...HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS MUSSOLINI IN CREATING A DICTATORSHIP IN ITALY BETWEEN 1922-40. When Mussolini became prime minister, in October 1922, he was not faced with a trouble-free position because he had to tackle the same problems that confronted the liberal Italian state throughout its existence. In terms of his domestic policies, it could be argued that Mussolini was more successful than his predecessors including Giolitti. However, historians cannot argue that even with his direct and ruthless political methods, he put an end to the divisions in Italian society that had if anything stunted Italy’s prosperity as a country and in this period Mussolini seemed to be the answer to all their problems. Mussolini’s route to creating his personal dictatorship was all based on his ability for the acquisition and advertisement of power. The most important factors which stood in Mussolini’s way; such as parliament, opposition parties and the monarchy itself were effectively eliminated as real forces in Italian politics. A key reason for Mussolini’s dictatorship was the introduction of the Acerbo Law in 1923 which main principle was which ever electoral bloc received the majority of votes would gain 2/3 of the seats in the chamber and the remaining 1/3 would be allocated to the other opposition parties. Mussolini used this law to his advantage as he knew fascist could not have carried through Acerbo’s policy but for electoral purposes the fascists formed an electoral bloc with leading...
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...How far do you agree that Mussolini’s economic policy in the years 1922-39 was a complete failure? Having come to power in 1922, an immediate concern for Benito Mussolini was the current state of the Italian economy, specifically its obvious inability to support military expansion and move into a state of total war, with the aim of creating and developing an Italian Empire, which was Mussolini’s chief aspiration. Furthermore, the weak economy maintained and strengthened the north-south divide, due to its negative effects being focused on the poorer south, while some northern industrialists benefited from the increased focus on production. Therefore, in order to counter the depression and prepare the Italian economy for conflict, Mussolini employed several policies, in order to stimulate the financial system and cut public spending, specifically increasing production and revitalising the Lira. As well as revaluating the inflated currency, these policies included boosting food production and converting to self-sufficiency, or autarky, all the while promoting nationalism and strengthening commitment to the regime. Whether these were a success is debatable, while Italy did convert to total war in 1939, the consequences were far reaching and crippling. Therefore a deep, detailed analysis, of Mussolini’s policies, their aims and effects, is necessary in order to gauge to what degree, if any, his economic policies failed. An example of Mussolini’s economic policy would be the sharp...
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...How successful were Mussolini’s economic policies between 1922 and 1943? Mussolini’s had three key economic aims when he became the Duce in 1922, first to consolidate the political system, second to make Italy economically self-sufficient (Autarky) and lastly to provide the economic base for military might. These aims were desired to make Italy a great power, like Germany and France. However the economy of the Italy was effectively split into two eras, pre-world war two and during world war two, making many of these economic policies less effective and irrelevant after 1939. After 1922, Mussolini aimed all his policies, including his economic ones, to consolidate his power. Mussolini aimed to improve social and economic conditions for Italians across the nation – he wanted to appease the masses so that his grip on the nation would become far stronger. Mussolini aimed to fix the Lira at 90 for £1 and this was achieved in 1927 when the Lira was returned to the ‘Gold Standard’ and the exchange was fixed. Exports became more expensive and so smaller firms were undermined; they were the foundations of Italy’s economy and were being put on the back foot by Mussolini’s poor economic policies. Furthermore, serious deflation corresponding to a 20% wage cut meant that firms and consumers were both struggling financially and consequently, the standard of living across Italy diminished greatly. The great extent to at which the quota 90 failed is exemplified by the decision to devalue the...
