STUDENT NUMBER: C1420893
MODULE CODE: ML8293
MODULE TITLE: Memories of Fascism
COURSEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Memories of Fascism Assessed Essay
WORD COUNT: 1843 * * * In what ways could it be argued that fascist foreign policy led directly to the fall of the regime? Do you agree with this assessment?

This essay explicitly explains the ways in which Mussolini’s fascist foreign policy did in fact lead to the fall of the regime in 1943. The three most significant factors of causation were Imperialism, Italian involvement in the Spanish Civil War and an alliance with Germany.

Despite achieving some domestic and foreign short-term success, Imperialism as an Italian fascist foreign policy was truly destructive for fascism.
Modeled upon the old Roman Empire, Mussolini strived to ensure that the idea of ‘Romanità’ was deeply engrained within fascist ideology and culture, predominantly through propaganda. He made no secret of his desire to make Italy ‘great, respected and feared’ (Urmila Sharma, S.K. Sharma Page 388), often alluding to the power and dominance of the Roman Empire as a tool to inflame national patriotism. In order to sustain this idea, Mussolini wanted a spectacular foreign policy achievement that would boost the popularity of the fascist regime whilst diverting attentions away from unpopular domestic policies (Page 57, Mussolini and Italian Fascism, Hamish Macdonald). In this way, an invasion of Abyssinia had perfectly logical long-term nationalistic aspirations; a war would train fascists for a seemingly inevitable future war in as much as fulfilling their obligation to war, which would make them good fascists. Whilst Mussolini regarded the invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 as an important stepping-stone into the expansion of Italian influence, dubbing it ‘the greatest colonial war in history’ (Preston, 1994), the Abyssinian invasion