Je condamne fermement.
Consequently the financial burden of the project fell entirely upon the state's budget. Despite facing numerous challenges, Mussolini was determined to see the land reclamation project through going so far as to attach his own name to the official law and integral reclamation passed in 1928. He was putting a lot of stakes on his own image to make this project work. It was a point of no return and if the fascists failed it would be a huge propaganda loss for them. However the legislation itself did not introduce groundbreaking solutions to the prevailing issues. Its primary feature was a series of long-term Financial commitments leading to a steady increase in the Project's budget from 1930 : 13,5 million to 257 million in 1943. He was just throwing money at the problem hoping it would go away. The law incentivized land reclamation by promising substantial Financial rewards to those who participated yet the strategy was fundamentally flawed from the outset as the government initially lacked the necessary funds to finance such an ambitious project. This led to a reliance on future budgets to cover the escalating costs. Mussolini ambitiously proclaimed that 8 million hectar of land would be reclaimed under his directive a figure that was highly unrealistic given that Italy encompasses only 27 million hectares of land. In total as the reclamation project concluded the fascist regime announced the establishment of numerous towns claiming that 4 million hectar of land were prepared for cultivation. Source :" La bonifica in Italia " E. Novello. Page 280.
While this achievement fell short of the initial 8 million hectar goal the reported 4 million hectars was still a considerable accomplishment. However a closer scrutiny revealed that only 2 million hectars were actually ready for farming moreover of this land 1 and a half million hectars had been previously reclaimed under the liberal governments. So during the 10 years of reclamation the fascists only managed to claim 500,000 hectars. That was a massive failure. As it turns out the fascists never had all the money for land reclamation as they made it seem with their budget. Instead it was only made to look like it for propaganda purposes. In fact very few projects were completed as the economic historian Rolf Petri wrote : " Many Reclamation consortia announc the commencement of work but often only formally. " Source : " Storia economica d'Italia " Prtri. Page 252. To maintain their reputation musolini orchestrated a perception that the reclamation efforts were proceeding successfully despite the fact that very little actual work had commenced. Renzo De Felice, one of Italy's leading historians on fascism had this to say in regards to land reclamation : " Overall, the results of integral land reclamation were inferior not only to those scheduled in his original plan by serpieri but also to the expectations raised in the country by the massive propaganda campaign and were eventually disproportionate to the magnitude of the economic efforts sustained. " Source : " Mussolini il Duce " Page 144.
Of for the myth consisting of believing that Mussolini was a man of law and justice, That espite the inherent corruption and abuses of power typical of totalitarian regimes musolini was a paragon of honesty and morality within Italian politics upholding Justice and law. From the outset adherence to strict rules was hardly the norm for Mussolini and his followers. The fascist paramilitaries frequently resorted to violent beatings and vigilante justice with with Mussolini and the party largely ignoring these actions. Even if we supposed that it was necessary to put Italy on the right path, there is another problem. That of corruption, one of the core messages championed by the fascists was the imperative to liberate the country from the corrupt dishonest and parasitic political system of liberal Italy which had been mared by scandals revealing corruption and misuse of public funds. The fascists claim to be Crusaders against corruption intent on cleansing Italy of its malactor and imprisoning them. GIacomo Matteotti prove it's not the case. From the start, Matteotti was a thorn inside of Mussolini's party due to the fact that he was an Incorruptible defender of the rule of law and that he was also an expert on budget policies and economic Affairs. An Italian journalist Carlos Silvestri would recall that : " Matteotti was a man who read the government budget as I would read a novel. And from his reading, Matteotti had come to the hair raising conclusions about some of the expenditure items the slipshot accounting and so on. " Source : " Mussolini, e il dramma italiano " Silvestro. Page 58.
