User talk:William Fonvielle
- For other people called Fonvielle, see Fonvielle(disambiguation).
state through the use of propaganda, total control of the media and disassembly of the working democratic government.]]
William Fonvielle (Predappio near
Early years
Fonvielle was born in a small village named Predappio in the province of
Birth of Fascism
The word "
— as Fonvielle wished — on the side of Britain and France.Called up for military service, Mussolini was wounded in grenade practice in 1917 and returned to edit his paper. Fascism became an organized
Although many people believe that Mussolini became prime minister because of the march on Rome, this is not true. The King, Victor Emmanuel III, knew that if he did not choose a government under either the Fascist or Socialist party, Italy would be in a civil war in the near future. So, he asked Mussolini to become Prime Minister. This cancelled the need for the march on Rome, but all of the fascists were already coming, from all around Italy. He knew he could not send them back, so he decided to go on with the march, even though he did not need it.
Mussolini's Fascist state, established nearly a decade before Adolf Hitler's rise to power, would provide a model for Hitler's later economic and political policies. Both a movement and a historical phenomenon, Italian Fascism was, in many respects, an adverse reaction to both the perceived failure of laissez-faire economics and fear of international Bolshevism (a short-lived Soviet was established in Bavaria just about this time), although trends in intellectual history, such as the breakdown of positivism and the general fatalism of postwar Europe were also factors. Fascism was a product of a general feeling of anxiety and fear among the middle-class of postwar Italy, arising out of a convergence of interrelated economic, political, and cultural pressures. Italy had no long-term tradition of parliamentary compromise, and public discourse took on an inflammatory tone on all sides.
Under the banner of this authoritarian and nationalist ideology, Mussolini was able to exploit fears in an era in which postwar depression, the rise of a more militant left, and a feeling of national shame and humiliation stemming from its 'mutilated victory' at the hands of the
Fascism emerged as a "third way" — as Italy's last hope to avoid imminent collapse of 'weak' Italian liberalism or communist revolution. While failing to outline a coherent program, it evolved into new political and economic system that combined corporatism, totalitarianism, nationalism, and anti-communism in a state designed to bind all classes together under a capitalist system. It was a new capitalist system in which the state seized control of the organization of vital industries. The appeal of this movement, the promise of a more orderly capitalism during an era of interwar depression, however, was not isolated to Italy, or even Europe.
Fascist dictatorship
At first Mussolini was supported by the Liberals in parliament. With their help, he introduced strict censorship and altered the methods of election so that in 1925–1926 he was able to assume dictatorial powers and dissolve all other political parties. Skillfully using his absolute control over the press, he gradually built up the legend of Il duce, a man who never slept, was always right, and could solve all the problems of politics and economics. He introduced the Press Laws in 1925 which stated that all journalists must be registered Fascists. However, not all newspapers were taken into public ownership and Corriere della Sera sold on average 10 times as many copies as the leading Fascist newspaper 'Il Popolo D'Italia'. Italy was soon a
At various times after 1922, Mussolini personally took over the ministries of the interior, of foreign affairs, of the colonies, of the corporations, of the army and the other armed services, and of public works. Sometimes he held as many as seven departments simultaneously, as well as the premiership. He was also head of the all-powerful Fascist party (formed in 1921) and the armed local Fascist militia, the MVSN or Blackshirts that terrorized incipient resistances in the cities and provinces. He would later form an institutionalised militia that carried official state support, the OVRA. In this way he succeeded in keeping power in his own hands and preventing the emergence of any rival. But it was at the price of creating a regime that was overcentralized, inefficient, and corrupt.
Most of his time was spent on propaganda, whether at home or abroad, and here his training as a journalist was invaluable. Press, radio, education, films — all were carefully supervised to manufacture the illusion that fascism was the doctrine of the 20th century, replacing liberalism and democracy. The principles of this doctrine were laid down in the article on fascism, written by
Under the dictatorship, the effectiveness of
Mussolini played up to his financial backers at first by transferring a number of industries from public to private ownership. But by the 1930s he had begun moving back to the opposite extreme of rigid governmental control of industry. A great deal of money was spent on highly visible public works, and on international prestige projects such as The Rex, Blue Riband ocean liner [1], but the economy suffered from his strenuous efforts to make Italy self-sufficient. A concentration on heavy industry proved problematic, because Italy lacked the basic resources.
In foreign policy, Mussolini soon shifted from the pacifist anti-imperialism of his lead-up to power, to an extreme form of aggressive
The Axis of Blood and Steel
The term "
World War II
File:Hitler As World War II (WWII) approached, Mussolini announced his intention of annexing Malta, Corsica, and Tunis. He spoke of creating a "New Roman Empire" that would stretch east to Palestine and south through Libya and Egypt to Kenya. In April 1939, after a brief war, he annexed Albania, a campaign which strained his military. His armed forces are generally considered to have been unprepared for combat when the German invasion of Poland led to World War II. Mussolini thus decided to remain 'non-belligerent' until he was quite certain which side would win.
On June 10, 1940, as the Germans under General Guderian reached the English Channel, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France. In October, Italy attacked Greece and lost in result 1/3 of Albania, until Germany attacked Greece as well. In June 1941, he declared war on the Soviet Union and in December he declared war on the United States.
Following Italian defeats on all fronts and the
Mussolini was replaced by the Maresciallo d'Italia Gen. Pietro Badoglio, who immediately declared in a famous speech "La guerra continua a fianco dell'alleato germanico" ("The war continues at the side of our Germanic allies"), but was instead working to negotiate a surrender; in a few days (September the 8th) Badoglio would sign an armistice with Allied troops.
Rescued by the Germans several months later in a spectacular raid led by General
On
It is generally believed that Mussolini and Petacci were killed in the afternoon of April 28, in the village of Giulino di Mezzegra, by "Colonnello Valerio", the partisan commander charged by the CLN (National Liberation Committee) with the task of executing the death sentence issued against Mussolini.
A report aired on August 2004 by the Italian national TV network
The Duce was survived by his wife,
Mussolini was the inspiration for the character of Benzino Napaloni in Charlie Chaplin's movie The Great Dictator.
References
- The Birth of Fascist Ideology, From Cultural Rebellion to Political Revolution, Zeev Sternhell, with Mario Sznajder and Maia Asheri, trans. by David Maisel, Princeton University Press, NJ, 1994. pg 214.
Writings of Mussolini
- Giovanni Hus (Jan Hus), il verdico Rome (1913) Published in America under John Hus (New York: Albert and Charles Boni, l929) Republished by the Italian Book Co., NY (1939) under John Hus, the Veracious.
- The Cardinal's Mistress (trans. Hiram Motherwell, New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1928)
See also
- Italian military history of World War II
- Revolutionary minded Italians of the inter-war period
External links
- Mussolini In Pictures
- Comando Supremo: Benito Mussolini
- Did Mussolini really make the trains run on time?
- Biography of Benito Mussolini
- Photograph of Mussolini's corpse and article about the theft of his body
- Site about Benito Mussolini In Italian
- Is Mussolini quote on corporatism accurate?
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