Facist government

1. Mussolini’s Fascist Government
By: Elizabeth Lugones
Ryann Puente
Alyssa Campa
Sydney Howard

2. Measures took to win support - Social Policy
● Youth Groups
○ By the late 1930s, the Italian youth movement and the fascist student unions had over 8 million
members.
○ Main youth organization was the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB).
○ Had propaganda lectures, especially nationalism
○ Focused on sports with an emphasis on military skills,
○ The central purpose was to produce a new generation of Italians worthy of the Duce (Mussolini) and
able to fight to create a great nation.
● Education
○ Banned books that could cause conflict with propaganda
○ Replaced historical material with pro-fascist material.
○ Required that teachers take an oath of loyalty to the regime.
○ Heavily promoted Mussolini’s cult of personality.

3. Social Policy
● Propaganda and Media
○ Goal was to demonize enemies and promote Mussolini’s ideas.
○ Controlled all multi-medias including radio, press, newspaper.
○ Broadcasted all of Mussolini’s speeches on radios.
● The Squadristi
○ In a way, Mussolini’s use of the Squadristi was the main reason which helped increase
Mussolini’s support.
○ He used the squadristi as his main tool to suppress people into joining the Fascist party
by injecting fear into them.

4. Measures took to win support - Economic Policy
Working Class Population
● The working class population had been fighting for many years against the poor working conditions and lack
of motivation and need for fulfilling their physiological needs such as food, shelter and water.
● In order to gain the support of the Working Class population, Mussolini used a method of suppression to
break up the strikes and riots formed by the Working Class population using members of the Squadristi – a
gang made up of ex-army legionaries.
● He later on then decided to form a Liberal Agenda in which he granted concessions such as a minimum
wage, better working conditions and working time conditions.
● The Working Class population agreed and parted on his side of Fascism, thus increasing his popularity.

5. Measures took to win support - Economic Policy
Trade Unions
● Due to the strikes and riots of the Industrialists and Italy’s poor economic state, trade unions had started popping up
in different areas across Russia striking against the economy and fear of losing jobs and pay.
● Mussolini was forced to deal with these as it was a bigger group and would have had a significant impact on his rise
to power if he had done nothing about it.
● Mussolini had appeased to the wishes of the Trade Unions throughout his rise to power. However, come to the end
once Mussolini had earned a Dictatorship, he had abolished all trade unions and created one of his own, in which
members were all forced to join, and strike only if he stated.
● Mussolini had also used suppression and the Squadristi to inject fear into the members of trade unions forcing them
to join the Fascist party.
● By 1929, Mussolini’s support was at its highest. To finish off, it was exceptionally important that Mussolini had the
support of the King in order to gain his rise to power and form a dictatorship.
● The entire six year period Mussolini spent gaining support of all these different groups, he had managed to gain the
support of the King Victor Emmanuel III.
● The King however knew that Mussolini was still incapable of running Italy, but however was in fear of Mussolini’s key
tool, the Squadristi. In technical terms, Mussolini had only earned the support of the King because of Mussolini’s
Squadristi.

6. Measures took to win support - Economic Policy
Industrialists
● The next set of people Mussolini had to tackle in order for him to gain support was the group of Italian
Industrialists, whom amongst them caused several problems and unrest amongst.
● Mussolini had first started of as a Socialist until after the war in which he had turned to the side of the
industrialists. The Industrialists had been striking for a matter of years due to the Economic instability of
Italy after the war.
● With inflation rising, the Industrialists had feared their industries would end up bankrupt after the people
were unable to keep up with the rising costs of food at a static minimum wage.
● The Liberal Government had been strongly unsuccessful in tackling this problem for many years, so
Mussolini had therefore decided to use violence and force, known as strike busting, to suppress the
Industrialists in the years of 1919-1922.
● However, until 1925, Mussolini had imposed tax exemptions to bribe industrialists to follow the Fascist party
and suggesting that he was siding with them.

