“"Fascism" was the ideology of the movement that, under the leadership of Benito Mussolini, seized power in Italy in 1922 and held power until the Allied invasion of Italy in World War II” 18. “An attempt to provide fascism with a fully articulated theory was made by an Italian neo-Hegelian philosopher of some distinction, Giovanni Gentile, who was converted to fascism after Mussolini's coup.” 19. “But fascism equally opposed socialism, which preached class war and trade unionism and thus served only to divide the nation” 20. “Revolutionized society in such a way that the socialist critique was no longer relevant” 21. “Fascism's debts to the more extreme and fanatic elements of the nineteenth-century left wing” 22.
The play is set in 1912, perhaps to show how Human decency could have prevented world war one, and the affects, leading to the Second World War. It takes place in Brumley, an industrial city in the North Midlands. The Inspector’s key roles are to change the way the Birling’s, and the audience think. Priestley also uses the Inspector to present his socialist views, in this, the Inspector can be seen to represent the voice of conscience. Priestley has used the Inspector to create a strong willed character that most will respect, in his actions, and speech.
He organized his Fascio di Combattimento into anti-socialist 'police' that attacked socialists and burnt down socialist headquarters. Mussolini's use of the Il Popolo di Italia publicised the socialist threat and squad actions, this drew in more support and helped him to increase his power as he was a skilled journalist. Mussolini's change in policies and appearance was a tactic he used for larger growth in support. After the 1919 election, the fascists failed to win a single parliamentary seat, Mussolini began to steadily move to the right, he announced that the movement opposed the 'anti-Italian' PSI but not the working class, he endorsed employer-worker collaboration and called for better relations with the Vatican. The new fascist programme also abandoned earlier pledges to abolish the senate and confiscate 'excessive' war profits.
How significant was Mazzini in the growth of opposition to autocratic and foreign rule in Italy in the years 1831–49? (30) Mazzini was a republican nationalist who had a significant effect in the growth of anti-autocratic feeling in Italy. He had radical aims for the future of Italy and he envisioned unification. He was the first leader to indoctrinate in the minds of Italians a vision of political unification. Mazzini created the Young Italy society after the 1831 revolutions.
Influenced by the Russian Revolution of 1917, a series of strikes and revolts had broken out making Italy nothing but a ground for organised crime. The elected liberal government could not do anything but stand and watch as riot let loose leaving Benito Mussolini to take matters into his own hands in order to combat unrest, manipulating Italy’s Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti in the making, this being the beginning of Mussolini’s rise to power. One of Mussolini’s first moves, inspired by the red shirts, was to gather nationalist intellectuals, young land owners whom opposed peasants and former army officers to form a group known as the Paramilitary Blackshirts – Mussolini’s military tool in his political movement. This was the beginning of the growth of Fascism in Italy. The paramilitary Blackshirts were used by Mussolini to torture those who opposed the fascist movement, as Mussolini’s power grew, the Paramilitary Blackshirts methods became harsher and Fascism grew.
The Nazis felt like this political group was trying to undermine their “people’s community”. Hitler made it very clear that he did not want the communists in his people community when he and the Nazi party realised their 25 point programme of 1920.However the Nazis also portrayed the socialist and any other party of which had taken part in coalition governments during the Weimar republic as they collaborated with communism and Jewish democracy. Hitler wanted to introduce the policy of volksgeminschaft in this case because if he could eliminate the communists and the other parties who were associated as collaborating with them, the Nazis could then get their votes as they had a high amount of supporters, which would mean them having the majority and coming into power. Anybody who the Nazis believed that represented a threat to the racial purity of which Hitler wanted would come under the socialism categories. This included, Jews, gypsies and those who were seen as mentally or physically unfit.
Hitler and Mussolini were both responsible for the outbreak of war in 1939, though mainly due to both Nazi and fascist ideologies; two ideologies that both dictators allied together to spread the fascist ideologies internationally. Hitler is more responsible for the outbreak of war in 1939 as he demonstrates his aggressive behaviour and intelligence in the belief of building a Lebensraum (fixing the economic problem from WW1 and expanding to attain more land with a growing population), revising the Treaty of Versailles and creating an Aryan race in which he believed Jews and Slav’s were an inferior race; in which were considered as mere slaves. Throughout the 1930s, from Hitler’s first moment of being appointed chancellor the League of Nations is foreshadowed as very weak as it will not possess potential power to appease peace or intervention upon the actions of both dictators. The League of Nations had one purpose; to preserve world peace. But throughout the 1930s towards WW2, the League of Nations is shown to be very weak; hence it couldn’t prevent the Abyssinia Crisis.
In 1919, Hitler had written that systematic legitimate opposition can only be done through sensible anti Semitism (The Holocaust, n.d). He blamed Jews for the defeat in war and also asserted that Jews stabbed us in the back just to seize power and control German people. Hitler also declared that Jews wanted to undermine the Aryan Race through communism and capitalism. In his book Mein Kampf, (My Struggle) he further extended this hatred for Jews when he said that Jews are an evil race who wants to dominate the world. Nazi policy treated Jews as “parasitic vermin” who are only worthy of eradication.
This freedom also opened doors for abuse. Armies, necessary to protect freedom, were able to bully other nations. There were two safeguards against the menacing instability. The first safeguard was a doctrine and it stated: wars were made by hungry, arrogant, ignorant, oppressed men. It was thought that the new world would get rid of the need for war.
This was due to Mussolini and the Ras controlling much of Italy, emphasised by the huge mobilisation of squads in socialist areas at the end of July 1922 when the Alliance of Labour called a strike which had little support and lasted just 4 days. The March on Rome was planned on 16th October '22 and was a clear sign of power and therefore threat to the collapsing government and King, success was hinted at by the massive rally of 40,000 Fascists in Naples on the 24th. The king’s mother, Queen Margherita, had pro-fascist sympathies and was all in favour of a “strong man” to save Italy from revolution. Just before the March on Rome, Margherita publicly showed her approval of the fascist cause by inviting the quadrumvirs to her palace. The king’s cousin the second duke of Aosta, was even more pro-fascist than Queen Margherita.