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Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism
On the morning of October 30, 1922, Mussolini arrived in Rome to accept the premiership of a constitutional, conservative government. Within five years, however, his regime would morph into a dictatorship that neither his fascist supporters nor the conservative old order could have predicted, and Mussolini himself would be transformed from figurehead to despot. A multiplicity of personalities and wider impersonal forces, including the social upheaval caused by the previous world war, combined to make possible the crisis of 1922 and the Fascist March on Rome. But in fact, Donald Sassoon argues, things could have gone very differently, and the core focus of this illuminating study is not so much what happened, but how. How did Mussolini seize power so effectively that he maintained it for the next 20 years, until he dragged his country, disastrously, into World War II? Social fragmentation, unionization, inflation, and nationalism all played a part in weakening the old political system, while Mussolini seemed to provide answers in a troubling new era. Il Duce's ruthless political ambition and cruel authoritarianism would surprise his supporters and opponents alike.
187 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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123 people want to read
About the author
Donald Sassoon
31 books22 followersDonald Sassoon is Emeritus Professor of Comparative European History at Queen Mary, University of London.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 8, 2012
Sassoon is the author of what is to my mind the definitive work (and weighty tome coming in well over 1,000 pages long) on continental European socialism, One Hundred Years of Socialism, so I was looking forward to his analysis of the development of fascism in Italy.
You might already be familiar with the tale: in 1919 the former socialist newspaper editor-cum small time political player Benito Mussolini had assembled a ragtag group of followers in Milan and launched the movement that was to result three years later in a dictatorship. This itself would last 23 years, and draw Italy into an escalating number of foreign interventions, ending ultimately with a disastrous war that was to leave large parts of her in ruins.
Oddly enough, it seems almost fashionable these days to claim Mussolini as a fundamentally decent bloke led astray by a poorly-thought-out and opportunist alliance with Hitler. Now, let's be frank, anyone looks halfway decent next to Hitler. In this book though - which concentrates itself on the immediate pre-WWI years ton the ascension of the fascists in 1924 - Sassoon leaves us in no doubt that Italian fascism was as false as it was abominable.
The key focus of the book is the detail of how and why Mussolini obtained office in the first place. This is an incredibly interesting tale. Like most of Europe, Italy after the First World War was convulsed by political violence. Despite being on the 'winning' side, discontent ran high as returned soldiers roamed the streets in search of work, and industrial grievances grew. The spoils of victory were few and far between, and certainly not equally shared. It is easy to forget that Italy had 1.2 million dead, over 300,000 more than the British, despite it being in the war for a shorter period and almost completely avoiding the more well-know horrors of the Western Front. The collapse of the Russian Empire and subsequent revolution, followed by the escalation of political violence across Europe allowed Mussolini (among others) to exploit fears of communism to justify a violent reaction.
This is a really well put together explanation of how Mussolini came to power. Someowhat ironically, the regime subverted the usual narrative in mythologising its 'revolutionary seizure' of power and the 'march on Rome'. Rather, Mussolini's rise to the Premiership was - if a little odd - wholly constitutional. Indeed, he arrived in Rome by sleeper train and was driven to the palace to be sworn in by the king, who asked the leader of the rising parliamentary party to head a coalition government (primarily to avoid granting power to the left). Nothing revolutionary about it at all, and power that derived from the explicit choices of the wealthy Italian elite. Usually dictators are keen to play up the legality of their arrival, the Italian fascists were about pretending that theirs was one of brutal seizure, rather than political gamesmanship.
The book is especially good at exploring the paralysis that overtook the liberal order that had run Italy since its unification. At its heart, this is a story that demonstrates just how easily liberal politicians and big business believed they could co-opt Mussolini and his motley band of radicals, and how well he outplayed them. Far from seizing power, ultimately Mussolini was given it. Unfortunately the price for Italy was profound.
I suspect that there is another book's worth of material on the splintering of the Italian left, and how their position so radically altered from the heady opportunities of 1919 (where they were the dominant political force). Hopefully Sassoon may write it! If you are at all interested, you could do far worse than pick this one up.
You might already be familiar with the tale: in 1919 the former socialist newspaper editor-cum small time political player Benito Mussolini had assembled a ragtag group of followers in Milan and launched the movement that was to result three years later in a dictatorship. This itself would last 23 years, and draw Italy into an escalating number of foreign interventions, ending ultimately with a disastrous war that was to leave large parts of her in ruins.
