Preview

How Did Benito Mussolini Contribute To The Rise Of Fascism?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
759 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did Benito Mussolini Contribute To The Rise Of Fascism?
Benito Mussolini, the leader of Italian authoritarian nationalists, seized power in the early 1900s. A former social journalist, Mussolini first coined the term fascism. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Mussolini’s fascism represented a counterrevolution. His fascist ideas aligned with the authoritarian of modernity, combining mass movement with the aggression of authoritarian nationalism, antisocialist, and anti-liberal values. Mussolini contended that everything an individual did, needed to be for the State over all other motives (Pollard, et al., 2015, p. 700). Emphasizing that “against individualism, the Fascist conception is for the State; and it is for the individual in so far as he coincides with the State, which is the conscience …show more content…
Soon, Mussolini would change the Italian monarchy, overthrowing the leader and creating a dictatorship. Having no military power, Mussolini staged a bluff of invasion successfully intimidating the king into withholding the use of his army (Pollard, et al., 2015, p. 700). The Italian government resigned in protest and the position of Prime Minister was offered to Mussolini from the monarch. This resulted in all political parties, apart from fascism, being dissolved within a few years. Mussolini believed that as the leader, he was the personifying power and unity of Italy (Pollard, et al., 2015, p. 701).
Fascism looked out more for the working class, veterans, and students. Individual talents and education be used to advance the state and their personal agenda. His ideas fell just short of a social revolution and the final political idea in Italy in 1930 because it looked more like traditional conservatism. Mussolini's ideas challenged the status quo immensely since it was anti-liberal and antisocialist, both big visions at the time were popular. His ideas were so visionary that, even though they did not stay around in Italy as intended, they did help shape some views in other

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In October 1922, King Victor Emmanuel III appointed Benito Mussolini as the 13th Prime Minister of the Italian state. Between 1919 and 1922, the Fascists had begun to appeal to a larger audience, such as the industrialists, the army and the middle classes, but in 1922 only held 7% of the vote. This means that although support was an important factor in Mussolini’s appointment to power, there were other factors that also had a role in leading to this, such as the weakness of Giolitti’s Liberal government, the role of Socialism and Mussolini’s skill and opportunism. Overall, the growth in support played a very minor role in Mussolini’s appointment to power, and getting the position was mostly due to his ability to manipulate events to his advantage.…

    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Firstly, Italy’s government was deteriorating and so it was evident that communist Italy was a failure. Mussolini had led the Italian population to believe that he and his fascist party were their only hope into putting an end to the chaos in Rome, and re-establish order and bring about the once great Italy, just as Caesar had in the time of the great Romans. This was appealing to the Italian people, as the city or Rome seemed to have fallen into ruins, taking advantage of this, Mussolini had conveyed himself as their saviour. Fascist ideology stressed the importance of the heroic leader and strong government. This was in contrast to the weaknesses of Liberal Italy, characterised by the failure to provide strong and stable government and so Italian people found it easier to give praise to a person rather than a concept, and Fascism seemed to embody elements of both left and right wing policies. He used powerful slogans such as “Mussolini is always right, believe, obey, fight.”…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mussolini became into power by Fascist they soon voted for him to become prime minister for his country. Soon to be he became a dictator he was a Nazi he was called ‘il duce’ meaning the leader. He became allies with Hitler around the 1930. Mussolini tried to gain more power all the times. He wanted to start World War 2 but Hitler started it instead. Mussolini rose…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    11.3 Dbq

