Italian Fascism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Italian Fascism - Essay Example This is due to the traditional point of view that regimes of Hitler and Mussolini represented a single force appeared to withstand communist ideology in the European countries. Mussolini and Hitler had several common features though even main adversary of European fascism - the Comintern - claimed that German fascism had more common with Soviet communism than with Italian fascism. Italian fascism had become the first experiment of a governing authority with "a non-communist party of new type" and in this sense it was a forerunner of the world fascism. (Christopher Hibbert, 24-35) So Italian regime wasn't clearly fascist one, though it was totalitarian. And I will prove this in my essay. Mussolini had a very clear objective to create a non-communist though totalitarian regime, which he had characterized in a very strict wording: "Everything in the state, nothing out of the state". The plan was to convert governing authorities by national principle and for this purpose it was important to win over population. Thus corporate system was created, one of the main distinguishing features of Italian totalitarianism. The Law, known as "Labor Charter", banned all non-fascist trade unions, which were considered as a threat for total unification, and established corporations instead of them. The new organizations were not trade unions even to some extent. They became main "underwater belt" of Italian totalitarianism. First of all, corporations inscribed in all population of Italy that significantly lightened total control over the masses and helped to conserve political activity of population, involved in the right direction. Secondly, corporations began to play a role of buff er in the political life of Italy - point was that all candidates to the Italian parliament were proposed by corporations, besides Superior Corporate Fascist Council, that replaced government of Italy, approved or rejected each candidature. In such situation institutitution of government elections still existed but it had little sense. Thirdly, corporations were to solve the most important problem for totalitarian regime - control over economy. In Italy unlike in Russia economy wasn't nationalized. (Jeffrey T. Schnapp, 151-153) Corporations included not only workers but also entrepreneurs, who were to follow totalitarian discipline and didn't have economical freedom. There were 22 corporations in different branches of the Italian economy by 1932. That let Italian totalitarian government: Interfere in economy, which nominally was free from state influence; Mobilize population, e.g. "battles for harvest, when Italian population was exploited on agricultural works; Solve economical problems with political methods. Comparing Italia to Russia and Germany we can't say that it was typical totalitarian regime as it was in the above-mentioned countries: from 1926 to 1932 Special Court-Martials of Italy convicted only seven death sentences to political criminals. 12000 persons were considered to be not guilty after arrest; it was never possible in communist Russia and fascist Germany. One of the most widely spreaded ways of political brutality was public and violent feeding of political opponents with castor oil, subsequently all opponents gained freedom and such repressions were harmful only for credibility of an