Control in the Fascist State (1925-40)

Question 1

List 8 ways Mussolini tried to control the population.

Answer 1

• Education
• Youth clubs
• The OND
• Propaganda
• Censorship
• The cult of Il Duce
• Culture
• Terror

Question 2

Why did the fascist regime think controlling young people was important to the regime?

Answer 2

• They believed indoctrinating them would build a secure foundation for the state as they would’ve created the ‘perfect’ fascist men and women

Question 3

How successful can the indoctrination of the youth be argued to have been?

Answer 3

• Not all of them were fascists
• However, a lot of adolescents supported Mussolini during WW2, suggesting he was successful

Question 4

Who was the first fascist minister of education, and what was his background?

Answer 4

• Giovanni Gentile
• He was a university professor

Question 5

What were Gentile’s 2 aims as minister of education?

Answer 5

• From 1923 he wanted to improve literacy and educational standards to increase attainment
• He planned to use an authoritarian school environment to build the ideal youth

Question 6

What other ideas were there in the PNF in regard to education? How did this weight up against Gentile’s?

Answer 6

• Others saw education to be less about improving standards and more about indoctrination
• From 1929, this view of education became more important than Gentile’s

Question 7

List 6 changes made to schools under the fascists.

Answer 7

• A portrait of Mussolini hung in every classroom next to the king’s
• Every day school began with fascist slogans such as: ‘Mussolini ha sempre ragione’ (Mussolini is always right)
• Children were taught unquestioning obedience
• From 1928 there was 1 authorised textbook in junior schools that contained all subjects, but placed an emphasis on Italian history and literature
• History textbooks that weren’t patriotic enough were replaced (in 1926 32% of them were banned) with ones that exaggerated achievements and focused on successful periods in Italy’s history
• There was an increased focus on sports and exercise as well as religion

Question 8

Describe 4 changes that teachers faced under the fascists.

Answer 8

• Teachers who did not agree with the changes were dismissed
• From 1931 teachers had to take an oath of loyalty to the regime
• When employing teachers, there was a preference to employ those who had qualified after 1923 (by then the fascists had consolidated their power)
• In 1933 all teachers had to become members of the PNF

Question 9

How important was indoctrinating university students to the fascist regime, and why?

Answer 9

• Not very as the government believed they would already be indoctrinated by the time they got to university
• Also, if they did not agree with what they had been taught before, they were unlikely to change their mind during university

Question 10

What did the fascists do to maintain control over university students? Give 4 details.

Answer 10

• They set up the ‘Gioventi Universitaria Fascista’ (University Fascist Youth), which had advantages such as:
• the use of sports facilities
• half-price entertainment
• part exemption from military service
• better career prospects

Question 11

How did the number and type of university students change during the fascist period?

Answer 11

• 1921: 54,000
• 1942: 165,000
• Students also came from more diverse backgrounds in 1942

Question 12

What was the main problem fascists faced with universities? How hard was it to deal with this issue?

Answer 12

• The staff, as they were harder to dismiss or threaten than teachers
• Only 11 out of 1250 of them refused to take the oath of allegiance
• Some were fascists and even wore their uniforms at public events (like graduations)

Question 13

How were fascist youth groups organised?

Answer 13

• They were set up in 1926 under the ‘Opera Nazionale Balilla’ (ONB/ Balilla), which was an umbrella organisation
• It was named after Balilla, a young hero who helped with an uprising against the Austrian Empire in 1756

Question 14

List the 5 youth groups, and who each was for.

Answer 14

• Figli della Lupa: children aged 6 to 8
• Balilla: boys aged 8 to 14
• Avanguardisti: boys aged 15 to 18
• Piccole Italiane: girls ages 8 to 12
• Giovani Italiane: girls ages 13 to 18

Question 15

What were 3 things members of fascist youth groups were required to do?

Answer 15

• Swear an oath of loyalty
• Learn a special Balilla creed, similar to the one said in church services
• Wear uniforms

Question 16

What was the uniform of the Balilla?

Answer 16

• Black shirt
• Black scarf

Question 17

What was the uniform of the Avanguardisti like?

Answer 17

• It was very similar to an adult Blackshirt’s
• They were given miniature rifles and bayonets

Question 18

List 5 activities children took part in in youth clubs.

Answer 18

• Exercise and sports
• Drills
• Parades
• Domestic training for girls
• Urban children were taken to the seaside

Question 19

List 4 reasons why children who had anti-fascist parents still joined the ONB.

Answer 19

• The ONB had an effect on careers
• Children could lose welfare benefits for not joining
• They could also fail exams
• The ONB gave gifted children scholarships

Question 20

What opposition did youth groups face, and what did the fascists do about this?

Answer 20

• The Catholic Church had rival organisations
• These were banned (eventually- originally only the Catholic Church’s were allowed to continue to exist) and membership in fascist youth groups made compulsory

Question 21

How popular was the ONB after it was made compulsory?

