Doctrine of Fascism- Mussolini

8/11/2019 Doctrine of Fascism- Mussolini

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THE DOCTRINE OF FASCISM

BENITO MUSSOLINI (1932)

(This article, co-written by Giovanni Gentile, is considered to be the most

complete articulation of Mussolini's political views. This is the only complete

official translation we know of on the web, copied directly from an official

Fascist overnment publication of !"#$, Fascism Doctrine and Institutions, by

%enito Mussolini, &rdita ublishers, ome, paes )-*+. This translation includes

all the footnotesfrom the oriinal.

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/ike all sound political conceptions, Fascism is action and it is thouht0 action in

which doctrine is immanent, and doctrine arisin from a iven system of historical

forces in which it is inserted, and workin on them from within (!. 1t has

therefore a form correlated to continencies of time and space0 but it has also an ideal

content which makes it an e2pression of truth in the hiher reion of the history of

thouht (+. There is no way of e2ercisin a spiritual influence in the world as a human

will dominatin the will of others, unless one has a conception both of the transient and

the specific reality on which that action is to be e2ercised, and of the permanent and

universal reality in which the transient dwells and has its bein. To know men one must

know man0 and to know man one must be ac3uainted with reality and its laws. There

can be no conception of the 4tate which is not fundamentally a conception of life5

philosophy or intuition, system of ideas evolvin within the framework of loic or

concentrated in a vision or a faith, but always, at least potentially, an oranic conception

of the world.

Thus many of the practical e2pressions of Fascism such as party orani6ation,

system of education, and discipline can only be understood when considered in

relation to its eneral attitude toward life. & spiritual attitude (#. Fascism sees in the

world not only those superficial, material aspects in which man appears as an

individual, standin by himself, self-centered, sub7ect to natural law, which instinctively

ures him toward a life of selfish momentary pleasure0 it sees not only theindividual but the nation and the country0 individuals and enerations bound toether
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by a moral law, with common traditions and a mission which suppressin the instinct

for life closed in a brief circle of pleasure, builds up a hiher life, founded on

duty, a life free from the limitations of time and space, in which the individual, by

self-sacrifice, the renunciation of self-interest, by death itself, can achieve that purely

spiritual e2istence in which his value as a man consists.

The conception is therefore a spiritual one, arisin from the eneral reaction of the

century aainst the materialistic positivism of the 818th century. &nti-positivistic but

positive0 neither skeptical nor anostic0 neither pessimistic nor supinely optimistic as

are, enerally speakin, the doctrines (all neative which place the center of life

outside man0 whereas, by the e2ercise of his free will, man can and must create his own

world.

Fascism wants man to be active and to enae in action with all his eneries0 it

wants him to be manfully aware of the difficulties besettin him and ready to

face them. 1t conceives of life as a strule in which it behooves a man to win for himself

a really worthy place, first of all by fittin himself (physically, morally, intellectually tobecome the implement re3uired for winnin it. &s for the individual, so for the nation,

and so for mankind (*.ence the hih value of culture in all its forms (artistic,

reliious, scientific ($ and the outstandin importance of education. ence also

the essential value of work, by which man sub7uates nature and creates the human

world (economic, political, ethical, and intellectual.

This positive conception of life is obviously an ethical one. 1t invests the whole field

of reality as well as the human activities which master it. 9o action is e2empt from

moral 7udment0 no activity can be despoiled of the value which a mora l purpose

confers on all thins . Therefore life, as conceived of by the Fascist, is serious,

austere, and reliious0 all its manifestations are poised in a world sustained by moral

forces and sub7ect to spiritual responsibilities. The Fascist disdains an :easy; life (utside

history man is a nonentity. Fascism is therefore opposed to all individualistic

abstractions based on eihteenth century materialism0 and it is opposed to all ?acobinistic

utopias and innovations. 1t does not believe in the possibility of ;happiness; on earth

as conceived by the economis tic literature of the 8@111th century, and it therefore

re7ects the theoloical notion that at some future time the human family will secure a

final settlement of all its difficulties. This notion runs counter to e2perience which

teaches that life is in continual flu2 and in process of evolution. 1n politics

Fascism aims at realism0 in practice it desires to deal only with those problems whichare the spontaneous product of historic conditions and which find or suest
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their own solutions (". >nly by enter in in to the process of reality and takin

possession of the forces at work within it, can man act on man and on nature (!A.