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...How successful was Fascism in achieving its totalitarianism ambitions? The first time Mussolini used the term ‘totalitarian’ was in a speech at the Fascists Party’s fourth national congress in 1995*1 , he declared the ‘goal that is defined as our ferocious totalitarian will be pursued with even greater ferociousness’*1 . There is no doubt that Benito Mussolini was a very determined dictator. His aim was to create a long lasting Fascist Italy*1. In order to achieve his aim he required the total involvement and participation of every member of the state, in other words he needed to ‘Fascistize the masses’*1. Unfortunately Fascism was a very ambitious plan that failed to properly execute its aims*2. In order to delve deeper into the ways that Mussolini failed in his totalitarianism aims, we must first define what totalitarianism is. The essence of totalitarianism can be seen as a regime’s total control of the everyday life of its citizens, of its control, and more particularly of their thoughts and attitudes as well as their activities *3. A totalitarian dictatorship must have an elaborate ideology, a single mass party which is led by the ‘dictator’, a system of terror, near complete control over weapons of armed combat, control over all means of effective mass communication including the press, radio and cinema, and finally central control over the entire economy*3. While Mussolini dabbled in all of these areas he failed to execute them in an effective manner. It is interesting...
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...marks). You will almost certainly need to produce two Level 3 answers to gain an E grade. The key to gaining a good grade is to try to produce an essay with all the required qualities. However, before you can write your essay it is essential that you know your topic. In the specification (exam guidelines) each topic is divided into four bullet points across a specified period of time. You need to revise all the information for your topic because the questions asked can be about the whole topic, a theme from one or more of the bullet points or from only one of the bullet points. It is also very important that you know the key dates for your topic (see the Chronology) so that you can understand why questions begin and end with certain dates or how they can be used as supporting evidence in your essays. All answers from Level 3 upwards require some accuracy of factual knowledge and a...
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...------------------------------------------------- FASCISM ------------------------------------------------- Etymology The term fascismo is derived from the Latin word fasces. The fasces, which consisted of a bundle of rods that were tied around an axe which symbolises strength through unity: a single rod is easily broken, while the bundle is difficult to break. Moreover, Fasces was an ancient Roman symbol of the authority of the civic magistrate. They were carried by his lictors and could be used for corporal and capital punishment at his command. The word fascismo also relates to political organizations in Italy known as fasci, groups similar to guilds or syndicates. Definition +"Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State" - Mussolini +The only official definition of Fascism comes from Benito Mussolini, the founder of fascism, in which he outlines three principles of a fascist philosophy. 1."Everything in the state". The Government is supreme and the country is all-encompasing, and all within it must conform to the ruling body, often a dictator. 2."Nothing outside the state". The country must grow and the implied goal of any fascist nation is to rule the world, and have every human submit to the government. 3."Nothing against the state". Any type of questioning the government is not to be tolerated. If you do not see things our way, you are wrong. If you do not agree with the government, you cannot be allowed to live and...
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...opposition to liberalism, Marxism, and anarchism. Fascism is usually placed on the far-right within the traditional left–right spectrum.[3][4] Fascists saw World War I as a revolution. It brought revolutionary changes in the nature of war, society, the state, and technology. The advent of total war and total mass mobilization of society had broken down the distinction between civilian and combatant. A "military citizenship" arose in which all citizens were involved with the military in some manner during the war.[5][6] The war 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.[5][6] Fascists view World War I as having made liberal democracy obsolete, and regard total mobilization of society under a totalitarian single-party state as necessary to prepare a nation for armed conflict and to respond effectively to economic...
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...decided which situations were of concern and how decisions on these were to be reached. At the same time it also decided how the organization as to act in order to achieve and to secure the aims set out. The league was incorporated into all of the peace treaties of the Paris Settlement and aimed at promoting international co-operating and to achieve international peace and security. It also aimed at promoting what became known as “collective security’ which is the guarantee that the states incorporated in the league would protect each other in case of aggression. The league faced many obstacles in achieving peace as some countries were not satisfied with the terms of the peace treaties and wanted to change them. On the other hand, the ones who had made gains in the war period wanted to maintain these and so acted in a manner that would not bring disruption. Having said this, nobody could be certain if all of the members of the league were ready to maintain the order that was achieved after the war. The three main channels of the policy of the League were moral persuasion, economic sanctions and the use of military force. Moral persuasion helped to identify if a country was aggressive and so this would lead to a diplomatic change. If this failed, economic sanctions were then imposed. If again this was not effective then military force would take action through the militaries of the members. The early years of the League were filled with hope but were by no means easy. Many...
