HIST 410N Week 2 Assignment: Essay – Video Analysis | Video Analysis: Benito Mussolini (solution) LATEST UPDATE 2021

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Video Analysis: Benito Mussolini Daimarys Casabona Manresa Chamberlain College of Nursing HIST410N-10352 Contemporary History 01/19/2020 In this video, the life of Benito Mussolini has been d ... etailed, including his rise to power and his fall. The video paints an image of how Mussolini was the pioneer dictator of the 20th VIDEO ANALYSIS: BENITO MUSSOLINI 2 century, having been dismissed as a wag whose rule was Hitler and Stalin’s shadow (Stevenson, & Cameron, 2018). Nonetheless, among the despots who ruled in the 20th century, Mussolini was a pioneer who used extreme tactics such as undermining the judiciary and indoctrinating children in the name of seizing power. Mussolini developed the ideology of fascism that brought darkness over Europe. The paper describes three interesting aspects of the video aligning with foreign policy, violent and/or non-violent movements for social, economic, and Governmental authority/loss of personal liberties. One of the exciting things noticeable is the fascist foreign policy. Mussolini plans were protecting the Mediterranean Sea as well as some sections of Africa.In just his 1st year of the ruling (1923), he launched an attack against the Greek island of Corfu as a justification of the killings of 4 Italians. Mussolini played a statesman of Europe as a tactic that proved to work. For example, he made agreements with Yugoslavia, which followed the proposal of Fiume to Italy. In Libya, Mussolini strengthened the position of Italy, made more investments into the military, and made further plans to extend into Africa, in particular, eying Ethiopia where Adva’s extermina- tion had not been justified since 1896 (Gooch, 2007). In 1935, Ethiopia was attacked, and after defeating the nation Victor Emanuel III, an Italian ruler, was declared to be the head of the coun- try. Ethiopia is one of the few countries in Africa which were not colonized even though at least 400,000 Italian soldiers were involved in the dispute using brutal tactics such as toxin gas bombs and slaughter (Pini, 2019). The rise of the fascist movement was solely because of the violence used. Mussolini and his followers benefited from the strikers by workers to call for violence (Stevenson, & Cameron, 2018). Between 1919 and 1922, Mussolini utilized paramilitary violence to have Italy destabi- lized, creating a perception that there was a crisis in leadership, and he was the only ‘savior.’ VIDEO ANALYSIS: BENITO MUSSOLINI 3 Consequently, it became easier for him to undermine the authority of established institutions such as the judiciary replacing it with the dictatorial ruling (Ebner, 2010). When seeking to con- quer nations, violence was the most preferred tact for the Italian ruler. Following his totalitarian- ism regime, Mussolini was able to change the nation’s critical structures. For instance, he altered the education system with the hope of changing people’s mentality and way of life (Duiker, 2015). Giovanni Gentile became the education minister, a position that befitted him, considering he was a philosopher and politician and hence suitable to spread the fascism ideology from a young age via the education system. Gentile was quick to advocate for the use of physical edu- cation in schools, hoping that there would be an emergence of a physically and healthy fit war- rior country. Creating a new education system that promoted his ideologies was one of the non- violent movements Mussolini successfully developed in his reign (Watt, 1981). Mussolini’s government authority can be assessed through three areas: social, monetary, and politics. The political understandings he had were supposed to strengthen his capabilities. Being the chief administrator in the alliance government, he lacks full authority or control, as he had to deal with 35 other extremists. Thus, to be in complete control, Mussolini had to use effec- tive strategies for achieving balance and cooperation. One of the strategies was forming an ad- ministration that pleased the majority of the people (Stevenson, & Cameron, 2018). As a result, Mussolini assumed control of all the significant positions in the government. Using threats to muscle his way into what he wanted was a norm. For example, during the first speech, he made it clear that dissolving the parliament was not an option if there was no adequate participation. Through manipulation and propaganda, he requested to have full authority for a year, and this was granted by parliament (Eatwell, 2011). In 1923, there was the formation of the fascist Great Council, which acted as the fundamentalist party governing body. The council was an essential VIDEO ANALYSIS: BENITO MUSSOLINI 4 element in his leadership as it was involved in making critical decisions. The Nazi’s ousted the police and were directly controlled by Mussolini. Political rivals were captured, but no action was taken against MSVN, National Fascist Party’s paramilitary wing. Political opponents of Mussolini were imprisoned, beaten, arrested, and at times killed as he sought to consolidate power. In 1925, Mussolini would show tyrannical power calling for an end to freedom of expres- sion and free press. He assumed the title of Duce, where it was possible to pass laws without consultations with the parliament (Duiker, 2015). The military and other people in leadership roles within the government were expected to make a solemn devotion vow to him. Mussolini would also make Italy become a single state party where no other ideological group except the fascist was allowed. Individuals in parliament seen as resistors were ousted, and any delegation of persons had to have the consent of Mussolini. Economic strategies by Mussolini were built to have individuals receive the necessary help they required to survive. For instance, in 1924, the Southern Problem struggles meant to eradicate the poverty in Sicily, and southern Italy turned out to be a disappointment. The developmental plans were not actualized, and greedy individuals stole the monies (Pini, 2019). The devastation of south Italy would be the start of the fall of Mus- solini. References [Show More]

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