Fascism Reader PDF: Benito Mussolini & Authoritarian Regimes

Unit 5: IB Topic 10: Authoritarian Regimes Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Regime of 1922 - 1945. Unit Reader Part 1 Essential Questions: 1)​ What identity groups (class, race, ethnicity, belief system, etc.), if any, are most important to consider when organizing for change? 2)​ What rig...

Unit 5: IB Topic 10: Authoritarian Regimes Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Regime of 1922 - 1945. Unit Reader Part 1 Essential Questions: 1)​ What identity groups (class, race, ethnicity, belief system, etc.), if any, are most important to consider when organizing for change? 2)​ What rights are the most inalienable? IB Focus Questions and Prescribed Content IB Learning Goal 1: How do authoritarian governments emerge? IB Learning Goal 2: How do authoritarian governments consolidate and maintain power? IB Learning Goal 3: What were the aims and results of the policies of the authoritarian regimes studied? 1 Reading 1: Left-Wing Ascendancy in Northern Italy after the First World War Italian Socialist Antonio Gramsci, Workers and Peasants, 3 January 1920 Industrial production must be controlled directly by the workers organized by company; the activity of control must be unified and coordinated through purely worker trade union organisms; The slogan “the land to the peasants” must be understood in the sense that agricultural companies and modern farms must be controlled by agricultural workers organized by councils of the poor peasants of the villages and the agricultural districts; the agricultural workers, the revolutionary poor peasants … The northern bourgeoisie has subjugated southern Italy and the islands and has reduced them to colonies to be exploited; the northern proletariat, emancipating itself from capitalist slavery, will emancipate the southern peasant masses subjected by the bank and the industrial parasitism of the North. Imposing worker control on industry, the proletariat will turn industry to production of agricultural machinery for the peasants, of clothing and shoes for the peasants, of electric light for the peasants, will stop industry and the bank exploiting the peasants and subjugating them like slaves at the safes. Christine Thomas, When Workers Seized the Factories, 2010 In this article for Socialism Today, United Kingdom Socialist Party organizer Christine Thomas, reflects on the history of her movement. "IN SEPTEMBER 1920 the working class of Italy had, in effect, gained control of the state, of society, of factories, plants and enterprises… In essence the working class had already conquered or virtually conquered". Leon Trotsky, at the Fourth Congress of the Communist International, November 1922. Armed workers were occupying the factories and peasants were seizing the land. The Italian Socialist Party (PSI) was 200,000 strong. The September movement, in fact, began as an economic struggle over wages in the engineering /metal working sector … The bosses had accumulated enormous profits during the war but …Not only did the engineering bosses refuse to concede the 40% wage rise demanded by the metalworkers’ union …, but when negotiations broke down and the workers implemented a work slow-down they were locked out of the factories, beginning with 2,000 at the Romeo plant in Milan. The metalworkers union responded by immediately calling for the occupation of 300 Milanese factories. Accumulated anger exploded. Factories were seized in the industrial heartlands of Turin and Genova, and beyond in Florence, Rome, Naples and Palermo. From engineering the tidal wave of occupations engulfed chemicals, rubber, footwear, textiles, mining and countless other industries. Eventually half a million workers were involved, both unionised and unorganised. Red (socialist) and black (anarchist) flags flew over the occupied factories. Armed ‘Red Guards’ controlled who could enter and leave. Workers themselves maintained order, banning alcohol and punishing workers who broke discipline. 2 The movement went furthest in Turin … Workers in Turin were organised in factory councils coordinated through the camere di lavoro (a kind of trades council) and workers’ committees took responsibility for production, credit and the buying and selling of goods and raw materials. Formally the capitalists and their political representatives in the government were in command, but in reality they were paralysed. As the national newspaper Corriere della Sera bluntly put it, the workers had complete control of the factories. Here was a clear example of the ‘dual power’ stage of a revolutionary process: where who controls society is in the balance and will be decided either by the potentially revolutionary forces completing the revolution and overthrowing the old regime, or by the formerly dominant class defeating the movement and re-establishing its control. The idea of workers’ councils spread like wildfire throughout the city. All over Turin, in every major industry, elections took place for ‘workshop commissars’ – at its peak the council movement involved 150,000 workers in the city. The capitalists, however, were clearly not going to sit back and accept indefinitely what had in effect become permanent dual power in the factories. "There can be only one authority in the factories", stated the manifesto of the Turin Industrial League. "The workers’ councils in Turin must be implacably crushed", declared leading Italian industrialist Gino Olivetti. [The Italian Socialist Party] leaders, who … were supposedly preparing to extend the revolution, in reality were clueless about what to do next. With no clear programme, strategy and tactics they inevitably capitulated … The agreement which ended the occupations was not initially viewed as a defeat by many sections of workers (and was not presented as such the trade union and Italian Socialist Party leaders). The economic gains – substantial wage rises, paid holidays etc – were