The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)

The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)

World History

Social Movements

Law and Government

This collection uses primary sources to explore the rise of Italian Fascism and its influence on Europe.

A drawing of a *fasces* by Giuseppe Barberi (1746–1809) of Italy.

The *fasces* is a symbol developed by the Etruscans, revived during the Italian Renaissance, and used in the late nineteenth century by Italian nationalists. A bundle of logs or sticks attached to an ax, the *fasces* was taken to represent the nationalist “togetherness” that fascist politics seeks to enforce. The symbol has also been used throughout American history, especially during the American Civil War, and can be found on several American monuments, including the Lincoln Memorial.

An excerpt from Giuseppe Prezzolini’s book *Fascism*.

This brief excerpt, translated by Kathleen Macmillan, describes the origins of Fascism and the historical events that led to its rise during the depression that swept the world after World War I. Prezzolini, a writer, editor, and professor, was born in Italy. There he edited Mussolini’s first book, which was published in 1912. In 1929, Prezzolini immigrated to the United States.

The book jacket of *The Official Life of Benito Mussolini* (1939) by Giorgio Pini.

This piece of propaganda and others like it depicted Mussolini as a charismatic, larger-than-life figure who rose from humble beginnings to take on the huge responsibility of leading Rome. Mussolini commissioned several works such as this to enhance his public image.

A photograph of Hitler Youth (“boy Nazis”) marching in 1932.

In this image, entitled "Hitler Takes Another Leaf from Mussolini Book: Boy Nazis," we see Hitler Youth marching. One key feature of fascism is indoctrination of the young through propaganda and social organizations. Mussolini, for example, ensured that the children of Italy would from a young age join various fascist youth organizations such as the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) and Gioventù Italiana del Littorio (GIL). Students would pledge allegiance to him, the fascist party, and the nation of Italy while also participating in athletics and military-style drills. This strategy was replicated by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany through Hitler Youth programs.

A photograph of Italian and German youth marching together. 

This photograph was used as propaganda to promote the opportunities provided by fascist youth programs. From the age of ten, boys in Germany would join “Deutsches Jungvolk” (German Young People). When they were thirteen, boys shifted to the “Hitler Jugend” (Hitler Youth). The Hitler Youth participated primarily in “Wehrsport,” which included marching, bayonet drill, grenade throwing, trench digging, and map reading. Girls, on the other hand, joined the “Jungmadelbund” (League of Young Girls) at age ten and were moved to the “Bund Deutscher Madel” (League of German Girls) when they became teenagers. They competed in running, throwing, marching, and swimming as well as other more domestic chores such as sewing and making beds. 

A 1942 political cartoon by Theodor Seuss Geisel entitled “Jitters a la Duce.”

Geisel, known by his pen name Dr. Seuss, produced a slew of politically-charged cartoons during World War II. From 1941 to 1943 Dr. Seuss was the chief editorial cartoonist for the New York newspaper *PM*; he drew over four hundred editorial cartoons for this publication during a two-year span. In other cartoons, Seuss shows how Mussolini used propaganda to inflate his own abilities—showing himself flying an airplane, using perspective to make his figure larger than others’, and even standing on a tank as it rolls through a crowd of onlookers.

An excerpt from a book discussing Francisco Franco, the fascist leader of Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975.

In this excerpt from *Rulers of the World*, published in 1940, Maurice Crain describes the methods that Francisco Franco used to obtain and consolidate power in Spain. Employing totalitarian tactics such as propaganda, youth programs, the suppression of opposing parties, and the interdiction of particular religions, Franco constructed his own version of fascism. 


A 1940 map describing Italy’s plan to rebuild the Roman empire, taken from the newspaper *The San Francisco Examiner*.

This map from the June 2, 1940 edition of *The San Francisco Examiner* includes a discussion of “what Italy wants” as well as graphics indicating important trade routes surrounding the Italian peninsula and territories held by Italy. Italy entered World War II on June 2, 1940 by declaring war on Britain and France; this contributed to the strength of the Axis forces in the Atlantic theater of World War II.