In early 1924 as a member of the Chamber of deputies budget committee, Matteotti had pointed out the disorder of accounts and the fact that the figures have been deliberately altered by the government stating openly : " From the figures anticipated by the premier, it transpired that the balanced budget that the government officially submitted to Parliament and The Sovereign on the occasion of the opening of the legislature, was a fake, whereas the real one which envisaged a deficit of 2 billion lire, was the one the government was trying to have passed by the general budget committee. " Source : ' Il delitto Matteotti " by Mc Canali. Page 40. The threat that Matteotti posed to the fascist party was clear. His ability to uncover and expose Financial corruption within the government made him a significant enemy. He diligently worked to reveal government counting frauds and hold officials accountable for their deceit and failures. More importantly, Matteotti, aimed to demonstrate that melini's party was no better than its predecessors. Arguably it was even worse, despite its claims of eradicating corruption. On the eve of a critical speech he was scheduled to deliver in the chamber of deputies about the provisional budget, Matteotti was abducted by fascist operatives. He was tor tortured and eventually killed. According to Pietro Nenni, former Italian politician : " there was a good reason why he was murdered the day before that session " Matteotti intended to attack the policy of De Stefani ( Mussolini's finance minister ) and draw the country's attention to the characters who had got rich too quick in the shadow of Palazzo Chigi and The Palazzo Del Viminale and a level of corruption identical to the one that had characterized the second French Empire. " Source : " Mussolini il fascista " Page 625.
So not only had the fascist been caught misusing public funds and trying to cover it up an act of corruption, They seemingly vowed to fight against but they also murdered and tortured the man who was going to expose them. Matteotti also seemed to contain information on the American Sinclair Oil Corporation bringing local fascists leaders for the right to exploit potential oil reserves in some areas of Italy. Among those involved figured Mussolini's brother Arnaldo Mussolini. The italian historian Mauro Tanali wrote : " Aldo Gibelli, the Corriere Italiano accountant let sleep a number of serious indiscretions which were pounced on by the communist Deputy Ezio Riboldi. Gibelli had confided to acquaintances of his that he knew for a fact that Matteotti was kidnapped because he was was believed to be in possession of a document regarding the Sinclair agreement that proved it was reached on the condition of the payment of six hefty bribes to as many leading members of the fascist government. " Source : Il delitto Mussolini " Page 237.
In January 1925 musolini himself in a famous speech in Parliament assumed : " Political moral and historical responsibility for all that has happened. " Source : Mussolini, il fascista " De Felice. Page 721. As Renzo De Feliche wrote again : " Judging from the way Mussolini talked his moral in transigence was absolute. But in reality he applied the rule only to the small fry when condemnation of minor cases was unlikely to provoke scandal and, indeed, when he thought punishing the culprits might even benefit the regime. His behavior was entirely different in more serious cases involving figures in the public eye that would provoke scandal. " Source : Mussolini, il duce " Page 203. The case of Roberto Farinacci is also a prime example. He was a senator and fascist leader. Historian Paul Corner wrote about him : " Despite his dubious professional credentials as a lawyer Roberto Farinacci was able to demand and receive six figure fees for interventions in in legal cases in which he used his political Cloud to fix sentences. " Source : " Corruzione di sistema " Paul Corner. Page 10. Mussolini was aware of this but turned a blind eye on it.
Consequently the financial burden of the project fell entirely upon the state's budget. Despite facing numerous challenges, Mussolini was determined to see the land reclamation project through going so far as to attach his own name to the official law and integral reclamation passed in 1928. He was putting a lot of stakes on his own image to make this project work. It was a point of no return and if the fascists failed it would be a huge propaganda loss for them. However the legislation itself did not introduce groundbreaking solutions to the prevailing issues. Its primary feature was a series of long-term Financial commitments leading to a steady increase in the Project's budget from 1930 : 13,5 million to 257 million in 1943. He was just throwing money at the problem hoping it would go away. The law incentivized land reclamation by promising substantial Financial rewards to those who participated yet the strategy was fundamentally flawed from the outset as the government initially lacked the necessary funds to finance such an ambitious project. This led to a reliance on future budgets to cover the escalating costs. Mussolini ambitiously proclaimed that 8 million hectar of land would be reclaimed under his directive a figure that was highly unrealistic given that Italy encompasses only 27 million hectares of land. In total as the reclamation project concluded the fascist regime announced the establishment of numerous towns claiming that 4 million hectar of land were prepared for cultivation. Source :" La bonifica in Italia " E. Novello. Page 280.
