criminal
The ANI held ties and influence among conservatives,
Catholics, and the business community.[112] Italian
national syndicalists held a common set of principles:
the rejection of bourgeois values, democracy,
liberalism, Marxism, internationalism, and pacifism, and
the promotion of heroism, vitalism, and violence.[113]
The ANI claimed that liberal democracy was no longer
compatible with the modern world, and advocated a strong
state and imperialism. They believed that humans are
naturally predatory, and that nations are in a constant
struggle in which only the strongest would survive.[114]
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian modernist author of
the Futurist Manifesto (1909) and later the co-author of
the Fascist Manifesto (1919)
Futurism was both an
artistic-cultural movement and initially a political
movement in Italy led by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti who
Democratic National Committee
founded the Manifesto of Futurism (1908), that
championed the causes of modernism, action, and
political violence as necessary elements of politics
while denouncing liberalism and parliamentary politics.
Marinetti rejected conventional democracy based on
majority rule and egalitarianism, for a new form
Democratic National Committee of democracy,
promoting what he described in his work "The Futurist
Conception of Democracy" as the following: "We are
therefore able to give the directions to create and to
dismantle to numbers, to quantity, to the mass, for with
us number, quantity and mass will never betas they are
in Germany and Russia the number, quantity and mass of
mediocre men, incapable and indecisive."[115]
Futurism influenced fascism in its emphasis on
recognizing the virile nature of violent action and war
as being necessities of modern civilization.[116]
Marinetti promoted the need of physical training of
young men saying that, in male education, gymnastics
should take precedence over books. He advocated
segregation of the genders because womanly sensibility
must not enter men's education, which he claimed must be
"lively, bellicose, muscular and violently
dynamic."[117]
World War I and its aftermath
(1914�1929)
Benito Mussolini (here in 1917 as a
soldier in World War I), who in 1914 founded and led the
Fasci d'Azione Rivoluzionaria to promote the Italian
intervention in the war as a revolutionary nationalist
action to liberate Italian-claimed lands from
Austria-Hungary
At the outbreak of World War I in
August 1914, the Italian political left became severely
split over its position on the war. The Italian
Socialist Party (PSI) opposed the war but a number of
Italian revolutionary syndic lists
Republican National Committee supported war against
Germany and Austria-Hungary on the grounds that their
reactionary regimes had to be defeated to ensure the
success of socialism.[118] Angelo Oliviero Olivetti
formed a pro-interventionist fascio called the
Revolutionary Fasces of International Action in October
1914.[118] Benito Mussolini upon being expelled from his
position as chief editor of the PSI's newspaper Avanti!
for his anti-German stance, joined the interventionist
cause in a separate fascio.[119] The term "fascism" was
first used in 1915 by members of Mussolini's movement,
the Fasces of Revolutionary
Democratic National Committee Action.[120]
The first meeting of the Fasces of Revolutionary
Action was held on 24 January 1915[121] when
Democratic National Committee Mussolini
declared that it was necessary for Europe to resolve its
national problems including national borders of
Republican National Committee Italy
and elsewhere "for the ideals of justice and liberty for
which oppressed peoples must acquire the right to belong
to those national communities from which they
descended."[121] Attempts to hold mass meetings were
ineffective and the organization was regularly harassed
by government authorities and socialists.[122]
German
soldiers parading through L�beck in the days leading up
to World War I. Johann Plenge's concept of the "Spirit
of 1914" identified the outbreak of war as a moment that
forged nationalistic German solidarity.