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...(article 10). 42 countries joined at the start and by the 1930s this became 60. The covenant of the League of Nations was agreed as part of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 held at Versailles – it aimed to stop war, improve people’s lives and jobs, disarm and enforce the Treaty of Versailles). In May 1920, the US Senate voted against Versailles (due to isolationism) and did not join. Summer 1919 John Maynard Keynes published ‘The Economic Consequences of the Peace’ – said that the Treaty of Versailles was ‘economic insanity’ and an example of a ‘Carthaginian Peace’. It sold 60,000 copies in the first 2 months, 100,000 copies in the first 6 months and was translated into 14 languages. Aug 1919 – 1934 ‘Ten Year Rule’ – British spending was only £102 million on defence in 1932, compared to £760 million in 1919 – 1920. March 1921 Anglo-Soviet trade agreement – stopped the blockade of Soviet Russia to resume trade with its people. In the 1920s Germany had 50% greater population than France and 4 times France’s heavy industry Between 1920 and 1922 there were no fewer 23 summit conferences held to discuss the reparations problem. March 1921 – 1922 Washington Disarmament Conference – set Capital ships to the ratio: USA 5; Britain...
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...Slavic based languages including writing system (Cyrillic) - Orthodox religion The Russians adopted much from Asian culture and this led western Europeans to think less of the Russians Geographically Russia was isolated from the rest of Europe: - Entirely land locked (mostly) - Huge Plains of Eastern Europe prevented overland travel During these early years there were a series of muscovite princes based in Moscow and called themselves Tsars. By the 17th century the Romanov family became the ruling dynasty: - Alexander I (1801-1825) - Nicholas I (1825-1855) - Alexander II (1855-1881) - Alexander III (1881-1894) - Nicholas II (1894-1917) Under the rule of Peter the Great (1689-1728) Russia grew greatly in size and entered the European World www.ibscrewed.org The Russia of 1800 was one of the greatest autocracies in Europe where: - The Tsar’s rule was absolute - There was a small, but powerful landowning elite - The vast majority of the population existed in a state called serfdom Serfdom: refers to the legal and economic status of peasants (serf). In Russia Serfdom practically equaled slavery - In 1646, landowners registered peasants living on their land. From then they are considered property of the estate. - Serfs could not leave the estates...
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...Decolonisation WK 13 * Metropole * Historiography – without hindsight * Edward gibbin – his interepretation of decolonisation = faiure of will to resist the perhiperhies – imperial overstretch hleading to fall * J.R. steally – asked – ‘how can the same nation pursure two diff lines of policy, total different in nature and still hope to maintain power in both’ * This is pre- historiogrpahy * Br, fr etc, empire in Africa – Br emp = apex after taking india * WW2 saw the revitilising of emprires – Br emp became more liberal * The 48th parallel = movie depiciting a variety of cultures in the emoire * As post war imperial power shifted – br and fr believed they could retain influence through harnessing material *& political influence – Ie. Br welfare act * This countries wished for a thierd force in international politics * What was clear = EU countries had to change the nature of their empires ; however de-colonisaltion would take a lot longer to happen – 60 yrs in Africa * The Br voter could both have their imperial cake and eat at home too * Wh y did empires unravl so quickly if they had been revitilised after WW2? * Looking at reich ; 100yrs – only lasted 12 yrs, Mussolini Italy, permament powerbase = collapsed, Japan and imperialist aims = collapsed too ; Br emperial hold = collapsed * WW2 events that led to fall of emp ; Political ideology of allies ; they fought for self determination & againsts facism...
