An essay I wrote for Europen History 1900-1945 at UWA.
I think it's pretty relevant to how fascism emerges, and could emerge again. These are the patterns that we all must watch out for... in responces to things like climate change and with current global events, like the near collapse of the Greek State - http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/
Italian Fascism, the movement lead by Mussolini which came to power in Italy in 1922 took advantage of conditions existing in Italy after the first world war to seize power. Liberalism1 in Italy had failed, or was seen to have failed, this failure had two main manifestations: Firstly the economic slump blamed on capitalism was seen as a domestic failure. Secondly, Italians felt humiliated by Italy's unsuccessful attempts to achieve it's 'potential' as a global power and especially by the outcome of the first world war. These conditions made the alternatives to capitalism popular with the working class, however the still powerful middle and upper classes, as well as the church, feared the possibility of a revolution. Mussolini and his fascist party then filled the vacuum of strong leadership from the Italian right by offering fascism as the 'third way', the fascists then used tactics including violence and terrorism to seize power and install Mussolini as an authoritarian dictator.
Arguably the worst way in which the failure of bourgeoisie liberalism was manifested in early twentieth century Italy is the economic slump caused by the policies of the liberal government. In the late nineteenth century the 'tariff war' with France lead to unemployment and eventually the Milan bread riots in 18982. This situation improved before the first world war, however in order to finance the war effort the government resorted to printing money, causing inflation. The lira, after the first world war was worth only one fifth of its pre war value.3 These situations seemed to fulfil Marx's vision: '...bourgeois society...is like a sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has summoned by his spells.'4 Indeed, we will see that the Italian liberal society appeared unable to control many of it's own spells.
The nationalistic spirit that the liberal government had instilled in Italians for the purpose of unification came back to haunt it when it failed to fulfil the now national ambitions of many Italians who expected a unified Italy to emerge as a global imperial power. Most attempts to build an empire were unsuccessful, for example the military incompetence of the prime minister Francesco Crispi lead to a humiliating defeat by Ethiopia in 1896. Crispi was forced to resign over the affair, however nationalists like 'Enrico Corradini ascribed these military humiliations to 'the lack of heroism inherent in democracy and parliamentary government''.5 Italians turned away from liberals and towards right-wing nationalists who promised to bring glory to Italy or left-wing radicals who argued against the expansionist agenda.
The 'mutilated victory' that was the Italian experience of the first world war led to resentment towards their liberal democratic government. Negotiations failed to gain all of what was regarded as Italia irredenta including Fiume and Dalmatia that were part of the justifications for entering the first world war.6 The situation was poetically typified when the Italian writer Gabriel D'Annunzio lead a band of mutineers to capture the city of Fiume on behalf of Italy. The Italian prime minister rejected the plotters' offer, calling D'Annunzio a fool7. In short an ad-hoc band of nationalistic rebels achieved more than the liberals ever managed in negotiations with Britain and France.
This failure, real or imagined, of the liberal government of Italy, gave credibility to those parties who advocated alternative systems. The socialists, anarchists and communists were all opposed to the militarisation and colonial expansion of Italy that had proved to be a disaster. Perhaps more importantly they advocated for an egalitarian system and a redistribution of power, wealth and land. If the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the red terror was bad enough, the threat of revolution at home was no less terrifying for those in power. An anarchist, Gaetano Bresci had assassinated king Umberto 1 on July 29 1900 as revenge for the massacre of bread rioters in Milan8. The threat posed by left-wing radicals was more than just a personal threat, it was also political, in the 1919 general elections the Italian Socialist Party received 'one third of total votes cast'9 of the votes and became the largest single party. The still powerful upper and middle classes knew that they had to defeat the 'red threat' if they wanted to survive with their wealth intact, or indeed survive at all.
Fascism's stated aim is to promote order and stability in society. It is linked to national syndicalism, a system of vertical trade unions that promoted class cooperation as opposed to left wing radicals who agitated for revolution. However, in reality Mussolini's social order was not based on cooperation but violent militias and state terrorism. In cities such as Bologna, Ferrara and Florence urban Fascists 'formed armed 'squadristi' which then undertook punitive expeditions into the countryside, destroying physically the installations and organisations of the rural left, and inflicting violence and personal humiliation upon its militants10. 'After only six months of these Fascist expeditions, the Squads had killed 202 people and wounded 1,144 ' .11 Opponents of communism including the old ruling class, the new bourgeoisie class, the clergy as well as some liberals, democrats and moderates supported Mussolini at this stage. The march on Rome in 1922, was successful even if it was not technically a coup d'etat, was defiantly meant as a show of force and intimidation, not against left wing radicals but against the government itself. After this moment Mussolini was in control of the country and continued to expand his power over all aspects of Italian life.
In the beginning of the twentieth century liberalism was in decline in Italy, the economy was in ruins and attempts to distract the population with nationalistic wars proved futile. This translated into popularity for the left wing radicals who offered solutions to these problems. The many sections of society who were opposed to social revolution found their answer in Mussolini and the fascists who were prepared to violently suppress left wing organisations. Mussolini was able to use this power and his militias to intimidate and coerce his way into power. Perhaps the coalition that initially supported Mussolini against the 'red threat' thought that they would be able to control him once the socialist threat was neutralised, if so they made a serious miscalculation as Mussolini was able to seize more and more power, erode the liberty of Italians and contribute to the international fascist movement, including providing inspiration to other totalitarian regimes and materially supporting the authoritarian dictator Franco in the Spanish civil war.
1The terms liberalism, liberals and liberal government as used in this essay are meant in the broad sense and refer to the elements of society that were in political power in turn of the century Italy.
4Marx & Engels (ed. Findlay), The Communist Manefesto p.67
7G. Cubana et. al. Days of War Nights of Love p.119
8Goldman Living my Life ch.22
9Elazar 'Electoral Democracy, revolutionary politics and political violence: The emergence of fascism in Italy 1920-21' British Journal of Sociology p. 473
10Corner P., Fascism in Ferrara 1915-25 Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1975 cited in Blinkhorn 'Fascism and the Right in Europe 1919-1945 p. 32
11Elazar 'Electoral Democracy, revolutionary politics and political violence: The emergence of fascism in Italy 1920-21' British Journal of Sociology p. 480