impressive for a trade union struggle. But, of course, the movement had the potential to be much more than that, and it was only over the next few months, as the economic crisis began to bite and the fascist gangs were mobilized against the workers, that the full extent of the defeat hit home. 3 Reading 2: The Rise of Fascism BENITO MUSSOLINI, Trenchocracy, December 15, 1917 This December 1917 article from Il Popolo d'Italia (The People of Italy), the interventionist newspaper founded by Benito Mussolini. The trenchocracy is the aristocracy of the trenches. It is the aristocracy of tomorrow! It is the aristocracy of action. A new aristocracy is emerging. The narrow-minded and the idiotic do not see it. An overwhelming moral force exists in the patriotic spirit of the veterans returning from the front lines (of the First World War). They are … the millions of demobilized soldiers. This enormous mass of men - conscious of what it has achieved - will shake society's equilibrium. The old parties, the old men, who carry on with the exploitation of Italy's political life in the future will be cast aside. The words republic, democracy, radicalism, the word socialism itself, have no sense any longer; they will have one tomorrow, but it will be the meaning given to them by the millions of "those who have returned." And it could well be a different meaning. There could, for example, be an anti-Marxist (anti-socialist/ anti-Communist) national “socialism” (quotations added). BENITO MUSSOLINI, Afternoon Speech in Milan, March 23, 1919 We declare war against socialism, not because it is socialism but because it opposes nationalism … We intend to be an active minority, to attract the working class away from the official Socialist party. But if the [upper and] middle class thinks that we are going to be their lightning rods, they are mistaken. We must go halfway toward meeting the workers. Right at the time of the armistice, I wrote that we must approach the workers who were returning from the trenches. We must, therefore, accept the demands of the working classes. Do they want an eight-hour work day? Sickness and old age insurance? Worker control over industry? We shall support these demands, partly because we want the workers to get accustomed to the responsibilities of management and to learn as a result that it is not easy to operate a business successfully … I have the impression that the present regime in Italy has failed. The right to the political succession belongs to us, because we are the ones who pushed the country into the war and led it to victory!' Our program includes political reforms … But let us not dwell on details. Our program, upon examination … is based on the war and the victory. This enables us to face everything boldly. 4 I should even like to see the Socialists assume power for a while, because it is so very easy to promise paradise and so difficult to produce it … But in actuality we cannot allow such an experiment; for, once in power, the official Socialists would want to give Italy … a ferocious dictatorship. We are strongly opposed to all forms of dictatorship. The only dictatorship we acknowledge is that of the will and intelligence. Italian Socialist Antonio Gramsci, The Two Fascisms 25 August 1921 The Fascists were born in the aftermath of the war … They emerged during the same period when the rural landowners were feeling the need to create a White Guard to tackle the growing workers’ organizations. The gangs that were already organized and armed by the big landowners soon adopted the label Fasci for themselves too. With their subsequent development, these gangs would acquire their own distinct character – as a White Guard of capitalism against the class organs of the proletariat … These rural groups are engaged in a fight against the poor peasants and their organizations. They are acutely anti-union and reactionary. And they have far more faith in direct armed action than in the authority of the state and … parliament. With the financial support of the capitalists and the protection of the civil and military authorities, it has attained a power without limits. The ruthless offensive against the class organs of the proletariat has served the capitalists well. In the course of a year they've seen all the apparatus of the socialist unions smashed and rendered impotent. Diary Excerpt from Italo Balbo, Squadrismo, 1922 In 1921, Italo Balbo created the National Fascist Party, and organized “squads” which broke strikes for local landowners, and attacked Socialists and Communists in Northern Italy. In 1922 he became one of the four Fascist hierarchs to lead the March on Rome. I |then] announced to [the chief of police] that I would burn down and destroy the houses of all Socialists in Ravenna if he did not give me within half an hour the means required for transporting the Fascists elsewhere. It was a dramatic moment. I demanded a whole fleet of trucks. The police officers completely lost their heads; but after half an hour they told me where I could find trucks already filled with gasoline. Some of them actually belonged to the office of the chief of police. My ostensible reason was that I wanted to get the exasperated Fascists out of the town; in reality, I was organizing a "column of fire" … to extend our reprisals throughout the province…. We went through.. all the towns and centers in the provinces of Forlì and Ravenna and destroyed and burned all the Red' buildings. …. It was a terrible night. Our passage was marked by huge columns of fire and smoke. 