In the years immediately after the First World War, a promising new era of democracy seemed to be unfolding. The autocratic regimes in Russia, Germany and Austria, were all overthrown and replaced by republics. The seven newly created states in Europe all adopted the republican form of government. Democracy seemed triumphant in the post-war world. Yet within two decades, many democratic countries in Europe were taken over by some kind of dictatorship. Italy became a fascist state.
Italy achieved her unification in 1870. She had a constitutional monarchy like that of Great Britain, but democratic society failed to develop in Italy because the government was controlled by corrupt politicians, called the party bosses. They controlled the elections
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He was born in 1883. His father was a blacksmith and also an anarchist. His mother was a school teacher. His birthplace, Romagna, was known for its rebellious spirit. When he was young, Mussolini did not make much achievement in education. From 1902 and on, he picked up socialist ideas, mainly the syndicalism of Sorel. After 1904, he became a famous socialist journalist. His literary and speaking ability made him the editor of a socialist newspaper, Avanti, which would later on help him in politics. Mussolini was never a convinced socialist. The views expressed in his newspaper were not consistent. When anarchism was popular among the Italian workers, Mussolini advocated anarchist ideas in his newspaper. This seemed to signify that he was an opportunist, very interested in winning followers and …show more content…
He aimed to be the ruler of a one party totalitarian state. In the 1920's, he destroyed all effective opposition at home. He placed loyal Black Shirts in key government positions, created the Voluntary Fascist Militia for National Security, and promoted the Grand Council of Fascism into a part of the state. In July 1923, Mussolini was able to secure a new electoral law from the parliament. In an atmosphere of intimidation and violence, with the Fascist Militia using strong arm methods, the 'National List' presented by the Fascists. In June 1924 when the new Parliament convened, the Socialist leader, Giacomo Matteotti, denounced the Fascists of the use of force in the recent elections. Right after he denounced the use of force, he was murdered by the
country. The Italians did not take help or aid from anyone for any reason. They brought
Chaotic situation, irrationality and national humiliation often lead to totalitarianism. Both the Fascist and Nazi regimes owed their rise to the people's disillusionment with the Paris Peace Settlement and postwar difficulties. Though being a victorious power in World War One, Italy could not get all she wanted on the Paris Peace Conference. Especially Fiume was given to Yugoslavia, Italy's rival in Adriatic.
Fascism is one of the great political ideology in the 20th century. It is a kind of authoritarian government that, according to Wikipedia, “considers the individual subordinate to the interests of the state, party or society as a whole.” Two of the most successful and to be in the vanguard of fascism government is Italian fascism – led by Benito Mussolini, and Nazi Germany – led by Adolf Hitler. Fascism in Italy and Germany, though in many regards very similar - have the same political ideologies, still have many aspects to them that make them different from each other. Before analysing the similarities and differences between the fascism that emerged in Italy and Germany since the very first of 20th century, it is better to discover - what is fascism.
During World War I Italy combined its alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, and in 1915 entered the war on the side with all their Allies. Under all the postwar settlements, Italy received a little bit of the former Austrian territory along the northeast border. In about 1922, Benito Mussolini came to power and, the next couple years, removed governmental parties and insta...
Fascism is defined as, “an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.” Peter Hyland reports that throughout the 1920s and the 1930s, an economic depression was growing and becoming widespread throughout the world. People were losing faith in their democracies and in capitalism. Leaders who gained power supported powerful militarism, nationalism, and initiated the return of an authoritarian rule. J.R. Oppenheimer says that the rise of fascism and totalitarianism in Europe and Russia instigated a “critical step on the path to war.” In 1922, Benito Mussolini held leadership in Italy, promising a proficient and militaristic nationalistic state. During his control as prime minister, he gained a large group of followers, banned the disparagement of government, and used extreme violence against his enemies within the parliament.
When Benito grew up, he became a teacher in an elementary school in his nearby town; he spread the party of doctrine. He was an editor, Fascist leader, laborer, soldier, politician, and revolutionary. He also became a socialist. He graduated at a teacher training school in Forli, Italy. Then he moved to Switzerland to find a better place to work. When he was in Switzerland, he got in trouble with the law for fighting and vagrancy. So he decided to move back to Italy but in Trent. When he returned he worked for a Social Newspaper Company and wrote several literacy works. The newspaper was called "La Lotta di Classe (The Class Struggle). The towns’ people loved his newspaper. He made the editor of "Avanti" (forward); it was published in Milan.
