Mussolini & Fascism

Mussolini was a huge contributor in the creation of fascism. Initially being a supporter of socialism, Mussolini changed his view when he was thrown out of the Italian Socialist Party for not believing in neutrality during World War I. Mussolini became prime minister of Italy in 1922 following the March on Rome and immediately started the fascist movement. With the onset of fascism, people were still perplexed by what this term actually meant. This document was written 10 years after Mussolini had already been in power in order to try to give people a legitimate definition of fascism and convince them of its benefits. This language of this document is very straightforward. It is simply a definition of what fascism entails. The audience of the document is all of Italy and possibly to the rest of Europe. He wanted to convince Italy of the benefits of fascism and why it was better, and also hoped that other countries would adopt this ideology. He intended to promote fascism in order to keep it going and wanted to explain why it was the best option available.

2 thoughts on “Mussolini & Fascism

  1. You describe the context for Mussolini’s document with precision, allowing the audience to understand why Mussolini transformed from socialist to fascist and as to for whom and why he wrote this definition of fascism. The point you make regarding trying to rally other nations to the fascist cause is quite intriguing, because only a year after the document was written, the Nazis and Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany. Hitler later ran a fascist system of government, becoming a totalitarian dictator.

    Its also important to understand the backlash this document may have caused. Mussolini deliberately and clearly attacked both socialism and democracy, therefore making an enemy out of the Communists (Russia) and democratic nations (U.S., Britain, etc.). Therefore, its pretty rational to think that nations that are polar opposite, such as Russia and the U.S., would be willing to fight together against a common enemy that has insulted both of their ideologies (WWII).

  2. He did want to explain what fascism was, but I think the most important to note the point his point regarding freedom. Mussolini claimed that fascism maintained freedoms except those that are “unnecessary.” Mussolini wanted to paint fascism in a positive light, explaining the negative aspects of democracy.

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