Mussolini and Italian Fascism

During World War II Mussolini was derided by Winston Churchill as 'the bullfrog of the Pontine Marches', and he has variously been presented by historians as both buffoon and villain. Yet in 1927 Churchill had said to Mussolini, 'If I had been an Italian I am sure that I should have been whole-heartedly with you from the start to finish in your triumphant struggle against the bestial appetites and passions of Leninism'. Mussolini ruled Italy for 21 years between 1922 and 1943 and survived for a further two years in the 'Salo Republic' in northern Italy. Today his resting place at Predeppio is visited by many thousands of tourists and 'pilgrims' and ideological descendants, including his granddaughter Alessandra Mussolini, who is a deputy in the Italian parliament, Gianfranco Fini, the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, hold important positions in modern Italian political life. At Christmas 2007 the most popular 'stocking filler' in Italy was a calendar depicting Mussolini in twelve stirring poses and Berlusconi has been greeted recently in the Italian Parliament with chants of 'Duce, Duce' from his supporters. Mussolini is still a force in contemporary Italian politics.

Mussolini, both in life and death, is often difficult to fathom. At once perceptive and crass, sensitive and cruel. He dreamed of making Italy great and respected and inspired many of his countrymen with that same dream. Yet he led Italy to humiliating defeat and foreign occupation. This course will explore his life and career, beginning with his origins as a revolutionary Socialist before 1914, through the trauma of World War I, which transformed not only Mussolini's political life but also Italian society, and the birth of Fascism in the confused aftermath of that war. We will examine in detail the stages by which Mussolini and the Fascists took power in 1922 before moving on to consider the first decade of Fascist rule which was in many way, a decade of consolidation for the regime as Mussolini emerged as dictator and prepared the ground for Italian expansion in the 1930s. With the invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 Italy was drawn into the fatal alliance with Nazi Germany and the later part of the course will examine Italy's disastrous war record which resulted in Mussolini's deposition and arrest in 1943. Rescued by Hitler, the last two years of Mussolini's life were spent in the shadow of his German patrons in northern Italy until he was arrested and shot by Communist partisans in April 1945. Whilst discussing the narrative of Mussolini's life and career we will also spend time looking at the cultural policies of the regime, the nature of Fascism and some of the reasons why the face of Mussolini is still an element in modern Italian politics.

Dr Andrew Lacey
November 2011

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