Answer 21

• It had a membership of 8.5 million
• However, as soon as Mussolini was removed from power, the ONB rapidly disappeared

Question 22

What was the OND, and its purpose?

Answer 22

• The ‘Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro’ (National Afterwork Organisation) was an organisation for worker recreation and welfare
• It was intended to increase support for fascism by having workers taking part in activities linked with the PNF
• The OND was purposefully not used to spread any type of propaganda as this would decrease membership

Question 23

List 7 activities offered by the OND.

Answer 23

• Libraries (8625 by 1939)
• Showing films
• Providing radio sets
• Subsidised holidays/ trips at practically no cost
• Providing sports facilities and fixtures
• Welfare for workers
• Provision of food and clothing for the poor

Question 24

How many members did the OND have in 1939?

Answer 24

• 4 million

Question 25

How had the PNF been controlling the press up to and during 1925?

Answer 25

• Before 1925, the PNF had introduced decrees that restricted the freedom of the Italian press, especially in response to Matteotti’s murder
• In December 1925, they passed the Press Law, which stipulated that only registered journalists could write for newspapers, and fascists controlled the registers

Question 26

What were 4 other measures introduced to control the press?

Answer 26

• Legislation introduced in 1926 allowed prefects to:
• confiscate whole editions of newspapers, journals or magazines
• suspend publication
• replace editors
• completely shut down newspapers that wrote material unfavourable to the fascists

Question 27

List the 2 main aims the fascists wanted to achieve through press censorship.

Answer 27

• To present Fascist Italy as a country with no social problems
• To prevent political parties from communicating with each other

Question 28

What 2 things happened to newspapers under the fascist regime? Give examples.

Answer 28

• Left-wing ones such as Avanti!, L’Unita and Partito Popolare were shut down
• Other newspapers were controlled, but were allowed to continue to exist

Question 29

What was surprising about the fascists’ decision to allow most newspapers to continue publishing? Give 3 details.

Answer 29

• The fascist newspaper- Popolo d’Italia- only accounted for 10% of newspaper sales in Italy
• Corriere della Sera had a circulation of 600,000 compared to the 100,000 of Popolo d’Italia
• The Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano had a circulation of 250,000, and did not even always write stories that supported fascist principles, although they did not criticise the regime

Question 30

List 8 ways the fascists controlled the press outside of legislation.

Answer 30

• A fascist union for journalists controlled access to jobs and promotions, so journalists tended to self-censor
• Editors were fearful of the consequences of printing anything critical towards the regime, so they also censored newspapers
• Journalists were not allowed to report on anything negative, such as suicide, crimes or unemployment
• The only press agency was run by a fascist
• Mussolini’s press office told newspapers what the ‘correct’ version of events were
• Mussolini’s press office sent out instructions on what should be written about Mussolini, and how it should be written
• Newspapers that printed positive things about Mussolini received increased subsidies
• Opposition party papers were bought up by fascist sympathisers

Question 31

What were 2 impacts that press censorship had?

Answer 31

• As most popular journalists had remained in their jobs, readers accepted what they were being told
• Newspapers ended up focusing on superficial matters such as ceremonies and the regime’s policies

Question 32

Who was in charge of press censorship? What else did it do?

Answer 32

• From 1935, the Ministry of Press and Propaganda
• Renamed the Ministry of Popular Culture in 1937
• It was also responsible for censoring radio, cinema and theatre

Question 33

What did Mussolini want to achieve through his use of propaganda, and what was one main way he tried to do this?

Answer 33

• To win support and turn most of the population into fascists
• He wanted to rally Italians around the cult of Ancient Rome, and the idea that they were descendants of the Roman Empire
• Mussolini presented himself as the heir of Augustus, who had rebuilt Rome after war and chaos

Question 34

List 3 ways cinema was used as a form of propaganda by the fascists.

Answer 34

• Film directors were allowed to create anything as long as it didn’t criticise the regime, their policies, or contained any serious political or social commentary
• Only in 1938 did the PNF take over Cinecittà (Italy’s Hollywood), and start making fascist films, which weren’t a direct form of propaganda, but were more a way for the regime to glorify certain events, such as the invasion of Ethiopia
• Newsreels/ documentaries, produced by the fascists’ film agency LUCE, were shown before films

Question 35

What were 3 reasons why radio was an important form of media, and how was this shown later on?

Answer 35

• They were easily available in rural areas as well as urban areas
• They did not require literacy
• Its popularity grew rapidly; the first radio stations were set up in Italy between 1924 and 1925, and there were over 1 million sets by 1938, although they were expensive
• Police reports from 1940 increasingly showed concerns that people were listening to Radio London

Question 36

List 2 ways radio was used as a form of propaganda by the regime.

Answer 36

• There were 2 hours everyday of official broadcasts (this was increased in the 1930s)
• Mussolini’s major speeches were broadcasted

Question 37

How was sport used as a form of propaganda by the PNF? Give 3 examples.