&nti-individualistic, the Fascist conception of life stresses the importance of the

4tate and accepts the individual only in so far as his interests coincide with those of

the 4tate, which stands for the conscience and the universal, will of man as a historicentity (!!. 1t is opposed to classical liberalism which arose as a reaction to absolutism

and e2hausted its historical function when the 4tate became the e2pression of the

conscience and will of the people. /iberalism denied the 4tate in the name of the

individual0 Fascism reasserts

The rihts of the 4tate as e2pressin the real essence of the individual(!+. &nd if

liberty is to he the attribute of livin men and not of abstract dummies invented by

individualistic liberalism, then Fascism stands for liberty, and for the only liberty worth

havin, the liberty of the 4tate and of the individual within the 4tate (!#. The Fascist

conception of the 4tate is all embracin0 outside of it no human or spiritual values can

e2ist, much less have value. Thus understood, Fascism, is totalitarian, and theFascist 4tate - a synthesis and a unit inclusive of all values - interprets, develops,

and potentates the whole life of a people (!*.

9o individuals or roups (political parties, cultural associations, economic unions,

social classes outside the 4tate (!$. Fascism is therefore opposed to 4ocialism to which

unity within the 4tate (which amalamates classes into a sinle economic and ethical

reality is unknown, and which sees in history nothin but the class strule. Fascism is

likewise opposed to trade unionism as a class weapon. %ut when brouht within the

orbit of the 4tate, Fascism reconi6es the real needs which ave rise to socialism

and trade unionism, ivin them due weiht in the uild or corporative system in

which diverent interests are coordinated and harmoni6ed in the unity of the 4tate(!


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The riht to national independence does not arise from any merely literary

and idealistic form of self-consciousness0 still less from a more or less passive and

unconscious de facto situation, but from an active, self-conscious, political will

e2pressin itself in action and ready to prove its rihts. 1t arises, in short, from

the e2istence, at least in fieri, of a 4tate. 1ndeed, it is the 4tate which, as the

e2pression of a universal ethical will, creates the riht to national independence(+A.

& nation, as e2pressed in the 4tate, is a livin, ethical entity only in so far

as it is proress ive. 1nactivity is death. Therefore the 4tate is not only &uthority

which overns and confers leal form and spiritual value on individual wills, but it is

also ower which makes its will felt and respected beyond its own frontiers, thus

affordin practical proof of the universal character of the decisions necessary to ensure

its development. This implies orani6ation and e2pansion, potential if not actual.

Thus the 4tate e3uates itself to the will of man, whose development cannot he

checked by obstacles and which, by achievin self-e2pression, demonstrates its

infinity (+!.

The Fascist 4tate , as a hiher and more powerful e2pression of personality, is a

force, but a spiritual one. 1t sums up all the manifestations of the moral and

intellectual life of man. 1ts functions cannot therefore be limited to those of enforcin

order and keepin the peace, as the liberal doctrine had it. 1t is no mere mechanical

device for definin the sphere within which the individual may duly e2ercise his

supposed rihts. The Fascist 4tate is an inwardly accepted standard and rule of

conduct, a discipline of the whole person0 it permeates the will no less than the

intellect. 1t stands for a principle which becomes the central motive of man as a

member of civili6ed society, sinkin deep down into his personality0 it dwells in

the heart of the man of action and of the thinker, of the artist and of the man of

science5 soul of the soul (++.

Fascism, in short, is not only a law-iver and a founder of institutions, but an

educator and a promoter of spiritual life. 1t aims at refashionin not only the forms of

life but their content - man, his character, and his faith. To achieve this propose it

enforces discipline and uses authority, enterin into the soul and rulin with undisputed

sway. Therefore it has chosen as its emblem the /ictorBs rods, the symbol of unity,

strenth, and 7ustice.

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL DOCTRINE

hen in the now distant March of !"!", speakin throuh the columns of the

Popolo d'Italia I summoned to Milan the survivin interventionists who had

intervened, and who had followed me ever since the foundation of the Fascist of

revolutionary action in ?anuary !"!$, 1 had in mind no specific doctrinal

proram. The only doctrine of which 1 had practical e2perience was that of

socialism, from until the winter of !"!* - nearly a decade. My e2perience was

that both of a follower and a leader but it was not doctrinal e2perience. My

doctrine durin that period had been the doctrine of action. & uniform,

universally accepted doctrine of 4ocialism had not e2isted since !"A$, when the

revisionist movement, headed by %ernstein, arose in Germany, countered by theformation, in the see-saw of tendencies, of a left revolutionary movement which
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in 1taly never 3uitted the field of phrases, whereas, in the case of ussian

socialism, it became the prelude to %olshevism.

eformism, revolutionism, centrism, the very echo of that terminoloy is dead,

while in the reat river of Fascism one can trace currents which had their source in

4orel , euy, /aardelle of the Movement Socialists, and in the cohort of 1taliansyndicalist who from !"A* to !"!* brouht a new note into the 1talian socialist

environment - previously emasculated and chloroformed by fornicatin with Giolitti's

party - a note sounded in >livetti's Pagine Libere, >rano's Lupa, Cnrico /eone's

Divenirs Socials.

hen the war ended in !"!" 4ocialism, as a doctrine, was already dead0 it

continued to e2ist only as a rude, especially in 1taly where its only chance

lay in incitin to reprisals aainst the men who had willed the war and who were

to be made to pay for it.

