Fascism in Italy

The study focuses on the rise of fascism in Italy and the purpose of the study is to ensure the concept of revolutionary nationalism of Italy gave birth to fascism in Italy. The study will reflect on the impacts of fascism that has revolutionised Italian culture over the years. However, the unification of Italy will also be discussed in this study. The new state of Italy suffered from political weakness and economy since its unification. Fascism played a pivotal role in shaping the structure of the rooted nationalism of Italy. The study will cover the whole concept of Italian nationalism through the adoption of fascism in Italy.    

Unification of Italy 

One of the crucial features in the history of Europe was the struggle for independence and national unification in the 19th century. Italy was one of the important nations that emerged independent and united in the 19th century. Italy was partitioned into several states in the early 19th century. The kingdom of Sardinia was the most powerful state of all the states. The struggle for Italian unification and independence was organised by Mazzini and Garibaldi, two famous revolutionaries. They led the movement calling it the Young Italy movement. The Prime Minister of Sardinia, Count Cavour took the initiative of unifying Italy after the revolution of 1848. 

Fascism 

Fascism is a practice of movement that promotes the concept of a regimented and forcibly monolithic nation under the leadership of an autocratic ruler. The word fascism hails from the Italian word “fascio” representing bundles of people. Fascism refers to the strong regimentation of the economy and society that emerged in the early 20th century in Europe. The origin of fascism goes back to Ancient Rome when the fasces was a bundle of wood carried by leaders. The Italian political leader Benito Mussolini founded fascism in 1910 in Italy. History suggested Italy, Germany and Spain be the three largest fascist countries under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco respectively.        

Rise of Fascism in Italy 

The rise of fascism began during World War I when Mussolini formed a political group supporting the war against Austria-Hungary and Germany. He founded the Italian fascist party in 1919 that won 35 seats in the 1921 elections. The political system and ideology of Benito Mussolini encouraged extreme nationalism and militarism organising Italy along with hierarchical authoritarianism. The purpose was to fundamentally oppose liberalism and democracy in Italy. At the same time, it appeared to be a real danger of a left-wing revolution in an atmosphere of riots, affray and strikes. After World War I, many people desired for national unity and strong leadership in Europe.

Benito Mussolini with his charisma established a powerful fascist state in Italy and thereby coined the term fascism as a political movement. Mussolini gradually took over the powers of a dictator and moved forward to control the way of life of the Italian people. It seemed his authoritarian regime could bring lasting benefits to Italy and he succeeded with his successful and adventurous foreign policy. Before the accommodation of fascism to the political right, fascism was a small urban Italian movement having almost 1000 members. After the accommodation of fascism to the political right, the membership of the fascist movement soared to around 2 and a half lakhs by 1921.            

Fascism in Italy 

Italian fascism was based on Italian nationalism, national syndicalism and the zeal to develop Italian territories. The Italian fascists deemed it essential for a nation to bring forward its strength and superiority and thereby escape from succumbing to decay. For a large number of Italians, the fascists brought a loss of human rights and economic hardships to the country. The fascists are involved in political actions taking advantage of strikes to incite violence across the country. However, they began to align themselves with mainstream conservatives expanding the membership exponentially around 1921.    

Impacts of fascism in Italy 

Fascism had a major impact on the people of Italy as it emerged alarmingly as the days progressed. The fascist paramilitaries promoted their strategies from invading socialist homes and offices of socialist leadership to violating occupation of cities at the beginning of 1922. As a consequence, the fascists set up their sites in Rome. Between 1925 and 1929, fascism steadily excelled in power in Italy and the opposition deputies were refused access to the parliament. However, censorship was incorporated and Mussolini was made the king by the December 1925 decree. The impacts of fascism were so dangerous that the fascists proceeded to acquire several northern cities in Italy.      

Conclusion 

It can be concluded that the rise of fascism in Italy was a sign of dictatorship that was controlled by Benito Mussolini in late 1919. It has been encountered that the unification of Italy came into existence in 1870. However, the new state faced political and economic weakness. These gave rise to fascism in Italy with Mussolini taking over the power to control the entire Italy. Moreover, the fascists turned out to be furious in late 1922 to overpower the country in every way possible.