Answer 37

• Italy won the Football World Cup in both 1934 and 1938
• They also won 12 gold medals in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics
• The world boxing champion from 1933 to 1935 was an Italian called Primo Carnera
• These achievements were used to boost morale

Question 38

What 3 limits were there to the PNF’s ability to use media as a way of spreading propaganda?

Answer 38

• Forms of media such as radio and cinema were relatively new, so it was hard for the Ministry of Popular Culture to exploit them
• The south had limited access to forms of media, so received less of the messages that made them more likely to support the regime
• 87% of all box-office takings in Italy still came from Hollywood films

Question 39

What was the ‘cult of Il Duce’ and its purpose? Give 2 details.

Answer 39

• Mussolini’s cult of personality, which was created by his propagandists
• It caused many Italians to see Mussolini and the fascists as the only option, and to strongly support Mussolini
• It presented him as an ideal, infallible leader who had saved Italy from socialism and would return Italy to the glory of Ancient Rome
• He was also presented as the ideal man

Question 40

List 5 aspects of the cult of Il Duce.

Answer 40

• He was shown to be physically fit (he was even photographed shirtless regularly to be portrayed as attractive)
• He was shown to be intelligent and cultured (through reading Shakespeare, playing the violin and writing poetry)
• Mussolini’s age and the fact that he wore glasses were hidden
• He associated himself with Roman imagery, such as Julius Caesar
• He presented himself as a lone leader that was above the party and nation, who had no distractions such as friends, and had none of the emotions that would hinder other men

Question 41

What were 2 important impacts the cult of Il Duce had?

Answer 41

• Mussolini himself began to believe it
• He spent more time on his image than his policies

Question 42

What did the regime do to spread fascist culture to the masses?

Answer 42

• The National Institute of Fascist Culture was created in 1926

Question 43

What influences were there in Italian culture at the time, and how did the fascists feel about them?

Answer 43

• Liberal Italian culture had had a lot of foreign and democratic influences
• Mussolini therefore supported the Novecento movement that rejected modern Italian culture, and instead emphasised Roman styles and cultural nationalism

Question 44

What issue was there with art in Fascist Italy?

Answer 44

• Fascist officials were unsure what the fascist style of art was, and whether one even existed

Question 45

What 3 things did the government decide to do about art?

Answer 45

• They allowed artists to create work in any style they wanted, as long as it was not opposing the regime
• This included modern, experimental styles
• They held around 50 exhibitions a year to celebrate the achievements of the regime
• Artists had to join the Syndicate of Professionals and Artists

Question 46

In what aspect of culture did Italy stand out in during the interwar period? Give an example, and 3 details about it.

Answer 46

• Modernist architecture
• The EUR (Esposizione Universale Roma) was an extension of Rome that was the largest building project under Mussolini
• Construction was started in 1935, but it was not fully completed due to WW2
• Parts of it, such as Foro Mussolini- a sports complex- were completed

Question 47

In what 3 ways did the PNF make use of architecture?

Answer 47

• They used it to show fascist strength, stability and power
• They also used the neo-classical Roman style
• Modernist styles also gave the impression that the government were creating a fascist utopia

Question 48

In what 2 ways did writers mainly respond to fascism, and why?

Answer 48

• Intellectuals did not engage with fascism
• The few that did did it for the sake of career advancement
• This is because writers had to join the relevant syndicate, and could not write anything against the regime, but other than that, were left alone

Question 49

List 2 punishments Italians faced if they went against the regime.

Answer 49

• In 1926, the death penalty was reintroduced for anyone who tried to assassinate the King or Mussolini or threatened the security of Italy
• The Special Tribunal exiled political opponents to the south of Italy; ‘confino’- 10,000 Italians were sentenced to this

Question 50

How many cases did the Special Tribunal receive, and what sentences did they hand out?

Answer 50

• 13,547
• They sentenced 49 of them to death
• Only 9 death sentences were carried out before WW2

Question 51

What 3 organisations did Mussolini use to control the population? When were the new ones set up?

Answer 51

• The political police, formed 1926
• The SIM, military spying organisation, who occasionally helped the political police
• The OVRA, the secret police, formed 1927

Question 52

What were 3 roles of the political police?

Answer 52

• They broke up anti-fascist groups
• They had a large network of spies
• They also worked with the SIM to organise the assassinations of the Roselli brothers (they were socialists who strongly criticised Mussolini’s regime) in Paris in 1937 by French fascists

Question 53

What was the role of the OVRA? Give 3 details.

Answer 53

• It had 5000 members that spied on Italians
• This included checking mail and listening in on phone conversations
• It had files on 13,000 people, and 4000 of them were sent to prison

Question 54

To what extent was terror used to control the Italian population? Give 3 details.

Answer 54

• To a much lesser extent than Hitler and Stalin’s regimes
• Only 5000 people were kept as political prisoners between 1922 and 1943
• Mussolini therefore relied on propaganda, incentives and manipulation more than terror