Even before the start of the First World War, Italy was in a terrible economic crisis. In AD 1911-12, the Turkish-war ended with the victory of Italy and the imperial citizens of Italy were happy with their possession of Tripoli in North Africa, but this victory did not improve the economic conditions of Italy. Happened.
In AD 1914, when Europe stood on the cusp of the First World War, the sparks of internal revolution were burning in Italy. There were strikes in the factories. The soft-party socialist leaders of the working class somehow succeeded in getting the workers to work. With this, the Great War broke out.
Germany requested Italy to join the war citing old friendship, but Italy refused and adopted a policy of being neutral in the war so that in return, it could get some economic concessions from both sides by tempting them. The faction of the Allies, ie England and France, agreed to fight Italy on their side by giving them financial aid.
Thus in August 1916, Italy joined the world war against its old friend and its old ruler Germany. Italy was given some amount in cash and some areas of Smyrna and Turkey were also given on which Italy claimed its claim, but at the same time there was a Bolshevik revolution in Russia due to which Italy could not control those areas.
'Paris Peace Conference' after the end of the war It was held in which the Allies Britain and France betrayed Italy and did not give Italy the territories that were agreed to be given to Italy. Italy hoped that it would earn some economic income by occupying these areas, but this was not possible.
Therefore, resentment against the Allies arose within Italy. Italy alleged that the Allies were deliberately neglecting the interests of Italy. In the First World War, Italy's six lakh soldiers were employed and about one million soldiers were injured. After the end of the war, Italy's economic situation worsened and many soldiers were laid off.
Thus in Italy farmers, laborers and fired soldiers started rioting on the streets. In 1920, metal workers demanded increased wages. Due to this in Italy 'Stop work strike' Started. The factory owners locked down the factories.
On this the workers broke the locks of the factories and took control over them and tried to run them in a socialist manner. At this time the socialist party was dominant in Italy.
Along with the trade unions, the reins of three thousand municipal committees were also in the hands of the socialists. At this time, about one and a half hundred i.e. one third of the members in the Parliament were socialists. Still the socialist leaders could not do anything except speeches and soon the factory owners took over the mills and factories again.
Now the factory owners made some voluntary organizations running in the country in their favor and pitted them against the workers and socialist leaders. Among these organizations, Benito Mussolini's organization running from AD 1910 was prominent, in which he first recruited farmers and factory workers and later included a large number of soldiers expelled from the army.
After the recruitment of soldiers, the form of this organization 'fighter gang' As it had happened. They could attack anyone. The bourgeoisie and factory owners employed them to attack socialists and leftists.
Members of the militant gangs used to attack and destroy the office of any socialist newspaper, set fire to any Left office and injure its members. Similarly, the municipal corporations and co-operative societies which were under the influence of the Left were also attacked and destroyed by these people. In return for all these works, the capitalists used to give money to these fighting gangs.
Gradually these gangs in Italy 'Fasidi Combatimanti' It was said 'Fascism' of the English language And 'Fascism' of Hindi language The corresponding Italian word 'fasidi' are made of. The government turned a blind eye to the capitalists and these fighting gangs. The government wanted these people to deal with socialists and leftists on the streets.
Benito Mussolini was born in AD 1883 to a blacksmith who was a socialist activist. So Mussolini was brought up in the midst of socialist ideas. When Mussolini grew up, he too became a socialist leader. He used to reprimand the soft-minded socialists for their soft-politics.
Mussolini supported the use of bombs against the government and his opponents. The Italian socialists supported the government in the Turkish war, but Mussolini opposed this war and took violent actions in many places, due to which the government caught and imprisoned Mussolini.
When he was released from prison, he got the leaders of the socialist party out of the war who supported the war. After this a newspaper published from Mussolini Milan 'Avanti' became the editor of Through this newspaper, Mussolini used to advise his workers to- 'Let them counter violence with violence'. Italy's pro-Socialist leaders protest the violence instigated by Mussolini.
When the First World War broke out, Mussolini opposed the war and preached that Italy should remain neutral from the war. During this period the government was also following the same policy. Suddenly Mussolini changed his mind and started preaching that Italy should participate in the war on behalf of the Allies.
