Benito Mussolini.

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Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini was a fascist dictator in Italy from 1925-1944. He was presented as a “superman” and for a while seemed to unite the Italian people in their support for him. Mussolini had gained power rapidly and lost it through wanting too much power and changing his views and decisions to whatever seemed to be best for maintain power.

There were several reasons why Fascism developed in Italy in the 1920’s and why Mussolini was able to establish his dictatorship. One issue was the great disappointment among the Italian population due to the impact of the First World War. There were about 500,000 people that died in the war (Cambridge University Press). In addition there was disappointment over the little gains that were achieved by the government in the Paris Peace Conference. Italy didn’t get as much land as they hoped, only some territories in Tyrol, Trieste, Istria and parts of Albania. Then there were several problems with democracy. Only coalition governments could be built, there were about 31 different governments between 1860 and 1914 (Cambridge University Press) and paralysis resulted. No proper decisions were made, since every single party held a totally or slightly different opinion and didn’t agree. As a result democracy became unpopular. And also the economic and political situation was instable. High inflation and a collapse in the lira occurred, unemployment and agricultural depression lead to a fall in living standard. Industrial and agricultural unrests with strikes and even violent action were common. In Italy was a general fear of civil war. Mussolini’s Fascist Party, the PNF, which turned into an official party in 1921, seemed to offer a solution to a lot of these problems. Mussolini promised stability within the political system. But there were also other reason why people tended to vote for him. His group founded of ex-soldiers, the so-called black shirts, engaged violent attacks on strikers and socialist groups. Also the party was seen as an anti- communist weapon by the Church, which still had great influence on people and didn’t want to co-operate with the present government. There was always a fear of a communist take-over and the Fascist party presented itself as the only barrier against it. A general support from the middle classes in the cities, the countryside and the army was therefore obvious, as the disappointment about the results from the First World War was common among them, and the middle classes wanted a better economic situation and a safe and ensured working place. There were revolts against the rise of socialism and trade unions and the industrialists supported Mussolini’s party financially. The acceptance of the party grew from 1921.With the March on Rome in 1922, where about 50,000 black shirts were on their way to Rome with the aim to seize power, Mussolini wanted to protest against the continual disruption and industrial unrests, as well as ensure an important position in Italian government. The king declared him Prime minister without a moment’s hesitating. This was because he feared a civil war and believed that Mussolini would help against it. In addition the willingness of the Catholic Church, that later had a contract with Mussolini, the army and the Big Business stood aside Mussolini, in order to weaken communism. The ruling elite felt he might be able to set up a strong government and stability, and so Mussolini achieved what he wanted. The first step towards dictatorship was taken. In 1923 he then passed the Acerbo Law, which replaced the old electoral system. The new system was that only parties with more than 25% of the total votes got seats in the Parliament. The fascists were now the largest party with 2/3 of the seats. 1925 Fascists and their allies got 66% of the votes and secured the total control of the parliamentary system. The next step towards dictatorship was then the murder of Matteotti, a socialist politician who strongly and openly opposed Fascism. At first it seemed to bring Mussolini’s fall, because of the disappointment the murder raised, but it eventually made Mussolini even stronger. On 3.01.1925 Mussolini declared to take full response of all fascist actions and Italy a dictatorship with all the aspects a dictatorship brings along.

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Mussolini’s political ideology was Fascism. Though at the beginning of his career he tended to have socialist ideas, but then changed his viewpoints to fascism, which again shows his ambition to gain and maintain power, since he did whatever seemed to gain him the most support. Fascism was a right-wing regime with strong emphasis on nationalism and the absolute power of the state. The regime presented itself as a rival to socialism and communism and therefore considered itself as enemy of as well them as of liberal democracy. As Mussolini set his dictatorship up it became a totalitarian type of ...

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