The Rise and Decline of Fascism and Nazism

1790 Words8 Pages
Petra Bruno The Rise and Decline of Fascism and Nazism. After the First World War there was a lot of instability in many countries, some of them had enormous difficulties. Democratically elected politicians seemed to spend more time arguing than solving the problems. Often the people were so impatient that they wanted a leader, who took all the decisions and made things happen. They would support him as he will give them stability. This gave way to an era of dictators. When the dictator would begin to be too strict, it would be too late for the people to protest because it would be illegal to do so and a powerful police force, which he used like a private army, would be there to stop you. The most famous European dictators were Mussolini and Hitler. Mussolini was a vain, boastful man. He spent his early years as a teacher, a wandering casual labourer, a soldier in the First World War and a journalist. In later years he likes to think of himself as an all-rounder – as sportsman, as a musician and as a lover. He had a certain air of authority and people came to have confidence in him. In 1919 Mussolini formed the fascist party. The word ‘fascist’ comes from the Latin word ‘fasces’. They were the bundles of rods and an axe carried in ancient Rome as symbols of authority. (See last page). Mussolini used the fasces as his symbol to show that he was going to revive the glories of the ancient Roman Empire. In 1922 Mussolini and his Fascists took control over the government. This happened since Italy had a series of weak governments. The latest resigned in October 1922. Thousands of Mussolini followers were then organised for a ‘March on Rome’ (although Mussolini went by train). There were also Fascist demonstrations in other towns, supported by the army. The king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, invited Mussolini to be prime minister. Soon, he had all the powers of a
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