He also stopped editing the socialist newspaper and started a new newspaper in which he started preparing public opinion in support of the Allies.
On this the socialists expelled Mussolini from the socialist party. Now Mussolini joined the Italian army as an ordinary soldier and went to fight on the front of the First World War. He was seriously injured in the battle. When the war ended, Mussolini found himself in a very strange situation.
Now it was neither the work of the socialists, nor the work of the government, nor did it have any influence among the workers. Such a defeated and frustrated person often either goes into depression, or becomes an 'anarchist'. Mussolini turned anarchist.
In 1920, he became useless in the war in his organization and started re-recruiting the soldiers fired from the army and laid a new foundation of fascism in Italy. On this occasion he said- 'Since they are not bound by any set programmes, they keep on moving towards one goal without stopping, and that goal is the future well being of the people of Italy. .'
To say, Mussolini was talking about the welfare of the people, but the reality was that his organization did not believe in any theory other than violence. In many cities, trade unions engaged in violent clashes with Mussolini's organization, which put Mussolini in trouble, but only then the moderate socialist leaders advised the workers not to face violence with violence, but to work with peace and patience.
The workers followed the advice of their leaders and they stopped violently opposing Mussolini's goons. This made the work of Mussolini easier and fascist gangs flourished in the country whose universal leader was Mussolini. Each gang was patronized by some or the other wealthy mill owner. The government refused to interfere in their affairs as these gangs did not allow strikes in the mills.
Mussolini adopted another policy, his gangs used to work for the rich people but always used to raise slogans in support of the poor, exploited, deprived, victims, farmers, laborers etc. This was the old trick of the communists, they used to fill their pockets under the guise of fighting for the victims. Mussolini did the same.
Thus fascism became a slang thing. He apparently worked for the interests of the rich and ostensibly gave speeches in favor of the poor. Thus the rich were afraid of him and the poor thought that Mussolini was their own leader.
In fact, Mussolini's Fascism was such a capitalist movement that spoke horror against the capitalists. One day he used to give a speech in favor of the poor, then the very next day he was seen advocating for the maintenance of factory owners, capitalists and big industries so that the jobs of the poor are not in danger.
Mussolini did not leave any section of the society in whose favor and against whom Mussolini did not give speeches. When he gave a speech against the rich, the people of the poor were happy and when he gave a speech in favor of the rich the next time, the people of the poor class thought that it was being spoken only to please the rich. In fact, Mussolini is the leader of the poor. That's exactly what the rich class people used to think.
The idle and unemployed youth of the middle class became a big weapon of this movement, whom Mussolini started providing money for bread to feed and started using them as his army in the works of beatings and hooliganism. As a result, the workers of the unorganized sector also started gathering under the umbrella of Mussolini so that their jobs could be kept safe by fighting the mill owners.
Thus fascism became a colorful object in which all the colors of the people of Italy appeared together. Since the government did not have any means by which it could provide employment to the unemployed, curb the exploitative and oppressive policies of the capitalists, suppress the goons of Mussolini, so the government succumbed to this movement. Now these goons started running the real governance of the country. At least among the people these goons ruled.
The fascists fixed the prices of things on their behalf and forced the merchant class to sell things of daily consumption at these prices. This brought great relief to the poor and they sided with the fascists. Since Mussolini fought in the army, he easily made friends with military officers. Due to this, the contacts of Mussolini were established in the Italian army.
Gradually, Mussolini made some of the big generals of the army in his side. How strange it was that the rich Italian class considered Mussolini the keeper of their wealth, the working class considered him the custodian of their jobs, the socialist leaders feared him and the ministers of the government tolerated him as an unsolvable puzzle, while the military The officers considered him their friend.
Thus he was dodging everyone in one way or another and keeping them by his side. It was not too difficult for such a man to capture the country. He planned to attack Rome. The king of Italy liked his program and with the help of the king, in October 1922, the fascist squads marched on Rome.
