Why did Mussolini become unpopular?
Mussolini tried to build up a picture of himself as a superman. He had photographs taken of himself flying an aeroplane, driving a racing car, playing the violin, winning a chess game, and even jogging. Unfortunately, many of these photographs were faked and Italians began to realise that many of Mussolini's claims were not true.
Many of Mussolini's plans were not well thought out and failed. the Italian population actually fell, and while he grew more wheat, there was less olive oil and fruits - which were important exports. Although he tried to build the new city in southern Italy called Mussolinia, only a few foundations were finished. If his plans did not work quickly, Mussolini usually gave up.
Most Italians found themselves getting worse off by the early 1930s. Mussolini's attempts to make Italy self-sufficient made most things more expensive. Wages did not go up as quickly as prices.
From 1935 Mussolini came more and more under the influence of Hitler - before that Hitler had been the follower and Mussolini the leader. Many Italians did not like this. When Mussolini tried to begin persecuting Jews, most Italians refused.
To try to regain popularity Mussolini began to build an empire. He invaded Abyssinia in 1935. the Abyssinians did not have a modern army and it was an easy victory. It made Mussolini popular for a time, but it also meant that he became even more under the influence of Hitler. In 1936 they signed the Rome-Berlin Axis.
Mussolini declared war on Britain and France in 1940, but the Italian armed forces were not very successful. He tried to invade North Africa and Yugoslavia, but each time his army had to be rescued by the Germans. In 1943 the Allies invaded Italy and Mussolini was overthrown. He was rescued by German paratroopers, but at the end of the war he was caught trying to escape in April 1945 and shot by Italian resistance fighters. His body was hung upside down in the street.
To what extent had Mussolini achieved his ideal Fascist state by 1939
When Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister in 1922 he set out to achieve a Fascist state where he had supreme power. His first concern was to consolidate power and it was from here the Italian state was shaped and changed to suit Mussolini’s agenda and his ideal Fascist state.
Fascism did not have exact aims in its early days when it was being established, and so Mussolini improvised its practices as circumstances arose and changed to suit his convenience. However, the one principle that always stayed with the Fascists, and continued to be an important aspect of their party when in power, was the glorification of the State as expressed by Mussolini through the Government. Mussolini wanted a state where all citizens had complete obedience to him, and all must think and act alike in respect to it. Mussolini wanted real supremacy and would not accept a parliament democracy as the Italian form of Government as this meant people could have different views and aims for Italy.
Throughout Mussolini’s role as leader he changed the Italian state and the way the Government was run; though was this enough to achieve the ideal Fascist state Mussolini was passionate about? On the surface maybe Mussolini appeared to have his ideal state, but did he really have the true support of the people and a totalitarian state?
By 1926 Mussolini had achieved his ambition of becoming the dictator of Italy. Leading up to 1926 Mussolini unified the squadristi into a national Fascist militia and created the Fascist Grand Council to bring the ras under his control, this was the beginnings of Mussolini’s attempt to create a more disciplined party. His determination to also strengthen the Fascist’s position led to the creation of the Acerbo Law that would give the leading party two thirds of the seats in parliament that Mussolini made sure was the Fascists.
The Mateotti crisis could have seen the breakdown of the Fascist party but the ras demanded that Mussolini moved decisively towards a dictatorship. This Mussolini did set out to do, but he made it clear that his party would not be his agent. It was a personal dictatorship he was aiming for and not a Fascist Party dictatorship.
During 1925 to 1926 Mussolini secured his dictatorship. He had transformed the country into a one party state, could rule by decree, had created his own secret police the OVRA, formed the Fascist Tribunal and enforced press censorship so only pro-Fascist articles were published. Mussolini’s personal rule was enshrined in law, the King was the only person who could take his power away, Mussolini was Duce.
Mussolini’s ideal Fascist state probably would not have included a Monarchy to which he still had to ‘answer to’, but in practice Mussolini knew he would lose support from too many people if he did. Though the King Victor Emmanuel did not oppose a threat on Mussolini; he was never asked advice and only told what Mussolini wanted him to hear. Luckily for Mussolini the King had always distanced himself from all domestic policy and by the late 1920s it has become apparent the King would not overthrow Mussolini and the Fascists. To secure his position further though, Mussolini limited the King’s right to choose Prime Minister from a list compiled by the Fascist Grand Council.
With Mussolini’s dictatorial position secure as the 1920s progressed, he also revealed a desire to transform Italian society and even the Italian character. Being the dictator of Italy was not enough for Mussolini; he wanted to be the dictator of a state whose economy was capable of serving a war with self sufficiency and with a population of disciplined, warlike citizens.
Mussolini restructured the Italian economy to increase the influence of the State without destroying capitalism. The economy was therefore organised into the Corporate State. The Charter of Labour set up twenty-two syndicates where membership was compulsory for employers and employees. A Fascist party member controlled each syndicate and strikes were forbidden.
The Corporate State had its advantages and disadvantages, but the question is- was it an aspect of Mussolini’s ideal Fascist state? I think it was because Mussolini was the Minister of Corporations and so ultimately had overall control. Though maybe more importantly from Mussolini’s outlook it was an apparent social and political experiment useful for bestowing respectability on his regime in the eyes of foreigners, and an elaborate concealment behind which corruption could flourish while Mussolini himself could pursue the very different goals which, by the 1930s, interested and became far more important to him.
It is difficult to say whether by 1939 Mussolini had achieved his ideal Fascist state economically since Mussolini himself had very little knowledge in economics and probably did not know exactly what he wanted and what he could achieve. None-the-less Italy was a victim of general deflation, wage-cutting and the suppression of free trade unions; these implied the rejection of an energetic domestic market and indicated Mussolini’s priority for stability over mobility.
