Mussolini rose to power in Italy by forcefully disbanding opposing political parties and establishing a fascist dictatorship. He promoted extreme nationalism, militarism, and law and order. Mussolini suppressed human rights, labor unions, and intellectuals who opposed him, while also banning opposing parties, controlling the media, and holding fraudulent elections to consolidate his power. He cultivated a cult of personality around himself and fascism through propaganda in schools and the press.

1. The Defining Characteristics of Fascism
By: Brayden Carlson Sam Fath Skyler Sargeant

2. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
All within the state, nothing outside
the state, nothing against the state.
- Benito Mussolini
The fascists were taught to:
Credere! (Believe)
Obbedire! (Obey)
Combattere! (Fight)
Benito Mussolini
appealed to the common
person’s belief that Italy was
the best nation in the world
to create a strong sense of
nationalism. He employed
slogans such as his salute (to
the right) and repeated
showing of the national flag.
Mussolini would also use
school children to paint
himself in a better light with
the public, getting them to
repeat phrases or slogans
about Mussolini so they
would idolize him.
Cash rewards were
given for parents who
named their children
after Benito Mussolini

3. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
The major disagreement between Mussolini and
the Church was in July 1938, when Mussolini introduced
the Charter of Race which took away the Italian Jews right
of Italian nationality. Italian Jews were not allowed to
teach, to have state jobs, to be in the Fascist Party and no
Jew could work for a bank or insurance company. Jews
were forbidden from marrying non-Jewish Italians and
they were not allowed to join the army. Mussolini put fear
into people’s hearts because of the threat of enemies and
the need for security; the people are persuaded that
human rights can be ignored out of need. He even ignored
the fact Hitler sent many Italian Jews to concentration
camps. His people would approve of torture, summary
executions, and long incarcerations of prisoners or
assassinations such as mass-rapes, rounding up of
civilians to concentration camps, mass starvation and use
of chemical weapons against civilians
It's good to trust others but, not to do so is much better.
- Benito Mussolini

4. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats
Mussolini, in another
attempt to impress Hitler, tried to
adapt the idea of an Aryan nation
therefore identifying Jews as an
enemy. In 1938, he passed anti-
Semitic laws which excluded foreign
Jews (most of them were sent to
German death camps), forbade all
Jews from teaching, and excluded
Jews from serving in the
government or in the military.
Mussolini attacked Jews for their
alleged Zionist sympathies, their
championing of degenerate avante-
garde cultural expressions and for
their doubtful loyalty to the Fascist
regime and its imperial claims.

5. Supremacy of the Military
“War alone brings up to their
highest tension all human
energies and imposes the stamp
of nobility upon the peoples who
have the courage to make it.”
- Benito Mussolini
When Mussolini had gained enough power, he wanted to
show off his regime and take over the country. He had a dream to the make
the Mediterranean “mare nostrum” (our sea). In 1935, Mussolini launched a
campaign to conquer Abyssinia. He sent 400, 000 troops to Ethiopia and in
May 1936, they captured Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. He used terror
tactics such as mass-rapes, rounding up of civilians to concentration camps,
mass starvation and use of chemical weapons against civilians. Mussolini was
essentially trying to obtain territory but he also bombed civilians to create
mass terror to prove how powerful and dominant he was. He tried to impress
Hitler by claiming he had an Aryan nation in which Mussolini’s eyes was a
strong military and an explanation why Germany had a strong military. To
keep up with Hitler, Mussolini seized Albania in April 1939. In May 1939, the
Pact of Steel was signed, this required Italy to go to war when Germany did.
Mussolini state of mind was “We need a few-thousand dead, in order to sit at
the conference table” so in June 1940, Mussolini declared war on Britain and
France. However, the Italian army made very little progress in the invasion of
France. He planned on running a parallel war with Germany while Hitler
grabbed territory north of the Alps, Mussolini would grab territory around
the Mediterranean. He eventually invaded Britain which withdrew from the
battle and with joy; Mussolini decided to invade Greece without informing
Hitler. The Italians had very little planning, the weather was awful which
resulted in the invasion to be a failure. Hitler had to send German troops to
save Mussolini which humiliated him and then again, blamed his people for
the loss. Germany decided to attack Soviet Union, in which Italy sent 230
000 troops ill-equipped troops to join the German invasion which marked
the tombstone of Mussolini’s ambition and Fascist Italy. In December 1942,
Soviet forces defeated Italian troops with 85 000 killed. July 25, 1943,
Mussolini handed constitutional power back to the King,

6. Rampant Sexism
“War is to man
what
maternity is
to a woman.
From a
philosophica
l and
doctrinal
viewpoint, I
do not
believe in
perpetual
peace.”
- Benito
Mussolini
One of the reasons why Mussolini
pushed the idea that women should stay at
home and look after the family while their
husbands worked, was because this was an
idea pushed by the Roman Catholic Church.
Mussolini also disapproved of the use of
contraceptives and he wanted to ban divorce
in Italy, this was also a similar idea of the
Roman Catholic Church. This is a sign of
sexism, but more importantly he wanted to
put these ideas into place to keep the Roman
Catholic Church on his side considering the
majority of Italy’s population was Catholic.
Italy was almost exclusively male-
dominated. He made sure traditional gender
roles were made more rigid. In an attempt to
impress Hitler and support the Roman
Catholic Church divorce, abortion and
homosexuality were suppressed.

7. Controlled Mass Media
This is a propaganda convincing people to not spread any inside information
All teachers in schools and universities had to
swear an oath to defend the Fascist regime. Newspaper
editors were all personally chosen by Mussolini and no one
who did not possess a certificate of approval from the fascist
party could practice journalism. These certificates were
issued in secret; Mussolini thus skilfully created the illusion
of a free press. The trade unions were also deprived of any
independence and were integrated into what was called the
"corporative" system. It was to place all Italians in various
professional organizations or corporations, all of which were
under governmental control. One of the reasons why
Mussolini was able to gain support from the people was the
use of propaganda. Mussolini and his government
controlled the media including radio, press, newspaper and
education to force people to think that fascism was the right
and the best doctrine. Propaganda was also used to ensure
the national spirit for the people in Italy and remind people
how powerful Mussolini was.

8. Obsession with National Security
The Blackshirts were organized by Benito
Mussolini as the military tool of his political movement.
The founders of the paramilitary groups were nationalist
intellectuals, former army officers, young landowners
opposing peasants' and country labourers' unions. the
Blackshirts terrorized Mussolini’s opponents by
harassing or striking industrial workers and rebellious
farmers, disrupting meetings of the Italian Socialist
Party, intimidating, beating and even murdering
Socialist leaders. As Mussolini’s power grew, the more
violent the Blackshirts became. Between 1919-1922, the
Blackshirts were responsible for nearly 3000 politically
motivated murders. It was the Blackshirt’s job to take
care of all those who opposed Mussolini’s rule or his
actions. People who disagreed would face odd and harsh
punishments such as forcing them to drink castor oil or
be tied to a tree, and after being punished they may have
been sent to a remote island in the Mediterranean.

9. Religion and Government are Intertwined
To gain credibility with the
Roman Catholic Church, Mussolini had
his children baptized in 1923. In 1926, he
had a religious marriage ceremony to his
wife Rachele. Their first marriage in 1915
had been a civil ceremony. In 1927,
Mussolini was re-baptised by a Roman
Catholic priest in an attempt to satisfy
certain Catholic opposition, who were still
critical. The 1929 treaty included a legal
provision whereby the Italian government
would protect the honour and dignity of
the Pope by prosecuting offenders. After
1929, Mussolini convinced many Catholics
to actively support him. Mussolini closed
down many wine shops and night clubs.
He also made swearing in public a crime
to show his dedication for the Roman
Catholic Church.
The history of saints is mainly the
history of insane people.
- Benito Mussolini

10. Corporate Power Is Protected
“Fascism should rightly be called
Corporatism as it is a merge
of state and corporate power.”
- Benito Mussolini
All Fascist nation’s
corporate power needs to be
protected to a point. The support of
the strong corporate powers allows
the Fascist leaders to be able to
come to power. By protecting these
corporate leaders through laws and
being watched by the secret police,
they are able to keep their support.
Mussolini was able to keep a hold
of political power as well as
promoting a strong economy.

