Mussolini and Italian Fascism (Seminar Studies in History Series)

Fascism was one of the defining experiences of the European 20th Century. Within it many of the economic, political, social and cultural contradictions that had been brewing in the unprecedented transformation that European society underwent in the 19th and early 20th century came to a head. Mussolini, the man who most fashioned Italian Fascism, dramatically expressed the unease and the hopes of his age. To what extent can we compare Mussolini's Italy to Hitler's Germany or Stalin's Russia? What legacy has the experience of Fascism left behind in Italy and in Europe? These and many more important questions are explored in Finaldi's introduction to one of the most important movements of the European 20th Century. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Author’s acknowledgements Publisher’s acknowledgements Chronology Who’s who Glossary Part One: Background 1. Introduction 2. Perspectives Perspectives on modern Italian history Perspectives on the study of Italian Fascism Part Two: Mussolini and Italian Fascism 3. The Origins of Italian Fascism, 1870–1917 Liberal Italy and its discontents Interventionism The Great War and its aftermath 4. Fascism as Movement, 1917–21 The birth of the Fascist movement The biennio rosso and Fascism’s reaction 5. The Road to Dictatorship, 1921–6 The march on Rome: myth and reality The ‘bivouac’ that might have been: the Duce as prime minister, 1922–4 The Matteotti crisis Establishing the Regime 6. The Fascist Regime 1926–36 The structure of the Fascist Regime Fascism and religion Making Italians Fascists? The Ethiopian War 7. Mussolini and Hitler, 1936–8 The deal with Nazism The apotheosis of the dictatorship Munich: Mussolini’s last peace 8. The Second World War and the End of Fascism, 1938–45 Understanding Italy’s performance in the Second World War The collapse of Fascism The death of a nation: Italy between 1943 and 1945 Part Three: Conclusion 9. The Place of Italian Fascism in European History Part Four: Documents 1 Patriotism in newly unified Italy 2 Criticism of liberal Italy 3 The Futurist Manifesto 4 The proletarian nation 5 The young Mussolini condemns Italy’s war in Libya, 1 6 The young Mussolini condemns Italy’s war in Libya, 2 7 Left-wing interventionism 8 The defeat of Caporetto 9 The Arditi 10 The ideal soldier 11 The Legend of the Piave 12 Fascist squadism 13 Early Fascist programmes 14 The 1919 elections 15 Landlords defend themselves 16 Mussolini’s first speech to parliament 17 Giolitti supports Mussolini’s first government 18 Matteotti’s speech to the Chamber of Deputies 19 Mussolini’s ‘clarification’ speech 20 The Lateran Pacts 21 The Fascist conception of the state 22 Respect for state authority 23 Achievements of Fascism 24 The spirit of Fascism 25 Fascist manhood 26 Limited effects of Fascism 27 The conquest of Ethiopia 28 The expected role of women 29 Terrorizing Addis Ababa, 1 30 Terrorizing Addis Ababa, 2 31 Nazism and Italian Fascism 32 The Manifesto of Racial Scientists 33 Hitler’s view of Mussolini and Italy 34 German success embitters Mussolini 35 The Pact of Steel 36 Italian lack of military preparedness 37 Declaration of war 38 The Grandi motion 39 Death of the nation? Further Reading References Index

Mussolini and Italian Fascism

Giuseppe Finaldi

Mussolini and Italian Fascism plots the life of a man and a nation seeking to find a role in a continent wracked by poverty, resentment, conflict and war yet awash with contradictory hopes for earthly utopia and a better future. Tracing the rise and ultimately grisly fall of the Italian dictator, Finaldi explores:

· The reasons why fascism developed such a strong following in Italy at this time

· The First World War and its impact on Italy

· The complex connection between Catholicism and Fascism

· The causes and consequences of the war in Ethiopia

· The twists and reversals that characterised the bond between Hitler and Mussolini

· The gap between the regime’s military ethos and the country’s performance in the Second World War

With a rich collection of Documents, Who’s Who, Chronology, Glossary and a Guide to Further Reading, this study is a perfect way for students to get a grip on the experience of Italian Fascism and will, through its fresh reading of a crucial facet of Europe’s 20th century, also merit the attention of those already familiar with the subject.

Giuseppe Finaldi is a lecturer in History at the University of Western Australia. He has worked extensively on Italian social and cultural history in the 19th and 20th centuries.