Before leaving for Rome, he called upon his troops with these words - 'Our program is very simple. We want to rule Italy.'
Italy's Prime Minister 'Nitti' The one who had so far avoided taking action against Mussolini, had to impose military rule in the country, but by then it was too late, the king himself had also been on the side of Mussolini. He canceled the order of the Prime Minister by which military rule was imposed in the country.
The prime minister resigned angrily, and King Victor Emanuele III of Italy invited Mussolini to Milan so that Mussolini could be made the new prime minister. On 30 October 1922, the fascist army reached Rome and on the same day Mussolini boarded the train to Milan to become Prime Minister.
Mussolini became the Prime Minister of such a large country without any opposition and obstruction. His 'fascism' was successful in gaining power but his path ahead was very difficult. Mussolini had no goal, no ideal, no plan, no program of any kind. He only wanted to snatch the power of the country, in which he had succeeded but he did not think anything about what to do next.
Mussolini wrote in an article on Fascism in the Italian-language encyclopedia– 'He had no plans for the future when he set off to march on Rome. It was this strong desire to do something in times of political crisis that prompted him to embark on this war, and it was the result of his previous socialist practice.'
The emblem of Mussolini's party was an old imperial coat of arms of Rome that carried Rome's emperors and magistrates. It was a bundle of sticks with an ax in the middle. These sticks were called fesses, from which the word fassimo is derived. फासीवादी लोगों के अभिवादन का तरीका भी पुराने रोमन ढंग का था जिसमें एक बाजू को उठाकर एक तरफ फैला दिया जाता है।
इसलिए कहा जा सकता है कि फासीवादी स्वयं को राष्ट्रवादी प्रदर्शित करने के लिए प्राचीन रोमन साम्राज्य के प्रतीकों को काम में ले रहे थे। फासीवादियों का काम करने का तरीका भी साम्राज्यशाही ढंग का था जिसमें ‘कोई तर्क नहीं, केवल आज्ञापालन’ का सिद्धांत निहित था। उनका नेता मुसोलिनी ‘इल द्यूचे’ अर्थात् तानाशाह कहलाता था। उनकी वर्दी में काली-कुर्ती सम्मिलित थी। इसलिए उन्हें ‘ब्लैक शर्ट्स’ अथवा ‘काली कुर्ती’ कहा जाता था।
प्रधानमंत्री बनने के बाद मुसोलिनी ने इटली में एक सूत्री कार्यक्रम चलाया, और वह था विरोधियों को ठिकाने लगाना। बहुत से मार्क्सवादी एवं समाजववादी नेताओं और उनके समर्थकों की हत्या कर दी गई। पार्लियामेंट के सदस्यों को जान से नहीं मारा गया किंतु उन्हें सड़कों, गलियों एवं उनके घरों में घुस कर लात-घूंसों और जूतों से पीटा गया ताकि वे पार्लियामेंट में मुसोलिनी का समर्थन करें। इसके बाद मुसोलिनी पार्लियामेंट में शाही प्रतिनिधि के चुनाव के सम्बन्ध में एक विधेयक लाया।