A Spanish poster showing opposition to fascism under Franco’s regime.

This Spanish propaganda poster, entitled “¡Esto es el fascismo! miseria...destrucción...persecución...y muerte (This is Fascism! Misery...destruction... persecution... and death),” was created in 1935 by Antonio López Padial (1926-2011). Produced during the Spanish Civil War, it shows the Nazi swastika, a symbol of Hitler’s fascist Germany, surrounded by images showing the horrors of fascism.

A 1939 political cartoon suggesting that the United States Congress feels pressured to respond to fascist aggression.

This political cartoon, entitled “They'll Push It Through Without Help From Anybody” appeared in the January 31, 1939 edition of the *Washington Evening Star*. Cartoonist Clifford Berryman shows Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, and Japan pushing the American defense program through the doors of Congress. Rising militarism in Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain increased the threat of armed conflict in Europe and Asia. President Roosevelt and the Congress sought ways to strengthen the military forces of friendly powers in Europe and Asia to counterbalance the threat. World War II began in September 1939, with the German invasion of Poland.

A swastika flag, adopted by the Nazi party in Germany in 1920.

In 1920, Adolf Hitler decided that the Nazi Party needed its own insignia and flag. For Hitler, the new flag had to be “a symbol of our own struggle” as well as “highly effective as a poster.” On August 7, 1920, at the Salzburg Congress, this flag became the official emblem of the Nazi Party. In *Mein Kampf*, Hitler described the Nazis' new flag: “In red we see the social idea of the movement, in white the nationalistic idea, in the swastika the mission of the struggle for the victory of the Aryan man, and, by the same token, the victory of the idea of creative work, which as such always has been and always will be anti-Semitic.”

A news bulletin from the American Nationalist Confederation explaining the meaning of the swastika to its membership.

The American Nationalist Confederation was a group formed by the fascist George Deatherage, who sought to unite racists, anti-Semites, and other fascist extremists under one banner. This bulletin was published by Deatherage on April 23, 1938 and sought to explain the origins of the swastika symbol, pointing out that it is a type of Christian cross and blaming "Jewish propaganda" for casting odium on the emblem.

Questions

1. Look at the [drawing of a *fasces*](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-rise-of-italian-fascism-and-its-influence-on-europe/sources/1357). Why do you think the fasces symbol has endured and even been adopted by American society? Why do you think this image has not been removed from American monuments in light of the fact that Mussolini used it as a symbol for Fascism?
2. Read the [excerpt from Prezzolini’s book](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-rise-of-italian-fascism-and-its-influence-on-europe/sources/1358). What evidence does the author present to explain the rise of Fascism in Italy?
3. Mussolini went to great lengths to perfect his public image as well as the public image of his political party. Examine the [book jacket](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-rise-of-italian-fascism-and-its-influence-on-europe/sources/1359), the [photograph of Hitler Youth](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-rise-of-italian-fascism-and-its-influence-on-europe/sources/1360), and the [photograph of Italian and German youth marching together](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-rise-of-italian-fascism-and-its-influence-on-europe/sources/1361). Why do you think Mussolini worked so hard to perfect his public image? What was he hoping to accomplish?
4. Closely analyze the [1942 political cartoon](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-rise-of-italian-fascism-and-its-influence-on-europe/sources/1362) as a response to Mussolini’s propaganda.
5. Using evidence from the [book discussing Francisco Franco](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-rise-of-italian-fascism-and-its-influence-on-europe/sources/1363), describe how Franco’s fascism differed from that of Hitler and others.
6. Leaders in Germany, Spain, and other nations followed Mussolini’s example as the idea of Fascism began to spread. Many citizens openly resisted the ideas of this new form of government. Using the [1942 political cartoon](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-rise-of-italian-fascism-and-its-influence-on-europe/sources/1362) and the [Spanish poster](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-rise-of-italian-fascism-and-its-influence-on-europe/sources/1365), describe how anti-fascists characterized fascism.
7. Symbols are a huge part of any fascist regime. Look at the [swastika flag](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-rise-of-italian-fascism-and-its-influence-on-europe/sources/1367) and the [news bulletin](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-rise-of-italian-fascism-and-its-influence-on-europe/sources/1368) from the American Nationalist Confederation about the swastika. Why do you think there is such power behind this symbol? Can you think of other symbols that are equally powerful?