While this achievement fell short of the initial 8 million hectar goal the reported 4 million hectars was still a considerable accomplishment. However a closer scrutiny revealed that only 2 million hectars were actually ready for farming moreover of this land 1 and a half million hectars had been previously reclaimed under the liberal governments. So during the 10 years of reclamation the fascists only managed to claim 500,000 hectars. That was a massive failure. As it turns out the fascists never had all the money for land reclamation as they made it seem with their budget. Instead it was only made to look like it for propaganda purposes. In fact very few projects were completed as the economic historian Rolf Petri wrote : " Many Reclamation consortia announc the commencement of work but often only formally. " Source : " Storia economica d'Italia " Prtri. Page 252. To maintain their reputation musolini orchestrated a perception that the reclamation efforts were proceeding successfully despite the fact that very little actual work had commenced. Renzo De Felice, one of Italy's leading historians on fascism had this to say in regards to land reclamation : " Overall, the results of integral land reclamation were inferior not only to those scheduled in his original plan by serpieri but also to the expectations raised in the country by the massive propaganda campaign and were eventually disproportionate to the magnitude of the economic efforts sustained. " Source : " Mussolini il Duce " Page 144.
Of for the myth consisting of believing that Mussolini was a man of law and justice, That espite the inherent corruption and abuses of power typical of totalitarian regimes musolini was a paragon of honesty and morality within Italian politics upholding Justice and law. From the outset adherence to strict rules was hardly the norm for Mussolini and his followers. The fascist paramilitaries frequently resorted to violent beatings and vigilante justice with with Mussolini and the party largely ignoring these actions. Even if we supposed that it was necessary to put Italy on the right path, there is another problem. That of corruption, one of the core messages championed by the fascists was the imperative to liberate the country from the corrupt dishonest and parasitic political system of liberal Italy which had been mared by scandals revealing corruption and misuse of public funds. The fascists claim to be Crusaders against corruption intent on cleansing Italy of its malactor and imprisoning them. GIacomo Matteotti prove it's not the case. From the start, Matteotti was a thorn inside of Mussolini's party due to the fact that he was an Incorruptible defender of the rule of law and that he was also an expert on budget policies and economic Affairs. An Italian journalist Carlos Silvestri would recall that : " Matteotti was a man who read the government budget as I would read a novel. And from his reading, Matteotti had come to the hair raising conclusions about some of the expenditure items the slipshot accounting and so on. " Source : " Mussolini, e il dramma italiano " Silvestro. Page 58.
In early 1924 as a member of the Chamber of deputies budget committee, Matteotti had pointed out the disorder of accounts and the fact that the figures have been deliberately altered by the government stating openly : " From the figures anticipated by the premier, it transpired that the balanced budget that the government officially submitted to Parliament and The Sovereign on the occasion of the opening of the legislature, was a fake, whereas the real one which envisaged a deficit of 2 billion lire, was the one the government was trying to have passed by the general budget committee. " Source : ' Il delitto Matteotti " by Mc Canali. Page 40. The threat that Matteotti posed to the fascist party was clear. His ability to uncover and expose Financial corruption within the government made him a significant enemy. He diligently worked to reveal government counting frauds and hold officials accountable for their deceit and failures. More importantly, Matteotti, aimed to demonstrate that melini's party was no better than its predecessors. Arguably it was even worse, despite its claims of eradicating corruption. On the eve of a critical speech he was scheduled to deliver in the chamber of deputies about the provisional budget, Matteotti was abducted by fascist operatives. He was tor tortured and eventually killed. According to Pietro Nenni, former Italian politician : " there was a good reason why he was murdered the day before that session " Matteotti intended to attack the policy of De Stefani ( Mussolini's finance minister ) and draw the country's attention to the characters who had got rich too quick in the shadow of Palazzo Chigi and The Palazzo Del Viminale and a level of corruption identical to the one that had characterized the second French Empire. " Source : " Mussolini il fascista " Page 625.
