eliminating the opposition
Socialist politician, Giacomo Matteotti, was sought out and killed by a group of Black Shirts after news was spread of him expressing his displeasure with Mussolini. His death created a huge panic among the socialist population, making them vulnerable to the fascist powers. To gain this minorities support, Mussolini had members of his own party arrested to ensure the socialists that he would protect them and not condone any violence against them. He tried to make it seem like he was on their side and that he was going to protect them, but it was really just a scheme to get what he wanted. Since this minority group was in a state of crisis after Matteotti’s death, many of the members believed they had no other choice but to trust him. The murder of their own political leader scared many of the socialists into supporting the Fascist Party. Citizens felt very trapped because they weren't free to express their honest opinions without being threatened, beaten, or killed. Mussolini worked slowly to get rid of all his political opponents, so he could maintain full power over Italy without the threat of another political power taking over. His overall goal was to become the only political leader left to take control, and Giacomo Matteotti’s death was of great benefit to his plan.
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Propaganda & Censorship
This technique requires the use of the media, radio and press to repeatedly promote and glorify the Fascist lifestyle and successes. Mussolini heavily controlled what information was available to the public by censoring media that praised Socialism and media that criticized Fascism. As subtle as this tactic may have seemed to the citizens, the constant flow of biased information persuaded many individuals into supporting the Fascist party. When citizens are persistently reminded of all the positive attributes of Fascism, they begin to grow quite fond of the ideology instead recognizing the negatives of the system, also. This form of brainwashing made people adopt a completely new set of values. At first, Mussolini made big contributions to the well established Italian newspaper “Avanti.” In 1919, however, his Black Shirt army burnt down this paper’s headquarters, and later the paper was banned under his rule for spreading socialist ideology. Additionally, he created his own newspaper called the “Il Popolo d'Italia” which heavily advocated his fascist movement. Mussolini used force and terror, with the help of the Black Shirts, to intimidate any other alternate forms of media into publishing what he wanted them to, also.These subliminal messages throughout Italy helped justify his actions, and prevented citizens from questioning him. Propaganda encouraged the people of Italy to simply comply with the ideas of Fascism, therefore allowing Mussolini to maintain power longer and more effectively.
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racial scapegoating
“When dealing with such a race as Slavic — inferior and barbarian — we must not pursue the carrot, but the stick policy ... We should not be afraid of new victims ... The Italian border should run across the Brenner Pass, Monte Nevoso and the Dinaric Alps ... I would say we can easily sacrifice 500,000 barbaric Slavs for 50,000 Italians...”
— Benito Mussolini |
Since Mussolini wanted to ensure Italy's future as a world superpower, he explained that territorial expansion was crucial for economic growth and solving poverty. They used the term Spazio Vitale to describe the planned expansionism of Italian Fascism over the Mediterranean, and Northern Africa. However, Mussolini claimed that countries, like Britain, were obstructing Italy from achieving the territory that he declared was already theirs to conquer. Additionally, he represented the Italian race as a civilization superior to that of the native people of these lands. Spazio Vitale was a concept with rather racist implications, also. Benito Mussolini suggested that it was their duty as a great nation to civilize subordinate people, such as the Slavs and Africans. With Italy’s rising population, he wanted to possess more territory for his citizens and believed that nations with declining populations deserved to fail. These native people were in Mussolini's way, therefore he accused them of preventing Italy from growing and prospering. When Hitler came to power, Mussolini did his fair share of participation in the mass genocide of Jewish people and Gypsies, also. Including forcing these specific races into concentration camps. Racial scapegoating is different than political scapegoating for a few reasons. To obtain power, he accused a political group of people, communists and socialists, for the downfall of Italy so he could appear to be the better political option and gain citizens support. Racial scapegoating is a tactic to maintaining power by taking the focus of a political leader and placing it on a race of people. Since he had already eliminated the political opposition and formed his dictatorship, there was little opposition left for him to victimize so he had to find a new group to accuse. If he repeatedly placed the guilt on a racial group instead, he would never have to be held accountable for Italy's issues. Italian’s couldn't grow upset with him if he convinced them that he wasn't at fault, and that the minority races were to blame. Mussolini would harass any race he could without any reasonable evidence to support his claims. Unfortunately, he chose Slavs, Africans, and the Jewish to scapegoat because they were an easy target for him. As a result, citizens wouldn’t become sceptical of him or plan to overthrow his rule because they believed these racial groups were the problem instead. As for the people of these races, they were heavily insulted for years and fearful of the Black Shirts who kept a close watch on them. Many were beaten or killed unjustly, for simply being who they were. Despite his lack of good morals, this allowed him to maintain his dictatorship without revolt. “Inferior” countries and people became the target of Italy, not Mussolini.
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indoctrination
When Mussolini gained totalitarian control, he altered the education system in Italy drastically. Teachers were required to educate students of all ages about the glory of Mussolini and the fascist lifestyle. Members of the school system were heavily monitored and intimidated by the Black Shirts to obey Mussolini's guidelines or suffer the consequences. Young males were taught that their role in society was to fight in the war and that the female’s role was to give birth. Along with preaching very traditional values, textbooks and school supplies were replaced with pro-fascist materials. Youth organizations were also formed for different age groups ranging from 4 to 18 years old. These children were named legionaries and taught religiously about the heroism and importance of war. They were forced to memorize, “I believe in Rome, the Eternal, the mother of my country… I believe in the genius of Mussolini… and in the resurrection of the empire.” This quote explains Mussolini’s overall goal of creating a nation similar to that of the ancient Roman Empire. Mussolini had become someone comparable to god at the time. They brainwashed impressionable children into believing that their leader could do no wrong and that fascism was the only acceptable way to run a society. Since they were never educated about things aside from fascism, they wouldn’t know any better to question it. Indoctrination within the school system proved to be extremely effective because the younger the citizen meant the more vulnerable they were to being brainwashed. Teachers and youth group leaders taught a very biased education so that by the time the children had grown up they would be unconditionally loyal to the Mussolini and willingly become fascist soldiers or Black Shirts. Violence wasn't necessary with this technique because they had already spent years controlling these citizens mentally that they didn't need to do it physically. Indoctrination created a whole new mass of people who strongly supported Mussolini’s dictatorship, therefore allowing him to maintain power with less concerns of rebellion. Keeping citizens loyal was crucial and he would manipulate them from the second they were born to achieve so.
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Force & Terror
From the 1930 until 1943, thousands of Jews, Africans, Gypsies, Communists, Socialists, and anyone else Mussolini had a problem with were tortured in Italian concentration camps. Often today the cruelty of his ways is overshadowed by the mass genocide of Adolf Hitler, however Mussolini committed his fair share of crimes and greatly assisted Hitler in the killing of Jewish citizens. A good portion of these Italian camps were in located in Libya when Italy attempted colonization of the African continent. During WWII, the remaining camps were built throughout Italy for the civilian population, also. These camps were filled with thousands of poorly maintained, unlivable buildings or tents that the prisoners were crowded into. In the winter months, the shelters were often not warm enough to keep prisoners alive. Surrounding the camps were fences, razor wire and guard towers to prevent anyone confined inside from escaping. Guards did not treat the prisoners of these camps as human beings. The victims were forced to constantly do heavy manual labour regardless of age or health, and many were worked to death. Others were physically tortured and used as “lab rats” for painful experiments. Prisoners were given little food or water, and no organized medical care was available for them. A vast majority of the people in camps grew weak and starved to death. Even the survivors lucky enough to be released from the camps suffered severe psychological damage for the rest of their lives, some committing suicide. Even young children were punished relentlessly. Mussolini had these camps to prove to his enemies and opposition that he wasn't messing around. He wouldn’t tolerate citizens who failed to listen and would go to extreme measures to prove his point. When the word about the poor victims in these camps spread, the people of Italy became extra precautious. Instead of becoming enraged and trying to fix the injustices taking place, most citizens kept their mouths shut so they could avoid being the next target. The Black Shirts were like "secret police" who constantly kept watch on citizen's who showed suspicious behaver. If people were witnessed even slightly opposing the fascist party, the Black Shirts would send these citizens away to camps or terrorize them themselves. People wanted to avoid doing anything that would catch the attention of this fascist army. The force and terror invoked by the concentration camps, Black Shirts and other violent fascists encouraged citizens not to make any wrong moves or pose a threat to their dictators power. Mussolini had Italy in the palm of his hands because of it.
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Controlled participation
When it comes to elections in dictatorships, they are rather redundant. Mussolini was the only person citizens could vote for on the ballot, so there was no possibility that he couldn't win anyway. Since all opposing parties were eliminated by the fascists, elections were entirely rigged and served no real political purpose. It was an option to simply vote against the fascist party, but there was no secret ballot so anyone could see if someone voted against Mussolini. The Black Shirts worked relentlessly to intimidate citizens into voting for the Fascist party and would attack anyone who voted against them. Even the people who disapproved of Mussolini voted for him out of fear. Also, the voter turnout was high because the government forced Italians to participate so they could see which citizens were loyal to Mussolini. Overall, the whole election process was unfair and useless. However, the reasoning behind having these elections was rather manipulative. Under Mussolini’s dictatorship, Italian citizens didn't have the right to dissent and were restricted from having a say in government affairs. As a result, citizens would gain the false hope that these elections would finally give them a voice. If the people of Italy constantly felt as though they had no free will, they may have begun revolting against Mussolini. To avoid that, he kept holding elections to make the citizens feel as though they had liberty. It his was all for show to allow him to maintain his dictatorship with less rebellion.
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Rallies & RE-directing popular discontent
Example of these rallies:
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Mussolini held huge rallies for the citizens of Italy that created can atmosphere of celebration and victory. They were very well organized events used to promote and publicize the Fascist lifestyle. Basically, they were large scale propaganda events. Participants often got caught up in the excitement of Mussolini's speeches and passion. His charisma was the reason why these massive events were so successful. The more often he spoke, the larger the crowds became over time. In his speeches, he glorified Fascism and reminded participants that he would bring great power to Italy. Citizens essentially worshipped Mussolini during these ceremonies. In order to keep his citizen’s content, he held these rallies to unify the people of Italy. Mussolini talked about the honor and strength of their nation to maintain people’s support. Unfortunately, it was mostly for show. He used the glory of these ceremonies to suppress his citizen’s dissatisfaction. The large gatherings gave the his citizens a sense of dignity in their own nation and in their passionate dictator. When the people of Italy were charmed by Mussolini and began listening to his speeches, they didn’t feel the desire to revolt against him anymore. Aside from propaganda, he used another dictatorial technique at these rallies. Since Italy was still recovering from the damages caused by the war, a lot of people were still unhappy. During these rallies, Mussolini encouraged citizens to utilize their anger towards a new goal, such as nationalism. He wanted citizens to stop focusing on their own struggles and focus on restoring Italy instead. This was how he gained so many members for his Black Shirts army and youth organizations because they were motivated to work towards a national goal. Mussolini’s rally speeches stressed the importance of nationalism over the importance of the individual. The thrilling rallies made people trust that Mussolini would bring victory to Italy. Overall, these massive gatherings were a way for him to get into citizens heads and manipulate them into continuing to support him.
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