti-Italian," symbolized by the Jewish people. "The persecution of the Italian Jews was one of the inner components of the totalitarian logic," thus wrote Matard-Bonucci .
Fascism and anti-Semitism International isolation and their common involvement in Spain brought about increasing diplomatic collaboration between Italy and
Nazi Germany. This was reflected also in the Fascist regime's domestic policies as the first
anti-semitic laws were passed in 1938. From that year on, with the publication of the
Manifesto degli scienziati razzisti (Manifesto of the Racist Scientists) (in reality about 90% written by Mussolini himself), fascism declared itself explicitly anti-Semite.
Italy's intervention (
June 10,
1940) as Germany's ally in World War II brought military disaster, and resulted in the loss of her north and east African colonies and the
American-
British-
Canadian invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and southern Italy in September 1943.
After a fateful gathering of the
Gran Consiglio del Fascismo (Italy's wartime Cabinet) Mussolini was forced to submit his resignation as prime minister in the hands of King Victor Emmanuel III on
July 25th 1943. He hoped that the King would reappoint him and allow him to reshuffle the Cabinet, but he was instead arrested on the King's orders as he was leaving the
Quirinale palace. He was freed in September by German paratroopers under command of
Otto Skorzeny and installed as head of a puppet "
Italian Social Republic" at
Salò in German-occupied northern Italy. His association with the German occupation regime eroded much of what little support remained to him. His summary execution on
April 28th 1945 during the war's violent closing stages by the
northern partisans was widely seen as a fitting end to his regime.
After the war, the remnants of Italian fascism largely regrouped under the banner of the neo-Fascist "
Italian Social Movement" (MSI). The MSI merged in 1994 with conservative former
Christian Democrats to form the
"National Alliance" (AN), which proclaims its commitment to
constitutionalism,
parliamentary government and political pluralism.
World War II Fascism did not spring forth full-grown, and the writings of Fascist theoreticians cannot be taken as a full description of Mussolini's ideology, let alone how specific situations inevitably resulted in deviations from ideology. Mussolini's policies drew on both the history of the Italian nation and the philosophical ideas of the 19th century. What resulted was neither logical nor well defined, to the extent that Mussolini defined it as "action and mood, not doctrine". Nonetheless, certain ideas are clearly visible. The most obvious is nationalism. The last time Italy had been a great nation was under the banner of the
Roman Empire and Italian nationalists always saw this as a period of glory. Given that even other European nations with imperial ambitions had often invoked ancient Rome in their foreign policy, architecture and vocabulary, it was perhaps inevitable that Mussolini would do the same. This included creating a new Roman empire, demolishing medieval Rome to create grand vistas of ancient monuments (eg connecting
Piazza Venezia and the
Colosseum with the
Via dei Fori Imperiali), co-opting original sites (for example, the
Ara Pacis) and using ancient Roman architectural styles, with or without a modern twist (for example, the
Museum of Roman Civilization at the
EUR).
Following the
fall of the Western Roman Empire, Italy had not again been united until its final
unification in 1870. Mussolini desired to affirm an Italian national identity and therefore saw the unification as the first step towards returning Italy to greatness and often exploited the unification and the achievements of leading figures such as
Garibaldi to induce a sense of Italian national pride.
The Fascist cult of national rebirth through a strong leader has roots in the
romantic movement of the 19th century, as does the glorification of war. For example, the loss of the war with
Abyssinia had been a great humiliation to Italians and consequently it was the first place targeted for Italian expansion under Mussolini.
Not all ideas of fascism originated from the 19th century. For example, the use of systematic
propaganda to pass on simple slogans such as "believe, obey, fight" and Mussolini's use of the
radio both were techniques developed in the 20th century under the influence of the artistic and literary movement called
futurism. Futurism was an early twentieth century intellectual movement in Italy which forcefully emphasized three main ideas:
technology,
speed, and
violence. Similarly, Mussolini's corporate state was a distinctly 20th-century creation.
Mussolini's influences Me ne frego, "I don't give a damn": the Italian Fascist
motto Libro e moschetto - fascista perfetto, "The book and the musket - make the perfect Fascist."
Viva la Morte, "Long live death (sacrifice)."
The above mentioned
Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato, "Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State."
Credere, Obbedire, Combattere ("Believe, Obey, Fight")
Se avanzo, seguitemi. Se indietreggio, uccidetemi. Se muoio, vendicatemi, ("If I advance, follow me. If I retreat, kill me. If I die, avenge me")
Fascist mottos and sayings Notes General De Felice, Renzo Fascism : an informal introduction to its theory and practice, an interview with Michael Ledeen, New Brunswick, N.J. : Transaction Books, 1976
ISBN 0-87855-190-5.
Fritzsche, Peter. 1990.
Rehearsals for Fascism: Populism and Political Mobilization in Weimar Germany. New York: Oxford University Press.
ISBN 0-19-505780-5 Griffin, Roger. 2000. "Revolution from the Right: Fascism," chapter in David Parker (ed.)
Revolutions and the Revolutionary Tradition in the West 1560-1991, Routledge, London.
Laqueur, Walter. 1966.
Fascism: Past, Present, Future, New York: Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Schapiro, J. Salwyn. 1949.
Liberalism and The Challenge of Fascism, Social Forces in England and France (1815-1870). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Laclau, Ernesto. 1977.
Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory: Capitalism, Fascism, Populism. London: NLB/Atlantic Highlands Humanities Press.
Sternhell, Zeev with Mario Sznajder and Maia Asheri. [1989] 1994.
The Birth of Fascist Ideology, From Cultural Rebellion to Political Revolution., Trans. David Maisei. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Fascist ideology Coogan, Kevin. 1999.
Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Autonomedia.
Griffin, Roger. 1991.
The Nature of Fascism. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Paxton, Robert O. 2004.
The Anatomy of Fascism. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Weber, Eugen. [1964] 1985.
Varieties of Fascism: Doctrines of Revolution in the Twentieth Century, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, (Contains chapters on fascist movements in different countries.)
Wallace, Henry.
"The Dangers of American Fascism".
The New York Times, Sunday,
9 April 1944.
Trotsky, Leon. 1944
"Fascism, What it is and how to fight it" Pioneer Publishers (pamphlet)
Anti-fascist websites The Problem of Fascism by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Liberalism vs. Fascism by Roderick T. Long
The Economics of Fascism, Supporters Summit 2005,
October 7-
October 8,
2005, Mises Institute, Auburn, Alabama.
Economic Fascism by Thomas DiLorenzo
Fascism by Sheldon Richman - discusses economic fascism
Shows coming soon
Grrr!
Course Structure
Early years
Successive assignments
Revitalization
