The Politics of Mussolini

Benito Mussolini was the leader of the Italian Fascist Party.  He ruled from 1883 to 1945. Mussolini came in to power by a legal appointment by the former King Victor Emmanuel III at a rally in Naples in 1922. It was when the Fascists announced a  march on Rome that they demanded that the government to make changes.

Fascism: the beliefs of Fascism are;
  • That the individual were unimportant except as members of the country
  • That Democracy led to greed, corruption, and weakness.
  • That Democracy put individual interests above the nation's goals  and that it destroyed feelings of community.
  • To vastly increase territory 
Supporters:
  • Business leaders
  • wealthy landowners
  • the lower middle class

Key policies of Mussolini

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  • v     Economic policy
  • He had placed a state control economy. During Mussolini’s rule the Fascist party, and representatives of business, labor, and government controlled industry, agriculture, and trade. Workers were forbidden to strike and had low wages. Production increased and businesses were help by the economic policy.
  • v     Social policies
  • Women were fired from jobs because Mussolini believed that” women and machines are the two major causes of unemployment.”
  • There was a secret police
  • Italy’s mass media was censored by the government.
  • The army doubled from 175,000 to 275,00.   
The secret police
    
The secret police were against the democratic process and were in favor of violent action.  They smashed lefty  media, broke up socialist  rallies and attacked farmer's unions. They were known as the Black shirts. They kicked out elected officials in Northern Italy. People who were critical of the government were thrown in   prison, forced into exile or murdered.