Paper 3 - Fascist Italy

What are 2 about Mussolini’s rise to power?

Denis Mack Smith – Mussolini was an opportunist, relying on illusion and spectacle.

Adrian Lyttelton – Liberal Italy’s collapse owed to structural weaknesses, not just Mussolini’s genius.

What are three quotes about the nature of facism?

Renzo De Felice – Fascism enjoyed mass consensus; it was more than coercion.

Philip Morgan – Fascism offered an “illusory sense of national unity.”

Emilio Gentile – Fascism as a “political religion,” binding Italians emotionally to Il Duce.

Quote about the lateran pacts

Christopher Duggan – The Lateran Pacts gave crucial legitimacy by reconciling with Catholicism.

Quote abut OVRA

Paul Corner – OVRA repression was real but less violent compared to Nazi Germany.

Quote about economic policies

MacGregor Knox – Economic policies geared to war, but structurally weak; Italy unready for WWII.

Quote about women

Victoria De Grazia – Women’s policies aimed at “mothers of the race” but failed.