Before the Congress of Vienna the French occupation had far reaching affects on Italy. The power of the Church and the Pope was reduced, changes were made in landownership and land was redistributed. A new middle class began to appear. Agriculture was improved and the peasants were freed from their old feudal ties and obligations. Then when Napoleon was defeated and the restoration of the old regime and monarchs was started, Italy again became a country divided into eleven independent states, excluding the tiny principalities and the Republic of San Marino. So Italy was not unified after the Congress of Vienna due to a number of reasons, such as the foreign influence of the Central European Powers, parochialism within the states, the lack of a common language and a strong economy coupled with the poor geography that separated Italy from itself and the rest of Europe.
...ted to feel that the war could be a solution to the social, political and economical problems that they were enduring since the unification. However, the governement was still economically and militarely unprepared and had no time to persuade the Italians in this pacific way. Both the civil and military authorities used violence, coercion and repressive measures to recruit men from all over the country to join the army.
In 1938 a change was made in the Italian government which separated the people from the decision-making process entirely. The list of parliamentary candidates was no longer offered to the masses for their approval. Mussolini merely emulated Hitler by creating the totalitarian state while removing basic democracy.
Italy’s part in WW1 is often downplayed, as it compared to the larger campaigns staged on the Western and European fronts. The view of the Italian people towards their part in WW1 is significantly different however, as they see it as the catalyst which kicked off an era of immense disruption, change and human suffering. Glancing back into history, it is clear that Italy should have never entered the war in the first place. The decision to enter WW1 was a poor one by the Italian government, influenced by both nationalism and hopes of territorial gain. At the time of the war, Italy was still a rather agricultural country, which lacked the weaponry, military and grand scale industrial base of its enemies, notably the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Similarly to Germany, Italy at this time was still quite a new nation, given that it had unified just over fifty years earlier. For much of the 19th century, before Italian unification occurred, the nation now known as Italy was merely a compilation of small
Italy compared to the United States is different in many ways. For instance their educational system is completely different. The students in Italy attend school Monday through Saturday and go to high school for five years. When Italians enter high school, they stay in the same class, with the same students for all five of those high school years. Instead of having a final exam at the end of each semester like we do here at my school, they have to take an exam about everything they have learned over the course of the five years. This exam lasts for four days and if you do not
A. A. Italy: Liberalism and Fascism, 1870-1945.
As a general belief, people automatically assume that fascism is outright cruel and unreasonable, just because some guy with a toothbrush mustache had a knack for killing Jews. This statement may seem ignorant of the lives lost and the actual brutality of the Third Reich, in reality, that case was only a dark stain on the name of fascism. To truly understand fascism and the truths that it holds, one must look past the executed and the executioners into the causes and effects of fascism in Germany and in any potentially fascist nation. As for those who still remain sceptics and naysayers, how can that which has yet to be fully explored and developed in a sane and sensibly advanced country be discredited? So far, the only pertinent displays of fascism occurred in the mid 20th century with Hitler and Mussolini. Those were only built to crumble, doomed to fail from the start because of a lack of foresight and disastrous execution. In the short term, those childish fascist societies managed to briefly boost the economy, increase security and safety, as well as promote national goals and expectations. Due to their unfortunate manifestations, they only lasted until the people lost faith in their government. If the society is correctly and carefully constructed around fascism, with morally strong leaders, it is possible for fascism to do more help than harm.
The allied powers promised Italy land in exchange for joining them against the central powers during WWI. But, Italy was mostly ignored during the Treaty of Versailles and received very little land. This can be seen as one of the reasons Mussolini aligned with the Axis powers in WWII. He knew that the allies did not treated Italy fairly so he went against them in the next war. He also began invading countries in Africa such as Ethiopia so that Italy could establish itself as the rightful leading power of the Mediterranean. While the invasion of other countries may seem bad, Mussolini did it to increase the power of his own country. He fought for Italy first, proving himself a true nationalist. Another example of this can be found when Hitler came to power and it became apparent to Mussolini that Austria was threatened. He wanted Italy to have influence in Austria, so he threatened to go to war with Germany in the event of an invasion of
Italy had joined the Great War of 1914-18 on the 'Allied' side, under the belief that if the allies won, Italy would gain territory along the Balkan coast and a small part of what was the Austro-Hungarian Empire. WW1 had proved disastrous for Italy, the land they had been promised in the Treaty of London, the deal made with Britain and France was not given to them. The people of Italy felt that the government had not delivered what they had promised. The middle classes of Italy were concerned by the sudden popularity of Socialism among the lower classes, as they campaigned for workers rights and removal of businesses from owners.