Fascism emerged between the First and Second World Wars. It was a political movement and also an ideology originating in Western Europe, normally associated with extreme nationalism originating in Italy with Benito Mussolini.
1. Causes.
a. Political Causes.
Italy, despite having contributed to the victory of the First World War, was not duly compensated with the delivery of territories that it aspired to possess for its expansion. It only obtained the region of Trento and that of Trieste , and no participation in the division of the German and Turkish colonies. Morally, this situation translated among the Italians into a feeling of inferiority and resentment against the Allies.
b. Economic Causes.
Faced with the rise in the price of basic necessities, the working class formulated new salary demands, which the employers rejected. The lira, the national currency, was continuously devalued . Before the war it was worth 19 cents and, in 1920, it was worth only 3 cents. The public debt had increased to 95 billion pounds, 7 times more than before the war.
c. Social causes. .
The increase in prices and the continuous inflation; the ruin of the industry and unemployment caused serious economic imbalances , which stimulated, supported by socialists and communists, an atmosphere of unrest, due to repeated union revolts, or strikes, seizures of farmland and factories, both in the countryside and in the city. A large part of the population, returning from the war, was displaced from the workplace.
2. Benito Mussolini.
The weakness of the successive governments, to contain and dominate the disorders, awoke in the big businessmen and in the middle class, the fear that Italy was on the verge of the red revolution. Precisely in these circumstances appears the Fascist Party led by Benito Mussolini.
Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) was the son of a blacksmith. He lived a difficult childhood. After a great effort he became a teacher, but because of his socialist ideas he was persecuted and had to take refuge in Switzerland. Back in Italy he dedicated himself to journalism, founding the newspaper “IL Popolo de Italia” , to get his country to enter the war. In it he fought bravely, being wounded and entering the hospital, where he remained for a long time.
On March 23, 1919 he founded, in Milan, the fasci di combatimento or union of former combatants with the aim of fighting against internal politics and defending the country against the Marxist danger . In 1921 he was elected deputy for Milan, at which time he requested the dissolution of parliament and the participation of fascism in power. In 1922, in the face of a general strike in Italy, one hundred thousand of his supporters called the "Black Shirts" carried out the March on Rome, broke the strike and brought down the government of Prime Minister Luigi Faeta and King Victor Emmanuel III. . Mussolini was put in charge and was later chosen as prime minister. Shortly after he was the head of the party or Duce and, in practice, he was the Head of the Italian Government, establishing the fascist government. Instead, Victor Emmanuel III retained the royal title for him in nominal form.
3. Characteristics of Fascism
The fascists, organized by ex-combatant Benito Mussolini, used to wear black shirts and salute with raised arms. They had an ideology of radical inspiration and opposed, equally, to capitalism and communism. However, once in power, he made a pact with the capitalist forces, drifting towards a reactionary position of strength.
The movement, initially weak and limited, developed over the years a dynamism that no enemy could challenge; a rudeness that no other party could match. Without this dynamism and violence I would never have been able to succeed. It also had the ineptitude of the liberal government, the weakness of the parliament, the help of the army, the police and the administrative authorities.
Among the main characteristics of fascism we have:
a. In the Political Aspect.
At the height of power, fascism suppressed all opposition; eliminated all opposing elements in Parliament. Parties and organizations opposed to the government were dissolved; newspapers, prohibited from circulating; citizens accused of crimes against the state could not present witnesses and did not have the right to appeal. Opposition leaders and all those who were not willing to compromise with fascism were forced to emigrate or exiled to small distant islands.
b. In the Economic Aspect.
Parallel to these political measures there was an attempt to reshape the economic structure and organize all producers into unions and corporations . In fact, however, the labor union organizations were eliminated, but not the employers' organizations. The latter managed to extend the working day up to 9 hours, in those activities that suffered from foreign competition, without increasing wages. Workers and leaders who dared to distribute pamphlets, protesting unpaid overtime, were sentenced to jail, from 7 months to 5 years.