So not only had the fascist been caught misusing public funds and trying to cover it up an act of corruption, They seemingly vowed to fight against but they also murdered and tortured the man who was going to expose them. Matteotti also seemed to contain information on the American Sinclair Oil Corporation bringing local fascists leaders for the right to exploit potential oil reserves in some areas of Italy. Among those involved figured Mussolini's brother Arnaldo Mussolini. The italian historian Mauro Tanali wrote : " Aldo Gibelli, the Corriere Italiano accountant let sleep a number of serious indiscretions which were pounced on by the communist Deputy Ezio Riboldi. Gibelli had confided to acquaintances of his that he knew for a fact that Matteotti was kidnapped because he was was believed to be in possession of a document regarding the Sinclair agreement that proved it was reached on the condition of the payment of six hefty bribes to as many leading members of the fascist government. " Source : Il delitto Mussolini " Page 237.
In January 1925 musolini himself in a famous speech in Parliament assumed : " Political moral and historical responsibility for all that has happened. " Source : Mussolini, il fascista " De Felice. Page 721. As Renzo De Feliche wrote again : " Judging from the way Mussolini talked his moral in transigence was absolute. But in reality he applied the rule only to the small fry when condemnation of minor cases was unlikely to provoke scandal and, indeed, when he thought punishing the culprits might even benefit the regime. His behavior was entirely different in more serious cases involving figures in the public eye that would provoke scandal. " Source : Mussolini, il duce " Page 203. The case of Roberto Farinacci is also a prime example. He was a senator and fascist leader. Historian Paul Corner wrote about him : " Despite his dubious professional credentials as a lawyer Roberto Farinacci was able to demand and receive six figure fees for interventions in in legal cases in which he used his political Cloud to fix sentences. " Source : " Corruzione di sistema " Paul Corner. Page 10. Mussolini was aware of this but turned a blind eye on it.
Je condamne fermement.
Then we have the myth about the good fascist economy. Some claim that under his leadership Italians were wealthier than they are today and that his economic policies pulled Italy out of the Great Depression. To see if that's true, we must take a look at the state of the Italian economy before and under Mussolini's rule. After WW1 their economy was in serious trouble. Due to the war's heavy expenses public debt soared from just 15 000 lire to 92 million between 1914 and 1918. Ratio debt to GDP has been raied to 125%. Many credit Mussolini for rescuing Italy from this economic crisis something the previous liberal government failed to accomplish. But in 1922 even before the march on Rome the Liberals were already introducing decent measures to combat the debt and it even began to fall. As the historian Gaetano Salvemini wrote : In 1922 hence before the march on Rome AC situation was achieved in which it was possible to half and pair down the growth of public debt. " Source : Storia economica d'Italia dalla grande guerra at miracolo economico " Reti. Page 61. Saying the liberal party was completely incompetent in handling the economy isn't entirely accurate yet some Mussolini's fans say that he and the fascist sped up Italy's recovery. When musolini took over his government didn't actually improve the situation. Throughout the 1920s fascist Italy's GDP never quite caught up with the glob Global recovery while France and the UK were already stabilizing their economies. Some will say that in 1925 Italy actually managed to turn out a balanced budget after so many harsh years of debt and deficit. That in 2 years, he was able to declare the state budget to be balanced and this is true. Mussolini was quick to capitalize on this issue and take credit for it. However the interesting part is that this one wasn't due to his economic policies. If you look into the archives you'll find that it was the repayment of major war debts that led to the balanced budget.
The repayments were funded partly by War operations from Germany not by fascist policies. Italian economist Giorgio Mortara pointed out in 1922 that if Mussolini hadn't implemented any of its policies and the previous liberal strategy had continued the budget deficit would have resolved itself by 1924 without the war debts. So instead of speeding up recovery melini's policies may have actually delayed it. Future Italian president Luigi Einaudi said that the budget had already been balanced. : " In short I say that the budget inherited from the war and after the war has already been balanced for two fiscal years, and if there is to be a deficit then it will be a novelty with new causes that will have nothing to do with previous and presennt rulers. " Source : " Lineamenti dell'evoluzione del debito pubblico in italia " Dr Fausto. Page 92. Alberto de Stefani was appointed by Mussolini as Minister of Finance. However Stefani didn't bring anything new to the economy. He mainly continued the liberal party's policy of austerity but when he attempted more explicitly fascist policies it triggered a stock market crash and a financial crisis that rippled throughout the entire banking system. Some might think that only the first few years were turbulent but the rest was ok. Not quite. Many Mussolini's initiatives yielded disappointing results and a notable example was his so-called quota 90 monetary Revolution. He wanted to stabilize Italy's currency, the lira by setting it at a fixed rate of 90 lira = 1 british pound. The British pound was a stable currency tied to the value of gold. By pegging the Lira to the pound, the currency couldn't change with Italy's economic conditions or its relationship to other Global currencies.
