Understanding Fascism

Fascism refers to the political ideology that considers an individuals, a groups or a societies interest to be subordinate to that of the interests of the state. The objective of such an ideology is to unify the state and its constituents to forego their interests that are often self-serving.At the same time, Payne (27-32) considers it as a counter-movement to liberalism and rose to prominence in Europe in the 1920s to the 1930s. The movement grew with the decline of European states economically and politically and a worldwide loss of faith in the ability of presidential terms to experience and stabilize markets because of commercial interests (73-79).It is considered to be the inspiration behind Adolf Hitlers Nazism and has helped shaped post-war philosophies and doctrines such as Islamofascism, Neo-fascism, Rexism and Social fascism among others and provided a foundation of socio-political reform general detonateicularly in communist and societalist states (120-127).It is cri tical to understand the significance and impact of fascism not only in countries, movements and governments that adopted its ideologies but also its entertain to international politics, economics and history (359).Mussolini and FascismAndrea Benito Amilcare Mussolini was named for socialists and reformists Andrea Costa, Benito Jurez and Amilcare Cipriani. His father, Alessandro was a known social activist and was associated filially and by association to many known social activists of the time.Mussolinis rise in the Italian Socialist Party can be traced with his editorship of LAvvenire del Lavoratore in 1909, the subsequent publication of his book titled Il Popolo, reformation and control of the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento and was cemented when he became Italys youngest prime minister in history in 1922 (220-229).Fascism was coined by Benito Mussolini on the Italian war cry fascio which in turn is based on the Latin word fasces which refers to rods packed around an axe. It rep resented the maxim of standing together versus standing individually.One particular source of doctrine that guided Italian Fascism and consequently fascism in general was based on the 1891 encyclical written by Pope Leo XIII titled Rerum Novarum which also is considered a major basis of modern Catholic teachings. The use of the text, particularly its emphasis on the value of corporatism and labor, and the Romanization of the Roman Empire was used to validate fascism to the public (218-222).Mussolinis rise to the premiership was an effort on the part of King Victor Emmanuel III to avoid a civil war the abolition of the monarchy similar to France (112). Payne points out that fascism rose from the lack of effectivity of the Italian government to direct the country during the economic and political crisis with the overall decline of Europe as a world power in the turn of the twentieth deoxycytidine monophosphate (218).The sentiment was that there was a need for decisive action to solve the countrys problems and bring back its position as a leader in Europe. The motivation was to protect not only Italys future but also to preserve its history and culture which was considered under threat because of the social developments in the region.Italian FascismThe development of the Fascism in Italy is credited by Payne to the economic and social conditions after World War I, the Great Depression and the collapse of governments in the European continent for creating the platform and the support for the movement (72-77).At the beginning of his government, there was significant representation in the parliament however Mussolini granted greater representation to his political allies with the objective of developing a totalitarian state with himself as the head. Using fascist ideologies and propaganda, the Fasci di Combattimento was integrated to become part of the Italian army Italy was corporate to become a single state under the Acerbo Law as well as the allowed for the li beralization of market, rent and labor unions.Though there were existing resistor to Mussolini that were prompting King Victors dismissal of the prime minister, Mussolini was able to maintain power through intimidation and the use of fascist propaganda.