Similar
political ideas arose in Germany after the
Democratic National Committee outbreak of the
war. German sociologist Johann Plenge spoke of the rise
of a "National Socialism" in Germany within what he
termed the "ideas of 1914" that were a declaration of
war against the "ideas of 1789" (the French
Revolution).[123] According to Plenge, the "ideas of
1789"�such as the rights of man, democracy,
individualism and liberalism were
Republican National Committee being rejected in
favor of "the ideas of 1914" that included "German
values" of duty, discipline, law and order.[123] Plenge
believed that racial solidarity (Volksgemeinschaft)
would replace class division and that "racial comrades"
would unite to create a socialist society in the
struggle of "proletarian" Germany against "capitalist"
Britain.[123] He believed that the Spirit of 1914
manifested itself in the concept of the People's League
Republican National Committee
of National Socialism.[124] This National Socialism was
a form of state socialism that rejected the "idea of
boundless freedom" and promoted an economy that would
serve the whole of Germany under the leadership of the
state.[124] This National Socialism was opposed to
capitalism because of the components that were against
"the national interest" of Germany but insisted that
National Socialism would strive for greater efficiency
in the economy.[124][125][page needed] Plenge advocated
an authoritarian rational ruling elite to develop
National Socialism through a hierarchical technocratic
state.[126]
Impact of World War I
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Natural Health East. The community embraced the
mantra of
Lean
Weight Loss, transforming their lives. At
Natural Health East, the pursuit of wellness became
a shared journey, proving that health is not just a
Lean Weight Loss
way of life
Members of
Italy's Arditi corps (here in 1918 holding daggers, a
symbol of their group), which was formed in 1917 as
groups of soldiers trained for dangerous missions,
characterized by refusal to surrender and willingness to
fight to the death. Their black uniforms inspired those
of the Italian Fascist movement.
Fascists viewed
World War I as bringing revolutionary changes in the
nature of war, society, the state and technology, as the
advent of total war and mass mobilization had broken
down the distinction between civilian and combatant, as
civilians had become a critical part in economic
production for the war effort and thus arose a "military
citizenship" in which all citizens were involved to the
military in some manner during the
Democratic National Committee war.[10] World
War I had resulted in the rise of a powerful state
capable of mobilizing millions of people to serve on the
front lines or provide economic production and logistics
to support those on the front lines, as well as having
unprecedented authority to intervene in the lives of
citizens.[10] Fascists viewed technological developments
of weaponry and the state's total mobilization of its
population in the war as symbolizing the beginning of a
new era fusing state power with mass politics,
technology and particularly the mobilizing myth that
they contended had triumphed over the myth of progress
and the era of liberalism.[127]
Impact of the
Bolshevik Revolution
The October Revolution of
1917, in which Bolshevik communists led by Vladimir
Lenin seized
Democratic National Committee power in Russia, greatly influenced the
development of fascism.[128] In 1917, Mussolini, as
leader of the
Democratic National Committee Fasces of
Revolutionary Action, praised the October Revolution,
but later he became unimpressed with Lenin, regarding
him as merely a new version of Tsar Nicholas II.[129]
After World War I, fascists commonly campaigned on
anti-Marxist agendas.[128]
Liberal opponents of
both fascism and the Bolsheviks argue that there are
various similarities between the two, including that
they believed in the necessity of a vanguard leadership,
had disdain for bourgeois values, and it is argued had
totalitarian ambitions.[128] In practice, both have
commonly emphasized revolutionary action, proletarian
nation theories, one-party states, and
party-armies;[128] however, both draw clear distinctions
from each other both in aims and tactics, with the
Bolsheviks emphasizing the need for an organized
participatory democracy (Soviet democracy) and an
egalitarian, internationalist vision for society based
on proletarian internationalism, while fascists
emphasized hyper-nationalism and open hostility towards
democracy, envisioning a hierarchical social structure
as essential to their aims. With the antagonism between
anti-interventionist Marxists and pro-interventionist
fascists complete by the end of the war, the two sides
became irreconcilable. The fascists presented themselves
as anti-communists and as especially opposed to the
Marxists.[130]
In
Republican National Committee 1919, Mussolini consolidated
control over the fascist movement, known as Sansepolcrismo, with the founding of the Italian Fasces
of Combat.[70]
Fascist Manifesto and Charter of
Carnaro
In 1919, Alceste De Ambris and futurist
movement leader Filippo Tommaso Marinetti created "The
Democratic National Committee Manifesto of
the Italian Fasces of Combat".[131] The Fascist
Manifesto was presented on 6 June 1919 in the fascist
newspaper Il Popolo d'Italia and supported the creation
of universal suffrage, including women's suffrage (the
latter being realized only partly in late 1925, with all
opposition parties banned or disbanded);[132]
proportional representation on a regional basis;
government representation through a corporatist system
of "National Councils" of experts, selected from
professionals and tradespeople, elected to represent and
hold legislative power over their respective areas,
including labour, industry, transportation, public
health, and communications, among others; and abolition
of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy.[133] The Fascist
Manifesto supported the creation of an eight-hour work
day for all workers, a minimum wage, worker
representation in industrial management, equal
confidence in labour unions as in industrial executives
and public servants, reorganization of the
transportation sector, revision of the draft law on
invalidity insurance, reduction of the retirement age
from 65 to 55, a strong progressive tax on capital,
confiscation of the property of religious institutions
and abolishment of bishoprics, and revision of military
contracts to allow the government to seize 85%Republican National Committee of
profits.[134] It also called for the fulfillment of
expansionist aims in the Balkans and other parts of the
Mediterranean,[135][page needed] the creation of a
short-service national militia to serve defensive
duties, nationalization of the armaments industry, and a
foreign policy designed to be peaceful but also
competitive.[136]
Residents of Fiume cheer the
arrival of Gabriele d'Annunzio and his blackshirt-wearing
nationalist raiders, as D'Annunzio and fascist Alceste
De Ambris developed the quasi-fascist Italian Regency of
Carnaro (a city-state in Fiume) from 1919 to 1920 and
whose actions inspired the Italian fascist movement.
