What was Mussolini’s role in the Fascist State?

Which of these three models was most likely to develop?

The Mussolini Myth

Mussolini in Photographs

1.Think of a newspaper caption for each photograph

2. In what ways are these photographs valuable evidence of Mussolini & Fascist Italy?

Mussolini’s strengths

Political power

• Could issue decrees with full authority of the law

• Appoint & dismiss ministers at will

• Was not challenged over any major decision (only

Fascists sat in the Chamber of Deputies from 1926)

• Increased control over the fascist movement

(although some ras remained a cause for concern)

• He was in charge of the most important ministries

e.g. foreign affairs, security, the armed forces

• He could and did interfer in policy issues across

departments

• Personal abilities

• An excellent propagandist and skilled orator who

could inspire crowds and fascinated the Italian

population with his ‘supermasculinity and sexuality’!

Mussolini’s weaknessesPolitically

• His government team was not efficient, serving only to bolster his own image of

himself – he did not like contrary advice, discussion was not the Fascist way of doing

things.

• He promoted distrust amongst his ministers, and indeed dismissed many of his most

able e.g. Turati, Grandi, replacing them with more subservient sycophantic ones e.g.

Starace. He did not have a deputy – a possible threat. Consequently, he had no-one to

be candid with him about difficulties.

• He relied on intuition

• He controlled too many positions but was too obsessed with fine detail & trivia,

therefore much of the policy was left to civil servants, who, once the Duce had signed

a document could promote their own policies.

• He liked to appear decisive so gave orders to impress and frequently failed to see if

they were carried out

• From the 1930s he became increasingly obsessed with foreign affairs

Personally

• He was no great intellectual and his policy ideas soon dried up, becoming bored with

many aspects of leadership

• Physically he was no superman – only 5’6” and had to be photographed from below!

• This man of action needed 9 hours of sleep

• He suffered from mental paralysis at times of stress (e.g. during Matteotti Crisis)

• He suffered medical problems – syphilis and a gastric ulcer, by 1942 he was often

confined to his bed for long periods

• Superstitious and had charms to ward off evil spirits

However he should not be underestimated – he held together a fragmented movement, worked with traditional elite and won domestic and international

praise.

Is it likely that Model 1 describes the real structure of power in Italy?

Significance of the Cult of Il DuceThe public image of Mussolini promoted a vision of the ‘superhuman’

race of Italians.

He was frequently presented:

• As a hero of WWI (& spent much of hid later years in military

uniform)

• As having tireless energy, working tirelessly for the Italian people

• As a man of the people

• As a man of action – public photographs showing him skiing,

horseriding, playing tennis etc

• As being perfect – no reference to his age or illnesses was

permitted

This became the enduring image of Fascism, rather than any political

doctrine, which under Mussolini was fairly limited. In the end,

Italian Fascism became an idolatry movement of Mussolini, rather

than any revolutionary or radical political movement. Indeed, he

appears to have come to believe his own propaganda, as did

many Italians, at least until the late 1930s (although this is difficult

to assess).