Source A
Benito
Mussolini, speech (1929)
In the creation of a new State which is authoritarian but not absolutist, hierarchical and organic - namely, open to the people in all its classes, categories and interests - lies the great revolutionary originality of Fascism, and a teaching perhaps for the whole modern world oscillating between the authority of the State and that of the individual, between the State and the anti-State. Like all other revolutions, the Fascist revolution has had a dramatic development but this in itself would not suffice to distinguish it. The reign of terror is not a revolution: it is only a necessary instrument in a determined phase of the revolution.
In the creation of a new State which is authoritarian but not absolutist, hierarchical and organic - namely, open to the people in all its classes, categories and interests - lies the great revolutionary originality of Fascism, and a teaching perhaps for the whole modern world oscillating between the authority of the State and that of the individual, between the State and the anti-State. Like all other revolutions, the Fascist revolution has had a dramatic development but this in itself would not suffice to distinguish it. The reign of terror is not a revolution: it is only a necessary instrument in a determined phase of the revolution.
Source B
Cartoon from an Italian Newspaper Becco Giallo (1924)
Source C
Francesco
Nitti, speech (1929)
Nitti was an Italian economist
and political figure. A left-wing Radical,
he served as the prime minister of Italy between 1919 and
1920.
The ignoble phenomenon of a dictatorship is a shameful blot
on European civilization. Reactionary minds, which are indignant at red
dictatorships, have only sympathy with 'white' dictatorships, which are
equally, if not more bloodthirsty, no less brutal and unjustified by any ideal,
even a false one.
The Fascist government abolished in Italy every safeguard of the
individual and every liberty. No free man can live in Italy , and an
immoral law prevents Italians from going to a foreign country on pain of
punishment. Italy
is a prison where life has become intolerable. Everything is artificial -
artificial finance - artificial exchange - artificial public economy -
artificial order - artificial calm.
Without a free parliament, a free press, a free opinion and
a true democracy, there will never be peace.
Source D
George Seldes
wrote about Benito Mussolini in his book You Can't Print That! (1929)
He began coldly, in a voice northern and unimpassioned. I had never heard an Italian orator so restrained. Then he changed, became soft and warm, added gestures, and flames in his eyes. The audience moved with him. He held them. Suddenly he lowered his voice to a heavy whisper and the silence among the listeners became more intense. The whisper sank lower and the listeners strained breathlessly to hear. Then Mussolini exploded with thunder and fire, and the mob - for it was no more than a mob now - rose to its feet and shouted. Immediately Mussolini became cold and nordic and restrained again and swept his mob into its seats exhausted. An actor. Actor extraordinary, with a country for a stage, a great powerful histrionic ego, swaying an audience of millions, confounding the world by his theatrical cleverness.
He began coldly, in a voice northern and unimpassioned. I had never heard an Italian orator so restrained. Then he changed, became soft and warm, added gestures, and flames in his eyes. The audience moved with him. He held them. Suddenly he lowered his voice to a heavy whisper and the silence among the listeners became more intense. The whisper sank lower and the listeners strained breathlessly to hear. Then Mussolini exploded with thunder and fire, and the mob - for it was no more than a mob now - rose to its feet and shouted. Immediately Mussolini became cold and nordic and restrained again and swept his mob into its seats exhausted. An actor. Actor extraordinary, with a country for a stage, a great powerful histrionic ego, swaying an audience of millions, confounding the world by his theatrical cleverness.
Source E
William Joyce,
Germany
And, for the personal point of view, if that be allowed to
me, I can only say that when I joined the first Fascist movement in Britain on
6th December 1923 I saw that night in Battersea the mob violence, the Red
Flags, the broken heads and the broken bodies, the typical evidence of the
disruption which Communism can bring into a nation; and while I heard the dismal
wail of the 'Red Flag' intoned by the sub-men out for blood, I thought of
Mussolini and of what he had been able to do for Italy. I was not pro-Italian,
I was merely pro-human; there were many millions of people throughout the world
at about that time who had the same thoughts; and when I look back upon these
20 years I can only say that Mussolini has, in that period, become one of the
greatest figures in history. The shades of the great Romans up to the time of
Augustus, and unborn generations of Italian people, can pay homage to this
great leader whose stature time can only increase.
Questions
1. a
Why does Mussolini call Fascism “revolutionary.” (Source A) (2 marks)
b.
What message is conveyed by Source B? (2 marks)
2. Compare and contrast the view of
Mussolini contained in Source C and
Source E. (6 marks)
3. With reference to their origin and
purpose, assess the value and limitations for historians studying Mussolini’s
public appeal, of Source A and Source D.
(6 marks)
4. Using these sources and your own
knowledge, explain to how Mussolini came to power. (8 marks)
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