The Popolo d'Ital ia described itself in its subtitle as the daily oran offihters and producers. The word producer was already the e2pression of a

mental trend. Fascism was not the nurslin of a doctrine previously drafted at a

desk0 it was born of the need of action, and was action0 it was not a party but, in

the first two years, an anti-party and a movement. The name 1 ave the

orani6ation fi2ed its character.

Det if anyone cares to reread the now crumpled sheets of those days ivin

an account of the meetin at which the 1talian Fasci di combattimento were founded,

he will find not a doctrine but a series of pointers, forecasts, hints which, when

freed from the inevitable matri2 of continencies, were to develop in a few

years time into a series of doctrinal positions entitlin Fascism to rank as a political

doctrine differin from all others, past or present.

:1f the boureoisie - 1 then said - believe that they have found in us their

lihtenin-conductors, they arc mistaken. e must o towards the people... e

wish the workin classes to accustom themselves to the responsibilities of

manaement so that they may reali6e that it is no easy matter to run a business...

e will fiht both technical and spiritual rear-uirdism... 9ow that the

succession of the reime is open we must not be fainthearted. e must rush

forward0 if the present reime is to be superseded we must take its place. The riht

of succession is ours, for we ured the country to enter the war and we led it tovictory... The e2istin forms of political representation cannot satisfy us0 we want

direst representation of the several interests... 1t may be ob7ected that this

proram implies a return to the uilds (corpora6ioni. 9o matterE.1therefore hope

this assembly will accept the economic claims advanced by national syndicalism

1s it not strane that from the very first day, at ia66a 4an 4epolcro, the word

;uild; (corpora6ionewas pronounced, a word which, as the evolution developed,

was to e2press one of the basic leislative and social creations of the reime

The years precedin the March on ome cover a period durin which the

need of action forbade delay and careful doctrinal elaborations. Fihtin wasoin on in the towns and villaes. There were discussions but... there was some-


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educational severity0 still less does it e2clude differentiation and rank. Fascism will

have nothin to do with universal embraces0 as a member of the community of

nations it looks other peoples straiht in the eyes0 it is viilant and on its uard0

it follows others in all their manifestations and notes any chanes in their

interests0 and it does not allow itself to be deceived by mutable and fallacious

appearances.

4uch a conception of life makes Fascism the resolute neation of the doctrine

underlyin so-called scientific and Mar2ian socialism, the doctrine of historic

materialism which would e2plain the history of mankind in terms of the class

strule and by chanes in the processes and instruments of production, to the

e2clusion of all else.

That the vicissitudes of economic life - discoveries of raw materials, new

technical processes, and scientific inventions - have their importance, no one

denies0 but that they suffice to e2plain human history to the e2clusion of other

factors is absurd. Fascism believes now and always in sanctity and heroism, that isto say in acts in which no economic motive - remote or immediate - is at work.

avin denied historic materialism, which sees in men mere puppets on the surface

of history, appearin and disappearin on the crest of the waves while in the

depths the real directin forces move and work, Fascism also denies the immutable

and irreparable character of the class strule which is the natural outcome of this

economic conception of history0 above all it denies that the class strule is the

preponderatin aent in social transformations. avin thus struck a blow at

socialism in the two main points of its doctrine, all that remains of it is the

sentimental aspiration-old as humanity itself-toward social relations in which the

sufferins and sorrows of the humbler folk will be alleviated. %ut here aain

Fascism re7ects the economic interpretation of felicity as somethin to be

secured socialistically, almost automatically, at a iven stae of economic

evolution when all will be assured a ma2imum of material comfort. Fascism

denies the materialistic conception of happiness as a possibility, and abandons it

to the economists of the mid-eihteenth century. This means that Fascism denies

the e3uation5 well-bein I happiness, which sees in men mere animals, content

when they can feed and fatten, thus reducin them to a veetative e2istence pure

and simple.

&fter socialism, Fascism trains its uns on the whole block of democratic

ideoloies, and re7ects both their premises and their practical applications andimplements. Fascism denies that numbers, as such, can be the determinin factor

in human society0 it denies the riht of numbers to overn by means of periodical

consultations0 it asserts the irremediable and fertile and beneficent ine3uality of men

who cannot be leveled by any such mechanical and e2trinsic device as universal

suffrae. Jemocratic reimes may be described as those under which the people are,

from time to time, deluded into the belief that they e2ercise sovereinty, while all

the time real sovereinty resides in and is e2ercised by other and sometimes

irresponsible and secret forces. Jemocracy is a kinless reime infested by many

kins who are sometimes more e2clusive, tyrannical, and destructive than one, even

if he be a tyrant. This e2plains why Fascism - althouh, for continent reasons, it

was republican in tendency prior to !"++ - abandoned that stand before the Marchon ome, convinced that the form of overnment is no loner a matter of


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preeminent importance, and because the study of past and present monarchies and

past and present republics shows that neither monarchy nor republic can be 7uded

sub specie aeternitatis, but that each stands for a form of overnment e2pressin the

political evolution, the history, the traditions, and the psycholoy of a iven

country.

