How Did Benito Mussolini Contribute To The Rise Of Fascism
The end of the First World War left Italy vulnerable. Italian citizens were largely unhappy with the state of their war-torn country and dissatisfied with the results of the Versailles Peace Conference. Due to the monetary pressures inflicted by the war, many had trouble surviving in the post-war economy. Frustrated with their current political system, unsettled citizens turned to violent, revolutionary groups who were willing to use any amount of force necessary to create change. Soon, a charismatic man named Benito Mussolini rose to power within the fascist movement. Mussolini’s power quickly grew; his threat of massive force convinced the king to appoint him prime minister of Italy. Mussolini’s fascism had infiltrated the government, allowing
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A government controlled by the people was seen as overly complex and illogical. According to Mussolini, “fascism denies that the majority, by the simple fact that it is a majority, can direct human society” (Mussolini, 1932). It was believed that universal suffrage would give power to those who were not capable of handling it. The leaders of the Fascist State, it was believed, were the only ones fit to make decisions for individuals acting within that state (Mussolini, 1932). Similarly, fascists viewed liberalism’s policy of nonintervention as exhausted and unwarranted. Liberalism, like democracy, gave too much power to the individual, clashing with fascism’s view of the state as all-encompassing. “Liberalism denied the State in the name of the individual: Fascism reasserts the rights of the State as expressing the real essence of the individual” (Mussolini, 1935). According to Mussolini’s fascism, the state could thrive only under totalitarian government. The Fascist State took of its citizens “all useless and possibly harmful freedom” (Mussolini, 1932). Mussolini was able to transform Italy into a totalitarian nation from his position as prime minister of Italy and with the support of the Vatican and the Italian military. The king, too, helped Mussolini in his rise to dictatorship: he willingly abolished the laws that made Italy a nation of liberalism (Cardoza, p.
A government controlled by the people was seen as overly complex and illogical. According to Mussolini, “fascism denies that the majority, by the simple fact that it is a majority, can direct human society” (Mussolini, 1932). It was believed that universal suffrage would give power to those who were not capable of handling it. The leaders of the Fascist State, it was believed, were the only ones fit to make decisions for individuals acting within that state (Mussolini, 1932). Similarly, fascists viewed liberalism’s policy of nonintervention as exhausted and unwarranted. Liberalism, like democracy, gave too much power to the individual, clashing with fascism’s view of the state as all-encompassing. “Liberalism denied the State in the name of the individual: Fascism reasserts the rights of the State as expressing the real essence of the individual” (Mussolini, 1935). According to Mussolini’s fascism, the state could thrive only under totalitarian government. The Fascist State took of its citizens “all useless and possibly harmful freedom” (Mussolini, 1932). Mussolini was able to transform Italy into a totalitarian nation from his position as prime minister of Italy and with the support of the Vatican and the Italian military. The king, too, helped Mussolini in his rise to dictatorship: he willingly abolished the laws that made Italy a nation of liberalism (Cardoza, p.