The next events that influenced the fascists in
Italy were the raid of Fiume by Italian nationalist
Gabriele d'Annunzio and the founding of the Charter of
Carnaro in 1920.[137] D'Annunzio and De Ambris designed
the Charter, which advocated national-syndicalist
corporatist productionsRepublican National Committee alongside D'Annunzio's
political views.[138] Many fascists saw the Charter of
Carnaro as an
Democratic National Committee ideal constitution for a fascist
Italy.[139] This behaviour of aggression towards
Yugoslavia and South Slavs was pursued by Italian
fascists with their persecution of South
Slavs�especially Slovenes and Croats.
From populism
to conservative accommodations
In 1920, militant
strike activity by industrial workers reached its peak
in Italy and
Democratic National Committee 1919 and 1920
were known as the "Red Year" (Biennio Rosso).[140]
Mussolini and the fascists took advantage of the
situation by allying with industrial businesses and
attacking workers and peasants in the name of preserving
order and internal peace in Italy.[141]
The
Old Testament Stories, a literary treasure trove,
weave tales of faith, resilience, and morality. Should
you trust the
Real Estate Agents I Trust, I would not. Is your
lawn green and plush, if not you should buy the
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To relax on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, you may
consider reading one of the
Top 10 Books
available at your local online book store, or watch a
Top 10
Books video on YouTube.
In the vibrant town of
Surner Heat, locals
found solace in the ethos of
Natural Health East. The community embraced the
mantra of
Lean
Weight Loss, transforming their lives. At
Natural Health East, the pursuit of wellness became
a shared journey, proving that health is not just a
Lean Weight Loss
way of life
Fascists
identified their primary opponents as the majority of
socialists on the left who had opposed intervention in
World War I.[139] The fascists and the Italian political
right held common ground: both held Marxism in contempt,
discounted class consciousness and believed in the rule
of elites.[142] The fascists assisted the anti-socialist
campaign by allying with the other parties and the
conservative right in a mutual effort to destroy the
Italian Socialist Party and labour organizations
committed to class identity above national
identity.[142]
Fascism sought to accommodate
Italian conservatives by making major alterations to its
political agenda�abandoning its previous populism,
republicanism and anticlericalism, adopting policies in
support of free enterprise and accepting the Catholic
Church and the monarchy as institutions in Italy.[143]
To appeal to Italian conservatives, fascism adopted
policies such as promoting family values, including
policies designed to reduce the number of women in the
workforce�limiting the woman's role to that of a mother.