Fascism has outrown the dilemma5 monarchy v. republic, over which

democratic reimes too lon dallied, attributin all insufficiencies to the former and

pronin the latter as a reime of perfection, whereas e2perience teaches that some

republics are inherently reactionary and absolutist while some monarchies accept

the most darin political and social e2periments.

1n one of his philosophic Meditations enan - who had prefascist intuitions

remarks, ;eason and science are the products of mankind, but it is chimerical to

seek reason directly for the people and throuh the people. 1t is not essential to the

e2istence of reason that all should be familiar with it0 and even if all had to be

initiated, this could not be achieved throuh democracy which seems fated tolead to the e2tinction of all arduous forms of culture and all hihest forms of

learnin. The ma2im that society e2ists only for the well -bein and freedom of the

individuals composin it does not seem to be in conformity with nature's plans, which

care only for the species and seem ready to sacrifice the individual. 1t is much to be

feared that the last word of democracy thus understood (and let me hasten to add

that it is susceptible of a different interpretation would be a form of society in

which a deenerate mass would have no thouht beyond that of en7oyin the

inoble pleasures of the vular ;.

1n re7ectin democracy Fascism re7ects the absurd conventional lie of political

e3ualitarianism, the habit of collective irresponsibility, the myth of felicity and

indefinite proress. %ut if democracy be understood as meanin a reime in which

the masses are not driven back to the marin of the 4tate, and then the writer of

these paes has already defined Fascism as an orani6ed, centrali6ed, authoritarian

democracy.

Fascism is definitely and absolutely opposed to the doctrines of liberalism, both

in the political and the economic sphere. The importance of liberalism in the

818th century should not be e2aerated for present day polemical purposes, nor

should we make of one of the many doctrines which flourished in that century a

reliion for mankind for the present and for all time to come. /iberalism reallyflourished for fifteen years only. 1t arose in !=#A as a reaction to the oly

&lliance which tried to force Curope to recede further back than !)="0 it

touched its 6enith in !=*= when even ius 18th was a liberal. 1ts decline bean

immediately after that year. 1f !=*= was a year of liht and poetry, !=*" was a year

of darkness and traedy. The oman epublic was killed by a sister republic, that of

France . 1n that same year Mar2, in his famous Kommunist Manifesto, launched

the ospel of socialism.

1n !=$! 9apoleon 111 made his illiberal coup d'etat and ruled France until !=)A

when he was turned out by a popular risin followin one of the severest military

defeats known to history. The victor was %ismarck who never even knew thewhereabouts of liberalism and its prophets. 1t is symptomatic that throuhout the


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818th century the reliion of liberalism was completely unknown to so hihly

civili6ed a people as the Germans but for one parenthesis which has been

described as the :ridiculous parliament of Frankfort ; which lasted 7ust one season.

Germany attained her national unity outside liberalism and in opposition to

liberalism, a doctrine which seems forein to the German temperament, essentially

monarchical, whereas liberalism is the historic and loical anteroom to anarchy.The three staes in the makin of German unity were the three wars of !=


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e are free to believe that this is the century of authority, a century tendin to

the ; riht ;, a Fascist century. 1f the 818th century was the century of the individual

(liberalism implies individualism we are free to believe that this is the

;collective; century, and therefore the century of the 4tate. 1t is 3uite loical

for a new doctrine to make use of the still vital elements of other doctrines. 9o

doctrine was ever born 3uite new and briht and unheard of. 9o doctrine canboast absolute oriinality. 1t is always connected, it only historically, with those

which preceded it and those which will follow it. Thus the scientific socialism of

Mar2 links up to the utopian socialism of the Fouriers, the >wens, the 4aint-4imons

0 thus the liberalism of the 818th century traces its oriin back to the illuministic

movement of the 8@111th, and the doctrines of democracy to those of the

Cncyclopaedists. &ll doctrines aim at directin the activities of men towards a

iven ob7ective0 but these activities in their turn react on the doctrine, modifyin and

ad7ustin it to new needs, or outstrippin it. & doctrine must therefore be a vital

act and not a verbal display. ence the pramatic strain in Fascism, itBs will to

power, its will to live, its attitude toward violence, and its value.