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Benito Mussolini was the leader of the Fascist Party in Italy and he had always resisted codifying the principle of fascism, but when the Enciclopedia Italiana requested an article explaining fascism, he insisted on giving his process behind the way a country should be runned. The explanation of the principle of fascism was “The Doctrine of Fascism” published in 1932. Fascism is the idea of giving interest in economic, social, and military power to a dominant race or state lead by one leader. Fascism is used to categorize censorship and oppression. Benito believed in one ruler and all the other political parties were banned in Italy. In Italy everything was made to favor the fascist government. But Benito helped society by providing jobs to unemployed people by using public work camp. Fascism brought a better economy after the war but…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It was at this time when small, pro nationalist groups began to spread all over Italy under the new name of the fascist party which was under the control of one Benito Mussolini. He swiftly began to increase in popularity and he would stop at nothing to get to the top of the political ladder. This-in conjunction to the rest of his life-can be used to make a judgement on whether Benito Mussolini was a man who cared for the renewal of his country and or if he believed that all men were expendable for his well-being. Many historians have come to the conclusion that he was a vein man of evil as he invaded defenceless nations such as Ethiopia in the name of establishing fascism within East Africa. He became the accomplice of Adolf Hitler thereby disregarding the Jewish people. And finally his lust for power and greed brought about the timely fall of his fascist empire. Therefore, it can be said that Benito Mussolini was a vile and self-righteous…

    • 2072 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mussolini consolidation of fascist power in Italy in the years 1922-1929 could have been mainly due to the use of force and intimidation. However this was not a straightforward process, since fascism was a new thing. In the years 1922 to January 1925 marked the transition from the liberal parliamentary system to the fascist state. Like many political transitions, it was an untidy and complicated process. Although from the start Mussolini’s intentions were quite difficult to establish, however it could be that Mussolini wanted to set up from the beginning a totalitarian one party state.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fascism came to power in Italy in 1922 due to a number of different factors. The roots of fascism can be found in the failure of a whole political class and system to resist authoritarianism and it was a start of a big mistake made by the Italian government, even though allot of people thought Mussolini forced his way into power, in actual fact he was invited into parliament by an incompetent and underestimating liberal party (Giolitti) who formed a coalition with the fascists party in 1921 'the national block'. During the time the fascists came to power there was many post war problems such as political polarization, the melt down of public beliefs in the government, extreme financial problems and great concern of a Russian (Bolshevik) style revolution.…

    • 1756 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Both German fascism, led by Adolf Hitler and Italian fascism, led by Benito Mussolini exploited many economical and political difficulties within their nation in order to gain power. Hitler blamed Germany's ruined economy on the Weimar Republic, Communists, and Jews, while Mussolini blamed large Socialist and Catholic parties for Italy's economic struggles. They also gained the support of farmers, small businessmen, civil servants, and young people by advocating strict nationalistic goals and blaming their economic troubles on the Bolsheviks. Nevertheless, the most crucial components of securing political power was though…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “He sent his massive followers on a march to Italy’s capital city. As tens of thousands converged on Rome, government leaders became so unnerved that they resigned.” ( Document 2) He was able to rise to power by also promising change. Italy was also experiencing economic hardships from the Great Depression of 1929 and the country needed a strong leader to improve the economy. “ Mussolini organized industry, agriculture and economic services into state controlled labor unions and employer associations called corporations. Government officials appointed the heads of each union and the employer corporation. They negotiated wages and working conditions with each other.” (document 3) This type of work force gave citizens jobs and wages to care for their families. Although they did not have much mobility to earn higher wages the people did gain an income source. Mussolini also united people, “by proclaiming Italian greatness.” ( document 2) People wanted to share their love for Italy and Italian customs. Citizens feel connected when they share similar values. In addition, Mussolini got the Catholic church to support him as he adopted pro catholic policies against abortion and divorce. He had the people support and now he wanted to make Italy a powerful force. He invaded Ethiopia, joined Nazi troops in France and unsuccessfully invaded Greece. His rise to power and dictatorship was accepted by the people as they desired positive…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Benito Mussolini outlines several essential characteristics of his preferred political ideology, Fascism, in what has become known as the Doctrine of Fascism. In this paper, Mussolini outlines his vision of the ideology, and explains the major issues that Fascism will address once it becomes the leading political system in Italy. Mussolini’s major points as outlined in the Doctrine included an extreme emphasis on nationalism, organization and modernization of the state, persistent focus on religion, life as a struggle, and the notion that individuals exist only for the improvement of society as a whole. Wolfgang Schieder, after reviewing the Doctrine of Fascism, explains Mussolini’s success based on it and clarifies what exactly Adolf Hitler adopted from the Italian Fascist ideology to incorporated into his own Third Reich.…