Mussolini also had plans within the industrial side of economics. He wanted autarky in industry with full employment, rearmament and a strong Lira for Italian pride and prestige. To combat unemployment Mussolini organised public work schemes that were subsidised by the state and opened up many more job opportunities. In the 1930s Mussolini enhanced state control over banks and areas such as steel. He also gave heavy subsidies to big firms in Italy to make them near monopolies and hence avoid international competition.
Mussolini also had aims to develop agriculture in Italy, mainly extending the idea of autarky once again so that Italy could provide herself with a food supply. To do this Mussolini enrolled on a ‘Battle for Grain’ where he aimed to increase grain production by subsidising farmers and increasing import duties on foreign grain. Mussolini also set out to reclaim land to help the farmers in Italy to become more efficient.
Another factor important to Mussolini was the ‘Battle for Births’. This arose from Mussolini’s desire to provide soldiers for his armies and colonists for the new Italian Empire. He wanted to increase the pop from essaybank.co.uk ulation from 40 to 60 million by 1950. However he only managed to increase it to 47.5 million and so failed to reach his full expectations.
Was this all enough to give Mussolini the ideal economics situation in his ‘ideal Fascist state’? I feel it was not, yes Mussolini tried implementing various policies to establish the economic situation he desired, but really there were too many faults to make it far from perfect.
Fascism did not industry and agriculture as Mussolini hoped for. Although free trade unions had been abolished, the employers’ side of industry maintained its independence. The industrialists’ organisations recognised the advantages of working with the regime, but they resisted party control and attempted state direction.
Mussolini’s ideal dream of autarky remained just that- the hope of Italy becoming self-sufficient in industry and agriculture never became complete reality. Some progress was made in the ‘Battle for Grain’ as grain production did double by 1939. However, this was at the expense of a decline in exports of olive oil, wine and citrus fruit and grain still remained Italy’s third largest import. Industry also continued to rely heavily on imported raw materials.
The public works schemes were very effective in Italy and were an innovative way of tackling the problems of unemployment. However, real wages had fallen by ten per cent in 1938 and living standards had fallen. These cannot be the conditions of a perfect state where Mussolini wanted to be regarded as a supreme power of Europe.
However, in economics terms, the development of Italian industry and agriculture up to 1939 was far from disastrous- output did increase and big companies did do well. Though this was not enough to fulfil Mussolini’s dream and so he could not have achieved his perfect state fully.
Mussolini had managed to achieve absolute dominance over Fascism, but could he complete his aim by repeating the story with the people of Italy? Mussolini wanted to see Fascism penetrate every aspect of Italian society, though he did not want to make himself unpopular amongst the people.
There was one aspect he could not regard as being completely Fascist in the Italian society- the role of the Church. Mussolini had had an anti-religious attitude since his youth, though he realised this was one aspect of society he could not get rid of, as this would lose him too much support. Instead Mussolini made the Lateran Treaty of 1929 to answer the ‘Roman question’ and establish who had power of the state. The Pope was given sovereignty in the Vatican City, Catholicism was to be the state religion and religious education was made compulsory in all state schools; the Church, in return, had to recognise Fascism control over the state and in particular Rome.
I do not feel Mussolini would have been completely satisfied with this arrangement as the Church was never brought completely under Fascist control, there were arguments over religious education and the Catholic Action became a popular refuge amongst anti-Fascists.
Mussolini developed the education system to bring it under state control. He banned all text books unless they were the compulsory texts and made sure all subjects taught highlighted the greatness of the Italian state. There was a similar control in Universities and the professors were forced to swear an oath of loyalty.
The education system does appear to be as Mussolini would have wanted it in his ideal state, but it was not all as it seemed. Many children left school at the age of eleven or went to private or Catholic schools and so avoided much of the Fascist-based education and so their views could not have been entirely shaped when they were young and impressionable, as Mussolini would have liked.
Leisure times were also considered important to Mussolini. Youth organisations- the Balilla and the ‘Little Italian Girls’- were introduced to teach boys how to behave in war and teach the girls their role as a wife and mother. The organisations were made compulsory for children at state school but once again Mussolini faced the same problems as education. Mussolini also wanted to influence the adult Italians and so set up the Dopolavoro to provide leisure activities that would influence the workers towards a Fascist view of life. Mussolini also tried to change ways of life such as the Fascist salute to replace the handshake and for the banning of women wearing trousers; such rules were unenforceable and simply irritated the Italians.
It seems that Mussolini fell short on creating his ideal fascist state socially too. Areas he tried to influence could not be enforced properly and the support he did gain from the public was due to effective propaganda and fear rather than recognition of real achievement. Mussolini wanted a totalitarian regime and for this to be completely achieved he needed the sincere commitment and active participation which he clearly did not have.
Overall it seems that Mussolini did go some way to achieving his ‘ideal Fascist state’, but not nearly as much as he would have liked. It has also become clear that Mussolini only tackled problems if they were obstacles to the achievement of his principle aims; this meant problems such as the North-South divide remained. I feel he achieved his early aims of becoming the personal dictator of Italy to a high extent with the only exception of the Monarchy still in existence. It seems his later aims of restructuring the economy and social side of Italy were harder to meet and this is where he fell short of achieving the perfect Italian state. Autarky was never near and the economy was distorted by changes in economics pattern. Mussolini had hoped to transform the Italian character and society into a Fascist mould, but he was disappointed with this aspect to. The race of athletic, aggressive, obedient, Fascists never materialised and the only hold Mussolini had was over the Government.