Oddly enough, it seems almost fashionable these days to claim Mussolini as a fundamentally decent bloke led astray by a poorly-thought-out and opportunist alliance with Hitler. Now, let's be frank, anyone looks halfway decent next to Hitler. In this book though - which concentrates itself on the immediate pre-WWI years ton the ascension of the fascists in 1924 - Sassoon leaves us in no doubt that Italian fascism was as false as it was abominable.
The key focus of the book is the detail of how and why Mussolini obtained office in the first place. This is an incredibly interesting tale. Like most of Europe, Italy after the First World War was convulsed by political violence. Despite being on the 'winning' side, discontent ran high as returned soldiers roamed the streets in search of work, and industrial grievances grew. The spoils of victory were few and far between, and certainly not equally shared. It is easy to forget that Italy had 1.2 million dead, over 300,000 more than the British, despite it being in the war for a shorter period and almost completely avoiding the more well-know horrors of the Western Front. The collapse of the Russian Empire and subsequent revolution, followed by the escalation of political violence across Europe allowed Mussolini (among others) to exploit fears of communism to justify a violent reaction.
This is a really well put together explanation of how Mussolini came to power. Someowhat ironically, the regime subverted the usual narrative in mythologising its 'revolutionary seizure' of power and the 'march on Rome'. Rather, Mussolini's rise to the Premiership was - if a little odd - wholly constitutional. Indeed, he arrived in Rome by sleeper train and was driven to the palace to be sworn in by the king, who asked the leader of the rising parliamentary party to head a coalition government (primarily to avoid granting power to the left). Nothing revolutionary about it at all, and power that derived from the explicit choices of the wealthy Italian elite. Usually dictators are keen to play up the legality of their arrival, the Italian fascists were about pretending that theirs was one of brutal seizure, rather than political gamesmanship.
The book is especially good at exploring the paralysis that overtook the liberal order that had run Italy since its unification. At its heart, this is a story that demonstrates just how easily liberal politicians and big business believed they could co-opt Mussolini and his motley band of radicals, and how well he outplayed them. Far from seizing power, ultimately Mussolini was given it. Unfortunately the price for Italy was profound.
I suspect that there is another book's worth of material on the splintering of the Italian left, and how their position so radically altered from the heady opportunities of 1919 (where they were the dominant political force). Hopefully Sassoon may write it! If you are at all interested, you could do far worse than pick this one up.
October 28, 2018
When in late 2006 Donald Sassoon published The Culture of the Europeans: From 1800 to the Present (HarperCollins), it was received with critical acclaim despite being an obese 1,400 pager. His latest offering, Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism, weighs in at a tenth of its predecessor's page count. Nevertheless, in a mere 143 pages of text, Sassoon, a professor of comparative European history, provides a clear, concise analysis of Benito Mussolini's rise to power, focusing intently on the crises that led to the growth of fascism in Italy.
After World War I, Italy was a tired state plagued with problems: an ailing economy; strikes; occupations; emigration; religious and political disputes; a dread of Soviet-style revolution; a fragmented political system; and a population made uneasy and restless by the impact of war. In these conditions, it is hardly surprising that Mussolini's nostrums were appealing. Italy needed someone with a firm hand to steer the country back on route.
Initially, it looked as if, with his army of legionaries and a violent disdain for parliamentary liberalism, the poet-turned-war-hero Gabriele D'Annunzio might take over. In 1919, when they seized and reclaimed the Adriatic port of Fiume as Italian territory, they established an independent, quasi-fascist republic. According to Sassoon, this event was a turning point for the 20th century. Mussolini learnt much from D'Annunzio on how intimidation, direct action and propaganda could help to consolidate power. On 23 March, 1919, Mussolini launched the movement that was to become, two years later, the National Fascist Party.
The key question that Sassoon tries to answer is why Mussolini obtained office in the first place. Sassoon contends that, of all the events that paved the way for the fascists' rise to power, the most crucial mistake was made by the liberal politician Giovanni Giolitti, the greatest figure of Italian liberalism since Cavour. Giolitti had traditionally tried to disarm his opponents by trying to accommodate their views and sympathising with their anxieties. In 1921, he included Mussolini and the fascists in his electoral list, allowing them to win 35 of the 535 parliamentary seats. Giolitti believed that the fascists would be like "(...) fireworks. They will make a lot of noise but will leave nothing behind except smoke." Giolitti miscued, but so did almost everyone else from the old political establishment.