5 Reading 3: Fascist Ideology The Program of the Fascist Armed Squads, June 6, 1919 The growing Fascist movement produced this program in the wake of the creation of the fighting squads. It was published in Benito Mussolini's newspaper Il Popolo d'Italia. In terms of the political problem WE DEMAND: a. The minimum voting age to be lowered to eighteen; the minimum age for parliamentary deputies to be lowered to twenty-five years; all government positions to be open to election … c. An Italian foreign policy dedicated to opposing all foreign imperialisms; In terms of the social problem WE DEMAND: a. The immediate enactment of a state law establishing an eight hour workday. b. A minimum wage law. c. The participation of representatives of the workers in the technical affairs of industry. The obligation of the state to provide and maintain schools that shape national character in a sound and solid manner, impartially, but in a secular manner; schools in which the mind and body are disciplined to defend the fatherland... For the military problem WE DEMAND: a. The creation of a nation at arms designed to defend the nation's rights and interests. Fascist Party Platform, 1921 The Nation is the supreme synthesis of all the material and immaterial values of a race. The National Fascist Party maintains that the form of social organization predominant in today's world is the nation …. It holds, moreover, that the destiny that awaits global life is not the unification of various societies into a single, global society, i.e. "humanity" in the parlance of the internationalists. The National Fascist Party will advocate the following positions in support of blue-collar and white-collar workers: 1. The enactment of a State law establishing an official standard workday of eight hours for all employees, with possible exceptions being granted due to special agricultural or industrial needs. 2. The enactment of welfare legislation adapted to current needs—particularly in the domains of accident, disability, and old-age protections for agricultural, industrial, or office workers—so long as it does not hamper production. 6 Cornerstones of Foreign Policy Italy must reaffirm its right to complete its historical and geographical unity, even in cases where unity has not yet been fully achieved. It must fulfill its duty as a bulwark of Latin civilization in the Mediterranean basin. It must firmly and serenely assert the sway of its laws over the peoples of different nationalities annexed to Italy. Fascism finds the founding principles of the so-called League of Nations wanting, because irrespective of whether they are members or non-members, nations do not enjoy an equal footing within the League … The State must make the most of Italian colonies in the Mediterranean. Economic Policy 7. Crafting of a … public works plan in harmony with the Nation's new economic, technical and military needs. The plan proposes: a. Completion … of the Italian railway system … [and] the return to the private sector of industries that the State has managed poorly, in particular, the telephone system and the railroads. Cornerstones of Social Policy Fascism recognizes the social function of private property … In the face of socialist … economics, the National Fascist Party has its feet firmly planted in the soil of our historical and national reality. The National Fascist Party advocates a regime that would strive to increase our national wealth by unleashing individual enterprises and energies.. by abolishing, once and for all, the rusty, costly and unproductive machinery of State-based, society-based and municipality-based control. The National Fascist Party will argue for the following: 1. That disorderly clashes between divergent class and socio-economic interests be disciplined, to which end it is essential that organizations representing workers and employers be granted legal recognition (so that they may, in turn, be made legally responsible [for their actions]) 2. That a law be promulgated and strictly enforced prohibiting strikes on the part of government workers. 7 School Policy The schools' overall objective ought to be the shaping of individuals who can contribute to the Nation's economic and historical progress. To these ends, the following measures are urgently needed: 2. Mandating that compulsory schooling extend through the sixth grade in municipalities where schools are available. 3. The institution of rigorous national elementary schools whose task it is to physically and morally shape Italy's future soldiers. In order to carry out this mandate, intensive State monitoring of programs, teacher selection and teacher performance are necessary (especially in municipalities in the hands of anti-nationalist forces); 4. Free middle schools and universities, although State monitoring of academic programs and of the spirit of what is being taught is required. 7. Endowing middle and high schools with an overall "classic" character. All types of middle schools should be unified, so that Latin is studied by all students. 8. … a single institute managed by the State [which]… would single out the most intelligent and hardest-working pupils in the earliest grades and ensure that they go on into higher education. It would counteract (when necessary) parental selfishness and provide needy students with substantial financial aid; 9. Improvement of the salary and status of teachers, professors and army officers (who are, after all, the Nation's military educators). This should provide them with increased respect and with the means to expand their cultural horizons. National Defense Every citizen is obliged to serve in the military … the National Fascist Party advocates the immediate creation of a complete and perfect army, an army that watches over newly conquered borders like a vigilant sentry … With this same goal in mind, the army, along with schools and sports clubs, must infuse citizens' bodies and spirits with the aptitude and knowledge required for battle and sacrifice in the name of the Fatherland (pre-military instruction). 