To strenghten the Lira, one of the measures taken involved reducing wages for nearly the entire Italian work force. In 1927 when the exchange rate was set at 88 Lira for 1 British pound, Mussolini celebrated the success of his plan. This situation helped big companies close to his government because they could buy raw materials from other countries more cheaply and reduce their workers wages by nearly 20%. However this meant that most Italian workers ended up earning less money and couldn't save as much. The first fascist intervention in the economy thus made Italians not richer but poorer in terms of spending power by an average of 15% and worst of all, the prices of consumer goods did not change. As the historian La Francesca pointed out : " Wages and salaries were cut by 10 to 20% in a situation that deprived workers of the right to strike and access to authentic Trade union representation with retail prices staying relatively stable. This trend was to continue in the years that followed. " Source : " La politica economica del fascismo " La Francesca, page 47. Mussolini is also sometimes credited to have saved Italy from the Great Depression making Italy recover faster than other Western Nations. While Italy was less impacted by the financial crash in 1929 it was partly because its economic system was less developed than those of other nations. To measure the impact let's take it Italian income in 1929 as 100 and see how it changed. In the following years between 1930 and 1931 income didn't drop significantly with only 93 and it saw slight growth in 1937 with 110. For Italy, all data is taken from the Finance Minsitry. As for Britain and France, they are coming from United Nations statistics office. All cited in " Mussolini il duce " by Renzo de Felice. Page 59.
However from then until World War II the Italian economy essentially stagnated in contrast Britain and France recovered much more robustly despite experiencing a harsher impact from the crash with France's income reaching a minimum of 153 in 1938. Italy's industrial production only returned to pre-depression levels after 1937 and real salaries didn't get back to 1928 levels until after 1938. However it wasn't just poor decisionmaking that impacted the Italian economy. The fascist expansionist policies also played a role these included included the occupation of Libya, the war in Ethiopia, mass participation in the Spanish Civil War, the invasion of Albania and eventually World War II. A study on public debt by the treasury Ministry revealed that the cost of these military Expeditions was around 5.2 billion Lire, roughly 2/3 more than the cost of World War I . Mussolini's aggressive foreign policies didn't significantly increase Italy's public debt which remained around 9 % of GDP until World War II started. This might seem like good news because it looks like the government kept depth under control. However the real reason is that Italy had trouble borrowing money from other countries because Mussolini's government was often in conflict with countries like Great Britain which dominated the Global Lending Market. Italy found it hard to get loans. This lack of access to International loans made Mussolini look for money elsewhere. He asked Italians to save more which made it more expensive for the government to manage its debt, he stopped trying to balance the budget and used risky economic strategies. He reduced public services that improve people's lives like welfare, he increased taxes and he even used Italy's gold reserves which are supposed to protect the country's economic stability for regular spending.
Galeazzo Ciano, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and son-in-law to Mussolini, wrote in his diary that musolini was confident in gold reserves but : " But the Duce does not add that during that time we consumed 12 billions in foreign securities and 5 billions in gold. Now our reserves have been reduced to 1.4 miserable billions and when these are gone, we shall have only our eyes to weep with. " Source :" The CIano Diaries, 1939 - 1943 " Ciano. Page 207. So, if anything the fascist period was a difficult one for the Italian economy on account of both the international economic situation and of the national systems age old structural problems and worst of all almost all the initiatives undertaken during this period only helped to make things worse.