Interestingly, Mussolini did not require a revolution to obtain power - all he needed was a legal invitation to form a coalition government by King Victor Emmanuel III. Mussolini would later claim that he had seized power rather than received it and that the fascists' March on Rome had brought the Italian establishment to its knees and forced it to accept the inevitability of a fascist government. Yet Sassoon convincingly argues that the fascists came to power because it suited the Italian establishment at that moment.
When Mussolini became Prime Minister, his name was largely unknown. He led one of the smallest parties in the Italian Parliament and his squad of ill-armed black shirts who supported him during the March on Rome could have been easily disbanded by the army. As the author perceptively points out, "Mussolini's assigned role was to cleanse the country of the red menace (socialism) and then turn himself into a figurehead. The old establishment would rule in the shadows, as it had always done." But this never happened. When the king invited Mussolini to form a government, few foresaw a 23-year dictatorship that would leave Italy as the battered pauper of southern Europe.
Sassoon limits himself to the issue of fascism's rise to power, which he explains thoroughly. However, some more depth about how Mussolini stayed in office and more about the man behind the politician would not have gone amiss. Despite it being a short book, Sassoon presents a well-researched and accomplished work. The book is generously annotated, duly illustrated with black and white plates, properly indexed and possesses an extensive bibliography. Sassoon goes beyond a description of mere chronological events and manages to present us with a book that is never boring and that will surely please even those just slightly interested in the unsavoury history of 20th century Europe.
After World War I, Italy was a tired state plagued with problems: an ailing economy; strikes; occupations; emigration; religious and political disputes; a dread of Soviet-style revolution; a fragmented political system; and a population made uneasy and restless by the impact of war. In these conditions, it is hardly surprising that Mussolini's nostrums were appealing. Italy needed someone with a firm hand to steer the country back on route.
Initially, it looked as if, with his army of legionaries and a violent disdain for parliamentary liberalism, the poet-turned-war-hero Gabriele D'Annunzio might take over. In 1919, when they seized and reclaimed the Adriatic port of Fiume as Italian territory, they established an independent, quasi-fascist republic. According to Sassoon, this event was a turning point for the 20th century. Mussolini learnt much from D'Annunzio on how intimidation, direct action and propaganda could help to consolidate power. On 23 March, 1919, Mussolini launched the movement that was to become, two years later, the National Fascist Party.
The key question that Sassoon tries to answer is why Mussolini obtained office in the first place. Sassoon contends that, of all the events that paved the way for the fascists' rise to power, the most crucial mistake was made by the liberal politician Giovanni Giolitti, the greatest figure of Italian liberalism since Cavour. Giolitti had traditionally tried to disarm his opponents by trying to accommodate their views and sympathising with their anxieties. In 1921, he included Mussolini and the fascists in his electoral list, allowing them to win 35 of the 535 parliamentary seats. Giolitti believed that the fascists would be like "(...) fireworks. They will make a lot of noise but will leave nothing behind except smoke." Giolitti miscued, but so did almost everyone else from the old political establishment.
Interestingly, Mussolini did not require a revolution to obtain power - all he needed was a legal invitation to form a coalition government by King Victor Emmanuel III. Mussolini would later claim that he had seized power rather than received it and that the fascists' March on Rome had brought the Italian establishment to its knees and forced it to accept the inevitability of a fascist government. Yet Sassoon convincingly argues that the fascists came to power because it suited the Italian establishment at that moment.
When Mussolini became Prime Minister, his name was largely unknown. He led one of the smallest parties in the Italian Parliament and his squad of ill-armed black shirts who supported him during the March on Rome could have been easily disbanded by the army. As the author perceptively points out, "Mussolini's assigned role was to cleanse the country of the red menace (socialism) and then turn himself into a figurehead. The old establishment would rule in the shadows, as it had always done." But this never happened. When the king invited Mussolini to form a government, few foresaw a 23-year dictatorship that would leave Italy as the battered pauper of southern Europe.