इस विधेयक में कहा गया कि शाही उत्तराधिकारी की नियुक्ति एक समिति द्वारा की जाए। यह राजा का घोर अपमना था किंतु जूतों के बल पर यह नया कानून प्रबल बहुमत से पारित करा लिया गया। इस तरह मुसोलिनी के पक्ष में भारी बहुमत हासिल कर लिया गया। मुसोलिनी ने राजाज्ञाओं का पालन बंद कर दिया तथा सार्वजनिक रूप से दिए गए एक भाषण में कहा- ‘यह घोषणा-पत्र इमानुएल की राजगद्दी का अंत करने के लिए यथेष्ट है।’
मुसोलिनी के गुण्डों ने पुलिस को निष्क्रिय करके स्वयं मोर्चा संभाल लिया। वे जिसकी हत्या करना चाहते थे, उसे बलपूर्वक अरण्डी का ढेर सारा तेल पिला देते थे। देश की समस्त सरकारी नौकरियां फासीवादी दल के कार्यकताओं को दे दी गईं। ई.1224 में गायाकोमो मैतिओती की हत्या से सारा यूरोप थर्रा गया।
यह एक विख्यात समाजवादी था और पार्लियामेंट का सदस्य था। उन दिनों इटली में चुनाव होकर ही चुका था। गायाकोमो ने पार्लियामेंट में एक भाषण दिया जिसमें उसने फासीवादी तरीकों की निंदा की। कुछ ही दिन बाद गायाकोमो की हत्या कर दी गई। लोगों को दिखाने के लिए कुछ लोगों को पकड़कर उन पर मुकदमा चलाया गया किंतु अंत में उन सभी को छोड़ दिया गया।
अभी यह घटना होकर ही चुकी थी कि अमेन्दोला नामक एक नर्म-दली नेता को पीटा गया जिससे उसकी भी मृत्यु हो गई। पिछला प्रधानमंत्री ‘नित्ती ‘ भी इसी दल का नेता था, वह जान बचाने के लिए चुपचाप इटली छोड़कर भाग गया। मुसोलिनी के कार्यकर्ताओं ने उसका घर जलाकर नष्ट कर दिया। ये समस्त कार्यवाहियां किसी उन्मत्त भीड़ द्वारा नहीं की गई थीं अपितु सोच-समझकर खुलेआम की गई थीं।
मुसोलिनी इटली का तानाशाह बन गया। वह केवल प्रधानमंत्री ही नहीं था अपितु पर-राष्ट्र विभाग (विदेश), स्वराष्ट्र विभाग (गृह), उपनिवेश विभाग, युद्ध विभाग, नौसेना विभाग, हवाई सेना विभाग और मजदूर विभाग का भी मंत्री था। एक तरह से वह पूरा मंत्रिमण्डल था। इटली का बूढ़ा राजा चुप होकर कौने में बैठ गया। उसके पास अब कोई शक्ति नहीं बची थी। यही काफी था कि उसके महल उसके पास थे जिनमें अब भी नौकर-चाकर काम करते थे। मुसोलिनी ने उन्हें नहीं हटाया था।
मुसोलिनी जब भाषण देता था तो आग उगलता था। उसे हर समय कोई शत्रु चाहिए था जिस पर वह गालियों एवं धमकियों की बौछार कर सके। वह यूरोप के किसी भी देश को धमका देता था जिससे यूरोप के देशों में बेचैन फैल गई। कौन जाने यह तानाशाह कब क्या कर बैठे?
उसने फ्रांस को धमकाया कि वह अपनी हद में रहे अन्यथा उसके आकाश में इटली के असंख्य हवाई जहाज छा जाएंगे। फ्रांस के सामने इटली की सामरिक शक्ति नगण्य सी थी किंतु फ्रांस इस पागल तानाशाह से लड़कर अपनी शक्ति खराब नहीं करना चाहता था। इसलिए फ्रांस ने कोई जवाब नहीं दिया। इटली राष्ट्रसंघ का सदस्य था किंतु मुसोलिनी अपने भाषणों में राष्ट्रसंघ के लिए असभ्य शब्दों एवं धमकियों का प्रयोग करता था।
राष्ट्रसंघ ने भी उन असभ्य टिप्पणियों को चुपचाप सुन लिया। वे जानते थे कि मुसोलिनी अपने देश में जनता एवं सेना पर पकड़ बनाए रखने के लिए इस तरह की असभ्य भाषा का प्रयोग करता है, इससे आगे न तो उसे कुछ करना है और न कुछ करने की उसकी सामर्थ्य है।
