AUTHOR: Benito Mussolini started out as a strong advocate for socialism and was imprisoned multiple times for his promotion of strikes and the use of violence.  He earned the reputation of a potential revolutionary with incredible rhetorical skills.  Because he has such a strong background with socialism, many elements are prevalent in fascism.

CONTEXT: Mussolini had already been in power for ten years while writing this.  Although fascism had been in place for years, it lacked a clear definition and people were unsure if they were benefitting from this system at all.  To persuade the people of the benefits of fascism, the party published this document to prolong their time in control.

LANGUAGE: The language of this document is very straightforward and direct.  Mussolini is concise, getting straight to the point.  However, their is also some elements of persuasion throughout the piece as he is writing to convince the people to keep this method of government in place.

AUDIENCE: This document is most likely directed towards as many people of the Italian population as possible.  As stated before, the context of the publication date requires Mussolini to persuade the population into keeping fascism.

INTENT: Mussolini’s intent is to promote Fascism throughout Italy and allow people to gain a better understanding of what it truly is.  By publishing the true definition of fascism, Mussolini promotes the idea even more, allowing him and fascism to stay in power.

MESSAGE: Mussolini’s message was that fascism was the best choice for Italy at this moment.  Mussolini displays all the benefits fascism will offer for Italy in order to maintain his power.

For Discussion: How big of an impact did Mussolini’s experience with socialism have on his later work with fascism?

((http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Essay:Critical_Analysis_of_the_Doctrine_of_Fascism))

((http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399484/Benito-Mussolini/5090/Dictatorship))