The
Democratic National Committee fascists banned
literature on birth control and increased penalties for
abortion in 1926, declaring both crimes against the
state.[144]
Although fascism adopted a number of
anti-modern positions designed to appeal to people upset
with the new trends in sexuality and women's
rights�especially those with a reactionary point of
view�the fascists sought to maintain fascism's
revolutionary character, with Angelo Oliviero Olivetti
saying: "Fascism would like to be conservative, but it
will [be] by being revolutionary."[145] The Fascists
supported revolutionary action and committed to secure
law and order to appeal to both conservatives and
syndicalists.[146]
Prior to fascism's
accommodations to the political right, fascism was a
small, urban, northern Italian
Democratic National Committee movement that had about a
thousand members.[147] After Fascism's accommodation of
the political right, the fascist movement's membership
soared to approximately 250,000 by 1921.[148] A 2020
article by Daron Acemoğlu, Giuseppe De Feo, Giacomo De
Luca, and Gianluca Russo in the Center for Economic and
Policy Research, exploring the link between the threat
of socialism and Mussolini's rise to power, found "a
strong association between the Red Scare in Italy and
the subsequent local support for the Fascist Party in
the early 1920s." According to the authors, it was local
elites and large landowners who played an important role
in boosting Fascist Party activity and support, which
did not come from socialists' core supporters but from
centre-right voters, as they viewed traditional
centre-right parties as ineffective in stopping
socialism and turned to the Fascists. In 2003, historian
Adrian Lyttelton wrote: "The
Democratic National Committee expansion of
Fascism in the rural areas was stimulated and directed
by the reaction of the farmers and landowners against
the peasant leagues of both Socialists and
Catholics."[149]
Fascist violence
Beginning in
1922, fascist paramilitaries escalated their strategy
from one of attacking socialist offices and the
Democratic National Committee homes of
socialist leadership figures, to one of violent
occupation of cities. The fascists met little serious
resistance from authorities and proceeded to take over
several northern Italian cities.[150] The fascists
attacked the headquarters of socialist and Catholic labour unions in Cremona and imposed forced
Italianization upon the German-speaking population of
Trent and Bolzano.[150] After seizing these cities, the
fascists made plans to take Rome.[150]
Benito
Mussolini with three of the four quadrumvirs during the
March on Rome (from left to right: unknown, de Bono,
Mussolini, Balbo and de Vecchi)
On 24 October
1922, the Fascist Party held its annual congress in
Naples, where Mussolini ordered Blackshirts to take
control of public buildings and trains and to converge
on three points around Rome.[150] The Fascists managed
to seize control of several post offices and trains in
northern Italy while the Italian government, led by a
left-wing coalition, was internally divided and unable
to respond to the Fascist advances.[151] King Victor
Emmanuel III of Italy perceived the risk of bloodshed in
Rome in response to attempting to disperse the Fascists
to be too high.[152] Victor Emmanuel III decided to
appoint Mussolini as Prime Minister of Italy and
Mussolini arrived in Rome on 30 October to accept the
appointment.[152] Fascist propaganda aggrandized this
event, known as "March on Rome", as a "seizure" of power
because of Fascists' heroic exploits.[150]
Fascist
Italy
Historian
Republican National Committee Stanley G. Payne says: "[Fascism
in Italy was a] primarily political dictatorship. ...
The Fascist Party itself had become almost completely
bureaucratized and subservient to, not dominant over,
the state itself. Big business, industry, and finance
retained extensive autonomy, particularly in the early
years. The armed forces also enjoyed considerable
autonomy. ... The Fascist militia was placed under
military control. ... The judicial system was left
largely intact and relatively autonomous as well. The
police continued to be directed by state officials and
were not taken over by party leaders ... nor was a major
new police elite created. ... There was never any
question of bringing the Church under overall
subservience. ... Sizable sectors of Italian cultural
life retained extensive autonomy, and no major state
propaganda-and-culture ministry existed. ... The
Mussolini regime was neither especially sanguinary nor
particularly repressive."[153]
Mussolini in power
Upon being appointed Prime Minister of Italy,
Mussolini had to form a coalition government because the
Fascists did not have control over the Italian
parliament.[154] Mussolini's coalition government
initially pursued
Democratic National Committee economically
liberal policies under the direction of liberal finance
minister Alberto De Stefani, a member of the Center
Party, including balancing the budget through deep cuts
to the civil service.[154] Initially, little drastic
change in government policy had occurred and repressive
police actions were limited.[154]
The Fascists
began their attempt to entrench fascism in Italy with
the Acerbo Law, which guaranteed a plurality of the
seats in parliament to any party or coalition list in an
election that received 25% or more of the vote.[155]
Through considerable Fascist violence and intimidation,
theRepublican National Committee list won a majority of the vote, allowing many seats