Also, did Mussolini really made Italy great and respected by reforming the Italian Army and instiling the fascist spirit into the hearts of Italians. Some argue that Italy's underperformance during World War II was mainly due to royalist generals and fascist officials who lacked the skill to manage the war. Over time fascist propaganda created a myth surrounding Mussolini, presenting him as both a military and political leader through elaborate uniforms and theatrical parades.When the fascist took power after the March on Rome, their primary goal as outlined by the fascist ideology was to completely transform society and give birth to a new fascist man. Italian historian Del Boca described what this new man was actually supposed to be : "For Mussolini the new Italian meant above all a new soldier more tenacious, more aggressive and even more cruel who worthily befitted the myth of the Roman spirit and made people forget the mediocre or dire showings of italietta over the years. " Source :" Italiani, Brava Gente? " Page 44. Over the years for two decades the fascist regime aimed to mold the Italian people according to principles of force and militaristic masculinity. A harsh militarism that sometimes surpassed even that of the German Empire. To instill this mindset children were taught from a young age how to handle rifles and March information laying the groundwork for the new Italian man as they grew older. While some might view this approach as positive it had a significant downside. The requirement for the fascist man to be aggressive and ferocious led certain parts of the army especially the colonial administration to adopt these extreme principles.
Then we have the myth about the good fascist economy. Some claim that under his leadership Italians were wealthier than they are today and that his economic policies pulled Italy out of the Great Depression. To see if that's true, we must take a look at the state of the Italian economy before and under Mussolini's rule. After WW1 their economy was in serious trouble. Due to the war's heavy expenses public debt soared from just 15 000 lire to 92 million between 1914 and 1918. Ratio debt to GDP has been raied to 125%. Many credit Mussolini for rescuing Italy from this economic crisis something the previous liberal government failed to accomplish. But in 1922 even before the march on Rome the Liberals were already introducing decent measures to combat the debt and it even began to fall. As the historian Gaetano Salvemini wrote : In 1922 hence before the march on Rome AC situation was achieved in which it was possible to half and pair down the growth of public debt. " Source : Storia economica d'Italia dalla grande guerra at miracolo economico " Reti. Page 61. Saying the liberal party was completely incompetent in handling the economy isn't entirely accurate yet some Mussolini's fans say that he and the fascist sped up Italy's recovery. When musolini took over his government didn't actually improve the situation. Throughout the 1920s fascist Italy's GDP never quite caught up with the glob Global recovery while France and the UK were already stabilizing their economies. Some will say that in 1925 Italy actually managed to turn out a balanced budget after so many harsh years of debt and deficit. That in 2 years, he was able to declare the state budget to be balanced and this is true. Mussolini was quick to capitalize on this issue and take credit for it. However the interesting part is that this one wasn't due to his economic policies. If you look into the archives you'll find that it was the repayment of major war debts that led to the balanced budget.
The repayments were funded partly by War operations from Germany not by fascist policies. Italian economist Giorgio Mortara pointed out in 1922 that if Mussolini hadn't implemented any of its policies and the previous liberal strategy had continued the budget deficit would have resolved itself by 1924 without the war debts. So instead of speeding up recovery melini's policies may have actually delayed it. Future Italian president Luigi Einaudi said that the budget had already been balanced. : " In short I say that the budget inherited from the war and after the war has already been balanced for two fiscal years, and if there is to be a deficit then it will be a novelty with new causes that will have nothing to do with previous and presennt rulers. " Source : " Lineamenti dell'evoluzione del debito pubblico in italia " Dr Fausto. Page 92. Alberto de Stefani was appointed by Mussolini as Minister of Finance. However Stefani didn't bring anything new to the economy. He mainly continued the liberal party's policy of austerity but when he attempted more explicitly fascist policies it triggered a stock market crash and a financial crisis that rippled throughout the entire banking system. Some might think that only the first few years were turbulent but the rest was ok. Not quite. Many Mussolini's initiatives yielded disappointing results and a notable example was his so-called quota 90 monetary Revolution. He wanted to stabilize Italy's currency, the lira by setting it at a fixed rate of 90 lira = 1 british pound. The British pound was a stable currency tied to the value of gold. By pegging the Lira to the pound, the currency couldn't change with Italy's economic conditions or its relationship to other Global currencies.