The keystone of the Fascist doctrine is its conception of the 4tate, of its essence, its

functions, and its aims. For Fascism the 4tate is absolute, individuals and roups

relative. 1ndividuals and roups are admissible in so far as they come within the

4tate. 1nstead of directin the ame and uidin the material and moral proress

of the community, the liberal 4tate restricts its activities to recordin results. The

Fascist 4tate is wide awake and has a will of its own. For this reason it can be

described as ; ethical ;.

&t the first 3uin3uennial assembly of the reime, in !"+", 1 said :The Fascist

4tate is not a niht watchman, solicitous only of the personal safety of the citi6ens0

not is it orani6ed e2clusively for the purpose of uarantyin a certain deree of

material prosperity and relatively peaceful conditions of life, a board of directors

would do as much. 9either is it e2clusively political, divorced from practical

realities and holdin itself aloof from the multifarious activities of the citi6ens and

the nation. The 4tate, as conceived and reali6ed by Fascism, is a spiritual and

ethical entity for securin the political, 7uridical, and economic orani6ation of

the nation, an orani6ation which in its oriin and rowth is a manifestation of

the spirit. The 4tate uarantees the internal and e2ternal safety of the country, but

it also safeuards and transmits the spirit of the people, elaborated down the aes

in its lanuae, its customs, its faith. The 4tate is not only the present0 it is also

the pas t and above all the future. Transcendin the individual's brief spell of life, the4tate stands for the immanent conscience of the nation. The forms in which it finds

e2pression chane, but the need for it remains. The 4tate educates the citi6ens to

civism, makes them aware of their mission, ures them to unity0 its 7ustice

harmoni6es their diverent interests0 it transmits to future enerations the con3uests

of the mind in the fields of science, art, law, human solidarity0 it leads men up

from primitive tribal life to that hihest manifestation of human power, imperial rule.

The 4tate hands down to future enerations the memory of those who laid down their

lives to ensure its safety or to obey its laws0 it sets up as e2amples and records for

future aes the names of the captains who enlared its territory and of the men of

enius who have made it famous. henever respect for the 4tate declines and the

disinteratin and centrifual tendencies of individuals and roups prevail, nationsare headed for decay;.


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4ince !"+" economic and political development have everywhere emphasi6ed

these truths. The importance of the 4tate is rapidly rowin. The so-called crisis can

only be settled by 4tate action and within the orbit of the 4tate. here are the

shades of the ?ules 4imons who, in the early days of liberalism proclaimed that

the ;4tate should endeavor to render itself useless and prepare to hand in its

resination ; >r of the MacKullochs who, in the second half of last century, uredthat the 4tate should desist from overnin too much &nd what of the Cnlish

%entham who considered that all industry asked of overnment was to be left

alone, and of the German umbolt who e2pressed the opinion that the best

overnment was a la6y ; one hat would they say now to the unceasin,

inevitable, and urently re3uested interventions of overnment in business 1t is true

that the second eneration of economists was less uncompromisin in this respect than

the first, and that even &dam 4mith left the door a7ar - however cautiously - for

overnment intervention in business.

1f liberalism spells individualism, Fascism spells overnment. The Fascist 4tate

is, however, a uni3ue and oriinal creation. 1t is not reactionary but revolutionary,for it anticipates the solution of certain universal problems which have been raised

elsewhere, in the political field by the splittin up of parties, the usurpation of

power by parliaments, the irresponsibility of assemblies0 in the economic field by

the increasinly numerous and important functions dischared by trade unions and

trade associations with their disputes and ententes, affectin both capital and

labor0 in the ethical field by the need felt for order, discipline, obedience to the

moral dictates of patriotism.

Fascism desires the 4tate to be stron and oranic, based on broad foundations of

popular support. The Fascist 4tate lays claim to rule in the economic field no less

than in others0 it makes its action felt throuhout the lenth and breadth of the

country by means of its corporative, social, and educational institutions, and all

the political, economic, and spiritual forces of the nation, orani6ed in their respective

associations, circulate within the 4tate. & 4tate based on millions of individuals who

reconi6e its authority, feel its action, and are ready to serve its ends is not the

tyrannical state of a mediaeval lordlin. 1t has nothin in common with the despotic

4tates e2istin prior to or subse3uent to !)=". Far from crushin the individual, the

Fascist 4tate multiplies his eneries, 7ust as in a reiment a soldier is not diminished

but multiplied by the number of his fellow soldiers.

The Fascist 4tate orani6es the nation, but it leaves the individual ade3uateelbow room. 1t has curtailed useless or harmful liberties while preservin those which

are essential. 1n such matters the individual cannot be the 7ude, but the 4tate

only.

