Domestic Policy Flashcards
What were Mussolini’s aims in regards to his domestic policy?
- Control the population
- Create a loyal nation of fascists
- To be popular
Name 7 ways Mussolini aimed to fulfil the aims of his domestic policy
- Indoctrination of education and the youth
- Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (OND)
- Press control and censorship
- Propaganda
- Creating the cult of il Duce
- Creating a fascist culture
- Making a terror state
How did Mussolini indoctrinate the boys of Italy?
- April 1926 the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) was created for the ‘physical and moral benefit’ of boys aged 8-18 based mainly around physical fitness
- Membership compulsory 6-11, but in 1939 it was made compulsory for all ages
- Prior to 1939 membership provided access to jobs, scholarships, not being a part made it hard to enrol in further education and barred from future civil service employment
How did Mussolini indoctrinate the girls of Italy?
• Figlie della Lapa (6-8), Piccole Italiane (8-13) and Giovane Italiane (14-17) were the girls equivalent of the ONB, focused around physical fitness too
In what other ways were youth indoctrinated in fascist Italy?
- 1929 Ministry of National Education created and all youth organisations placed under its control (only Catholic Action allowed to remain)
- All teacher had to be part of the PNF by 1933
What was the point of indoctrinating children in fascist Italy?
- Wanted to make Italy a great nation - turn boys into fascist soldiers and girls into good fascist wives
- Centralising the education system and extracurricular activities made this easier
Evidence of the success of Mussolini’s youth policy
- 1937 prior to compulsory membership youth organisations had 7 million members
- Northern children seen to enjoy activities more
- Boys tended to enjoy participation in activities
Evidence of the failure of Mussolini’s youth policy
- Motivation to participate not necessarily out of loyalty to the PNF - preferable to learning in class, social occassions, easier to get future employment
- Girls disliked groups due to being too focused on being mothers, 1937 survey said they were more interested in the boys’ activities
- In the south, as children left school earlier to become agriculture workers, it was harder to indoctrinate
What was the OND?
- The National Afterwork Organisation
- Set up 1925 after the closure of socialist organisations
- Provided recreation and welfare
What benefits did the OND provide?
- Bars, billiard halls, cycling groups, libraries and radios, discounts on rail tickets
- Each section had a clubhouse where activties were provided. Plays, films and concerts provided
- Acted as a welfare organisation at times relief was needed
- Subsidised holidays and excursions
What was odd about the OND?
• It was politically neutral
What evidence is there of the OND being a successful piece of domestic policy?
- 4 million members
- Argument from Mussolini that through creating l better lives for workers that people were more likely to tolerate/accept fascism and not challenge it
What evidence is there of the OND being an unsuccessful piece of domestic policy?
• Political neutrality means that members could just join for benefits and not necessarily creating a loyal nation of fascists
How was the press censored in fascist Italy?
- 1926 saw laws restricting freedom of press sanctioned
- Government able confiscate whole editions of newspapers, journals or magazines that was deemed unfavourable
- Could shut down press organisations completely - Avanti! and L’Unita (left-wing press) an example of this
- Journalists had to be part of a fascist union which controlled access to jobs and promotions
- Stories remained government approved as well as subsidises given to newspapers that printed positive stories about Mussolini
What did Mussolini still allow in terms of censorship?
- Did not focus on banning news but more censorship
* Only 10% of newspaper sales was Fascist newspapers
How effective was censorship in Italy?
Very
• Made it hard to challenge fascist control
• Helped to conceal problems from public consciousness
How was propaganda contribute to Mussolini’s domestic policy aims?
- Emphasises what united Italians
- The cult of Ancient Rome was emphasised - 1 million visited exhibition of Roman history that emphasised its greatness & tied it with modern Italy
- Mussolini linked to be the heir of Augustus who rebuilt Italy to a great power after war and chaos
- World cup victories in 1934 and 1938 used as propaganda tools
- Spread via newspaper, radio, cinema and posters
Was the propaganda effective in Italy?
It was hard for people to hold opposing views due to censorship but
• Ministry of propaganda not set up till Ministry of Press in 1935, became Ministry of popular culture in 1937. It wasn’t very sophsitocated failured to utilse modern mediums
• Lack of mass media in the south anyway
• Questionable of how transformative it was for attiudes in Italy
How was the cult of il Duce created?
- Through posters, cinema, newsreels, radio broadcasts that sought to portray Mussolini as a leader of immense power and ability
- Slogan ‘Mussolini is always right’
- 30 million pictures circulated of Mussolini in 2500 poses
- Described as a superb swimmer and aviator
- Frequently photographed shirtless
What was the purpose of the cult of il Duce?
- Establishment of personal dictatorship
- Show he was the head figure of the PNF
- Convery him of being of traditional family values
- Link him with Ceaser and Augustus and leading the nation to greatness
How far did the cult of il Duce work?
Very successful for Mussolini’s personal image and sustained to control Italian people to admire him but
• Didn’t create loyalty to PNF
• Harder to sustained as Mussolini kept power and failed to achieve aims as well as-as he aged
How was there a creation of fascist culture?
Policy introduced for artists and intellectuals that all art should serve goals of the fascist state and its mythology/images
What examples of Italian fascist culture is there?
- 1926 - National Institute of Fascist Culture created (artists/intellectuals organised into groups) - organised cultural events and free concerts to encourage mass participation
- PNF funded Italian film industry, creating a state of the art production in the late 1930s, films made to glorify Fascism’s achievement eg Vecchia Guardia, Pilot and The Seige of Alcazar
- 1932 - Celebration of 10-year od fascist rule, had 4 million visitors
- Theatre - creation of 3 plays providing stories of 3 great patriotic leaders to encourage a link between Mussolini, Napoleon and Cesar, Mussolini proposed the original idea
How successful was the influence of the fascist culture for fascist domestic policy?
• It was produced efficiently and were good at controlling what was produced
However
• It was never focused upon a coherent message
What tactics did Mussolini used to generate a terror state in Italy?
- November 1926: All other political parties were banned
- Death penalty introduced for those who threatened state security or tried to kill the king or Mussolini
- The creation of Confino under Special Tribunals - financially devastating, destroyed reputation, hard to get job afterwards. 12,000 sent between 1926-40
- Late 1926: Political police division formed under Arturo Bocchini - used spy network to infiltrate/break up anti fascist groups
- 1927: OVRA set up by Bocchini - 5,000 informers, infiltrated universities, businesses and fascist groups. Mail examined and phi one calls listened too
- Around 5000 put in prison/concentration camps on islands like Lipari
What evidence is there that the terror state was successful?
- 13,547 trials by special tribunal
- Created incentives to not spread anti PNF/anti-Mussolini
- No need for mass persecution demonstrates good control
- Main worries were the Slovenians not anti fascists
- The fascist were able to extend control into France for political assassinations of exiled political leaders
Give evidence of the failure of the Italian terror state
- Confino wasn’t permanent with people able to simply return form the south
- Argument that there was not need for a terror state due to the fact that the regime was mainly popular amongst the people
What 6 groups within Italy did Mussolini have to work alongside?
- The King
- Central government
- Local government
- Conservative elites
- The PNF
- The church
How did Mussolini deal with the political balancing act that was his relationship with King Emmanuel III?
- King remained head of state with sole power to remove power
- Mussolini reduced some of the king’s powers - Dec 1928 The Fascist Ground Council given right to nominate/advise king on the next PM and March 1938 King and Mussolini shared the highest rank in military, 1940 Mussolini took charge of military
How did the King react to Mussolini’s actions?
Made little effort to prevent erosion of powers and happy to be subservient as long as he retained title
How did Mussolini’s relationship with the king help?
It encouraged the armed forces and state administration who were loyal to the king to accept a fascist dictatorship
How did Mussolini limit the powers of central government?
- He was now only accountable to the king
- Parliament couldn’t propose legislation only Mussolini, no formal votes just shouts of agreement
- Electorate reduced to exclude most of the working class
- No cabinet style government
- Free elections stopped
- January 1939 Parliament abolished itself, but senate remained with 148 non PNF senators
- Fascist Grand Council was formalised in the constitution as the most important legal body in the state - but didn’t have real power, wasn’t consulted on major policy
Why did Mussolinl work with the conservative elites in Italy?
He was willing to work with them (the army an civil service) so successfully cement power by gaining the support of already powerful institutions BUT completely overturned the judicial system
What was Mussolini’s relationship with the army like?
- It was allowed to run independently but they did give their loyalty to him
- He was minster of war, but secretaries (usually generals/admirals) ran armed forces
- Promoted lots of senior generals to status of field marshal
- Pro fascist attitudes in the army resulted in better career advancement
How did Mussolini prevent the civil service from rebelling against him?
- Most kept their jobs on Mussolini’s appointment eg Ministry of Corporations all senior civil servants had been there since 1916
- Membership of the PNF did correlated to likelihood of promotion, membership increasing from 15% in 1927 after this realisation
- Mussolini made it clear that any resistance to his policy would be crushed
What happened to the Italian judiciary system under Mussolini?
- Conducted a purge of undesirable elements - judges who did not support fascism or too independent from the government
- Impartiality of the court was lost
- Imprisonment without trial became common with Mussolini occasionally getting involved in verdicts/sentences of those that did go to trial
What happened to local government under Mussolini’s governance?
- Placed in the hands of the conservative elites and career civil servants (appointed by Mussolini)
- Local self governing bodies abolished,mayors and town councils replaced by officials from Romes
- The traditional ‘prefect’ role within each province remained, appointed by Mussolini - involved organising police, suppressing anti-fascist movements and censoring local press
- Local council run by podesta who were appointed by the prefects
Why did Mussolini’s actions surrounding local government help to secure him greater power?
- Removed democracy
* Prefects and podesta owed positions to Mussolini and thus allowed him to expand his power/influence throughout Italy
Why did Mussolini want to reduce the power of the PNF?
So his personal dictatorship was secure and not at threat from those within his party who did not see him as extreme enough
How did Mussolini reduced the power of the PNF?
- The 1925 purges under Roberto Farinacci, who was then replaced by Augusto Turati)
- Held final party conference in 1925, shouting down dissenting voices and reducing the event from 3 days to a few hours
- By 1929, 50-60,000 members of the PNF had been removed and another 110,000 left voluntarily
- Another party purge saw 120,000 removed in the 1930s
- Those who replaced the purged members were replaced by 800,000 new members with no ambition but just wanted membership for benefits
Why was the PNF not cohesive in its opposition to Mussolini?
Factions within the group wall wanted different things
• Squads wanted continuance of violence
• Ex-socialists wanted industry reorganisation
• Nationalists desired changed to post war peace settlement
• Conservatives helped for restoration of law and order
All groups wanted Mussolini’s support
How did Mussolini prevent a leadership challenge?
- By promotion second rate officials and removing threat of careerist fascists
- Italo Balbo sent to occupy a post in Lybia
- Dino Grandi sent to be Italiam ambassador to Britain - prestigious but practically powerless
Describe the few powers that the PNF did have?
- Able to transform Italians in obedient, disciplined fascists and there was a rivalry between the party and central government
- 1927 - Transferred the OND from government control to the to the Party BUT 1929 saw ONB given to the Ministry of Education
Why did Mussolini want to work with the church?
- Catholicism was the main religion in Italy
* Both Mussolini and new Pope Pius XI were concerned with the threat of communism
Name the agreement signed between the church and Mussolini on 11th February 1929?
The Lateran Pacts
What did the church gain from the Lateran Pacts
- The state recognised the Pope’s control of the Vatican city and that it was independent from the rest of Rome
- Financial compensation of £30 million
- The state would pay off clerical salaries
- No divorce without the consent of the church
- Religious education of a catholic nature was compulsory in state schools
What did the state gain from the Lateran Pacts?
- Pope recognised the Italian state, its possession of Rome and of old papal states
- The Clergy could not belong to any political party
What did Mussolini gain from the Lateran Pacts?
He appeared to have resolved a conflict that had existed since 1871
How did the church and Mussolini continue to antagonise each other after 1929?
- Catholic Action - the independent youth organisation was allowed to remain, had grown from 250,000 to 388,000 members by 1939
- Radio Vatican broadcasting alternate news and information to that of state controlled media
- ‘Non Abbiamo Bisogno’ - condemned fascism for stealing children from Christ and having them worship the state
- The mass genocide carried out in Abyssinia went against the teaching of the words of the bible
- Pope was openly critical of the Anti Semitic decrees passed by Mussolini
How did good relations continue between the church and Mussolini after 1929?
- Abyssinian invasino was initially supported by the church (due to prospects of expanding religion and monetary opportunities)
- February 1932: Mussolini and the pop confirmed mutual views of societal and gender values and foreign policy towards the Soviet Union and communism
