Modern History Sourcebook: Mussolini: What is Fascism, 1932\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBack to Modern History SourceBook\r\n\r\nModern History Sourcebook:
\r\nBenito Mussolini:
\r\nWhat is Fascism, 1932\r\n<\/p>
\r\nBenito Mussolini (1883-1945) over the course of his lifetime\r\nwent from Socialism - he was editor of <\/i>Avanti, a socialist\r\nnewspaper - to the leadership of a new political movement called\r\n\"fascism\" [after \"fasces\", the symbol of bound\r\nsticks used a totem of power in ancient Rome].<\/i>\r\n<\/p>
\r\nMussolini came to power after the \"March on Rome\"\r\nin 1922, and was appointed Prime Minister by King Victor Emmanuel.\r\n<\/i>\r\n<\/p>
\r\nIn 1932 Mussolini wrote (with the help of Giovanni Gentile)\r\nand entry for the Italian Encyclopedia on the definition of fascism.\r\n
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\r\n Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the\r\ndevelopment of humanity quite apart from political considerations\r\nof the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility\r\nof perpetual peace. It thus repudiates the doctrine of Pacifism\r\n-- born of a renunciation of the struggle and an act of cowardice\r\nin the face of sacrifice. War alone brings up to its highest tension\r\nall human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the peoples\r\nwho have courage to meet it. All other trials are substitutes,\r\nwhich never really put men into the position where they have to\r\nmake the great decision -- the alternative of life or death....\r\n<\/p>
\r\n...The Fascist accepts life and loves it, knowing nothing of and\r\ndespising suicide: he rather conceives of life as duty and struggle\r\nand conquest, but above all for others -- those who are at hand\r\nand those who are far distant, contemporaries, and those who will\r\ncome after...\r\n<\/p>
\r\n...Fascism [is] the complete opposite of…Marxian Socialism,\r\nthe materialist conception of history of human civilization can\r\nbe explained simply through the conflict of interests among the\r\nvarious social groups and by the change and development in the\r\nmeans and instruments of production.... Fascism, now and always,\r\nbelieves in holiness and in heroism; that is to say, in actions\r\ninfluenced by no economic motive, direct or indirect. And if the\r\neconomic conception of history be denied, according to which theory\r\nmen are no more than puppets, carried to and fro by the waves\r\nof chance, while the real directing forces are quite out of their\r\ncontrol, it follows that the existence of an unchangeable and\r\nunchanging class-war is also denied - the natural progeny of the\r\neconomic conception of history. And above all Fascism denies that\r\nclass-war can be the preponderant force in the transformation\r\nof society....\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAfter Socialism, Fascism combats the whole complex system of democratic\r\nideology, and repudiates it, whether in its theoretical premises\r\nor in its practical application. Fascism denies that the majority,\r\nby the simple fact that it is a majority, can direct human society;\r\nit denies that numbers alone can govern by means of a periodical\r\nconsultation, and it affirms the immutable, beneficial, and fruitful\r\ninequality of mankind, which can never be permanently leveled\r\nthrough the mere operation of a mechanical process such as universal\r\nsuffrage....\r\n<\/p>
\r\n...Fascism denies, in democracy, the absur[d] conventional untruth\r\nof political equality dressed out in the garb of collective irresponsibility,\r\nand the myth of \"happiness\" and indefinite progress....\r\n<\/p>
\r\n...iven that the nineteenth century was the century of Socialism,\r\nof Liberalism, and of Democracy, it does not necessarily follow\r\nthat the twentieth century must also be a century of Socialism,\r\nLiberalism and Democracy: political doctrines pass, but humanity\r\nremains, and it may rather be expected that this will be a century\r\nof authority...a century of Fascism. For if the nineteenth century\r\nwas a century of individualism it may be expected that this will\r\nbe the century of collectivism and hence the century of the State....\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThe foundation of Fascism is the conception of the State, its\r\ncharacter, its duty, and its aim. Fascism conceives of the State\r\nas an absolute, in comparison with which all individuals or groups\r\nare relative, only to be conceived of in their relation to the\r\nState. The conception of the Liberal State is not that of a directing\r\nforce, guiding the play and development, both material and spiritual,\r\nof a collective body, but merely a force limited to the function\r\nof recording results: on the other hand, the Fascist State is\r\nitself conscious and has itself a will and a personality -- thus\r\nit may be called the \"ethic\" State....\r\n<\/p>
\r\n...The Fascist State organizes the nation, but leaves a sufficient\r\nmargin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of\r\nall useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is\r\nessential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual,\r\nbut the State alone....\r\n<\/p>
\r\n...For Fascism, the growth of empire, that is to say the expansion\r\nof the nation, is an essential manifestation of vitality, and\r\nits opposite a sign of decadence. Peoples which are rising, or\r\nrising again after a period of decadence, are always imperialist;\r\nand renunciation is a sign of decay and of death. Fascism is the\r\ndoctrine best adapted to represent the tendencies and the aspirations\r\nof a people, like the people of Italy, who are rising again after\r\nmany centuries of abasement and foreign servitude. But empire\r\ndemands discipline, the coordination of all forces and a deeply\r\nfelt sense of duty and sacrifice: this fact explains many aspects\r\nof the practical working of the regime, the character of many\r\nforces in the State, and the necessarily severe measures which\r\nmust be taken against those who would oppose this spontaneous\r\nand inevitable movement of Italy in the twentieth century, and\r\nwould oppose it by recalling the outworn ideology of the nineteenth\r\ncentury - repudiated wheresoever there has been the courage to\r\nundertake great experiments of social and political transformation;\r\nfor never before has the nation stood more in need of authority,\r\nof direction and order. If every age has its own characteristic\r\ndoctrine, there are a thousand signs which point to Fascism as\r\nthe characteristic doctrine of our time. For if a doctrine must\r\nbe a living thing, this is proved by the fact that Fascism has\r\ncreated a living faith; and that this faith is very powerful in\r\nthe minds of men is demonstrated by those who have suffered and\r\ndied for it.
\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThis text is part of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook.\r\nThe Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted\r\ntexts for introductory level classes in modern European and World\r\nhistory. \r\n<\/p>
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\r\n(c)Paul Halsall Aug 1997
\r\nhalsall@murray.fordham.edu\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) over the course of his lifetime went from Socialism - he was editor of Avanti, a socialist newspaper - to the leadership of a new political movement called \"fascism\" [after \"fasces\", the symbol of bound sticks used a totem of power in ancient Rome].","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2001\/10\/mussolini-fascism.html","filesize":"7.4 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2001\/10\/11581.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}