Italy is a country that produces little raw materials, because little steel or coal was produced, Italy could not produce products to sell and lost money.
Even though Mussolini had an assertive, ambitious personality which aided him to power, there are many other reasons why he rose to power.
Mussolini was a natural rebel. From a very early age he defied any authority figures such as his parents, teachers and the Police. This is shown through a school report from when he was 12.
“…passionate and unruly, he cannot adapt himself to the life of school…”
He was a very restless man; he wanted things to happen quickly. Everyday he tried to be violent in some form.
Mussolini did gain a lot of support because of his personality. People saw him as the answer to many of Italy’s growing problems, including the economic crisis that the country was facing. He was a powerful speaker, which rallied many of Italy’s people who felt that their country was failing. He was very charismatic with his speaking.
“We Fascists have a clear programme: we must move on led by a pillar of fire, because we are slandered and not understood.”
Mussolini wrote in a powerful and extreme way which attracted many people as it was something that they had not heard before.
Mussolini could sense the popular mood and adjusted his views to that of the population, he was very pragmatic.
Although Mussolini’s personality helped him into power, there are other factors which should be taken into account.
One contributing factor was the weakness of the opposition to Mussolini.
The opposing parties, such as the Liberals argued amongst themselves instead of working together to combat the growing trend of Fascism. The Liberals were more concerned with stopping Socialism and the Catholic Party rather than their main threat.
The Socialists declined the offer from the Liberal Party to make formal pacts in order to stop Mussolini. Instead of working together as one power, they fought and argued with each other which not only distracted them from the threat of Fascism, but also made their individual parties weaker, while Fascism grew stronger.
The Catholic Church also proved a problem for the opposition of Fascism. After the appointment of a new Pope, Pius XI, in February 1921, the Catholic party began working to eradicate left wing influences within the party itself and also undermine the anti-fascist strike being called for by the loose coalition formed by the Liberals and the Socialists called the Alliance Of Labour.
The new Pope saw Fascism as an opportunity to improve the official status of the Catholic Church, which the Liberal governments had ignored.
Because of this, the Catholic Church worked against the opposition instead of working with them to stop the rise of Fascism.
Another contributing factor was the mistakes made by the current government and the opposition parties at the time which Mussolini exploited to his advantage.
In 1918, the Prime Minister, Orlando, introduced all voting for all men, not just the wealthy and important. This meant that the people now had more freedom in who they wanted in power. And because of Mussolini appearing as the answer to the countries problems, he gained many votes.
From 1919-1920, Prime Minister Nitti introduced Proportional Representation. This was a huge list of political parties in Italy which people could vote for. This meant that minority parties, such as the Fascists at this time could gain seats in Parliament much more easily.
In the 1921 election, the Liberal Prime Minister, Giolitti, added the Fascists to the electoral list in an attempt to block the Socialists. This made Fascism look respectable and more people felt that they could vote for them and not be shunned. This was a crucial parliamentary breakthrough for the Fascists as it bought 35 of its members into the Chamber.
In 1922, Giolitti listened to Mussolini’s promises to stop the huge violence that was happening across Italy by rebelling Fascists. Mussolini eventually convinced Giolitti to support him through his promises of stopping the Socialists.
Another mistake made by the Liberals was their unwillingness to negotiate with their long term rivals, the Socialists and trade unions which stopped any chance of their being a build up of anti-Fascism. The Liberals preferred to make a deal with Mussolini rather than any possible alliance with the Left Wing.
The escalating violence that was sweeping Italy at the time also led to Mussolini’s rise to power.
Mussolini was a very violent person; he encouraged the rebellion that many Fascists began. Large mobs of Fascists went to Socialist towns and burnt them to the ground, killing any Socialists that were influential in that area.
The organisational framework of the Socialist’s was literally smashed by the violence. Leading members of the party and trade unions were attacked, tortured and killed. It is estimated that these Fascist attacks killed around 2000 opponents of the Fascist party.
Many people saw this movement as ‘hooliganism’. However, many people saw it is ‘a crude but necessary antidote’.
The elite in Italy, who were disgusted with the weakness of the government, co-operated with the Fascists and let them carry out their planned attacks. This meant that the Police did not attempt to stop the attacks and co-operated, supplying vehicles for the Fascists use. The Police thought that if they gave the Fascists some power, the violence would contain itself.
The King refused to act against the violence and did not introduce Martial Law. He feared that it may lead to an all out civil war and was also worried about the weakness of the Italian army at the time.
The final Fascist threat was that of a march on Rome itself by the Fascists in order to restore order there. As a result of this, the king became scared. Mussolini sensed this and promised to halt the violence if he was appointed Prime Minister. The King either had to run the risk of the attack on the capital or agree to Mussolini’s terms. The question of whether the attack would actually happen or not is still controversial.
Mussolini used the violence to his advantage, reassuring that if Fascism was allowed to remain, then the army and the King’s positions would be safe.
Mussolini convinced PM Giolitti that the violence was the only way to eradicate the Socialist party and that after the Socialists were gone the violence would cease. Mussolini promised to restore order if appointed into power.
Although the Fascist party was relatively small to begin with, it did have some supporters, and for a political group to be successful, it needs support.
Fascism was supported by middle and upper classes through Mussolini’s exploitation of their fear. Lower middle class students from university, civil servants and the respectable ‘bourgeois’ families also supported Fascism. Large industrialists, who were against the trade unions supported and provided funds for the movement. Many Conservative groups like the Police, Army and rural landlords felt sympathy for the Fascists stand against the Left Wing.
As a result of Mussolini’s charismatic and pragmatic character, along with the weaknesses and mistakes made by his opposition, the growing violence Mussolini exploited, and the support he gained Mussolini was able to push himself forward and in October, 1922 he was called to Rome and appointed Prime Minister of Italy.