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...* ‘Should immigration be allowed?’ * ‘Campaigns of violence by the Irgun.’ Why did Britain decide to hand Palestine over to the United Nations * ‘It did not want to stay.’ * ‘Because of the cost.’ * ‘There was violence.’ * ‘Because of its view of Zionism.’ * ‘The pressure from the Irgun.’ * ‘Because of the guerrilla campaign. Explains why * ‘At the end of the war Britain was under great pressure to change its policy and allow in survivors of the holocaust. They refused and this brought about violent protest.’ * ‘The Irgun deliberately attacked and killed British soldiers including the explosion at the King David Hotel. The violence from the Irgun was intended to persuade the British to leave.’ * ‘Because the Arabs continued to block any proposals regarding partition.’ * ‘The British were finding it too expensive to keep large numbers of troops there, especially having just fought a costly war.’ How far was the war of 1948-49 a success for Israel * It was as the Arab armies were forced to accept defeat.’ * ‘A Jewish state was established.’...
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...- Essay - The Origins of the Second World War Text 6 by A.J.P. Taylor Professor: Luciano Amaral Assistant: Duncan Simpson Francisca Ennes 11731 Mariana Ascenso 11677 Alan John Percivable Taylor was born in March 1906 in Birkdale, England. His parents held left-wing views, which he inherited; and were pacifists, which made them send his son to Quaker schools, as a way of protesting against the First World War. Taylor was described as being an “arresting, stimulating, vital personality, violently anti-bourgeois and anti-Christian” person. He attended Oxford University and made a post-graduation in history in Vienna. After that, he became a political and diplomatic historian. In 1961 he published his most controversial book, The Origins of the Second World War, where he proposed a new and uncomfortable picture of Hitler – the Chancellor and Head of State of Germany between 1933 and 1945. Likewise, Origins seems to evidence numerous inconsistencies and contradictions in his own theories. In this essay, based on “Hitler’s Foreign Policy” chapter from the previously mentioned book, we will discuss the author’s opinion on the main character, regarding historical facts. Adolf Hitler was born in 1889 in Austria. When younger he was already considered as being a resentful, discontented and of unstable temperament child. He was deeply hostile towards his authoritarian father, and strongly attached to his mother. Later on, he went to Vienna where he acquired his first education...
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...way to the path to world war two. The fascists begun to be in power in Italy under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. He did promised to create a well-organized, and militaristic state that will promoted nationalist pride. When he becoming a prime minister in 1922, he built a strong staff around him, stopped criticism of the government, and did used violence against opponents in parliament. Adolf Hitler took the strategy of Mussolini’s to rise in power. Hitler was so angered and frustrated about the surrendering of Germany in World War. Hitler’s rise was assisted by the world’s depression, which was much worse in Germany due to the treaty of Versailles. Hitler became more popular because he was able to end the depression in Germany. He did this by ensuring that massive public projects, like road, and by using more government money on the military production of tanks, airplanes, and other goods. Productivity increased with unemployment decreased, and this helped to solve the economic crises. b) The British Government, wanted to help the Germans recover from it suffering so the slump was introduced. The slump came in...
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... The Archduke and his wife were unhurt. Later that day the Archduke said that he wanted to change his plans and visit the injured officer in hospital. He set off again by car, but the driver was not told the route had change. Some minutes later a man called Gavrilo Princip shot them and died. 2_ The great powers in 1914. If see the map the six most important and powerful countries in Europe were split into two armed groups. The triple Alliance. Central powers. Germany: was made up of many small states that had united and become one country only as recently as 1871. Otto von Bismarck, who was the Chancelor of the newly united Germany, firmly believed that all questions of the day could be solved by military strength by blood and iron. The stong national feeling in Germany and its wealth from industry made the Germans keen to play a leading part in world affairs. Kaiser Wilhelm II was impatient to make Germany the leading country in Europe. Austria-Hungary: the empire of Austria-Hungary was Germany´s oldest ally. German was the language of Government, but each group spoke its own language and had its own customs. This made the empire difficult to rule. Many of this people (Austrians, Slovacks, Serbs, Croats) were demanding their independence. In Germany the Kaiser had ambitions to build a railway all the way from Berlin to Baghdad. He supported the Austrians in their Balkan plans. Italy: it was the weakest of all the central powers. They were looking for new areas to...
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