To strenghten the Lira, one of the measures taken involved reducing wages for nearly the entire Italian work force. In 1927 when the exchange rate was set at 88 Lira for 1 British pound, Mussolini celebrated the success of his plan. This situation helped big companies close to his government because they could buy raw materials from other countries more cheaply and reduce their workers wages by nearly 20%. However this meant that most Italian workers ended up earning less money and couldn't save as much. The first fascist intervention in the economy thus made Italians not richer but poorer in terms of spending power by an average of 15% and worst of all, the prices of consumer goods did not change. As the historian La Francesca pointed out : " Wages and salaries were cut by 10 to 20% in a situation that deprived workers of the right to strike and access to authentic Trade union representation with retail prices staying relatively stable. This trend was to continue in the years that followed. " Source : " La politica economica del fascismo " La Francesca, page 47. Mussolini is also sometimes credited to have saved Italy from the Great Depression making Italy recover faster than other Western Nations. While Italy was less impacted by the financial crash in 1929 it was partly because its economic system was less developed than those of other nations. To measure the impact let's take it Italian income in 1929 as 100 and see how it changed. In the following years between 1930 and 1931 income didn't drop significantly with only 93 and it saw slight growth in 1937 with 110. For Italy, all data is taken from the Finance Minsitry. As for Britain and France, they are coming from United Nations statistics office. All cited in " Mussolini il duce " by Renzo de Felice. Page 59.
However from then until World War II the Italian economy essentially stagnated in contrast Britain and France recovered much more robustly despite experiencing a harsher impact from the crash with France's income reaching a minimum of 153 in 1938. Italy's industrial production only returned to pre-depression levels after 1937 and real salaries didn't get back to 1928 levels until after 1938. However it wasn't just poor decisionmaking that impacted the Italian economy. The fascist expansionist policies also played a role these included included the occupation of Libya, the war in Ethiopia, mass participation in the Spanish Civil War, the invasion of Albania and eventually World War II. A study on public debt by the treasury Ministry revealed that the cost of these military Expeditions was around 5.2 billion Lire, roughly 2/3 more than the cost of World War I . Mussolini's aggressive foreign policies didn't significantly increase Italy's public debt which remained around 9 % of GDP until World War II started. This might seem like good news because it looks like the government kept depth under control. However the real reason is that Italy had trouble borrowing money from other countries because Mussolini's government was often in conflict with countries like Great Britain which dominated the Global Lending Market. Italy found it hard to get loans. This lack of access to International loans made Mussolini look for money elsewhere. He asked Italians to save more which made it more expensive for the government to manage its debt, he stopped trying to balance the budget and used risky economic strategies. He reduced public services that improve people's lives like welfare, he increased taxes and he even used Italy's gold reserves which are supposed to protect the country's economic stability for regular spending.
Galeazzo Ciano, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and son-in-law to Mussolini, wrote in his diary that musolini was confident in gold reserves but : " But the Duce does not add that during that time we consumed 12 billions in foreign securities and 5 billions in gold. Now our reserves have been reduced to 1.4 miserable billions and when these are gone, we shall have only our eyes to weep with. " Source :" The CIano Diaries, 1939 - 1943 " Ciano. Page 207. So, if anything the fascist period was a difficult one for the Italian economy on account of both the international economic situation and of the national systems age old structural problems and worst of all almost all the initiatives undertaken during this period only helped to make things worse.
Also, did Mussolini really made Italy great and respected by reforming the Italian Army and instiling the fascist spirit into the hearts of Italians. Some argue that Italy's underperformance during World War II was mainly due to royalist generals and fascist officials who lacked the skill to manage the war. Over time fascist propaganda created a myth surrounding Mussolini, presenting him as both a military and political leader through elaborate uniforms and theatrical parades.When the fascist took power after the March on Rome, their primary goal as outlined by the fascist ideology was to completely transform society and give birth to a new fascist man. Italian historian Del Boca described what this new man was actually supposed to be : "For Mussolini the new Italian meant above all a new soldier more tenacious, more aggressive and even more cruel who worthily befitted the myth of the Roman spirit and made people forget the mediocre or dire showings of italietta over the years. " Source :" Italiani, Brava Gente? " Page 44. Over the years for two decades the fascist regime aimed to mold the Italian people according to principles of force and militaristic masculinity. A harsh militarism that sometimes surpassed even that of the German Empire. To instill this mindset children were taught from a young age how to handle rifles and March information laying the groundwork for the new Italian man as they grew older. While some might view this approach as positive it had a significant downside. The requirement for the fascist man to be aggressive and ferocious led certain parts of the army especially the colonial administration to adopt these extreme principles.