    • 1470 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    BY 1943 - totalitarian

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages

    However Mussolini did achieve a totalitarian state in some respects. For example, his use of propaganda was successful in propagating the idea of the ‘Cult of the Duce’, a campaign with the aim of almost deifying Mussolini and giving him abnormal qualities, such as always being right, being able to do anything, and having endless physical strength. Posters and photographs with Mussolini, frequently shirtless, were plastered everywhere, his speeches were played on the radio and his brilliance was ingrained into school children due to the propaganda. This was important as it meant that in the eyes of the Italian citizens, Mussolini was the best man to lead the country and so, as a result, they supported him fully and this rendered all opposition inferior, and this consolidated Mussolini’s position. Through the use of propaganda, Mussolini successfully entrenched his superiority in the minds of Italians, skilfully creating a totalitarian state by making himself the only leader that the people would want.…

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mussolini was a very popular leader and an ally of Adolf Hitler, whom he inspired with his actions. Because of his actions, time came when Hitler became more popular and had more power than Mussolini, and this resulted in some major conflicts between Italy and Nazi Germany. “Mussolini became a close ally of German dictator Adolf Hitler, whom he influenced. However, he never enjoyed the level of popular support that Hitler at times attracted in Germany, and as soon as it was clear to the people of Italy that they were losing the war, they turned against the dictator.” (“Benito Mussolini”). Mussolini was a very charismatic person enabling him to influence Hitler, and these actions had later consequences involving the people of…

    • 2047 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Following World War I the European nations who were accustom to great prosperity found their economic, social, and international infrastructures in shambles. As a result of a war that saw millions of lives lost and mass destruction resulted in widespread depression across Europe. (Bentley, Ziegler, & Streets-Alter, 2010) The Central powers experienced severe consequence that resulted in extensive labor strikes, food riots, mutinies, and the epidemic spread of disease triggered by years of all out warfare. In turn, people associated with the Central power’s European nations became embittered by the harsh post war conditions. Due to these conditions faced by many Europeans and the prevalence of social unrest, there were ample opportunities for new ideologies to be pioneered. Benito Mussolini recognized the disenchantment among the people of Italy and appeared to have the answers to remedy the countries social and financial unrest. Mussolini, also discontent with the Socialist and Leftist philosophies, which were predominant during that era, formed the National Fascist Party on March 23, 1919. (H, 2010) Mussolini’s Fascist party grew in popularity over a very short period of time amid the Italian people who had grown…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Doctrine of Fascism

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Coming from a socialist background, Mussolini wrote about the practicality behind Fascism. Saying, “Fascism desires and active man” who invests all energies, knows of the challenges life will posses and the mind set to overcome them, as well as, changing himself in the process. He makes a point to stray from the idea of individual promotion, but to have promotion for the individual within the nation for a better humanity. The knowledge of “culture” and “education” sets the Fascists apart from others, for he is in charge of his own destiny, as long as that destiny identifies with the destiny of all. Furthering the concept of human growth, Mussolini states Fascism, “disdains the comfortable life”. However, do the fascists disdain those who take their comfortable life for granted, e.i. aristocracy? Those who believe life is serious and religious and whose actions go hand-in-hand with moral judgment, despise those who simply follow a different set of beliefs?…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fascism and Communism

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In October of 1922 Mussolini was named the premier. He used his militia to purge local governments of any opposition to Fascism. Under the worsening conditions when Italy was about to collapse, the Fascists party appealed to the frustrations of soldiers and the middle class. The Fascists offered a return to traditional values, promising to bring Italy back to a position of glory again. Most importantly, the Fascist's offered to do something about the deteriorating conditions.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays