Fascism was an totalitarian political movement that developed after 1919 as a reaction against the political and social changes brought about by World War 1 and the spread of socialism and communism. It flourished between 1919 and 1945 in several countries, mainly Germany, Spain, Italy, and Japan. Fascism is a form of totalitarian dictatorship that had ideals such as extreme nationalism, economic self sufficiency and military strength. The dictators abolished all opposition against them and basically took complete control of the lives of everyone in their country.
Benito Mussolini was the founder of Italian Fascism and premier of Italy from 1922-43 and ruling as a dictator from about 1925. In 1919 Mussolini and other veterans from the war founded a revolutionary, nationalistic group called the Fasci di Combattimento in Milan. His movement gained the support of many landowners in the lower Po valley, industrialists, and army officers. Fascist blackshirt squads carried on local civil was against Socialists, Communists, Catholics, and Liberals. On Oct. 28, 1922, after the Fascists had marched on Rome, Mussolini secured a mandate from King Victor Emmanual lll to form a coalition government.
In 1925-26, after a lengthy crisis with parliament he imposed a single party totalitarian dictatorship. In his new corporate-state, employers and workers were organized into party-controlled groups representing different sectors of the economy. The system preserver capitalism and expanded social services, but abolished free trade unions and the right to strike. He ended a half century of friction between the church and the state with the Lateran pacts with the Vatican in 1929. He also defied the League of Nations and conquered Ethiopia in 1935.
This won him acclaim in almost every sector of the general public. His popularity declined after he sent troops to help General Franco in the Spanish Civil War, linked Italy to Nazi Germany, enacted anti-Jewish laws, and invaded Albania. After a seers of military disasters in Greece and North Africa, the leaders of his party abandoned Mussolini. The king dismissed him on July 25, 1943, and had him arrested. The Germans rescued him and made him the leader of a brutal puppet Social Republic in northern Italy. In the final days of the war Mussolini attempted to escape to Switzerland with his mistress.
Italian partisans captured and shot them on April 28, 1945. Adolf Hitler was one of the 20th centurys most powerful dictators. He was the ruler of Germany from 1933 to 1945. He established a brutal totalitarian regime based on the ideologies of National Socialism, of Nazism. His desire for total power resulted in the devastation of World War ll, including the slaughter of millions of Jews and others whom he considered inferior human beings. In World War 1, Hitler volunteered for service in the Bavarian army, where he proved to be a dedicated courageous solider.
After Germanys defeat in 1918 he returned to Munich, where, in 1919 he joined the Nazi party. In 1921 he was elected party chairman with dictatorial powers. He soon became a key figure in Bavarian politics and by January 1933 he was appointed chancellor. Once in power Hitler quickly established himself as dictator. He started hauling off thousands of anti-Nazis to concentration camps. The economy, the media, and all cultural activities were brought under Nazi authority by making an individuals livelihood dependent on their political loyalty. His desire was to establish German rule over Europe and other parts of the world.
He realized that this would lead to a European conflict and so he started his plan to conquer Europe by invading Poland in 1939 and started World War ll . The war started off good for the Germans but once the United States entered the war they started to lose. As time passed, defeat became more certain, but Hitler refused to give up. Finally with all of Germany overrun by Allied invaders, Hitler finally admitted defeat by committing suicide along with his wife of one day on April 30, 1945. Francisco Franco was a general and authoritarian leader who governed Spain from 1939 to 1975.
He started out by gaining a reputation in the army for efficiency, honesty, and complete professional dedication. He eventually ended up becoming army chief of staff in 1935. In February of 1936 the leftish government of the Spanish republic exiled Franco to an obscure command in the Canary Islands. The following July he joined other right-wing officers in a revolt against the republic. In October they made him commander in chief and head of state of their new Nationalist regime. After three years of civil war he lead his forces to a complete victory on April 1, 1939.
During the civil war, Franco established his control over Nationalist political life and expanded the Falange into an official political party. Tens of thousands of executions during the war and in the years immediately following it guaranteed the stability of Francos authoritarian regime. There are several similarities shared by all three of the dictators. One main thing that all the dictators had in common was that they all had a totalitarian government. All three of the dictators took total control over their countries by not allowing for any opposition at all.
Hitlers regime was probably the most severe anyone even slightly suspected of having any beliefs that were different than his landed that person in jail or, even worse, a concentration camp. One similarity that Hitler and Mussolini shared was that they were both populist leaders. They all had a very strong following which helped them gain popularity and a good reputation with the masses. Mussolini first attracted support with the middle class with his group the Fasci di Combattimento and Hitler gained support after joining the Nazi party. Franco on the other hand gained much support just by having such a good reputation in the army.
Franco believed more in a passive acceptance than being o populist leader. In all of these cases the leaders listened to what the people were unhappy with in their country and they started to change things according to what people wanted which gained them support with the people Once they got into power though, the dictators changed everything that they themselves thought was wrong with their countries. Another similarity that all of them shared was the great sense of nationalism that they all had for their countries. Hitler is the best example of this.
He thought that there was no other country in the world that could compare to Germany, which is why he went to such lengths to exterminate the Jews, whom he felt were polluting his wonderful country. One other similarity was that they all used the military in one way or another to maintain their leadership. Hitler is the best example the way he used his Gestapo police to enforce his rules and to make sure there was no opposition in the country. All three of these leaders lead a very strict government where they tried the hardest they could to mold their particular county into exactly what they thought it should be.
In Francos cased this proved to not have had many disaterious consequences. In Hitlers case he was responsible for the outbreak of World War ll and the killings of over six million Jews. After studying this it makes me appreciate the democratic government we have here in Canada more and more. To What Extent was Mussolini an All-Powerful Dictator? Mussolini had made Italy into a modern state improving the economy and foreign policy. In theory Mussolinis power was unlimited. Italy was a one party state and Mussolini was leader of that party but there were some limitations to his power.
Even though there was one party, Italy still remained officially a constitutional monarchy and was far less brutal and less totalitarian than its German, Soviet equivalent. Both King Vittorio Emmanuel III and the Pope could not ignored by Mussolini as he shared power with them. There are many interpretations and views about fascist Italy. The contemporary view states that Fascism was a reflection of the terminal condition of capitalism, and a last desperate attempt by the capitalists to hold onto power.
This was contradicted by revisionist view of Renzo de Felice was a controversial saying that the Fascist regime was genuinely popular. The view also stated that Fascism helped to sustain the Italian republic since its creation in 1946. Mussolini founded the Fasci di Combattimento on March of 1919. The origins of Fascism have also been debated with Fascism as a diversion and Fascism as revelation. In the 1940s a major debate developed over the place of Fascism in Italian history saying that Fascism was a form of disease which suddenly caused problems for Italy.
Others viewed Fascism as revelation and Fascism was a logical consequence of the way that Italy was unified that came with its resultant weaknesses. Italian books on Mussolini and Fascism during the period divide into two groups, the Fascist and the anti-Fascist, which for most was written abroad by political exiles. There are many views of Fascist Italy. They include: Fascism as a general product of mass society, Fascism as totalitarian, Fascism as an agent of Capitalism, Fascism as an agent of modernisation, Fascism as the creation of one man, Mussolini and Fascism as the product of deep trends in Italian history.
The Fascism as totalitarian can be criticised due to the fact that Mussolini shared power with the King in the Constitutional State and both the Pope Catholic Church could not be ignored. In order for Mussolini to create a one party state he had to create a majority in parliament in order to get rid of the other parties. He eventually did this with the use of his private group of hit men called the Cheka. Hitler repeated these scenes in 1933 when he surrounded the Reichstag with his SA soldiers who shouted abuse towards the opposition members in the election.
There was some concern about the action that had been carried out by Mussolini and it was Giacamo Matteotti who denounced the recent elections in April 1924. His speech was a conscious act of defiance, designed to discredit Mussolinis claims of respectability and normalisation. After this had happened, Matteotti disappeared and everyone believed that the Fascists had murdered him. The main opposition parties walked out of parliament in protest and the Liberal press denounced both government and Fascist movement as assassin.
Even though it was a one party state there has been different interpretations in of how totalitarian Italy was during Mussolinis reign of power. Even though he was head of the party that was in power, he had to share power with King Vittorio Emmanuel III and Pope Pius IX. Before 1914 Mussolini despised the Catholic Church but as late as the 1920s he began to realise that he could not be destroyed or taken like the Trade Unions and opposition parties like he had before as it still hugely strong in Italy. He tried to keep on the good side of the Pope during the first few years when he came into power.
In 1929 Mussolini signed the Lateran Pacts with the Pope. This shows that the Pope and the Catholic Church could not be ignored. In 1922 the King appointed Mussolini as Prime Minister when he threatened to march on Rome. Some have been described as a comfortable train ride, followed by a petty demonstration, and all in response to the invitation to an express invitation from the monarch. Others have described it as a triumphal march through Rome. With the use of all types of propaganda Mussolini was able to secure his power status and create a myth.
The Cult of he Duce was everywhere all over Italy. This cult had developed since 1926 and it claimed Mussolini as a new Messiah. Even the Pope had called him the Man of Providence. Mussolini is always right together with Believe, Obey, Fight became the slogans of the regime and in 1930 a School of Fascist Mysticism had been established. Under the dictatorship the parliamentary system was virtually abolished. The law codes were rewritten. All teachers in schools and universities had to swear an oath to defend the Fascist regime.
Mussolini himself personally chose newspaper editors, and no one could practice journalism that did not possess a certificate of approval from the Fascist party. The trade unions were also deprived of any independence and were integrated into what was called the “corporative system. The aim (never completely achieved) was to place all Italians in various professional organizations or “corporations, all of them under governmental control. Mussolini had created a myth with the use of propaganda and it was portrayed in all the types of media, art and architecture.
He tried to get the image of him being a one powerful man and this image was portrayed in all types of the media. It was also portrayed in posters of Mussolini which of him in the Napoleonic pose in order for the message of the myth to be expressed. Newspapers were forbidden to report any illnesses and his birthday was to be ignored as the Duce had to possess youth. During the Great Depression of 1929 he set up road building schemes in order to improve the Italian economy. With the use of propaganda Mussolini had become a national figurehead in Italy and had been compared to Napoleon and even Jesus.
Every mistake that Mussolini made he ordered the press not to publish that piece of information. Post Second World War views blame Fascism on one man, Mussolini, and he held the Italian people in his sway partly through propaganda, partly through repression but they had eventually seen the true nature of the man and his regime. Mussolinis look on the economy was that of no knowledge of he subject even though he tried to give the impression of him being a prince of economists and was almost infallible. Mussolini tried to change and improve the economy.
Some historians say the stage management of the economic facts was an essential part of Mussolinis system. They also go onto say that it gained much credit by promising that his annual budget would be simple so that every citizen could understand it. On the other hand other historians go onto say that even the experts were baffled about the balance of payments or how much was being spent on public works or the milita. Even though Mussolini tried to change the economy, his policies failed. Even his foreign policies that he passed out were not as successful. The source material that is used is secondary.
This means it has been written after the events have occurred. This would mean that some of the ideas and opinions would be different from people closer to the time of Mussolini in power. It could also mean that more Italian resources have been open to historians to get a more subjective idea of Mussolinis reign of power. Mussolinis political biography written by Denis Mack Smith shows both sides of the regime. The source book Mussolini From Socialist to Fascist describes the acts of the regime but it does not go into much detail of the course of history during when Mussolini was in power.
It was the Allied conquest in Sicily that finally got to the public. Italy was in danger of being invaded and the war was looking more likely in defeat for Italy. This gave the people a reason for Mussolini to be replaced. They had finally lost faith in him so they believed that he needed to be replaced. During the later stages of the War when Italy continued to suffer more defeats the gerarchi (hierarchs of fascism) beginning to lose faith and none of the myths about the infallibility of a single man could survive such a series of defeats during the Second World War.
Most of Mussolinis time was spent on propaganda, whether at home or abroad, and here his training as a journalist was invaluable. Press, radio, education, and films all were carefully supervised to manufacture the illusion that fascism was “the doctrine of the 20th century that was replacing liberalism and democracy. For more critical analysis the books written by Italian exiles and refugees need to be assessed. They seek to explain how Mussolini seized power and to analyse the regime he created.
The book that was written by one of Mussolinis mistresses in 1926, which talked, about his political, military skills and his cultural skills. This book was later to be called totally inaccurate when she was dropped by Mussolini. In the end Mussolini became to believe in his own propaganda-that he was an infallible man, through his programme consisted of little more than aggression overseas while at home he suppressed individual freedom and aped Hitlers racial laws which were not as successful.
The people were not prepared to subject the Jews to any type of interrogation, as they were respected people in the Italian society. It was not until when Germany took control of Northern Italy that 9000 Jews were sent off to concentration camps The people of Italy began to lose faith and even had help from Hitler so that he could return to power. Racism and joining Hitler were so unpopular that only victory could only save the regime. Even an Axis victory would have left Italy as a mere dependency of Nazi Germany.
When they began to lose faith in him small opposition groups started to emerge. More and more opposition groups began to emerge and the Italian people became more and more willing to follow these opposition groups. When he was finally dismissed there was more public relief than there was public protest. Trying to flee Italy he was arrested by a group of Partisans and was shot in the chest. A Comparison Between Adolf Hitler And Benito Mussolini There is no doubt that Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini shared many similar characteristics.
They shared movements that were typical of National Socialism: they adopted a radical nationalism, militaristic hierarchies, violence, the cult of charismatic leadership, contempt for individual liberties and civil rights, an anti-democratic and anti-socialist orientation, and a refusal to socialize industries. Hitler and Mussolini looked upon the new form of government, which was Totalitarianism. This form of government means there is only one leader to make decisions and thus they killed or jailed all opponents. Mussolini and Hitler used this form of government after World War One to make their countries into world powers.
Perhaps the most obvious similarity would be the path they took to power. In parliament Hitler and Mussolini gathered small groups of followers they would use to bully voters, Hitlers SS and SA and Mussolinis Brown Shirts. The point of these behind these parties was that they both expressed what voters wanted to hear. They spoke of greate Rise To Power: A Comparison Of Hitler And Mussolini The Rise to Power: A Comparison of Hitler and Mussolini Hitler and Mussolini achieved absolute political and social power through the manipulation of the people of their countries and circumstantial events at the time of their ascent.
Mussolini rose to total dictatorship more than ten years before Hitler’s first failed attempt to ‘conquer’ the failing Weimar Republic government and both achieved this total rise in power in very similar ways such as the glorification of emotion. Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler realized that the way to a rise in power was through the people and their opinions/support therefore imposing their own ideals through incredible propaganda techniques and speeches, and in Hitler’s case, introducing a scapegoat to blame.
It is possible that Mussolini came to power ten years before Hitler because the Weimar government was in control and the Nazi party hadn’t been organizationally formed yet; only a small group of men which included Hitler were inspired by Mussolini’s rise and motivated to achieve the same. Both Italy and Germany were the victims of a series of economic and social problems caused primarily by World War I. The harsh terms and conditions of the Treaty of Versailles (prohibition of rebuilding or financing an army and heavy reparations), unemployment, and inflation caused extremely hard times in Germany.
The German people were fed up with the government and on the verge of a revolution. They needed someone who could pull them up out of poverty, restore their faith in Germany and help them rebuild their lives after WWI. After Hitler’s Mein Kampf, in growing numbers, people started to listen to Hitler’s ideas. He promised the people a way out of the economic slump Germany was in, to restore pride in themselves and their country, and presented a scapegoat to blame for all of Germany’s social, economic, and political problems: the Jews.
Hitler was a skilled user of propaganda techniques and therefore used his words to manipulate the minds of people into believing what ideals he was imposing as the absolute truth. Hitler appealed to a wide variety of people by combining an effective speaking style with what looked like absolute sincerity and determination. As economic conditions worsened, the appeal of the Nazis was far more effective than that of other parties; the nazis were the one group which claimed to have all the answers.
The nazi party offered simplistic but appealing solutions to their problems and was not bound to one class or interest group. He found a large audience for his ‘program of national revival’, hatred for France and Jews (and other non-German races), racial pride in Germanic values, and disgust for the Weimar Republic. Hitler believed that only a dictatorship (himself as dictator, of course) could rescue Germany from the pit in which it had fallen. This was not at all unlike Mussolini’s ideals and techniques he imposed upon Italy.
Mussolini was a supposed opportunist and his rise to power was a ‘combination of parliamentary manoeuvre and radical pressure’. The Italian people welcomed his authority. They were tired of strikes and riots within Italy, responsive to the trappings of Fascism, and ready to submit to dictatorship, provided the national economy was stabilized and their country restored to its dignity as promised. Mussolini seemed to them the one man capable of bringing order out of chaos. At rallies Mussolini caught the imagination of the crowds due to his impressive physique and his staccato and orderly way of speaking.
His attitudes were dramatic, his opinions contradicted themselves, his facts were often wrong but his words were strong and moving, and his gestures repeated often with so much vigor and were so effective, that he rarely failed to impose his mood or ideals to the Italians. From 1919 to 1922, Italy was torn by social and political strife, inflation, and economic problems; this was very similar to Germany’s condition in 1923. Armed bands with a strong nationalistic bias, known as the Fascisti fought socialist and communist groups throughout Italy.
On October 24 1922, Mussolini, with the support of conservatives and former soldiers, demanded that the government be entrusted to his party. He threatened to seize power by force if his conditions were refused. As the Fascisti readied for a march on Rome, Prime Minister Luigi Facta resigned. On October 28 Victor Emmanuel called on Mussolini to form a new government. Here some differences start to appear between the two leaders in their rise to power. Although he was given incredible powers to restore order, Mussolini initially governed constitutionally while Hitler strove entirely for sole dictatorship.
But after the violence of the 1924 elections (Hitler rigged what few elections did occur in Germany) in Italy, Mussolini moved to suspend constitutional government. He then proceeded in stages to establish a dictatorship by 1) forbidding the parliment to initiate legislation, 2) by making himself responsible to the King alone, 3) by ordering parliment to authorize him to issue decrees having the force of the law, 4) by establishing absolute censorship of the press (Hitler did the same), and 5)by 1926 suppressing all opposition parties.
Another difference between the two is the most obvious; Mussolini was rising to power ten years before Hitler, even though the primary catalyst for both of the countrys decay was World War I which affected the countries (surprise) at the same time. A probable reason for this is the interference of the Weimar Republic and the inability of the German people to fall so easily into the ideals of Fascism/Nazism as they did in Italy. The people had their own government and wanted to give a trial run.
One other reason that might be related to the slow start of Hitlers rise to power is the view in which the stucturalists have. The structuralists see the structure of the Third Reich, a chaotic, badly run government that was weakened by Hitler. Behind the scenes, the power was revolving around three bases; Goebbels, Himmler, and Gring. Hitler rarely intervened in events unless it was imperative to maintain his public image. He just as rather sit in the mountains and watch movies. While the Nazis had created an illusion of power, there was disorder behind that faade.
The Nazi leaders under Hitler made up policies themselves, merely attaching onto ideas from Hitler while never receiving direct orders or directions from Hitler himself. The second or third in command could issue an action or an order by merely stating The Fhrers will and would not be questioned or second guessed. Due to this chaotic form of organization, it can be surmised that this might have slowed Hitlers plans down a bit. No one knew what anyone was doing. Hitler and Mussolini both had very similar techniques in achieving power; most likely due to the fact that Hitler had been inspired by Mussolini to take over the government.
Both used the characteristic of fascism (the glorification of emotion) to take hold of the people in each country and impose their ideals upon. By manipulating the minds of people, Hitler and Mussolini both convinced their people that dictatorship would deliver them from all of their problems. This was not a hard task for Mussolini in Italy; Hitler did have some difficulties which slowed him down (being sentenced to jail, etc) and overall, the result was the same. Total dictatorship.