The Fascist 4tate is not indifferent to reliious phenomena in eneral nor

does it maintain an attitude of indifference to oman Katholicism, the special,

positive reliion of 1talians. The 4tate has not ot a theoloy but it has a moral

code. The Fascist 4tate sees in reliion one of the deepest of spiritual manifestations

and for this reason it not only respects reliion but defends and protects it. The

Fascist 4tate does not attempt, as did obespierre at the heiht of the

revolutionary delirium of the Konvention, to se t up a ; od of its own0 nor doesit vainly seek, as does %olshevism, to efface God from the soul of man. Fascism


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respects the God of ascetics, saints, and heroes, and it also respects God as

conceived by the inenuous and primitive heart of the people, the God to whom

their prayers are raised.

The Fascist 4tate e2presses the will to e2ercise power and to command. ere

the oman tradition is embodied in a conception of strenth. 1mperial power, asunderstood by the Fascist doctrine, is not only territorial, or military, or

commercial0 it is also spiritual and ethical. &n imperial nation, that is to say a

nation a which directly or indirectly is a leader of others, can e2ist without the

need of con3uerin a sinle s3uare mile of territory. Fascism sees in the

imperialistic spirit -- i.e. in the tendency of nations to e2pand - a manifestation of

their vitality. 1n the opposite tendency, which would limit their interests to the home

country, it sees a symptom of decadence. eoples who rise or rearise are

imperialistic0 renunciation is characteristic of dyin peoples. The Fascist doctrine is

that best suited to the tendencies and feelins of a people which, like the 1talian,

after lyin fallow durin centuries of forein servitude, are now reassertin itself

in the world.

%ut imperialism implies discipline, the coordination of efforts, a deep sense of duty

and a spirit of self-sacrifice. This e2plains many aspects of the practical activity of the

reime, and the direction taken by many of the forces of the 4tate, as also the severity

which has to be e2ercised towards those who would oppose this spontaneous and

inevitable movement of 88th century 1taly by aitatin outrown ideoloies of the

818th century, ideoloies re7ected wherever reat e2periments in political and social

transformations are bein dared.

9ever before have the peoples thirsted for authority, direction, order, as they do now.

1f each ae has its doctrine, then innumerable symptoms indicate that the doctrine of

our ae is the Fascist. That it is vital is shown by the fact that it has aroused a

faith0 that this faith has con3uered souls is shown by the fact that Fascism can

point to its fallen heroes and its martyrs.

Fascism has now ac3uired throuhout the world that universally which belons to

all doctrines which by achievin self-e2pression represent a moment in the history

of human thouht.

APPENDI4

1 Phl$'$ph! !$%!ep#$%

(! 1f Fascism does not wish to die or, worse still, commit suicide, it must now

provide itself with a doctrine. Det this shall not and must not be a robe of 9essus

clinin to us for all eternity, for tomorrow is some thin mysterious and

unforeseen. This doctrine shall be a norm to uide political and individual action

in our daily life.

1 who have 1 dictated this doctrine, am the first to reali6e that the modest tables

of our laws and proram the theoretical and practical uidance of Fascism should be

revised, corrected, enlared, developed, because already in parts they have sufferedin7ury at the hand of time. 1 believe the essence and fundamentals of the doctrine


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are still to be found in the postulates which throuhout two years have acted as a

call to arms for the recruits of 1talian Fascism. owever, in takin those first

fundamental assumptions for a startin point, we must proceed to carry our

proram into a vaster field.

1talian Fascists, one and all, should cooperate in this task, one of vitalimportance to Fascism, and more especially those who belon to reions where with

and without areement peaceful coe2istence has been achieved between two

antaonistic movements.

The word 1 am about to use is a reat one, but indeed 1 do wish that durin the

two months which are still to elapse before our 9ational &ssembly meets, the

philosophy of Fascism could be created. Milan is already contributin with the first

Fascist school of propaanda.

1t is not merely a 3uestion of atherin elements for a proram, to be used as a solid

foundation for the constitution of a party which must inevitably arise from the Fascistmovement0 it is also a 3uestion of denyin the silly tale that Fascism is all made up

of violent men. 1n point of fact amon Fascists there are many men who belon

to the restless but meditative class.

The new course taken by Fascist activity will in no way diminish the fihtin

spirit typical of Fascism. To furnish the mind with doctrines and creeds does not mean

to disarm, rather it sinifies to strenthen our power of action, and make us ever more

conscious of our work. 4oldiers who fiht fully conscious of the cause make the best

of warriors. Fascism takes for its own the twofold device of Ma66ini 5 Thouht and

&ction u. "Letter to Mic%ele &ianc%i, written on &uust +), !"+!, for the openin of

the 4chool of Fascist Kulture and ropaanda in Milan, in Messaggi e Proclami,

Milano, /ibreria d'1talia, !"+", .#".