Activity

1. Ask students to construct a primary source set for either Hitler’s Germany or Franco’s Spain using items from the DPLA. Students can compare the social, political, and economic climate of the country they research to that of Mussolini’s Italy. 
2. Ask students to research other propaganda that Mussolini used to improve his and his government’s public image, as well as other images used for anti-fascist campaigns. Ask students to analyze the visual strategies of Fascist and anti-Fascist imagery, presenting their findings in an oral presentation using exhibits.
3. Ask students to explore “[Italian Life under Fascism: Selections from the Fry Collection](https://www.library.wisc.edu/exhibits/online-exhibits/special-collections/italian-life-under-fascism-selections-from-the-fry-collection/).” This collection of primary sources tells the story of Fascism in Mussolini’s Italy. Topics include education (textbooks, posters, school notebooks), family life (newspapers, magazines), Fascist youth organizations, Mussolini's foreign adventures, women and Fascism, culture under Fascism, the end of the Fascist regime, propaganda, Il Duce (Mussolini), opposition to Fascism, and "the racial question" (anti-Semitism in Fascist Italy). Each student should choose three to five artifacts from different subgroups that nonetheless relate to each other in capturing an aspect of Fascist Italy. Ask students to prepare a brief oral report for their classmates about what they chose, why, and what their chosen artifacts show.

Teaching Guide: Exploring the Rise of Italian Fascism

Resources

1. [Rise of Mussolini and Fascism](https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/euro-hist/mussolini-fascism/v/fascism-and-mussolini), Khan Academy. 
2. [Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)](http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/mussolini_benito.shtml), BBC. 
3. “[How Italian Fascists Succeeded in Taking Over Italy](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fascism/2017/01/how_italian_fascists_succeeded_in_taking_over_italy.html),” Slate.com. 

Overview

From the conclusion of World War I and the worldwide depression that followed rose a political and social movement that shaped world history. The name comes from *fasces*, a bundle of rods with a projecting ax blade, which was used as symbol by the early Etruscans and ancient Romans to indicate power and strength through unity. Political groups in nineteenth-century Italy were called *fascio* in a nod to the same idea. In 1919 Benito Mussolini, a veteran and former socialist who had broken with that party over the question of Italy’s intervention in World War I, founded the nationalist *Fasci di Combattimento*, or “fighting band.” Mussolini’s *Fasci* came to be known as the Fascist Party. 

Mussolini advocated for an extreme, right-wing nationalism and centralized, anti-democratic power. These elements also characterized fascist regimes that arose in Germany, Argentina, Spain, and other countries prior to or immediately following the Second World War. Fascism responded to what was perceived as the failures of both liberal and socialist ideologies. It is a kind of totalitarianism, demanding reverence for the state and its leader and an elimination of political opposition. Fascist regimes are also characterized by a reliance on propaganda, a focus on militarism, and a concern with indoctrinating youth, as well as by the persecution, ethnic cleansing, or genocide of minority groups. 

Adolf Hitler used Italian Fascism as a model for his own, though his version of fascism was more violent, racist, and genocidal. In 1936 Mussolini formally signed a treaty with Hitler to form a Rome-Berlin “axis.” 

English

The Rise of Italian Fascism and Its Influence on Europe

rise-italian-fascism_06_afef6025dd7e1a8ae2221aa16bc535f2.jpg

Courtesy of UC San Diego Library, Special Collections and Archives via California Digital Library.

Seuss, “Jitters a la Duce,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/afef6025dd7e1a8ae2221aa16bc535f2.

A 1942 political cartoon by Theodor Seuss Geisel entitled “Jitters a la Duce.”

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 6 of 12 in the Primary Source Set The Rise of Italian Fascism and Its Influence on Europe