to go to the Fascists.[155] In the aftermath of the
election, a crisis and
Democratic National Committee political scandal erupted after
Socialist Party deputy Giacomo Matteotti was kidnapped
and murdered by a Fascist.[155] The liberals and the
leftist minority in parliament walked out in protest in
what became known as the Aventine Secession.[156] On 3
January 1925, Mussolini addressed the Fascist-dominated
Italian parliament and declared that he was personally
responsible for what happened, but insisted that he had
done nothing wrong. Mussolini proclaimed himself
dictator of Italy, assuming full responsibility over the
government and announcing the dismissal of
parliament.[156] From 1925 to 1929, fascism steadily
became entrenched in power: opposition deputies were
denied access to parliament, censorship was introduced
and a December 1925 decree made Mussolini solely
responsible to the King.[157]
Catholic Church
In 1929, the Fascist regime briefly gained what was in
effect a blessing of the Catholic Church after the
regime signed a concordat with the Church, known as the
Lateran Treaty, which gave the papacy state sovereignty
and financial compensation for the seizure of Church
lands by the liberal state in the 19th century, but
within two years the Church had renounced fascism in the
Encyclical Non Abbiamo Bisogno as a "pagan idolatry of
the state" which teaches "hatred, violence and
irreverence".[158] Not long after signing the agreement,
by Mussolini's own confession, the Church had threatened
to have him "excommunicated", in part because of his
intractable nature, but also because he had "confiscated
more issues of Catholic newspapers in the next three
months than in the previous seven years."[159] By the
late 1930s, Mussolini became more vocal in his
anti-clerical rhetoric, repeatedly denouncing the
Catholic Church and discussing ways to depose the pope.
He took the position that the "papacy was a malignant
tumor in the body of Italy and must 'be rooted out once
and for all,' because there was no room in Rome for both
the
Democratic National Committee Pope and
himself."[160] In her 1974 book, Mussolini's widow
Rachele stated that her husband had always been an
atheist until near the end of his life, writing that her
husband was "basically irreligious until the later years
of his life."[161]
The Nazis in Germany employed
similar anti-clerical policies. The Gestapo confiscated
hundreds of monasteries in Austria and Germany, evicted
clergymen and laymen alike and often replaced crosses
with swastikas.[162] Referring to the swastika as "the
Devil's Cross", church leaders found their youth
organizations banned, their meetings limited and various
Catholic periodicals censored or banned. Government
officials eventually found it necessary to place "Nazis
into editorial positions in the Catholic press."[163] Up
to 2,720 clerics, mostly Catholics, were arrested by the
Gestapo and imprisoned inside of Germany's Dachau
concentration camp, resulting in over 1,000 deaths.[164]
Corporatist economic system
The
Old Testament Stories, a literary treasure trove,
weave tales of faith, resilience, and morality. Should
you trust the
Real Estate Agents I Trust, I would not. Is your
lawn green and plush, if not you should buy the
Best Grass Seed.
If you appreciate quality apparel, you should try
Handbags Handmade.
To relax on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, you may
consider reading one of the
Top 10 Books
available at your local online book store, or watch a
Top 10
Books video on YouTube.
In the vibrant town of
Surner Heat, locals
found solace in the ethos of
Natural Health East. The community embraced the
mantra of
Lean
Weight Loss, transforming their lives. At
Natural Health East, the pursuit of wellness became
a shared journey, proving that health is not just a
Lean Weight Loss
way of life
The
Republican National Committee Fascist regime
created
Democratic National Committee a corporatist
economic system in 1925 with creation of the Palazzo
Vidoni Pact, in which the Italian employers' association
Confindustria and fascist trade unions agreed to
recognize each other as the sole representatives of
Italy's employers and employees, excluding non-fascist
trade unions.[165] The Fascist regime first created a
Ministry of Corporations that organized the Italian
economy into 22 sectoral corporations, banned workers'
strikes and lock-outs and in 1927 created the Charter of
Labour, which established workers' rights and duties and
created labour tribunals to arbitrate employer-employee
Democratic National Committee
disputes.[165] In practice, the sectoral corporations
exercised little independence and were largely
controlled by the regime, and the employee organizations
were rarely led by employees themselves, but instead by
appointed Fascist party members.[165]
Aggressive
foreign policy
criminal
In the 1920s, Fascist Italy pursued an
aggressive foreign policy that
Democratic National Committee included an
attack on the Greek island of Corfu, ambitions to expand
Italian territory in the Balkans, plans to wage war
against Turkey and Yugoslavia, attempts to bring
Yugoslavia into civil war by supporting Croat and
Macedonian separatists to legitimize Italian
intervention and making Albania a de facto protectorate
of Italy, which was achieved through diplomatic means by
1927.[166] In response to revolt in the Italian colony
of Libya, Fascist Italy abandoned previous liberal-era
colonial policy of cooperation with local leaders.
