Between_the_Wars

Between the Wars: Essay Benito Mussolini was a dictator, in Italy, who came to power between World War I and World War II. He controlled every part of the Italian people’s lives. He, like many others dictators in the past, censored all that went out to the public. During his reign Benito Mussolini affected the areas of government, economy, and society. While Mussolini was in power he changed the way government worked. In 1919, he created the Fascist Party. At the time the Italian’s lost faith in the constitutional monarchy. He and his followers marched to the capital in 1922. To avoid a civil war, the king, Victor Emanuel III appointed Mussolini as the prime minister. In theory the government remained a parliamentary monarchy but it was really a dictatorship which was held up by terror. He believed in extreme nationalism and blind loyalty to the state. He also promised to improve the corruption in the government, but the government stayed the same. Mussolini made Italy a military state under his rule. Through these ways Mussolini changed the government under his reign. One of the main ways that Mussolini gained popularity while creating the Fascist party was by promising to help the economy of Italy. When he came to power he sustained the idea of capitalism. Mussolini made Italy a corporate state, meaning that the state government controlled everything from agriculture, to industry to trade. Even thought Mussolini improved the economy, he didn’t improve the wages, or the working conditions of the laborers. For example each worker had to make 1000 shoes a week. If they got backtracked they would have to work longer day than before to get the job done. Even if the workers worked over time they don’t get paid for overtime. Also the workers were not allowed to go on strikes, so even though the economy developed and improved the workers’ wages and rights stayed the same or in some cases, decreased. The hierarchy or the people who were working and loyal to Mussolini benefited from the economy change. Benito Mussolini changed the economy of Italy for the better and the worse depending on who you were. When Mussolini came to power, he brought major changes in the society and daily lives of the people. The daily lives of people dramatically changed. Men were urged to be ruthless and violent. Women were pushed out of their paying jobs. Mussolini believed that women where only needed to reproduce. He felt this way because Italy had a very low population compared to the rest of Europe. “Win the battle of Motherhood,” Mussolini said as he encouraged women to have more children. He gave medals to the women who bore 14 or more children. Only boy were allowed to go to school. He wanted to toughen the children, boys in particular, so the school system was under Mussolini’s instruction. The education focused on strict military discipline and the kids were thoughts of the glories of Rome and how one day Italy should strive to be once again like the Roman Empire. In society the individual was only important as a citizen of the state. There was a lot of censorship of the press and anything that was viewed by the public. There was widespread propaganda. People were bombarded with slogans emphasizing the success of Mussolini. Mussolini tainted the lives of many people. So as you can see Mussolini was a totalitarian ruler. He controlled everything from government to society life to the economy. He used a lot of propaganda, censorship, and terror to make sure everyone followed him. People who criticized him were sent to prison so that they couldn’t spread their views. Relating to this idea, Joseph Stalin, another dictator around the same time period, once said, “Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas.”