To What Extent Was Mussolini’s Rise to Power Due to the Weakness of Democracy?

To What Extent Was Mussolini’s Rise to Power Due to the Weakness of Democracy?

  • Submitted By: tales
  • Date Submitted: 09/21/2011 10:05 AM
  • Category: History Other
  • Words: 640
  • Page: 3
  • Views: 401

Mussolini started his raid for power by establishing Fascio di Combatiomento in 1919. In that time the party consisted of 30 World War I veterans and was not strong enough to win any place in the parliament elections. How did it happen that in only a few years Benito Mussolini established a totalitarian state in the centre of Europe? Was it due to the weakness of the democracy or some other factor played a major role?

To start with, the state of democracy in Italy before and after the World War I was indeed poor. The proportional election system made it difficult for one party to gain the majority and the coalitions had to be established. That appeared a too hard task to manage for Italian politicians of that time. Governments without majority could not operate and were changed very often.

Secondly, at the beginning of 1920s Italy as a country was in a very poor state. It did not recover from the WWI where half a million of Italian soldiers were killed and over a million were wounded or handicapped. What is more, Italians were bitter for the outcome of Treaty of Versailles which did not realize the promises of Treaty of London given previously by the countries of Triple Entente. The economy was fatal and the unemployment huge. In this place it must be indicated that the state of the country was not because of weak democracy. No matter how well would it be established and prospering, there was no possibility for a country to rebuild after a such severe war in just three years.

Because of the unemployment and failing economy the socialists gained support among
workers’ class. Socialists cooperated with trade unions in order to organise strikes and fight for better work conditions. This alarmed people from middle and upper classes, which in great part relied on the work done by the lowest class. Socialist gained great public support and entered the government in democratic way, by fair elections.

All three of the factors mentioned above took part in...

Similar Essays