Fascists must be placed in contact with one another0 their activity must be an

activity of doctrine, an activity of the spirit and of thouht

ad our adversaries been present at our meetin, they would have been

convinced that Fascism is not only action, but thouht as well (4peech before the

9ational Kouncil of the Fascist arty, &uust =, !"+*, in La uova Politica

dell'Italia, Milano, &lpes, !"+=, p. +


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2 Sp#u"l5e- !$%!ep#$%

(# This political process is flanked by a philosophic process. 1f it be true that

matter was on the altars for one century, today it is the spirit which takes its place.

&ll manifestations peculiar to the democratic spirit are conse3uently repudiated5

easyoinness, improvisation, the lack of a personal sense of responsibility, thee2altation of numbers and of that mysterious divinity called n The eople a. &ll

creations of the spirit startin with that reliious are comin to the fore, and nobody

dare keep up the attitude of anticlericalism which, for several decades, was a favorite

with Jemocracy in the estern world. %y sayin that God is returnin, we mean that

spiritual values are returnin. "Da t%e parte va it mondo, in *empi della +ivoluione

Fascista, Milano, &lpes, !"#A, p. #*.

There is a field reserved more to meditation upon the supreme ends of life than

to a research of these ends. Konse3uently science starts from e2perience, but breaks

out fatally intop%ilosop%- and, in my opinion,p%ilosop%- alone can enlihten science

and lead to the universal idea. (To the Konress of 4cience at %olona , >ctober#!, !",+


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6 E#h!"l !$%!ep#$%

1 called the orani6ation Fasci 1taliani Ji combat tin onto. This hard metallic name

compromised the whole proram of Fascism as 1 dreamed it. Komrades, this is still

our proram5 fiht.

/ife for the Fascist is a continuous, ceaseless fiht, which we accept with ease,

with reat courae, with the necessary intrepidity. (K n the @11th anniversary of the

Foundation of theFasci, March 3, 19, inDiscorsi del 19, Milano, &lpes, 19), .

9=.

Dou touch the core of Fascist philosophy. hen recently a Finnish philosopher

asked me to e2pound to him the sinificance of Fascism in one sentence, 1 wrote in

German5 ((e are aainst the :easy, lif tE a. (C. /udwi5 *als 2it% Mussolini,

/ondon, &llen and Onwin, 19(, p. 19)#.

7 Rel$u' !$%!ep#$%

() 1f Fascism were not a creed how could it endow its followers with courae and

stoicism only a creed which has soared to the heihts of reliion can inspire such

words as passed the lips, now lifeless alas, of Federico Florio. "Legami di Sangue, in

Diu turna, Mi lano, &lpes, 19(), p. 4#.

8 H'#$!"l "%- e"l'#! !$%!ep#$%

(= Tradition certainly is one of the reatest spiritual forces of a people, inasmuch as it

is a successive and constant creation of theirsoul. "&reve Preludio, in *empi della

+ivoluione Fascista, Milano, &lpes, 19(), P$ 1(#

"9# >ur temperament leads us to appraise the concrete aspect of problems, rather than

their ideoloical or mystical sublimation. Therefore we easily reain our balance.

"5spetti del Dramma, inDiuturna, Milano, &lpes, 19(),p. =ur battle is an unrateful one, yet it is a beautiful battle since it compels us to

count only upon our own forces. evealed truths we have torn to shreds, domas we

have spat upon, we have re7ected all theories of paradise, we have baffled charlatans

white, red, black charlatans who placed miraculous drus on the market to ive a

happiness n to mankind. e do not believe in proram, in plans, in saints or apostles,above all we believe not in happiness, in salvation, in the romised /and. "Diuturna,

Milano, &lpes, 19(), p. (#.

e do not believe in a sinle solution, be it economical, political or moral, a linear

solution of the problems of life, because of illustrious choristers from all the

sacristies life is not linear and can never be reduced to a sement traced by

primordial needs. "avigare necesse, inDiuturna, Milano, &lpes, 19(), p. ((#.

(!A e are not and do not wish to be motionless mummies, with faces perpetually

turned towards the same hori6on, nor do we wish to shut ourselves up within the

narrow hedes of subversive biotry, where formulas, like prayers of a professedreliion, are muttered mechanically. e are men, livin men, who wish to ive our


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contribution, however 'modest, to the creation of history. "5udacia, in Jiu turna,

Milano, &lpes, 19(), p. '#

e uphold moral and traditional values which 4ocialism nelects or despises0 but,

above all, Fascism has a horror of anythin implyin an arbitrary mortae on the

mysterious future. "Dopo due anni, in Diuturna, Milano, &lpes, 19(), p. 6#.

1n spite of the theories of conservation and renovation, of tradition and proress

e2pounded by the riht and the left, we do not clin desperately to the past as to a

last board of salvation5 yet we do not dash headlon into the seductive mists of the future.

"&reve preludio, in Diuturna, Milano, &lpes, !"#A, p. !*. Pneation, eternal

immobility, mean damnation. 1 am all for motion. 1 am, one who marches on (C.