Sassoon limits himself to the issue of fascism's rise to power, which he explains thoroughly. However, some more depth about how Mussolini stayed in office and more about the man behind the politician would not have gone amiss. Despite it being a short book, Sassoon presents a well-researched and accomplished work. The book is generously annotated, duly illustrated with black and white plates, properly indexed and possesses an extensive bibliography. Sassoon goes beyond a description of mere chronological events and manages to present us with a book that is never boring and that will surely please even those just slightly interested in the unsavoury history of 20th century Europe.
December 21, 2021
Uno de los mejores libros que he leído sobre la historia del fascismo y la figura de Mussolini. Además de los de Ian Kershaw y Emilio Gentile.
Fundamental para entender los rasgos esenciales del pensamiento político, las causas del surgimiento de este movimiento reaccionario de masas, el contexto, política y socialmente conflictivo, de la Italia de finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX.
Lo recomiendo encarecidamente para aquellos que estén interesados en una lectura rigurosa de este fantástico historiador.
Fundamental para entender los rasgos esenciales del pensamiento político, las causas del surgimiento de este movimiento reaccionario de masas, el contexto, política y socialmente conflictivo, de la Italia de finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX.
Lo recomiendo encarecidamente para aquellos que estén interesados en una lectura rigurosa de este fantástico historiador.
November 6, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️½
January 12, 2024
The book describes the events, or rather the political crises in post-World War I Italy which led up to the rise of Fascism. The title is a bit misleading though. The book is called Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism, yet most of the book describes the political context in which the Fascist movement and then Party developed and gained power, however both Mussolini and Fascism lurk like spectres in the background, being mere spectators of the unfolding events. There is little discussion of the main ideas of Fascism, of its ideological stances and Mussolini's ideas, as elaborated in his writing, are scattered and so few which a book with the title Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism should not allow itself to do.
The main argument of the book, that Mussolini came to power because his opponents were unable or unwilling to stop him. In so doing, this book makes the same mistake which most academic works on historical Fascism do, they treat it as an aberration, as a "morbid symptom" (Gramsci), without any intellectual and ideological depth. The author does write at one point in the book "Mussolini could not have made history unless he had been made by history, unless the multiple processes which had brought about Italian unification and ensured the survival of the Italian state until the First World War had not come to be unravelled during the war and the political crisis that followed". Yet, he fails to recognize that the rise of Fascism in Italy was a part of a different political context where radically different and competing political and ideological concepts offered their visions of society and was probably the last time in history when real political alternatives existed (as opposed for example to the current political context in which only one political option is allowed - that of the Culturally Marxist provenance). Added to that, there is the sort of this underlying assumption in the book of the socialists as this benevolent force in Italian society, the "good guys" as opposed to the fascist "bad guys" which is an assumption that can be made only in hindsight, and was certainly not the opinion of contemporaries who lived through the events. And this is where most books exploring Fascism fail.
All in all, the book for me is 3 out of 5 stars which is to say that, I don't necessarily think that the book is bad, but it would certainly not be my first recommendation to somebody who wishes to learn more about the history and rise of Fascism.
The main argument of the book, that Mussolini came to power because his opponents were unable or unwilling to stop him. In so doing, this book makes the same mistake which most academic works on historical Fascism do, they treat it as an aberration, as a "morbid symptom" (Gramsci), without any intellectual and ideological depth. The author does write at one point in the book "Mussolini could not have made history unless he had been made by history, unless the multiple processes which had brought about Italian unification and ensured the survival of the Italian state until the First World War had not come to be unravelled during the war and the political crisis that followed". Yet, he fails to recognize that the rise of Fascism in Italy was a part of a different political context where radically different and competing political and ideological concepts offered their visions of society and was probably the last time in history when real political alternatives existed (as opposed for example to the current political context in which only one political option is allowed - that of the Culturally Marxist provenance). Added to that, there is the sort of this underlying assumption in the book of the socialists as this benevolent force in Italian society, the "good guys" as opposed to the fascist "bad guys" which is an assumption that can be made only in hindsight, and was certainly not the opinion of contemporaries who lived through the events. And this is where most books exploring Fascism fail.
All in all, the book for me is 3 out of 5 stars which is to say that, I don't necessarily think that the book is bad, but it would certainly not be my first recommendation to somebody who wishes to learn more about the history and rise of Fascism.
