how far was mussolini need final

7/23/2019 How Far Was Mussolini Need Final

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How far was Mussolinis ability to secure and increase his power in

the period 1919-28 due mainly to the weaknesses of his political

opponents? (! marks"

Between the years 1919-28, Mussolini came to power as prime minister and then

while in this role increased his power further. It was Mussolini himself and hispolicies that explained to the greatest extent how he managed to gain such power,

not the weanesses of his political opponents, although that was also a ey

contri!uting factor that allowed him and the fascist party to gain power. "nother

causati#e feature was Mussolini$s use of #iolence. %owe#er, all these are a result of

Mussolini$s policies as well as his personal dominant characteristics, maing that the

most important factor.

&he most important reason why Mussolini was a!le to secure and increase his power

!etween 1919- 1928 was Mussolini himself and his policies. In order for the fascist

party to secure power, one of the most signi'cant factors was Mussolini$s dual

policy. &his was a silful com!ination of where Mussolini played up the threat of#iolence while o(ering assurance to important groups that the fascist party would

follow the parliamentary system and would act constitutionally. )n one side

Mussolini ordered fascists s*uads to play up the threat of socialism within li!eral

Italy and then target any socialists with #iolence. "s a result of this part of

Mussolini$s strategy, he was a!le to persuade middle classes that only the +

could maintain order and pre#ent socialist rise to power. &his cle#er part of

Mussolini$s policy allowed the support of much of middle class as well as some of

the elite who resented socialism. %owe#er Mussolini also made sure that there was

no excessi#e #iolence as he did not want to lose the support of more conser#ati#e

Italians. "s a result, while the #iolence too place, Mussolini also secretly negotiatedwith the li!eral politicians such as )rlando and iolitti. &hrough this he was a!le to

display himself as a responsi!le leader who could wor with the political

esta!lishment. "gain this area of Mussolini$s policy allowed power to !e secured

since it made the li!erals trust him as a leader and allayed any suspicion they had

on him. &herefore as a result of this, Mussolini was a!le to pre#ent any opposition in

his path to power and made it easier to secure it. )#erall Mussolini$s a!ility to

satisfy many groups in society through his policies allowed the ascist party to gain

signi'cant support and there!y secure power. urthermore originally it was

Mussolini$s authoritati#e personality that allowed him to self-appoint himself as

leader of the fascist s*uads. &hrough this while writing in his own newspaper called

+oppolo Italia, he was a!le to signi'cantly increase pu!licity towards the fascist

cause and mae them well nown in Italy. %ere, Mussolini$s dri#en personality again

helped him gain control and there!y used this control in terms of the dual policy to

increase popularity for the fascists and help them secure power. %owe#er Mussolini

was also the main reason for increase in his power. irstly he continued to ha#e

strong policies to consolidate his power such as the "cer!o law of 192/. &his !ill

permitted the party that o!tained the most #otes in the general election to tae two

"r0un +anchalingam 12 21113


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thirds of the seats, pro#ided it recei#ed 24 of the #otes cast. 5ssentially since the

fascist party was the most popular party at the time, through this law Mussolini was

gi#ing the party the ma0ority of seats. &his allowed him to increase his power since

the large num!ers of fascists in parliament would #ote in fa#our of any policies he

proposed which essentially helped him increase his power. In addition, +ropaganda

and 6ensorship can !e seen as the !iggest policy of Mussolini that allowed him tomaintain his power. +ropaganda promoting the fascists regime was introduced into

schools where lessons cele!rated the duce and militarism as well as the fact the

7chool$s regime was adapted to reect the regime$s shifting priorities. &his along

with the indoctrination of youth that occurred in clu!s !y the ascist youth

mo#ement promoted Mussolini as a leader to the younger population who was there

to help. &his can !e seen to increase Mussolini$s power since it spread a #iew across

Italy that Mussolini was the sa#iour to their pro!lems. &his idea was also seen to !e

common in Italy !ecause of 6ensorship. By 192 all opposition newspapers were

closed down and newspapers were expected to gi#e minimal co#erage on sensiti#e

issues such as crime and unemployment. "s a result, the only information spread

among the pu!lic a!out Mussolini were positi#e and therefore people genuinely

!elie#ed he would sol#e all their pro!lems. &his meant that due to Mussolini$s

propaganda policy, there wasincreased the total support for him and the fascist

party. )#erall as descri!ed, Mussolini$s cle#er tactics and policies as well as his

personal characteristics can !e seen as the most important reason why he and the

fascists were a!le to gain control !ut also secure it.

"nother reason for Mussolini$s a!ility to secure and increase his power was the

weaness of the political opponents of the fascist party. +rior to getting into power,

the weaest opponents of the fascists were the li!erals. "fter the de#astating result

of the irst :orld :ar where a total of ;;,;;; men were illed, the people of Italyhad expected great rewards for their war trou!les in the form of land. %owe#er

during the treaty of 7t erman, the li!erals were una!le to gain iume or


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power. &herefore the o#erall failure of the +7I to get mass support, led to Mussolini

!eing appointed in order to remo#e them from society. %owe#er the 7ocialist$s

weanesses can !e seen more after Mussolini$s rise to power. In 1923, when a

socialist leader iamco Matteotti spoe out against ascists in a speech, he was

murdered !y the ascists. %owe#er the socialists were #ery wea in their response

to this and instead of 'ghting !ac in protest acti#ely such as when they did inBienno >osso, they a!andoned the cham!er in protest and set up their own

assem!ly. &his wea action only increased Mussolini$s power since the remaining

mem!ers of the 6ham!er were for the most part fascists, there!y lea#ing a pro-

go#ernment !ody to support Mussolini$s policies. %ere the weaness of the socialist

to act e(ecti#ely, led to Mussolini increasing his power. urthermore the li!erals

continued to remain as a politically insta!le party whose mem!ers remained more

concerned a!out maing themsel#es the leader rather than e(ecti#ely woring

together to gain power. &his meant in the eyes of the common people, the fascist

party and Mussolini remained the only #alid option to support and that Mussolini

ne#er faced any signi'cant political challenge !y the li!erals during his reign. &his

meant Mussolini could focus on ways to increase his power further such as

propaganda rather than worrying a!out !eing replaced !y the li!erals. &herefore the

o#erall weaness of !oth the li!erals and the socialists to act against the fascists

allowed Mussolini to easily gain and increase this power. %owe#er it was as a result

of Mussolini and his policies speci'cally that made the ascist party appealing in

comparison to others and led to the mass support, maing that the most important

factor.

In addition, Mussolini used acts of #iolence to !oth secure and then increase his

power. Between the years 1919-29, there was a real threat of socialist re#olution.

or example in 192;, the Italian socialist party won elections at many towns andclaimed o#er 2;;,;;; mem!ers. In order to tacle this, Mussolini used the tactic of

#iolence using the 7*uadristi- organised s*uads which fought !ac against

socialists. &hese s*uads were hostile towards the left wing demand for impro#ed

wages and attaced many of those protesting during the period of Bienno >osso.

&his #iolence can !e seen as a signi'cant reason for Mussolini gaining power since it

raised mass support for the fascist party from landowners and middle class

conser#ati#es who felt a!andoned from the go#ernment in pre#enting a socialist

re#olution. &he extent at which this act #iolence led to support can !e seen !y the

fact =andowners !egan funding the attacs !y the 7*uadristi. &herefore as a result

of this #iolence against the 7ocialists, the ascist party were seen as an asset to the

middle class and elite, there!y resulting in mass support for the party and Mussolini

easily coming to power. %owe#er Mussolini continued with his use of #iolence after

!eing appointed +rime minister to increase his power. %ere, he used #iolence to

repress and cause terror to tighten his grip on power. or example he ordered for

the creation of an organisation called the M7?. &his was a militia group which

threatened any political opponents with #iolence and often targeted leaders of any

anti- fascist groups. &his was used !y Mussolini to create a scene of fear and reduce



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any opposition he may face in his path to increased power. &he most nota!le

example of Mussolini$s use of #iolence was during the Matteoti 6risis. %ere, a

socialist leader who spoe out against Mussolini was murdered !y ascist s*uads.

"lthough Mussolini initially denied responsi!ility for the murder, it was widely

recognised it was him, there!y showing the lengths of #iolence Mussolini went into

remo#ing any political opposition and maing his position as leader e#en stronger.%owe#er Mussolini$s use of #iolence can !e seen as less e(ecti#e after his

appointment. &he Matteotti incident can !e seen as a one of e#ent and for the most

part Mussolini imprisoned opponents in remote pro#inces rather than using #iolence

against them. &his again displays it was due to Mussolini$s intelligent policies that

he gained such large power rather than #iolence.

&o conclude, Mussolini himself and his policies can !e seen as the most important

factor to how Mussolini gained and increased his power, due to the fact this is what

!oth caused mass support for the party and led to the other factors. or example it

was Mussolini$s dual policy that made the factor of #iolence so signi'cant. &he

weaness of Mussolini$s political opponents liewise was a signi'cant factor in

increasing support for the fascist party and there!y Mussolini, !ut it was Mussolini

who made the ascist party so appeala!le to the masses in comparison to other

parties that there was increased support. ?iolence can !e seen as to some extent a

signi'cant factor !ut this only existed as a method due to Mussolini$s policies, again

showing why Mussolini was the centre of his rise to such a powerful status.

&herefore Mussolini can !e seen as the most important factor.



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how far was mussolini need final

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