Analysis of Mussolini's Power

2951 Words6 Pages

Analysis of Mussolini's Power Mussolini was unquestionably an extremely powerful dictator, and it would of appeared to the Italians of his era that he was a powerful dictator, especially with so much propaganda all centred around him due to his cult of personality. However in reality there still remained restraints on Mussolini from the old traditional institutions and there were other factors also within Italy that limited his power. The first obvious restraint on Mussolini's power was King Victor Emmanuel, as he was the highest ranking person in Italy not Mussolini as throughout Mussolini's reign as a dictator Italy remained officially a constitutional monarchy, and was far more liberal than other totalitarian states at the time such as Russia or Germany. The King also had the power to appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister, and had the power to do this as the Italian army were swore their allegiance to him, not Mussolini. Furthermore the King did not have to sign decrees from Mussolini and this combined with Mussolini continuing to meet with the King twice a week would in theory show that Mussolini was not all powerful and could be restrained and even removed by the King. However in reality the King was incredibly indecisive and was intimidated by Mussolini when they met. King Victor Emmanuel was also intimidated by the powerful elite of Italy, who also supported Mussolini and therefore this made Mussolini's position much stronger. Furthermore although Mussolini did at first need the King to sign decrees he wanted to pass the King was loyal to him and again intimidated so signed nearly all the decrees even those he did not ... ... middle of paper ... ...h had a lot of influence over the people The Elite still had influence and power Judiciary could of helped individuals but didn't, however they could of which shows he was not all powerful The Mafia had strong influence in the south; it almost ruled it. Even if Mussolini did a lot to destroy this organisation it still existed under cover. The Mafia did not accompany Mussolini and the fascist party's power but it replaced it. Indeed the south of Italy remained mainly in rural area independent of Fascist influence. This independence was nevertheless unimportant because the southern part of Italy was poor, lightly populated and not industrialised. Mussolini neglected the south in his efforts to dynamise the industry and economy of the country. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/mussolini_dictatorship.htm

Open Document