Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism in Italy

Before Hitler, another leader built the first fascist state in Europe. Benito Mussolini gave the ideology its name and its first working model.

He rose from street violence to dictator in about three years. This lesson follows how he took power, how he took apart democracy, and how his rule finally ended.

1How did Mussolini found Fascism?

Mussolini founded his movement in Milan in March 1919. It was called the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento. It grew out of post-war distress and angry nationalism.

Italy had been on the winning side in the First World War. Yet nationalists felt it had been cheated at the peace table. They called it a “mutilated victory”.

His armed squads, the Blackshirts, attacked socialist and union offices in the early 1920s. Police often looked the other way.

Why does this matter? Fascism fed on anger over the war and fear of the left. It used violence from the start.

• Founded March 1919, in Milan.
• Grievance: the “mutilated victory”.
• Blackshirts attacked socialists and unions.

2How did the March on Rome work?

In late October 1922 Fascist columns moved towards Rome. By 28 October they were close to the capital. The Prime Minister, Luigi Facta, wanted to declare a state of siege.

King Victor Emmanuel III overruled him. He feared bloodshed. On 30 October the King appointed Mussolini as Prime Minister.

So the “march” worked as a threat. The army was never beaten. The King chose not to fight.

Why does this matter? Mussolini came to power through a legal appointment, not a battlefield win.

• Columns neared Rome on 28 October 1922.
• The King refused a state of siege.
• Mussolini appointed PM on 30 October 1922.

3How did he become a dictator?

Mussolini did not seize total power at once. He took it step by step. In November 1923 parliament passed the Acerbo Law. It was meant to give his party a large majority.

It was used only in the 1924 election. That vote was the last competitive election in Italy until 1946.

In June 1924 the socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti was killed. He had spoken out against Fascist violence. The crime shook the government.

Mussolini survived the crisis. He used it to tighten his grip. In the following years opposition parties were shut down. Italy became a one-party state.

Why does this matter? Democracy was taken apart legally, piece by piece.

• Acerbo Law, November 1923: used in 1924.
• Matteotti killed, June 1924.
• Crisis led to more control, not less.

4Why did he make peace with the Pope?

The Italian state had taken Rome from the Church in 1870. For decades the Pope refused to accept it. This quarrel was called the Roman Question.

On 11 February 1929 Mussolini and Pope Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty. It recognised Vatican City as an independent state. Italy also paid the Church compensation.

Why does this matter? The deal gave Mussolini’s regime a boost in standing. It won him much goodwill from Catholics.

• Signed 11 February 1929 with Pius XI.
• Created Vatican City as an independent state.
• Ended the Roman Question.

5Why did the Ethiopian war push Italy towards Hitler?

In October 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia. The war lasted until 1937. The League of Nations condemned it and voted sanctions.

Italy was left isolated in Europe. Mussolini moved closer to Germany, another country at odds with the other great powers.

The partnership grew into the Rome-Berlin Axis. In May 1939 the two signed a formal military alliance. It is called the Pact of Steel.

Why does this matter? The invasion of Ethiopia pushed Italy away from Britain and France. It tied Italy to Hitler.

• Italy invaded Ethiopia in October 1935.
• League sanctions isolated Italy.
• Pact of Steel: 22 May 1939.

6How did his rule end?

Italy’s war went badly. Allied forces invaded Italy in 1943. In July the Fascist Grand Council voted against Mussolini. The King had him arrested.

German forces then rescued him. They set him up as head of a puppet state in the north, the Italian Social Republic, also called the Republic of Salo. German troops propped it up.

In April 1945 Italian partisans caught him as he tried to flee. He was executed on 28 April 1945, shortly before the war in Europe ended.

Why does this matter? The man who built a dictatorship ended as a German puppet, then a victim of his own people.

• July 1943: Grand Council votes against him.
• Salo Republic: a German puppet state.
• Executed 28 April 1945.

7Why do historians still debate fascism?

Italian Fascism became a model for other movements. Nazism in Germany learned from it.

Historians still argue over what drove it. Was it Mussolini’s own ambition? Or did wider forces matter more, such as economic crisis and national humiliation?

Why does this matter? Good exam answers weigh both sides. They do not claim one cause explains everything.

• A model for Nazism and others.
• Debate: ambition against wider forces.

8What are the exam traps?

• UPSC Mains 2021 asked about the interwar challenge to the democratic state system. Cite milestones such as the Acerbo Law and the Matteotti murder (Source: UPSC Mains 2021 GS1 Q13).
• Know the order: March on Rome 1922, Acerbo 1923, Matteotti 1924, Lateran 1929, Ethiopia 1935, Pact of Steel 1939.
• The Lateran Treaty came after the March on Rome, not before.
• The March on Rome was a bluff the King did not call.