MussoliniMussolini

Biography

• Born 1883• WWI• A socialist,

(like his father) then a fascist

• Named after Benito Juarez, Mexican revolutionary

Arrested in 1903 in Basel for vagrancy

Fascisti

• Fascists: anarchists, communists, unionists, republicans, Catholics, anti-clerics....

• Methods: destroy printing presses of rivals; beat up opponents

• symbol

Key ideas

• Aggressive nationalism• Belief in action over

thought• Restore the glories of

Rome• End the chaos in Italian

society

Italy after WWI

• Economy • Living conditions

Rise to Power

• Elections 1921 Result: 35/535 seats • failure!

March on Rome 1922

• Troops• Blackshirts• King afraid of Civil war• King hands over

power to Mussolini• Il Duce is born!• Rule by Decree for

one year• Does this follow

“recipe for revolution”?

Acerbo Law

• Assured a 2/3 majority for the party with the most votes.

Leadership qualities

• Dynamic public speaker

• Great showman• Used parades and

ritual to captivate his audiences

• Roman greeting

Totalitarianism

• What is totalitarianism?• Social engineering “The

Engineer of Human Souls”

Features of Totalitarianism

• Secret Police = OVRA 1927• Restrictions of freedom of speech and the

press• Banned trade unions• Murdered internal challengers• No voting, no consultation• Imperialism

Lateran Accords 1929

• Pact with the Catholic Church

• Church to control education

• Catholicism official state religion

• Pope gets to rule Vatican

• Why did the Church sign it? Why did Mussolini sign it?

Quotables

• “Mussolini is always right”• “Law and order”• “Better to be a Lion for a day than a sheep for 100

years”• “To govern Italy you need only policemen and

bands in the streets”• “The Pope? He is one of my helpers. He looks after

the dead. I look after the living.”• “The bullets pass, Mussolini remains.”

(after attempted assassination)

Key terms to know – Italy in Interwar Years

• Italia Irredenta• The Blackshirts• Mare Nostrum• March on Rome• Il Duce• The Acerbo Law• “Useless or harmful liberties” • The Lateran Accords• The Corporate State

http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/object.html