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KT3 (Italy) - Coggle Diagram
KT3 (Italy)
Consent and Control 1925-1940
Mussolini supported The Ministry of Popular Culture (1930s) and it ensured strict censorship of newspapers, radio, film, theatre and foreign publications. So in reality it was the ministry of propaganda.
The cult of ‘Il Duce’ emphasised Mussolini’s power.
Most successful part of Mussolini's propaganda
Mass media was used to promote propaganda messages and it attempted to promote the cult of 'il Duce' and after 1924 the radio network was controlled directly by the state
Although the Fascist regime used repression and terror, the numbers killed in Italy were small compared with those in Nazi Germany and Communist Russia.
The Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (OND) which was founded in 1925 and it aimed to win the masses over to fascism.
One of the most popular aspects of the fascist regime - Workers were provided with social and sporting activities provided by the state as well as radios and libraries.
Each OND section had its own clubhouse and recreation ground
Anti-Semitic legislation was passed in 1938.
Mussolini and many other leading fascists did not embrace anti-Semitic policies to the same extent as Hitler and the Nazi's did.
Mussolini pursued a policy of indoctrinating the Italian youth.
The power of the monarchy and conservative elites was consistently eroded by Mussolini.
By 1926 the Italian parliament had lost its power.
In 1928, all appointments within the Fascist Party had to be authorised by the party headquarters in Rome which was controlled by Mussolini
The peak of Mussolini's power was in 1936 and it slowly decreased since then.
PNF wanted a cultural revolution to transform the Italian people into loyal fascists.
Official laws passed in 1926 allowing prefects to confiscate newspapers, journals or magazines and shut down newspapers completely that didn't push Mussolini's ideology and support the regime.
Economic policies 1925-1940
The ‘Battle for Births’ aimed to increase the Italian population.
However it had the adverse effect as it actually lowered the birth rate
All forms of birth control was banned and women's employment in service and industry was opposed and they believed they should be focusing on more materialistic ideals
The ‘Battle for Grain’ aimed to make Italy self-sufficient in terms of grain production.
The policy of autarky was announced in 1936 but moves towards it had begun more than ten years earlier.
The ‘Battle for the lira’ revalued the lira at 90 to the pound.
In contrast to Fascist propaganda, the Corporate State did not result in an economic revolution.
Italy failed to achieve full self-sufficiency.
The sanctions placed on Italy in 1936 in a response to the militaristic actions in Africa
The preparation for war, which became more prominent in the late 1930s
the general decline in Italian overseas trade due to the overvalued lira and the Great Depression
Agricultural products such as cereal and wools and raw materials were stockpiled to boost italian stocks and guarantee a consistent supply at regular prices.
Italy doubled the spending on autarky from 30million in 1934 to 60million in 1938.
Laissez-faire economics was replaced with corporatism after 1925.
Mussolini launched a series of ‘battles’ to help strengthen and modernise Italy.
One failure was that the Italian schemes were expensive as they owned a larger percentage of industry than any other European country apart from Soviet Union.
The battle of grain was a short term success as they upped their production from 5.39 million tonnes to 7.27million tonnes between the years of 1925 - 1935
However the farmers in the south were encouraged to remove their olive trees to make room for wheat and removed their citrus fruits and vineyards but when Spain took over the major exports and cattle and sheep farming were reduced which affected Italian diets and the lack of competition increased the price of grain and bread. It was estimated that families had to pay 400 lira per year in extra food prices.
Relationship with political and economic interests 1925-40
Mussolini successfully centralised his power.
Support for Mussolini’s regime from rural employers and landowners continued after 1925.
The Fascist regime faced little opposition from the conservative forces of the monarchy, army and industrial elites.
Mussolini also maintained support from industrialists through the Vidoni Palace Pact.
During the Depression (1929) the government helped industry by supporting price fixing and cutting wages.
From 1922 to 1925 government interference within the economy was kept to a minimum, but after 1925 Mussolini began to shift away from free market economic policy
Economic self-sufficiency became a more significant element of Fascist economic policy in the 1930s, but by 1940 Mussolini and the Italian economy were very dependent upon Germany. Autarky had not been achieved.
After the Matteotti crisis there was 8 more murders and Mussolini wanted to centralise his power and so he couldn't be considered in leagues with such unpopular tactics that were being used by the PNF and by 1929 50,000-60,000 members were expelled which included Farinacci (replaced by Turati) and 110,000 members left as they were unhappy with the way Mussolini was leading the party politically and so they left voluntarily.
They were replaced by 800,000 more loyal followers that Mussolini could lead more effectively and kicked out the more radical members of the party