HISTORY OF FASCISM
An Overview of Italian Fascism
The Rise of Fascism in Italy
Benito Mussolini founded Italian Fascism in 1919. Politically active during his youth, he was a member of the Italian socialist party and worked as a journalist and editor of Avanti!, a socialist newspaper. The socialist party did not support Italian intervention in WWI, which led Mussolini to leave the party in 1914. He then served in the Italian army. However, by the time of his discharge, Mussolini was convinced that both socialism and Italian liberalism had failed the nation.
Unable to find a political organization that met his expectations, Mussolini organized the first meeting of the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento on March 23, 1919. Though initial party membership was low, the party grew rapidly between 1919 and 1920 during the Biennio Rosso.
In the immediate aftermath of the WWI, Italy's economy was in shambles and its government faced strikes and demonstrations. Fascist blackshirts, or squadristi, contributed to the chaos, roaming through the countryside and attacking Catholic, Socialist, and labor union demonstrators. In October 1922, Mussolini led the March on Rome with a large number of Fascist followers. The then-king Vittorio Emanuele III invited Mussolini to form a government in the hopes that the fascist leader could be tamed once in power.
However, the king's plan backfired. Within two years, the power of the Italian government was irrevocably concentrated in Mussolini's hands.
PHOTO, RIGHT: Photograph of Benito Mussolini. Wikimedia Commons.
Fascist Theory
According to the Encyclopedia of Political Theory, Fascism is “a political ideology combining virulent nationalism, extreme political authoritarianism, corporatist or quasi-socialist ideas and a cultural rebellion against democracy, liberalism and Marxism."[1]
Fascism is unique in that it does not claim to be universal in nature like other "isms.” There is no Fascist Manifesto, nor are there any universal principles. There is no main fascist thinker, nor any dominant fascist schools of thought. It is not exactly authoritarianism and it is not quite a dictatorship. Fascism relies instead on nationalistic spirit and charismatic leadership, as well as anti-bourgeoisie grandstanding and an emphasis on modernity. The ideology seeks to reinvent the citizen and glorify the state.
The term fascio was first used by syndicalists in the 1890s and referred to "the solidarity of brothers in action." Mussolini, though influenced by much, did not ascribe to any one particular school of thought. Instead, he synthesized much of what he read and experienced, creating an utterly unique brand of Italian Fascism. The central tenants of this branch of fascism revolve around nationalism, statism, and militarism. Fascists believe that the purpose of the nation is to serve and strengthen the state. There was no place for individuals or individual rights. Instead, each individual was connected to the state through a kind of religious and spiritual bond articulated through nationalism. This unique brand is often termed as "politicial messianism," characterized by a certain "path to salvation." [2]
[1] Asaf Kadar, "Fascism" in Encyclopedia of Political Theory, ed. Mark Bevir, (Thousand Oaks, CA.: SAGE Publications, 2010), p. 494.
[2] Dante Germino, “Fascism in the History of Political Thought” The Midwest Journal of Political Science, 8, no. 2 (1962), 118.
PHOTO, LEFT: Mussolini among a crowd of saluting supporters. Wikimedia Commons.
Italy in the Second World War, 1940-1945
The particular path that Mussolini paved, both physically and metaphorically, emphasized the creation of a third Rome, a new epoch in Italy. On June 10, 1940, Mussolini announced to the crowd gathered at the Piazza Venezia that Italy would be entering the war allied with Germany and the other axis powers.
Despite Italy’s limited resources, Mussolini rushed the nation into World War II in hopes of benefitting from Hitler’s conquest of France. The regime backed this decision, certain that fascism had prepared Italy for its time in war.
War enters Italy
On July 19, 1943, war came to Italy with the bombing of San Lorenzo. The fascist grand council met on July 24 and 25 to determine how to move forward. The council made a vote of no confidence in Mussolini and moved to have him removed from office. Italy faced more catastrophe with the allied bombings on August 13. The next day, Rome was declared an open city. On September 8, it was announced that the war was over for the Italians following an armistice agreement.
PHOTO, LEFT: Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, September 28 1938. Wikimedia Commons.
PHOTO, ABOVE: A German Panzer in Rome, February 1944. Wikimedia Commons.
An occupied nation
Hitler, however, had other ideas. He invaded Italy on September 9, 1943. The Italian military and armed civilians formed an armed resistance to the German occupation, culminating at the birthplace of the resistance, Porta San Paolo, where a battle took place on September 9.
With the invasion of German troops, Mussolini’s Rome became Hitler’s Rome. For nine months Italian citizens lived under constant surveillance by German and Italian forces still loyal to the fascists. United through this resistance, Italians took on a stance of Anti-Nazism in an act of patriotism. On March 23, 1944, members of the Italian resistance planted a bomb that killed thirty-three German soldiers. SS Commander Herbert Kappler was ordered to round up a group of Italians ten times larger than the number of Germans who had been killed in the attack. Three hundred and thirty five men of all ages and backgrounds were immediately rounded up and taken to Fosse Ardeatine where they were executed by the Nazis. The entrances to these caves were blown up, burying the dead inside.
In May 1944, allied troops broke through German defenses. A month later, on June 4, Italy was liberated.
Although one can still find signs of the fascist regime in Rome, after the end of the second World War Italians made a conscious effort to erase many parts of the dark era of fascism in Italian national history.