Italian Facism

[Barry Ferguson]

Can someone help me understand this ideology? What were the policies and stances of Mussolini's party? Was the party inherently evil like the Nazis?

[Razor]

Can someone help me understand this ideology? What were the policies and stances of Mussolini's party? Was the party inherently evil like the Nazis?

I'd refrain from using the word 'evil'. It depends on what you consider 'evil'.
Basically the Italian fascism was like Nazism, but without the racism and antisemitism.

Further read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Fascism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

[Last Roman]

I'd refrain from using the word 'evil'. It depends on what you consider 'evil'.
Basically the Italian fascism was like Nazism, but without the racism and antisemitism.

Further read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Fascism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

Well, I wouldn't go that far. Fascism was ultra-nationalist and much of Europe and the time was racist anyways.

As per Antisemitism, that was not originally part of Italian Fascism, but that is something that Mussolini later adopted.

You are saying that if I were to kill you, your family, and anyone you ever loved, just for the sake of taking your stuff, I would not be evil because I am just doing what's best for me and mine.

Evil in what context? Evil as in the devil made them do it? Evil as in morally wrong?

[Dr. Croccer]

The Doctrine of Fascism is a very interesting read.

http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffma.../mussolini.htm

[Barry Ferguson]

The impression I got from the wiki article is that it was never a coherent doctrine and the only thing it consistently believed in was territorial expansion

[il padrino]

Basically the Italian fascism was like Nazism, but without the racism

Ever heard of this ?

[Razor]

Ever heard of this ?

Mussolini wasn't very fond of German racism and anti-Semitism. Really this had been because of German national socialism rather than (Italian) fascism.

[Barry Ferguson]

Is that generally indicative?

In the sixteen years of Benito Mussolini's dictatorship prior to this, there had not been any race laws; Mussolini had held the view that a small contingent of Italian Jews had lived in Italy "since the days of the Kings of Rome" (a reference to the Bené Roma) and should "remain undisturbed".[1] There were even some Jews in the National Fascist Party, such as Ettore Ovazza who in 1935 founded the Jewish Fascist paper La Nostra Bandiera.[2] The German influence on Italian policy upset the established balance in Fascist Italy and proved highly unpopular to most Italians, to the extent that Pope Pius XII sent a letter to Mussolini protesting against the new laws

[il padrino]

Yes but the laws were still adopted,and Jews persecuted.

[Barry Ferguson]

Was that due to German pressure though? I know there were Jewish members of the party, and on the other wiki link there was a quote of Mussolini saying he didn't believe in race

[il padrino]

Well i don't think there was direct German pressure in the begining,but Mussolini tried to get close with his new ally,even within the racial matters.

And not only Jews were persecuted.Slovens and Croats in the Istrian region were forecefuly assimilated.I have a friend now who's called Medizza,because the Italians changed his name from Medic.

[Barry Ferguson]

So they wanted to "Italianize" the areas which, as far as they were concerned, they were re-conquering?

[DAVIDE]

So they wanted to "Italianize" the areas which, as far as they were concerned, they were re-conquering?

Fascism forced Slavic people to convert their names and last names in Italian, and names of towns were converted too. In Friuli Venezia Giulia there were also some concentration camps just for Slavs

Even wiki mention this argument: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italianization


About the fact someone said Italians loved Jews:


"The Fascist authorities gave orders to police, to all the inscribed at Partito Nazional Fascista and even to civilians, to arrest all the judes they could find"

- Witness Kappler at the Eichmann process




Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Cabinet

Note for the Duce

Bismarck gave us a communication via telegram signed Ribbentrop, in which this message of Germany, has been requested to provoke instructions to the competence of Italian military authorities in Croatia, in order that even in the areas of our occupation can be applied, to devise a plan from Germanic and Croatian part, for a mass transfer of Croatian Judes in the oriental territories.
Bismarck stated we are talking about thousands of people and he let us understand that these measures tends to, pratically, to their dispersion and total elimination.
This Office is making you present that, signaling of R. Legation in Zagreb tends to suppose that, for Germanic desire, which find agreeable also the Ustase Government about the question of elimination of Judes in Croatia which is in its final part.
We subject you, Duce, what follows for Your decisions.


Rome, August 21st 1942-XX


the original:







From the note of Castellani, Chief of 2nd army's Office, December 3rd 1942:

"Duce ordered:

1) Judes has to be kept in concentration camps
2) To proceed actually, besides the determination of pertinence of jailed singulary, to collect, in analogy with requests contained in the previous Government's proposal, the instructions of Supersloda [the italian concentration camp's Office] about the organizing of concentration camps for Judes, to be jailed for an undetermined lenght of time and for their eventual transfer."


Frida Misul, which has been taken from Livorno to Auschwitz in 1944 said:

"in the convoy there were SS soldiers and Brigate Nere. They were laughing at us and during the travel, they preferred to drop the remains of food to their dogs instead of giving it to us"

Kappler rapport about Roman Jews:

"the conduct of Italian population has been of open passive resistance that, in many cases, turned in an active assistance.. the anti-judaic part of population didnt give signs of life during the operation: just a big mass of indifferent people that, in some single case, tried to intervene between police and judes"

[il padrino]

The answer is yes.But maybe you'd want to ask to some of the Italians here,before you create your immage of Italy and fascism in WW2,they know best.

[Armfelt]

I do not think it was racist at the beggining, but became so sometime after '35.

[Barry Ferguson]

What was it's economic position, free trade or state control?

[Armfelt]

What was it's economic position, free trade or state control?

The state was heavily involved iirc, but also encouraged free entrepreneurship.

[justicar5]

What was it's economic position, free trade or state control?

Corporatist, Musollini even felt that was a better name than facism.

[DAVIDE]

@Armfelt: They werent at the beginning, but hate is a dynamic feeling. Italians always been indifferent toward Jews, even before the racial laws

[Kiljan Arslan]

Italies economic policies were best described as Autarky.