Tabak 10.2 the rise of fascism 1919 to 1932 paralleling the rise of Stalinist extremism in the Soviet Union the crises of the global depression combined with the lingering bitterness over the outcomes of World War 1 to produce extremist political movements all over the globe the combined devastation of global war and global depression led many people to doubt the viability of existing political and economic systems like democracy and capitalism the promises of the political enlightenment that a government founded on the consent of the people was the best way to ensure liberty and prosperity had it really panned out and people became more open to alternatives one of the alternatives was communist though it had actually been around as we know for some time it was only just now beginning to take effect in the newly formed Soviet Union but a new crop of alternatives emerged in response to the specific demands of the 1920s and 30s and these systems typify by fascism and Nazism promise to be a third way an alternative to both democracy and communism it would be these third way political movements which would prove devastating for global peace in the 1940s perhaps the best-known of the extremist political movements of the 1920s and 30s is also one of the least understood and that's fascism but to term we throw around in modern political parlance with little thoughts of placing it in its correct historical context the political theory of fascism had its origins in Italy where their recent unification in 1870 and there are unhappiness with the outcome of World War one had created a dangerous mixture of a new government one that didn't have Democratic traditions firmly entrenched and a dissatisfied population now to go back in time just a little bit following unification in 1879 Italy began to industrialize a tract which we know will create the standard tension between workers in the middle and upper class that we saw elsewhere meanwhile Southern idiot Lee remained largely agrarian and thus somewhat disconnected from northern frustrations but world war 1 further exacerbated Italy's domestic difficulties although Italy had fought on the winning side of the war alongside France and Britain they were bitter over the outcomes of the Treaty of Versailles you might remember that I mentioned very briefly that Italy hoped that Austria's lost in the war would allow them to seize territory that belonged to the former austro-hungarian Empire well that never really panned out and so many Italian veterans returned home from the war to find that not only were they unemployed because the Italian government failed to provide the same programs for readjustment that were common in countries like Britain but that their sacrifice had been for nothing since Italy had failed to gain any new territory as the economic plight of the early 1920s worsened radical political movements threatened to destroy the young Italian state Benito Mussolini the political activist who eventually consolidated the thought of a lot of people into fascist theory was a former journalist and a veteran of World War one who witnessed the increasing unrest in Italy and determined to come up with a solution though he dabbled briefly with socialism and communism Mussolini soon became frustrated with though both movements and instead looked to create his own alternative to both the current Italian state and the social unrest that was being engendered by communist politics perhaps the easiest way to understand the idea behind fascism is to look at the origins of the name itself it comes from two Latin words fasci meaning bundle and fash as meaning an axe girdled by a bundle of wooden rods which was a symbol of authority used by magistrate's in ancient Rome this image of a bundle of wooden rods stronger as a whole than each would be separately and bound together by strong ties really represents the fascist vision that true power came from individuals working together in unison something that could only be accomplished by the existence of a strong authoritarian central government under the fascist system governments were envisioned as both totalitarian in terms of their power over the populace an authoritarian and their granting of that power to a single individual fascist Theory held that people needed to place their absolute trust in this all-powerful leader to make important decisions on their behalf in turn he relied on their absolute support to maintain his power because of this fascist rulers often rejected the traditional social hierarchy sidestepping the wealthy elite in favor of those from a variety of social classes who produce our absolute loyalty to him and to the state indeed fascist leaders themselves like Mussolini were often drawn from the middling or lower ranks of society because its power over the population was to be complete the fascist government did not just devise and implement policies but was also tasked with regulating and shaping all society including belief systems and culture for those who lived in a fascist state the ideals of individual rights and civil liberties were subjugated to the notion that the most important function of an individual was to serve the state needless to say fascism cannot tolerate the growth of criticism within the state meaning that there could be no opposing political parties or organizations and even groups who did not directly challenge political authority but still carried their own influence like labor unions and churches had to be brought under state control or completely abolished the fascist state according to Mussolini must use these extensive powers that it was granted to promote a moral vision for the country that can be boiled down to three basic principles first total loyalty to the state the ANA Festa in a life of active service prolonged thought or reflection was discouraged an immediate willingness to do the bidding of the state was encouraged to this end fascist states largely replaced religion with patriotism using flags songs chants and political rallies to keep people engaged and excited secondly was homogeneity meaning that individuals were expected to be similar to one another in their beliefs behavior and lifestyle diversity whether political ethnic religious or sexual was strongly discouraged and people were taught to believe that diversity was the enemy of the state behavior considered deviant was also a threat as well and this included anything which defied traditional so-called family values including divorce abortion or sex outside of marriage purification of diverse elements and behaviors was a constant ongoing project and one in which all people within a fascist state were expected to participate thirdly fascism made use of our old friend nationalism to argue that the residents of its nation were racially superior to those of other nations and thus had it both a right and an obligation to expand beyond their current borders within this context another one of our old friends militarism made a strong comeback under fascist ideology well the victors of World War one professed their desire to prevent war from ever happening again fascism argued that war was a good thing and that it was the best and most noble expression of human energy the fascist state would be both strengthened and expanded by war both the internal war against deviance and diversity and the external struggles against the weaker nations of the world overall the goal of fascism was to promote the notion of national regeneration Mussolini and his followers would argue that Italy had been corrupted by consumerism and modern political notions of individual rights it was a movement that was both intensely traditional in its call to reject a modern life and return to traditional values and also intensely radical because a desire to overthrow existing systems and regimes it's at this point that you might be asking yourself why would anyone want to live in a fascist state well it turns out that the appeal of fascism was pretty broad throughout Italy and Europe in the 1920s and 30s any radical system like this owes its appeal to its radical promise a to destroy political systems that haven't served people well and be replaced with something that will provide aggrieved people's protection for their interests there were a lot of people to whom such promises appealed after world war one middle and upper-class peoples turned to fascism as a bulwark against communism and socialism which now seemed especially scary given the Russian Revolution communism threatened their Economic Security but capitalism didn't seem much better since smaller scale businesses and farmers were in constant danger of losing their independence to big business lower-class peoples as we've seen struggle with unemployment exploitation at the hands of the capitalist system and the rapid shifts in traditional value systems some people even turn to fascism on an intellectual and moral basis they were appalled by the materialism and consumerism that have been caused by industrialization and they were threatened by the loosening of traditional family values which followed World War one consequently fascist movements appeared across the globe especially in Europe Britain and France had to contend with the rise of relatively small movements but more substantial organizations took root in Austria Hungary and Romania the places where fascism truly took hold were Italy of course and then also in Germany we'll begin by looking at Italy armed with his fascist doctrine benito mussolini began organizing a militant political group in 1919 an offshoot of which would soon develop into what was essentially a private fascist army made up primarily of disillusioned veterans of the war and the unemployed they were officially known as the fascist italian combat squad but were soon nicknamed the black shirts after the uniforms they adopted mussolini and the black shirts exploited the agrarian and industrial discontent of italy in the years following World War one acting as vigilantes they used violence to confiscate land attack factories and kill shopkeepers overcharging for their products they also broke up communist and socialist rallies and demonstrations leading them to gain tacit approval from the Italian government which was more concerned at the time about communism than fascism soon people belonging to a variety of different social classes looked to Blackshirt fascists as protectors of their interests as the result of the Blackshirts activities Mussolini and the fascist movement gained popularity in October of 1922 carried by the support of some forty thousand fascist marchers who besieged Rome Mussolini fought Mussolini forced the Italian King Victor Emmanuel the third to hand control the state over to him he became ill duche the leader of Italy although a great deal of violence accompanied Mussolini's rise to power including against political opponents the press and labor unions a large number of people supported him because of the fascist vision he represented for many Italians the lure of an alternative to both communism and inefficient democracy was simply too much to resist mussolini promised the italian people an efficient government a booming economy the end of partisan violence in the streets and the restoration of a traditional social order in reality though mussolini spent most of his efforts consolidating the state control much like Stalin he imprisoned exiled or executed his political rivals while working to systematically disband labor unions peasant organizations and all opposing political parties Mussolini also invested heavily in the vision of global dominance for Italy he believed that an Italy united under fascist principles could go on to create a new Roman Empire with himself of course in the role of Caesar military efforts provided a means of focusing public energies in accordance with fascist political doctrine as in the ancient world Mussolini determined to begin his global Empire by taking control of the Mediterranean but he made little to no progress in 1923 his troops occupy the Greek island of Corfu Albania sitting right on the adriatic coast was annexed in 1939 he also managed to invade the East African country of Ethiopia in 1935 one of the few parts of the African continent not yet under colonial domination despite his best efforts to achieve an empire Mussolini's legacy would prove largely to be in the example that he set for other nations and for the alluring vision that he offered of the fascist state