Mussolini’s control of the civil service was effective in aiding the establishment of a dictatorship. This was because he used a similar tactic as to what he used for the control of his party, patronage. He promoted those whose actions were pro-Fascist and whose attitudes were Fascist and fired the non-Fascist staff. This meant people would ‘pretend’ to be Fascist by doing performing pro-Fascist actions that would benefit the party just for the promotion. This was an easy way of gaining support in the civil service as only people who liked Mussolini would be in charge of the civil servants.
Propaganda usage by Mussolini was effective because he would impose himself on the life of ordinary Italians. This meant that he would become a well-known face and most pictures showed him to be talented, such as playing the violin and so people would think that he was the superhero of Italy and support him. However, it can be argued that the use of propaganda also known as the Cult of Personality was ineffective in South Italy and some areas of the North, this was because many people were illiterate and unable to interpret the propaganda and therefore it was rendered useless.
Mussolini’s prevention of opposition uprising was effective in the establishment of the dictatorship because parties were banned in December 1925 meaning that if an action performed by Mussolini was out of other partys’ favours then they would have no real ground to stand up against the Fascists. This meant that Mussolini didn’t have any real opposition now.
Mussolini’s pacification of the King was very effective and was the most crucial in terms of setting up a dictatorship. Any new laws would have to be permitted by the King and Mussolini avoided a lot of contact with the King and limited himself to two visits per week where Mussolini would avoid talking about the laws and did not ask the King for advice. This meant that soon people would forget of the King’s existence or power on the nation. This was crucial because the King was easily manipulated and by keeping him ‘out of the picture,’ other politicians would not be able to manipulate him in the way Mussolini had done.
Mussolini and the Church had not yet come to a mutual agreement even by 1928. This hindered the creation of a dictatorship because the church had a large influence on a large percentage of Italian people and so if they disagreed with Mussolini’s ideals they could easily rival him and overwhelm him with support. They were a large party before Mussolini’s rise to power as well which shows they can easily gather up support. However, agreements were made in 1929 which gave Mussolini the support of the church and now had no real opposition.
To conclude, Mussolini’s establishment of the dictatorship was very effective. This was because he successfully removed the threat of any opponents by banning them and coming to terms on certain agreements and he also took control over most of the Italian citizens, including the military, civil servants and his own party.
by
nathangranger3 (student)