ई.1929 में पोप एवं इटली की सरकार के बीच एक समझौता हुआ जिसके बाद, दोनों के बीच ई.1871 से चला आ रहा विवाद सुलझ गया। पाठकों को स्मरण होगा कि ई.1861 में इटली के एकीकरण के बाद पीडमाँट का राजा इमेनुएल सम्पूर्ण इटली का शासक हो गया था। ई.1871 में राजा इमेनुएल ने रोम पर अधिकार कर लिया था तथा रोम को अपनी राजधानी घोषित कर दिया था।
इसके बाद उसने रोम में ही अपने महल एवं कार्यालय स्थापित कर लिए थे। पोप ने राजा इमेनुएल की इस कार्यवाही को मान्यता नहीं दी क्योंकि पोप तो स्वयं पापल स्टेट का राजा था।
इसलिए तभी से पोप, वेटिकन स्थित अपने महलों तथा सेंट पीटर्स चर्च के अतिरिक्त, रोम एवं इटली की अन्य भूमि पर पैर नहीं रखता था। पोप ने अपनी इच्छा से स्वयं को वेटिकन में बंदी बना रखा था। ई.2929 के समझौते में रोम शहर में स्थित वेटिकन क्षेत्र को सम्पूर्ण-प्रभुत्व-सम्पन्न राज्य बना दिया गया तथा पोप को उसका राजा घोषित किया गया।
उस समय इस राज्य की जनसंख्या कुछ सौ ही थी किंतु पोप ने अपनी अदालत, अपनी डाक व्यवस्था, अपने डाक टिकट, अपना टकसाल, अपनी मुद्रा स्थापित की जो इटली में भी मान्य की गई। पोप के सम्मान को बहाल करने के लिए इटली के कैथोलिक नागरिकों ने मुसोलिनी के प्रति कृतज्ञता का प्रदर्शन किया।
इटली एवं रोम को वश में करने के बाद मुसोलिनी ने यूरोप के अन्य देशों में आग लगाने का कार्यक्रम बनाया। उसने कहा कि- ‘यूरोप के हर देश में राजगद्दियाँ इस प्रतीक्षा में खाली पड़ी हैं कि कोई योग्य व्यक्ति उन पर बैठ जाए।’
उसके इस विचार से बहुत से देशों में उद्दण्ड किस्म के लोग राजसत्ताएं हड़पने के लिए बलवे करने लगे। पार्लियामेंटों के सदस्यों को ठोका-पीटा जाने लगा तथा उनसे मन-माफिक कानून पारित करवाए जाने लगे।
स्पेन इसका सबसे बड़ा उदाहरण था। स्पेन की पार्लियामेंट को ‘कोर्ते’ कहा जाता था। पार्लियामेंट में रोमन पादरियों का बड़ा प्रभाव था। स्पेन अपनी खराब आर्थिक स्थिति के कारण प्रथम विश्वयुद्ध से दूर रहा था किंतु स्पेन में औद्योगिकीकरण नहीं होने से जनता में गरीबी और बेरोजगारी अधिक थी।
इसलिए स्पेन की जनता ने न तो जर्मनी की तरह से ठोस मार्क्सवाद अपनाया और न इंग्लैण्ड की तरह नर्म समाजवाद अपनाया, स्पेन ने इटली की तरह फासीवाद अपना लिया जिससे स्पेन में अराजकता का बोलबाला हो गया। ऐसा बुरा हाल और भी कई देशों का हुआ। पौलेण्ड, यूगोस्लाविया, यूनान, बुलगारिया, पुर्तगाल, हंगरी और ऑस्ट्रिया में भी गुण्डा तत्वों ने तानाशाहियाँ स्थापित कर लीं।
यूरोप से लगते हुए तुर्की में भी कमाल पाशा नामक तानाशाह सत्ता पर कब्जा करके बैठ गया। दक्षिण-अमरीकी देशों में भी तानाशाहियों ने सरकारें हथिया लीं। इस प्रकार मुसोलिनी का जादू आधी से अधिक दुनिया के सिर चढ़कर बोलने लगा।
अबीसीनिया पर आक्रमण
ई.1935 में मुसोलिनी ने अबीसीनिया पर आक्रमण किया। यद्यपि द्वितीय विश्व-युद्ध अभी दूर था तथा उसे ई.1939 में आरम्भ होकर ई.1945 में समाप्त होना था किंतु व्यावहारिक रूप से कहा जा सकता है कि अबीसीनिया पर आक्रमण करके मुसोलिनी ने द्वितीय विश्व-युद्ध का पहला पटाखा फोड़ दिया।