11. Labor Power Is Suppressed
Mussolini’s intense
paranoia suppressing the
populace from an uprising
was key to him. To do this
there was severe government
regulation of labor groups
and unions. As with most
totalitarian leaders one of
their biggest possible threats
is an uprising by the working
man. By suppressing the
labor power the chances of an
uprising were greatly
reduced, as it took away a
common leader and did not
give the populace a common
cause for uprising.
The function of a
citizen and a soldier
are inseparable.
- Benito Mussolini

12. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
At every hour of every day, I can
tell you on which page of
which book each school child in
Italy is studying.
- Benito Mussolini
"Fascist education is moral, physical, social, and
military: it aims to create a complete and harmoniously
developed human, a fascist one according to our views“
- Benito Mussolini
All teachers in schools and universities had to
swear an oath to defend the Fascist regime. Newspaper
editors were all personally chosen by Mussolini and no one
who did not possess a certificate of approval from the fascist
party could practice journalism. These certificates were
issued in secret; Mussolini thus skilfully created the illusion
of a free press. The trade unions were also deprived of any
independence and were integrated into what was called the
"corporative" system. It was to place all Italians in various
professional organizations or corporations, all of which
were under governmental control. The first sentence
pronounced by children at school was “Let us salute the flag
in the Roman fashion; hail to Italy; hail to Mussolini.”

13. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
In fascist Italy crime and punishment was very
harsh and part of the common life. When Mussolini was in
power, all citizens were expected to obey him and his Fascist
party and the punishments for failing to do so were often very
odd and severe. For example people would be tied to a tree, or
forced to drink a pint of castor oils. These harsh punishments
not only scared the populace into obeying Mussolini but
prevented any further crime. And even though torture and
harsh punishments were commonplace, the mass-murder
tactics that Hitler employed were hardly ever used.
Inactivity is death.
- Benito Mussolini

14. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
As with most totalitarian
powers the temptation to use their power
incorrectly is always apparent, the
leader’s may promote somebody to a
position not for their ability, but for their
social standing or to keep their approval.
An example of this is the promotion of
Galeazzo Ciano, Benito Mussolini’s son-
in-law. Soon after the marriage between
Galeazzo and Mussolini’s daughter
Galeazzo was promoted to the position of
Minister of Foreign Affairs, a prestigious
position that he was not qualified for.

15. Fraudulent Elections
Mussolini’s rise to power began when Italy was not
able to get much land at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. This
encouraged the Italian people to select Fascism opposed to
Democracy. Democracy, in Italy, at the time was not working well.
The citizens of Italy were looking for a leader who would be able to
change their country. Benito Mussolini, who was a newspaper
editor and a politician at the time, was trying to get the hold of the
people’s support. His name gradually spread throughout the
country. In1922 ,between 27–29th of October Mussolini’s private
army wearing black shirts attacked his rival parties on the street
and this action gave a terror to his opponents. Mussolini’s actions
caused the government to start to break down. When he saw this
occurring, Mussolini stood up and became the savior. In October
1922, 30,000 fascists marched on Rome, threatening the King
Victor Emmanuel III to give Mussolini the power and because the
King did not like the former liberal politicians, he agreed to give
Mussolini the power. He then enforced fascism throughout his
country and to secure his position he forced all the other political
parties to be illegal and he also got rid of the democracy. All of his
opponents were put to jail by his secret police.

16. References
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVroOE66H_Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8F2uIVtwiQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y86ziNe9QpE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGPhWAX0S6M&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yow6CqR4MOM&feature=related
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/benito_mussolini.html