7. Measure took to win support - Religious Policy
Roman Catholic Church
● In order for Mussolini to increase his support alongside the support from political parties it was exceptionally crucial
for him to gain the support of the most popular institution in Italy, the Roman Catholic Church.
● Due to its large reputation and popularity amongst the people of Italy, Mussolini had merely used the institution for
his own purposes, his relationship with the Roman Catholic Church was later described as a “Marriage of Convenience”
as it was a merely a tactic which he used to help him boost Fascist support and more importantly, his own support.
● He managed to gain the support of the Catholic Church by mainly changing his personal behaviour and portraying
himself as a good Catholic.
● In 1926 Mussolini renewed his vows in a Catholic Church to his wife and christened his children in 1923. This had
gained him publicity and portrayed a positive Catholic image of him in front of the public therefore gaining support.
● Mussolini had introduced a decree which had made the teaching of religion compulsory in schools and the introduction
of the Lateran Treaties.
● In the Lateran Treaties Mussolini handed over 110 acres of land to the Catholic Church to form their own city, known
as the Vatican City, in which the church was able to create its own laws and run that small state by itself.
● The church had been exceptionally proud and was fully supportive of Mussolini.

8. Where did Italians really stand?
Overall, in reality most Italians
● Remained non-fascists
● Loyal to the Church and their families
● Outwardly accepted the fascist regime
● But, were not true supporters
● Certainly were not willing to defend it in war.

9. To what extent should Mussolini be seen as a
popular ruler of Italy?
Because any opposition to the government was repressed it is difficult to know for sure how popular he
really was..
Before 1940 and the unpopular foreign-policy adventures and commitments in the late 1930s, most
Italians accepted Mussolini and his regime
● Italians were not dominated by the state
● They were proud of many of their country’s achievements
● Due to Mussolini’s lack of drive and energy, he did not go through with radical changes
● Mussolini was willing to compromise on his road to power in order to gain and maintain support
from the public
○ His negotiation of the Lateran Pacts with the church despite his atheism made it much easier
for Catholic Italy to accept him as their ruler

10. To what extent should Mussolini be seen as
a popular ruler of Italy?
Despite the early acceptance, by 1936 public opposition grew more and more, becoming
less popular.
● The depression in the 1930s lead to several local and short-lived strikes
● In 1938-39 the full on racial assault against Italian Jews lead to the Catholic
hierarchy issuing a formal condemnation of the regime’s actions.
● The Fascist idealism of creating a new italy had become tainted by corruption and
self-interest
● The regime required officials to wear uniforms and the army to adopt a
goose-step march and fascist salute. Moving closer to a warlike alliance with
Germany

11. Tolerated rather than loved? That is the
question
It’s difficult to know how the people of Italy truly felt about Mussolini because..
● The fascists kept tight control of the radio and newspapers, and prevented public
expression of any hostility to the regime.
● Any opposition to the government was repressed and driven underground or into
exile abroad, and has therefore left little or no evidence of its existence and
activities.
● The cult of Duce was promoted so relentlessly that the private opinions of the
Italian people about their leader have been drowned out.

12. Argument for tolerated
● The Italians REALLY wanted political stability and Mussolini’s rule was
preferable to the early near anarchy and, crucially, better than the
evident danger of a communist revolution.
○ Conservative groups all feared the violent anarchy that would result from any
attempt to unseat Mussolini.
○ The public were prepared to ignore Mussolini’s rough tactics because the general
direction, towards a stable society, seemed like the right one.
○ Though there was a restriction on speech, the people had to be careful but his
reign was more of intimidation and nervous conformity rather than terror.

13. Argument for tolerated
● The normal response of professional people like teachers and lawyers to
the regime was joining the party, keeping their jobs, and carrying on like
before.
● The regime imposed tough policing and tougher social discipline but it
was to the extent that it allowed for tolerance as it was not founded on
a mountain of human bones.

14. Argument for loved
● There are the euphoric public demonstrations in 1935-6 at the news of
successive military victories in Ethiopia, which propaganda may have
exaggerated.
● It was a time of economic recovery, the benefits of the Dopolavoro were
evident.
● As the years passed, more and more young people came through the
fascist-controlled education system and youth movements.
● They credited him for Italy’s strong economic performance in the early
1920’s, part of the worldwide post-war economic recovery.
○ All of this must have ensure some degree of warm support.

15. Loved or Tolerated?
● Basically, many Italians probably remained non-fascists, loyal still to the
Church and their families, outwardly accepting the fascist regime but
certainly not prepared to defend it in a crisis.