May 28, 2025
Probably not a mystery why I got interested in this topic...We learn a lot about Nazi Germany and Hitler, but very little about Italy and the rise of Mussolini, so I looked for a primer. This book is only 142 pages, but it's still fairly dense with details of the various parties and political figures who made up the landscape in the period between the World Wars. While there are some significant differences with our situation today (no powerful Socialist or Communist movements in the USA), there are definitely some similar themes, and many instances where fascism could have been stopped but wasn't because people in power (politicians, industrialists, the press) thought they would be able to control it. Dictatorship in Italy lasted 20 years....let's hope we do better.
May 31, 2018
Livro muito bom para entender o contexto da ascensão do Fascismo. Há edição traduzida para o português, pela Agir.
Mostra como um Estado, enfrentando dificuldades de se consolidar e a divisão tanto externa quanto interna de seus principais partidos políticos, principalmente a esquerda, preferiu flertar com uma força paraestatal e abriu as portas para uma ditadura e o ataque a princípios liberais que pretendia justamente preservar.
E desenha um quadro ainda mais sombrio quando afirma que somente a participação na Segunda Guerra e especialmente a derrota da Itália no conflito foi capaz de desalojar o fascismo do poder.
Mostra como um Estado, enfrentando dificuldades de se consolidar e a divisão tanto externa quanto interna de seus principais partidos políticos, principalmente a esquerda, preferiu flertar com uma força paraestatal e abriu as portas para uma ditadura e o ataque a princípios liberais que pretendia justamente preservar.
E desenha um quadro ainda mais sombrio quando afirma que somente a participação na Segunda Guerra e especialmente a derrota da Itália no conflito foi capaz de desalojar o fascismo do poder.
May 18, 2024
In some ways it's a weird one, at only 140 pages, it feels more like a longer dissertation than a full-length description of Mussolini's rise. It's also helpful; for me, teaching the topic of Italian Fascism just became a bit lighter. Sassoon provides a platform for solid understanding of the gears turning towards Mussolini's dictatorship. Lots of good sources as well. Once again, the fight against Socialism leads to the rise of Fascist states - Sassoon makes it clear that the fear of Red led to the rise of Black. Altogether, a brief and informative read.
August 31, 2023
Questo libro illustra molto bene le cause che hanno portato all'acesa di Mussolini e sopratutto delinea come la mancanza di unità politica unita all'agire in nome della salvaguardia del proprio potere e dei propri privilegi abbiano portato al vertice, in un periodo di crisi e incertezze, un individuo come Mussolini
October 22, 2023
I realized how little I know about 20th century Italian history and how important the rise of fascism is for understanding what's going on today, so I read this detailed and intelligent book. The main lesson is that Mussolini got away with creating a fascist dictatorship in Italy because all the people and parties who could have stopped him couldn't unite in opposition.
June 29, 2016
Donald Sassoon's book Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism is a wonderful introduction to the early period of Mussolini's political rise. The book begins with Mussolini's so-called "March on Rome," where Mussolini makes a large political display of military might, even though his Fascist army could have easily been toppled by the Italian monarch.
Strangely, when Mussolini arrives before the king, the king turns over the political power to Mussolini. Mussolini all but grovels before the king, apologizing for his poor appearance. Then he is made prime minister over Italy.
The book speculates for a bit as to why the king would have made Mussolini prime minister legally. One of Sassoon's hypotheses is that if the king did mow down Mussolini and his Fascist soldiers--which he could have done, handily--he could have lost some of the support of the Italian people, for although there were never very many card-carrying Fascists at the time, there was enough ultra-Right support for Mussolini and hatred toward Italy's Left-wing government that it would have been viewed as a bad political move.
Thus Mussolini came to power.
The book does what its title describes, namely show the rise of Fascism. For other works on what happened thereafter, and how Mussolini fell, you will have to read something else.
Strangely, when Mussolini arrives before the king, the king turns over the political power to Mussolini. Mussolini all but grovels before the king, apologizing for his poor appearance. Then he is made prime minister over Italy.
The book speculates for a bit as to why the king would have made Mussolini prime minister legally. One of Sassoon's hypotheses is that if the king did mow down Mussolini and his Fascist soldiers--which he could have done, handily--he could have lost some of the support of the Italian people, for although there were never very many card-carrying Fascists at the time, there was enough ultra-Right support for Mussolini and hatred toward Italy's Left-wing government that it would have been viewed as a bad political move.
Thus Mussolini came to power.
The book does what its title describes, namely show the rise of Fascism. For other works on what happened thereafter, and how Mussolini fell, you will have to read something else.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews