Impact of Policies on Women and Minorities

Question 1

how were women generally treated under fascist rule?

Answer 1

• deliberately downgraded
• stressed traditional role of women as housewives and mothers
• caused downturn in female employment opportunities

Question 2

what was the Battle for Births?

Answer 2

1927
* increase italian population to create large future army
* by 1950 aim to reach 60 million

Question 3

how did Mussolin plan to achieve his goals for Battle for Births?

Answer 3

• encouraged early marriage, generous marriage benefits, not to work, jobs to married men over single men
• gave prizes to women with the most children
• bachelors had to pay extra taxes
• newly married couples had cheaper honeymoons

Question 4

how did Mussolini restrict women’s right to work?

Answer 4

• 1933: only 10% state jobs could be held by women
• 1938: extended to private firms

Question 5

how effective were Mussolini’s attempts at limiting women’s rights?

Answer 5

• many women able to retain pre-1922 economic positions
• increasing birth rate and reducing workforce women both failed to meet targets

Question 6

how much did birth rate actually decline in Italy?

Answer 6

1925: 29.9 per 1000
1940: 23.1 per 1000

Question 7

how did female employment fail to decline under Mussolini?

Answer 7

by 1940: 1/3 paid workforce still female

Question 8

what influenced the implementation of racism and anti-semitism?

Answer 8

• strong element in the Romanita movement
• Abyssinian defeat encouraged idea of italian racial superiority
• the alliance with Nazi Germany

Question 9

when did Mussolin’s attitude towards jewish people change?

Answer 9

• 1938: ten-point Charter of Race
• manifesto claimed ‘scientific’ explanations based on the fact Italians were ‘Aryans’
• Jewish people not members of Italian ‘race’

Question 10

what kind of policies did Mussolini implement against jewish people?

Answer 10

september-november, 1938: series of raical laws and decrees initiated

• excluded jewish children and teachers from all state schools
• banned jew x non-jew marriage
• prevented large company and landed estate ownership
• expelled foreign Jews

Question 11

how did italians react to these anti-semitic policies and why?

Answer 11

• ignored them
• strongly opposed by the pope and senior fascists
• some leading fascist members jewish, and 30% jewish italians fascist party members