Both Benito Mussolini (in power in Italy between 1922- 43) and Adolf Hitler (in power in Germany between 1933-45) were fascist leaders who were able to rise to power and establish single party states during the interwar period by exploiting feelings of national discontentment following the Versailles settlement. As rulers who had received widespread support based on their ability to express grand visions of future glory for their respective Italy and Germany, both Mussolini and Hitler relied upon social policy as a means of trying to impose their fascist ideologies on the population at large and to maintain support for their regimes. It could also be used as means of controlling the population and marginalizing opposition to fascist rule. However, in neither Mussolini’s Italy nor Hitler’s Germany were these bold aims fully realized in practice. This essay will examine and analyze key points of comparison and contrast between their domestic policies, while also evaluating how far each dictator was able to successfully achieve their goals in these areas.
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.
This means that, according to classic Marxist theories, societies must transform over time from oppressive economic systems to more and more liberating ones, until society finally reaches the Utopian state of communism. Marx believed that capitalism was an oppressive economic system because of the unequal distribution of the wealth among a few powerful people, and he believed that eventually, the masses would overthrow capitalism and move to a less oppressive system. According to the historical dialectic, the masses will overthrow oppressive economic systems. But what happened in Italy during the Mussolini years? The capitalist system was replaced not by a less oppressive system, but by the extremely oppressive system of Fascism.
Cavour Vs. Garibaldi The idea of nationalism dominated Western civilization during the period 1850 to 1871. Liberal ideas spread viciously from France and Britain throughout Europe. French reforms gave Italy an enormous motivation to reach liberalism. Eager to be freed from foreign domination, Italy underwent a series of political events which established the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 (1). The Italian Unification, also known as Risorgimento, was mainly lead by two important figureheads: Count Camillo di Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi.
Totalitarianism in 20th Century Europe Dan Nicoletta 4947032 Brock University HIST 2P52 Professor Ferris Inna Ivanova March 4, 2013 Totalitarianism is one of the most feared political and socially detrimental regimes that the world has seen in the past century. Webster’s dictionary defines totalitarianism as “the political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute state authority”. Three men in 20th century Europe, took three different political visions, incorporated these specific ideologies into their extensive political platform, and took full control over their specific state. However, though Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini all had different ideological backgrounds and political platforms, these 3 men similarly wanted to achieve an end result of, total power over the state. Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler, all from different political beliefs felt as though they each needed to complete control over the state, and they would have stopped at nothing in order to achieve their goals and fulfill their own idea of a utopic state.
It is important to recognise what constitutes fascism especially when we consider the similarities and differences that belong to different fascist regimes in Italy, Japan and Germany and how they differ from authoritarian movements in Eastern Europe. “It is still no easy matter to pinpoint fascism precisely” (Laqueur 1976 p. 315) although, all three countries shared certain characteristics with each other before the Second World War began and have contributed to its rise. I would argue the basic principles of fascism are based on absolute power of the state, aggressive dictator rule, fierce nationalism, totalitarian ambition, militarism and arguably, are revolutionary. It can also be said that fascism is anti-socialist, anti-democratic, anti-liberal and anti-parliamentary. In a fascist state there is no power greater than the power of the state.
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. As a Fascist leader, Mussolini greatly enforced totalitarianism, which was a form of government in which the state had complete control over almost every aspect of peoples’ lives. Mussolini was the foundation for totalitarianism in Italy. He set the stage for strong and secure leadership by practicing totalitarian dictatorship. Mussolini stated: …a party holding "totalitarian" rule over a nation, is a new departure in history.
To address the question, the investigation will examine: Mussolini’s aims to align with Germany; Mussolini’s hope to establish a third fascist state in Spain, and as vengeance against Britain and France. Biographies such as Alan Brown’s Fascism in Italy and the studies of his foreign policies post-1934, such as those of Lowe and Lee will be used conjointly with studies of Mussolini’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War such as Stone’s Italo-German Collaboration
The intent of this paper is to demonstrate that Burckhardt was a Romantic Historian. The Italian Renaissance was a product of freedom. Italy consisted of many small states with powerful men constantly fighting for the right to rule. Burckhardt believed that from the freedom of chaos everything the Italians created during the Renaissance became art. “A new fact appears in history – the state as the outcome of reflection and calculation, the state as a work of art.” His thesis was that the state was a work of art founded by individuals through reflection and calculation.
Source W seems to take the opposite approach deeming how Germany’s aggressive actions since the turn of the century resulted in war. Source X seems to take a neutral decision and admits how it is a matter of great controversy but points towards the fact that Germany had always wanted colonial expansion, and also that there is an array of information that supports this. Therefore, I believe that the outbreak of war in Europe was due to an aggressive foreign policy which had been waged from 1900. Source W suggests that aggressive Weltpolitik was a major contributing factor leading up to the start of the First World War. After seeing the successes of the British Empire, Kaiser Wilhelm decided that he too wanted an empire and wished for one that could match and outstrip Britain.