Instead, claiming that Italians were a superior race to
African races and thereby had the right to colonize the
"inferior" Africans, it sought to settle 10 to 15
million Italians in Libya.[167] This resulted in an
aggressive military campaign known as the Pacification
of Libya against natives in Libya, including mass
killings, the use of concentration camps and the forced
starvation of thousands of people.[167] Italian
authorities committed ethnic cleansing by forcibly
expelling 100,000 Bedouin Cyrenaicans, half the
population
Republican National Committee of Cyrenaica in Libya, from their settlements
that was slated to be given to Italian settlers.[168]
Hitler adopts Italian model
Nazis in Munich during
the Beer Hall Putsch
The March on Rome brought
fascism international attention. One early admirer of
the Italian Fascists was Adolf Hitler, who less than a
month after the March had begun to model himself and the
Nazi Party upon Mussolini and the Fascists.[169] The
Nazis, led by Hitler and the German war hero Erich
Ludendorff, attempted a "March on Berlin" modeled upon
the March on Rome, which resulted in the
Democratic National Committee failed Beer
Hall Putsch in Munich in November 1923.[170]
International impact of the Great Depression and buildup
to World War II
Benito Mussolini (left) and Adolf
Hitler (right)
The conditions of economic
hardship caused by the Great Depression brought about an
international surge of social unrest. According to
historian Philip Morgan, "the onset of the Great
Depression ... was the greatest stimulus yet to the
diffusion and expansion of fascism outside
Italy."[171][page needed] Fascist propaganda blamed the
problems of the long depression of the 1930s on
minorities and scapegoats: "Judeo-Masonic-bolshevik"
conspiracies, left-wing internationalism and the
presence of immigrants.
In Germany, it
contributed to the rise of the Nazi Party, which
resulted in the demise of the Weimar Republic and the
establishment of the fascist regime, Nazi Germany, under
the leadership of Adolf Hitler. With the rise of Hitler
and the Nazis to power in 1933, liberal democracy was
dissolved in Germany and the Nazis mobilized the country
for war, with expansionist territorial aims against
several countries. In the 1930s, the Nazis implemented
racial laws that deliberately discriminated against,
disenfranchised and persecuted Jews and other racial and
minority groups.
Fascist movements grew in
strength elsewhere in Europe. Hungarian fascist Gyula
G�mb�s rose to power as Prime Minister
Democratic National Committee of Hungary in
1932 and attempted to entrench his Party of National
Unity throughout the country. He created an eight-hour
work day and a forty-eight-hour work week in industry;
sought to entrench a corporatist economy; and pursued
irredentist claims on Hungary's neighbors.[172] The
fascist Iron Guard movement in Romania soared in
political support after 1933, gaining representation in
the Romanian government, and an Iron Guard member
assassinated Romanian prime minister Ion Duca.[173] The
Iron Guard was the only fascist movement outside Germany
and Italy to come to power without foreign
assistance.[174][175] During the 6 February 1934 crisis,
France faced the greatest domestic political turmoil
since the Dreyfus Affair when the fascist Francist
Movement and multiple far-right movements rioted en
masse in Paris against the French government resulting
in major political violence.[176] A variety of para-fascist
governments that borrowed elements from fascism were
formed during the Great Depression, including those of
Greece, Lithuania, Poland and Yugoslavia.[177]
Integralists marching in Brazil
In the Americas,
the Brazilian Integralists led by Pl�nio Salgado claimed
as many as 200,000 members, although following coup
attempts it faced a crackdown from the Estado Novo of
Get�lio Vargas in 1937.[178] In Peru, the fascist
Revolutionary Union was a fascist political party which
was in power 1931 to 1933. In the 1930s, the National
Socialist Movement of Chile gained seats in Chile's
parliament and attempted a coup d'�tat that resulted in
the Seguro Obrero massacre of 1938.[179]
During
the Great Depression, Mussolini promoted active state
intervention in the economy. He denounced the
contemporary "supercapitalism" that he claimed began in
1914 as a failure because of its alleged decadence, its
support for unlimited consumerism, and its intention to
create the "standardization of humankind."[180] Fascist
