Benito Mussolini

How totalitarian was Mussolini's system?

  • Authoritarian control = state controls people

  • If you are a fascist your religion should be being a fascist, your country.

  • Emilio Gentile (Revisionist): Fascism as political religion (the myth of the nation, sacred symbols, rituals).

Benefits for Italians?

  • Tripled the iron and steel production

  • electrification

  • Doubled hydroelectric power

  • battle for grain/wheat: in order to self-sufficient : Autarky/self-sufficiency; it was a good strategy for him; partially successful.

  • battle for land/land reclamation: Italy filled with swamps, they were very bad bc they attracted mosquitos. They filled the swamps with soil and reclaimed the land.

  • he did public works (mostly to move troops): autostrade (highway), railways.

  • sports: football and primo carnera (strength)

  • dopolaboro: attempt to made worker's life better, paid holidays, before the workers could not do anything fun bc everything was really expensive.

  • battle for the lira: lira was the Italian currency; 1 pound = 150 lire; Mussolini thought it was too low, he wanted to have a strong currency so he made it 1 pound = 90 lire. THIS WAS VERY BAD, Italian exports rose their price, and it had no more demand.

  • Battle for births: battle to increase the birth rate, not successful.

Evaluating mussolini’s policies:

Policies

Grade

Weight (1-4)

Key points

NATIONAL!

Battle for wheat

B

2

• Partial victory ◦ Increased wheat production  

• Dairy and arable farming neglected. 

• The south of Italy was largely agricultural yet very poor.  ◦ Wages fell 20-40% 

• Aim for self-sufficiency (autarky)

Public works programme

A

3

• Designed to reduce unemployment 
• New towns, stadiums, bridges, schools, among others were built 
• Improved sports in Italy (won two world cups)

Battle for the Lira

C

4

• Lira was very strong by decree, he valued the Lira to high 
• Italian exports rose in price, and it had no more demand.
• Before Mussolini -> 1 pound = 150 liras
• After Mussolini -> 1 pound = 90 liras

Dopolavoro

A

2

• After work
• Attempt to made worker's life better
• Paid holidays, before the workers could not do anything fun because everything was really expensive.

Electrification

A

3

• Sign of modernization 
• Contrast with peasants

Land reclamation programme (1928)

B

3

• Drained swamps, which gathered mosquitoes that carried diseases
• Irrigated mountainous areas to increase agriculture
• Very ambitious for his regime: only one tenth of it was carried out by 1939

Steel and iron production

B

4

• Success as Italy lacked the resources
• Reached 1 million tons
• Not enough for it to be self-sufficient, increased economic dependency on Germany.

very important if you keep what the porpuse for it was, they needed weapons to go to war.

Battle for Births

C

2

• Aimed to increase birth rate, changing taxes based on whether families were big or men married.
• 12 children per family.
• Instead, the birth rate fell.

he needed soldiers. you were either a mother and

Libretto di lavoro

B

1

• Lack of freedom 
• Ask permission to move

INTERNATIONAL!

Corfu incident (1923)

B

1

• He did that as a response to a national humiliation
• Build a strong military image
• Seen as a military aggression
• The occupation was marked as authoritarian control and hostility against the locals

Austrian Civil War (1934)

AD

4

• Defended Austria against the Nazis
• Proved to be a strong state and was praised, and improved relations with France

Stresa Front (1935)

AD

2

• Against Germany wanting to disregard the Treaty of Versailles with Austria.
• Improved relations with Britain and France.
• Shown to be tough for going against Nazism

Invasion of Abyssinia (1935-36)

A

4

• Use more force than necessary to colonise the state to present as powerful.
• Please nationalists and colonists
• Diverted attention from internal problems (e.g. economy)
• International backlash: strained relations with Britain and France, improved with Germany

Spanish Civil War (1936-39)

B

2

• Mussolini helped Francisco Franco
• Sent a lot of soldiers, weapons and economic aid
• Italy got nothing in return

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