Question

Why was Benito Mussolini able to seize control in Italy?

Answer 1

Europe dealt with a wide range of economic and political problems in the years following the First World War, most of which were unique to each nation's involvement in and aspirations during the war. People may today infer that Italy in particular was a country whose changes were a direct result of the political and economic impacts brought on by this battle. Therefore, it is crucial to consider how much the political and economic repercussions insured Mussolini and the Fascists' ascent to power while examining the many yet significant effects of WWI on Italy. So, even while the political consequences helped Mussolini consolidate his authority, it was the economic reforms that were actually necessary for Italy to enter its fascist age. First and foremost, Mussolini's rise to power was ensured by the political issues connected to the end of World War I. The fascist insurrection was heavily motivated by the post-war feeling of "Vittoria Mutilata" in Italy. This is due to the fact that, despite assuming the role of a victor, Italy's post-war liberal government, led by Prime Minister Orlando, was still threatened by its country's discontent with the fulfillment of the terms of the 1915 Treaty of London, as well as by past foreign policy humiliations in places like Ethiopia. With that, Italy made plans to renegotiate the territory exchanged under this pact, which precipitated the Fiume crisis. Simply told, this incident happened when Italian delegate D'Annuzio entered Fiume in an effort to topple it. The effort, however, was a failure since Orlando turned up control of the port to Yugoslavia. This contributed to Mussolini's ultimate ascent to power because it was believed that Orlando's left-leaning administration was unable to manage the intricacies of prior agreements and conflicts. As a result, the Italian government began to be seen as inefficient, leading citizens to seek shelter behind another system of governance in the face of their inevitable sense of damaged triumph. In this way, Mussolini's position as Italy's prime minister in 1922 had been developed since before Orlando's administration began addressing the national injustices brought on by the First World War. Thus, the possibility of a fascist-run Italy became a reality when the Prime Minister named Mussolini as the nation's new leader after attempting to impose martial rule. On the other hand, the effects of WWI on Italy’s economy were much more representative of the elements that allowed Mussolini to gain power than the aforementioned political ones. Case in point, consider the Fascist government’s decision to rebuild church-state relations with the Lateran Pacts (which was, in fact, one of the first measures introduced by the Fascist regime). Fundamentally, this pact – consisting of three key agreements – instituted the religious authority that Mussolini considered as crucial to the country’s national policies. For instance, religious figures could then participate in non-political activities, ensuring the Catholic community’s liberty to act as a secondary body to the Fascist administration. Overall, the Lateran Pacts prompted the support of a more extensive variety of people (e.g., Protestants, Orthodox), influencing Mussolini’s growing trajectory towards control. Most importantly, his economic plans are what primarily concretized the Fascist regime’s dominance in Italy – more so, as previously mentioned, than the political altercations. Essentially, Mussolini’s autarky (the economic plan) established, along with newly-conceived economic proposals, a nationwide sentiment of hope and pride that was, during the initial period of the post-war era, absent in civilian life. Specifically, this attitude was a product of nationalistic and patriotic allusions generated by the autarky. For example, the plan set to focus on grain production for the Fascists to attain their primary goal: let go of the necessity of external imports. Thereby, the inner production of grain allowed the new Italian government to disregard trade with other countries. Similarly, the economic plan proposed the Battle of the Lira – an idea focused on valuing the country’s currency in order to devalue Italian exports. With that, along with abolishing the need for trade and embellishing a newly-formed and desired national feeling, the plan acted upon the “Mussolini Law,” focused on the necessary land reforms in this system of government and, most prominently, economic ideology. In sum, Italy’s projects for their economy were essential to Mussolini’s rise to power; more than that, it was the most contributory factor.