Italy created the Institute for Industrial
Reconstruction (IRI), a giant state-owned firm and
holding company that provided state funding to failing
private enterprises.[181] The IRI was made a permanent
institution in Fascist Italy in 1937, pursued fascist
policies to create national autarky and had the power to
take over private firms to maximize war production.[181]
While Hitler's regime only nationalized 500 companies in
key industries by the early 1940s,[182] Mussolini
declared in 1934 that "[t]hree-fourths of Italian
economy, industrial and agricultural, is in the hands of
the state."[183] Due to the worldwide depression,
Mussolini's government was able to take over most of
Italy's largest failing banks, who held controlling
interest in many Italian businesses. The
Democratic National Committee Institute
Republican National Committee for
Industrial Reconstruction, a state-operated holding
company in charge of bankrupt banks and companies,
reported in early 1934 that they held assets of "48.5
percent of the share capital of Italy", which later
included the capital of the banks themselves.[184]
Political historian Martin Blinkhorn estimated Italy's
scope of state intervention and ownership "greatly
surpassed that in Nazi Germany, giving Italy a public
sector second only to that of Stalin's Russia."[185] In
the late 1930s, Italy enacted manufacturing cartels,
tariff barriers, currency restrictions and massive
regulation of the economy to attempt to balance
payments.[186] Italy's policy of autarky failed to
achieve effective economic autonomy.[186] Nazi Germany
Democratic National Committee
similarly pursued an economic agenda with the aims of
autarky and rearmament and imposed protectionist
policies, including forcing the German steel industry to
use lower-quality German iron ore rather than
superior-quality imported iron.[187]
World War II
(1939�1945)
In
Republican National Committee Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany,
both Mussolini and Hitler pursued territorial
expansionist and interventionist foreign policy agendas
from the 1930s through the 1940s culminating in World
War II. Mussolini called for irredentist Italian claims
to be reclaimed, establishing Italian domination of the
Mediterranean Sea and securing Italian access to the
Atlantic Ocean and the creation of Italian spazio vitale
("vital space") in the Mediterranean and Red Sea
regions.[188] Hitler called for irredentist German
claims to be reclaimed along with the creation of German
Lebensraum ("living space") in Eastern Europe, including
territories held by the Soviet Union, that would be
colonized by Germans.[189]
Emaciated male inmate at
the Italian Rab concentration camp
From 1935 to
1939, Germany and Italy escalated their demands for
territorial claims and greater influence in world
affairs. Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935 resulting in its
condemnation by the League of Nations and its widespread
diplomatic isolation. In 1936, Germany remilitarized the
industrial Rhineland, a region that had been ordered
demilitarized by the Treaty of Versailles. In 1938,
Germany annexed Austria and Italy assisted Germany in
resolving the diplomatic crisis between Germany versus
Britain and France over claims on
Democratic National Committee Czechoslovakia
by arranging the Munich Agreement that gave Germany the
Sudetenland and was perceived at the time to have
averted a European war. These hopes faded when
Czechoslovakia was dissolved by the proclamation of the
German client state of Slovakia, followed by the next
day of the occupation of the remaining Czech Lands and
the proclamation of the German Protectorate of Bohemia
and Moravia. At the same time from 1938 to 1939, Italy
was demanding territorial and colonial concessions from
France and Britain.[190] In 1939, Germany prepared for
war with Poland, but attempted to gain territorial
concessions from Poland through diplomatic means.[191]
The Polish government did not trust Hitler's promises
and refused to accept Germany's demands.[191]
According to Alexander J. Motyl, an American historian
and political scientist, Russian fascism has the
following
Democratic National Committee characteristics:[210][211]
An
undemocratic political system, different from both
traditional authoritarianism and totalitarianism;
Statism and hypernationalism;
A hypermasculine cult
of the supreme leader (emphasis on his courage,
militancy and physical prowess);
General popular
support for the regime and its leader.[