The Matteoti crisis put Mussolini in a very powerful position with a great excuse to keep the opposition out of parliament. Other factors such as the acerbo laws, legge fascitisme, control of the squadristi/ras and the role of the king. The actions of the elites and the Catholic Church contributed greatly to giving Mussolini the opportunity to gain dictatorial powers. The elites are a group in Italian society who had a lot of money and therefore power. For years under the liberal government the elites had benefited from the system of trasformismo.
One also needs to take into account the weaknesses of their democratic government of the Weimar Republic and its failure to deal with the problems of the day. This essay requires an explanation of the phenomenal electoral success of the Nazi Party between 1929 and 1933 with particular reference to the contribution made by their leader, Adolf Hitler. Arguably the most important reason for the Nazis rise to power was the personal qualities and leadership Adolf Hitler himself possessed. Hitler was a great and mesmerising speaker, he was a strong performer and when he spoke he aroused the emotions of his listeners and they were convinced just by his persona instead of what he was saying. This was important for Hitler’s rise to power as he gained huge population and support due to his impressive speeches.
The king at the time of Mussolini’s coming to power was King Victor Emmanuel III. He was an unremarkable ruler who achieved very little. He was the one who gave into the terms and conditions of the people of Italy, due to factors, which got to him, such as fear of a civil war, socialism and his sense of insecurity. Only the king had the power to appoint the Prime Minister, so it was in Mussolini’s favor to force it upon him. By the autumn of 1922, Mussolini was in contact with most major politicians of the formation of a new government that would include the fascists.
My first point is how Goebbels used propaganda to aid Hitler. The idea of getting ideas across to masses of people got them to start thinking about voting for the Nazis. Joseph Goebbels was the Nazi's party "main man" for getting across the Nazi's message. He did everything possible for Hitler to get publicity; he even made records and films of Hitler's speeches and put up millions of posters and flags all over Germany. People started seeing more and more of the Nazi regime and this gained more votes through the propaganda which was widespread throughout Germany.
Communists or the KDP also saw the opportunity that Hitler saw but with the democracy on its way out there was only room for one government, and Hitler new this. The ploy had so many advantages to Hitler that it would be hard to see how Hitler could not have been involved. This one event allowed him too effectively dishevel his main adversary, the foremost blockade that stopped Hitler’s dictatorship. How he went about “blaming” the communist for the event and thus eliminating them, was also a catalyst for all the events to come. By convincing Hindenburg that there was a large communist threat the country was put into a state of emergency and, with Hindenburg’s backing, Hitler was allowed to pass decrees to govern Germany anyway he liked, with the financial backing of krupp and bosch etc, which in this case is fortunate for the question at hand.
To what extent was fascist control of Italy 1925-1943 the result of the effective use of propaganda? Mussolini used propaganda to expand his control over the Italian people. However, there are other factors to consider, including, Mussolini’s economic policies, his good relationship with the traditional elites and the use of repression. Firstly, Mussolini used The Cult of the Duce as propaganda to gain support, this method of propaganda was at its highest in 1930. Mussolini was often photographed with Lions to show his power and authority, this metaphor helped him to control the Italian population, as they believed that he was their fearless leader.
He saw himself as the 20th century Caesar. Mussolini went on to become the most loved and hated man of Italy. During Mussolini’s regime the Italian society was not a politically unified society. The organizations of the regime mobilized great masses of people, and the towns of every region in Italy were frequently packed with crowds glorifying the “Duce”. As Anthony L. Cardoza portrays him in his book, Benito Mussolini: The First Fascist, Mussolini forced his political ideas on the weak Italian society.
Anti – democratic figures had seen the Nazi party as potential allies to provide popular support for an authoritarian regime. From this we can learn that the increase of support in which the Nazi party had gained, Hitler had also gained too. However the Nazi party were only ever capable of receiving 37% of the vote, this implicates that despite the increase in popularity, the level of support was not as significant as Hitler had hoped and therefore he could not had been elected by popular support alone. On the one hand, it must not be diminished that the Nazi party created a new outlook for most Germans. They were beginning to doubt that Germany had any pride left.
The Great Depression left European nations in ruins. The people were in desperate need for a strong leader to rise out of the ashes. Ordinary individuals became extraordinary supreme leaders overnight. Benito Mussolini was one of these people. With Mussolini’s strong beliefs in totalitarianism, militarism, nationalism, and imperialism, he was able to rise to power and carry out his Italian War Plan.
This provided an opportunity for the revolutionary nationalist movements that offered action-based means to rebuilding nations. This essay will address the Fascist ideology in comparison to the other popular political movements of the time. Focusing on Italy and Germany, it will identify and discuss the post-war crisis events that led European societies away from democracy and towards the one-party state. Fascism was a “response to the problems of national development and individual identity that appeared in the wake of military defeat, political frustration, demobilization, class struggle and economic depression”. The Fascist ideology, as first outlined by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, varied greatly from one Fascist party to another.