8 Reading 5: The March on Rome Robert Paxton, Anatomy of Fascism 2004 (Adapted) The myth that Mussolini's Fascists conquered power by their sole … exploits [“seizing” Rome by force] was propaganda - one of their most successful themes, evidently, for many people still believe it. During 1922 the squadristi escalated from sacking and burning local socialist headquarters, newspaper offices, labor exchanges, and socialist leaders' homes to the violent occupation of entire cities, all without serious hindrance from the authorities. They … assaulted Ferrara and Bologna in May, chasing out socialist city governments and imposing their own … A "column of fire" through the Romagna arrived in Ravenna on July 26. Trento and Bolzano, with their large German-speaking minorities, were "Italianized" in early October. The Italian government was ill-equipped to meet this challenge. We noted … how postwar dreams of profound change brought a large left-wing majority into the Italian parliament in the first postwar election, on November 16, 1919. But this Left majority, fatally divided … could not govern. The Italian Socialist Party (PSI) held about a third of the seats. Many of the Italian socialists … felt that mere reform was a betrayal of this moment of opportunity. Another third of the Italian chamber was held by a new [leftist] Catholic party, [the Italian Popular Party, which] disagreed passionately with the atheistic Marxists over religion in the schools. No alliance was possible, therefore, between … what might otherwise have comprised a progressive majority. When the [fascist March on Rome] emergency came, [Prime Minister] Facta was serving [temporarily] in only a “caretaker” capacity [as Italian parties attempted to agree on a Prime Minister that a majority of Parliament could support]]. Nevertheless, the prime minister began vigorous countermeasures. With the king's approval, Facta had already reinforced the Rome garrison with five battalions of disciplined Alpine troops … [and] began preparations to impose martial law. Meanwhile Mussolini quietly left the door open for a political deal. The socialists contributed their bit to the emergency. Although nearly half the socialists [in Parliament]… agreed on July 28 to support a centrist government without Mussolini, the other half expelled them from the party for treasonous [upper-class] class collaboration. Prime Minister Facta's emergency measures nearly succeeded in blocking the Fascist march in October. About nine thousand Blackshirts who evaded the checkpoints … formed a motley crowd at the gates of Rome on the morning of October 28, poorly armed, wearing makeshift uniforms, short of food and water, and milling about in a discouraging rain. "In ancient and modern history, there was hardly any attempt on Rome that failed so miserably at its beginning." 9 At the last moment King Victor Emmanuel III balked. He decided not to sign Prime Minister Facta's martial law decree. He refused to call Mussolini's bluff and use the readily available force to exclude the Black-shirts from Rome. Instead he (the King) offered the prime ministry directly to the young upstart Fascist leader. Why did the king thus rescue Mussolini from a rashly overplayed hand? Mussolini had cleverly confronted the sovereign with a hard choice. Either the government must use force to disperse thousands of Blackshirts converging on Rome, with considerable risk of bloodshed and bitter internal dissension, or the king must accept Mussolini as head of government. The "March on Rome" was a gigantic bluff that worked, and still works in the general public's perceptions of Mussolini's "seizure of power.' Mussolini later worked hard to establish the myth that his Blackshirts had taken power by their own will and force. Both Mussolini and Hitler were invited to take office … by a head of state … on the advice of civilian and military leaders. Forming Alliances Conservative national leaders in both countries decided that what the fascists had to offer outweighed the disadvantages.. The nationalist press and conservative leaders in both countries consistently applied a double standard to judging fascist and left-wing violence. When a constitutional system seizes up in deadlock and democratic institutions cease to function … the circle of emergency decision-makers may become reduced to a few individuals. In a situation of constitutional deadlock and rising revolutionary menace, a successful fascist movement offers precious resources to a faltering elite. The fascists offered more than mere numbers. They offered fresh young faces to a public weary of an aging establishment that had made a mess of things. The fascists offered conservatives a fountain of youth. The fascists also offered another way of belonging -deeper commitment and discipline in an era when conservatives feared dissolution of the social bond. Fascists had also found a magic formula for weaning workers away from Marxism. Long after Marx … conservatives had been unable to find any wav to refute him. If the fascist parties could recruit some workers, then fascist violence would take care of the holdouts. Another seductive fascist offer was a way to overcome the climate of disorder that the fascists themselves had helped cause … having unleashed their militants in order to make democracy unworkable … In sum, fascists offered a new recipe for governing with popular support but without any sharing of power with the Left, and without any threat to conservative social and economic privileges and political dominance. The conservatives, for their part, held the keys to the doors to power. 10 …. Contemplating Mussolini … and Hitler … many educated and sensitive people supposed simply that "a horde of barbarians have pitched their tents within the Nation." The novelist Thomas Mann noted in his diary on March 27, 1933, two months after [the fascist] Hitler had become German chancellor, that he had witnessed a revolution of a kind never seen before, "without underly-ing ideas, against ideas, against everything nobler, better, decent, against freedom, truth and justice." … In internal exile in Naples, the eminent liberal Italian philosopher- historian Benedetto Croce observed disdainfully that Mussolini had added a fourth type of misgovernment-' onagrocracy,’ government by asses..” 11