History Revision Material
Paper One: The Move to Global War (1931-1941)
ITALY
CONTEXT: Germany, Japan, and Italy
All three countries started as liberal democracies and were authoritarian regimes by 1933 because
of similar reasons:
1. Losing faith in the status quo (systems became instable when they weren’t considered fair)
2. Lack of stability (economic, social, and political)
3. Recent past grievances (WW1)
4. All these factors needed mass support and a promise for a solution, this is where leaders
Mussolini, Hitler and … come in
5. The Great Depression exacerbated this process
Impact of Fascism on Italian Foreign Policy
What is Fascism
o Manifested itself differently in different countries, Mussolini set up his first fascist unit in March
1919
o Anti-communist, against class struggle, internationalism, pacifism, multi-party liberalization
Key Features:
1. Nationalism
o View of the nation state, its culture, and history as a unifying force
o Desire to remove foreign influences
o Own nation seen as superior to others
2. Militarism
o Promotion of political violence and war as a means of revitalizing society
o Violence seen as necessary in order to progress
o Development of parliamentary organizations
3. Social Darwinism
o The belief that races have evolved as superior: Survival of the fittest
4. Social Unity
o Opposes class-based divisions and promotes collective national security
5. Authoritarianism
o Totalitarian: the state has control over all aspect’s pf society
o The people are subservient to the state
o Mussolini: “Obedience not discussion”
Division of the Italian people religiously, geographically, and socially weakened the government, with
discontent of WW1, this facilitated Mussolini’s rise to power.
Why support for fascism grew
o Italy entered a period of political crisis after WW1, the liberal government in place began to lose
control, after the 1919 elections they gained less than half the seats in chamber
o Governments couldn’t form a coherent coalition, resulting in short-term governments,
undermining the credibility of the democratic parliamentary system
o Support decreased more when Italy didn’t gain the territory Italy had claimed
o People were furious with the treaty of Versailles
o The fascist party benefitted from the post war situation, by not being based on a clear doctrine it
could appeal to a wide range
o High inflation hit fixed wage and middle-class workers, unemployment soared and US restrictions
on immigration meant the southern poor couldn’t escape poverty
o The Bolshevik revolution in 1917 led to a fear of communism
, o 1919-1920: “Two Red Years” extensive unrest
- socialists attempted a Russian styled revolution and an Italian communist party was formed
o Mussolini and the fascists gained support from wealthy industrialists and landowners, they were
prepared to confront the socialists and communists
o Fascism was supported by the Catholic Church
o By 1922 there was a loss of faith in Italian state institutions that had failed to establish a stable
post-war economy
March on Rome Oct 1922
o In 1922 the democratic government was weak and vulnerable; fascists believed the time had
come
o The coalition government collapsed in Feb 1922 and a weak conservative coalition took over
o Aug 1922 the Socialists and Communists called a general strike
o Mussolini stated he backed the monarchy and engaged in negotiations with conservative
politicians
o There were rumors of a March on Rome, but Mussolini wanted to explore legal means
o Oct 27th Fascists attempted to seize control of government buildings in north and central Italy,
the government resigned, and the King later backed Mussolini
o Mussolini was offered the post of Prime Minister
How Mussolini Consolidated Power
o Nationalist joined the fascist party
o Fascists increased representation in parliament from 7% 66%
o Liberal Giacomo condemned fascist violence and was murdered 11 days later
o Dec 1925: Law of Powers gave Mussolini significant executive powers, press was controlled,
political parties and unions were banned
o 1926-1927: the Fascist party increased repression, the OVRA (secret police) was founded, power
to arrest increased, trial without jury was permitted, the scope of the death penalty was
expanded
Did Mussolini create a Totalitarian State
o Under Mussolini there could be no overt opposition of criticism, it was enforced by the secret
police and militia
o Employees of the state had to swear an oath of loyalty to the regime, the young were mobilized
to join the fascist youth movement
o Fascists had compromised with the Vatican and the King, Mussolini could still be dismissed by
the King, he never gained total control over the South (ruled by Church and land-owning elites)
Factors Influencing Foreign Policy
Mussolini developed a program of action with the following aims:
o Increase national pride
o consolidate national support for the regime
o revision of post war settlement
o dominate the Balkans
o dominate the Mediterranean
o build an empire, expand territory in Africa
o spread the spread of fascism internationally
Impact of Italian Economics of Foreign Policy
o foreign policy ambitions were reliant on strengthening the economy
o economic policies aimed to consolidate political power and make Italy self-sufficient and capable
of supporting a militaristic state
o Mussolini promoted ‘productivism’ heavy industry and high taxation
o Idea of a ‘corporate state’ as a new way of organizing the economy
o Advantages of socialism and capitalism without the disadvantages
o Mussolini launched the three initiatives:
The Battle for Grain (1925), Battle of Lira (1926), and “Mussolini law” (1928) – program of land
reclamation (each policy had little success)