/udwi, *als 2it% Mussolini, /ot ?on, &llen and Onwin, !"#+, p. +A#.

The %-,-u"l "%- lbe#+

(!! e were the first to state, in the face of demo liberal individualism, that theindividual e2ists only in so far as he is within the 4tate and sub7ected to the

re3uirements of the state and that, as civili6ation assumes aspects which row more

and more complicated, individual freedom becomes more and more restricted. (To the

General staff Konference of Fascism, in Discorsi del 199, Milano, &lpes, !"#A, p.

+=A.

The sense of the state rows within the consciousness of 1talians, for they feel

that the state alone is the irreplaceable safeuard of their unit and independence0 that

the state alone represents continuity into the future of their stock and their history.

(Messae on the @11th all anniversary, >ctober +$, !"+",Discorsi del 199, Milano,

&lpes, !"#A, p. #oo.

1f, in the course of the past eiht years, we have made such astoundin

proress, you may well think suppose and foresee that in the course of the ne2t fifty

or eihty years the onward trend of 1taly , of this 1taly we feel to be so powerful, so

full of vital fluid, will really be randiose. 1t will be so especially if concord lasts

amon citi6ens, if the 4tate continues to be sole arbitrator in political and social

conflicts, if all remains within the state and nothin outside the 4tate, because it is

impossible to conceive any individual e2istin outside the 4tate unless he be a savae

whose home is in the solitude of she sandy desert. (4peech before the 4enate, May

!+, !"+=, inDiscorsi del 197, Milano, &lpes, !"+", p. !A".

Fascism has restored to the 4tate its soverein functions by claimin its absolute

ethical meanin, aainst the eotism of classes and cateories0 to the Government

of the state, which was reduced to a mere instrument of electoral assemblies, it has

restored dinity, as representin the personality of the state and its power of

Cmpire. 1t has rescued 4tate administration from the weiht of factions and party interests

(To the council of state, Jecember ++, !"+=, in Jiscorsi Jel !"+=, Milano, &lpes, !"+"

p.#+=.

(!+ /et no one think of denyin the moral character of Fascism. For 1 should be

ashamed to speak from this tribune if 1 did not feel that 1 represent the moral andspiritual powers of the state. hat would the state be if it did not possess a spirit


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of its own, and a morality of its own, which lend power to the laws in virtue of

which the state is obeyed by its citi6ens

The Fascist state claims its ethical character5 it is Katholic but above all it is

Fascist, in fact it is e2clusively and essentially Fascist. Katholicism completes

Fascism, and this we openly declare, but let no one think they can turn the tables on us,under cover of metaphysics or philosophy. (To the Khamber of Jeputies, May !#,

!"+", inDiscorsi del 199, Milano, &lpes, !"#A, p. !=+.

& 4tate which is fully aware of its mission and represents a people which are

marchin on0 a state which necessarily transforms the people even in their physical

aspect. 1n order to be somethin more than a mere administrator, the 4tate must

utter reat words, e2pound reat ideas and place reat problems before this people

"Di scorsi del 199, Milano, &lpes, !"#A, p. !=#.

(!# The concept of freedom is not absolute because nothin is ever absolute in life.

Freedom is not a riht, it is a duty. 1t is not a ift, it is a con3uest0 it is note3uality, it is a privilee. The concept of freedom chanes with the passin of time.

There is a freedom in times of peace which is not the freedom of times of war.

There is a freedom in times of prosperity which is not a freedom to be allowed in

times of poverty. (Fifth anniversary of the foundation of theFasci di 8ontbattimento,

March +*, !"+*, inLa nuova politica dell'Italia, vol. 111, Milano, &lpes, !"+$, p. #A.

1n our state the individual is not deprived of freedom. 1n fact, he has reater liberty

than an isolated man, because the state protects him and he is part of the 4tate.

1solated man is without defence. (C. /udwi, *als 2it% Mussolini, /ondon, &llen and

Onwin, !"#+, . !+".

(!* Today we may tell the world of the creation of the powerful united 4tate of

1taly, ranin from the &lps to 4icily0 this 4tate is e2pressed by a well-orani6ed,

centrali6ed, Onitarian democracy, where people circulate at case. 1ndeed, entlemen,

you admit the people into the citadel of the 4tate and the people will defend it, if you close

them out, the people will assault it. (speech before the Khamber of Jeputies, May +


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e control political forces, we control moral forces we control economic forces,

therefore we are a full-blown Korporative state. e stand for a new principle in the

world, we stand for sheer, cateorical, definitive antithesis to the world of

democracy, plutocracy, free-masonry, to the world which still abides by the

fundamental principles laid down in !)=". (4peech before the new 9ational

Jirectory of the arty, &pril ), !"+


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Doctrine of Fascism- Mussolini

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