Je condamne fermement.
A notable example is the pacification of Somalia, a territory controlled by Italy since the late 19th century. Compared to other colonies Somali had been relatively stable with local populations generally tolerating the Italian authorities. However this changed when Cesare de Vecchi, a fascist party leader became Governor. To gain glory and align with fascist ideals dichi waged a brutal Guerilla campaign against a small local resistance alienating the population which resulted in increased rebellion. Similarly during the war with Ethiopia many local fascist leaders went to the front to gain prestige. Among them Bruno and Vittorio Mussolini, the sons of the Duce. The brutal tactics employed by these fascist principles were evident in in the pacification of Ethiopia where MarshallRodolfo Graziani. used Terror to subdue the local population. To suppress International criticism and prevent aid from reaching the Ethiopians, the Italian military even bombed the Red Cross marking the first time in history this organization was targeted. In this way when World War II began it's no surprise that with a stagnating economy and scattered armed forces in Africa, Mussolini declared that Italy wasn't ready for war and initially refused to enter it. Yet when Italy officially joined the conflict the military remained largely unprepared. Many poor decisions had been made regarding the armed forces. The Italian Navy for example consumed a significant portion of the military budget with Mussolini focusing on building massive battleships as propaganda symbols of military power. hese ships were impressive but outdated in a period when Naval Warfare was shifting towards air superiority. By 1940 airplanes were crucial to Naval battles but Mussolini stuck to 19th century Naval theories and continued to build battleships. These vessels were costly in both construction and operation.
They consumed vast amounts of oil making them impractical for active use and they were considered too valuable to risk in combat. As a result, these battleships were mainly used to escort Supply ships to Libya during World War II and another significant problem within the Armed Forces was the emphasis on loyalty. To the fascist party the fascist aimed to reshape Society including the military. When it came to appointing officers or generals loyalty to Fascism often outweighs skill or competence. This approach meant that if there were two candidates one with excellent skills but no allegiance to Fascism and another with average skills but complete loyalty, the last was almost always chosen. You don't need to be a military expert to know that when you have politics to infiltrate military and even enforcing it can lead to disastrous outcomes. When people in power are chosen solely for their blind loyalty to an ideology it means that key positions are likely filled with individuals who are either incompetent or at best inexperienced. This might work when fighting African tribes armed with bows and Spears or terrorizing civilians but when faced with a professional Army, the Italian military was often humiliated. The chain of command was riddled with politicized middle level officers were confused and the soldiers were demotivated and poorly equipped. For example when Italy declared war on France it failed to break through the Savoie Front, suffering 1,258 dead while the French only lost 20. Source : " La guerre italiane. " G. Rochat. Page 250. Similarly when musine decided to open the Balkan front to demonstrate Italian military power, by attacking Greece his forces were completely humiliated and pushed back into Albania. 20 years of fascism hadn't created a new warrior spirit within the Italian people. When the time came for them to prove themselves they couldn't match the military tradition.
Appointing inept military commanders based on ideological loyalty was probably the most damaging move.
One of the most comon misconception is that Mussolini represented totalitarianism with a human face. This perception paints him as different from the Nazis and Adolf Hitler suggesting that wasn't inherently racist as power. The 1938 racial laws were imposed on Italy rather than willingly adopted. As for Mussolini however, his regime targeted various ethnic groups based on their origins. Consider the treatment of Germans in South theole who had the protection of the Fuhrer. A plan was devised to deport them but slavs like croats and slovenians faced much harsher Fates during World War II. The RAB concentratino camp alone held around 35,000 slovenians and given the region's population of about 330 000, about 8% of all Slovenian was held in the Arbe CC. " Il cattivo tebesco e il bravo italiano " F. Focardi. Page 132. If you were an ethnic minority you were at best treated as a second class citizen. Mussolini on the slavs : " When dealing with such a race as Slavic inferior and barbarian, we must not pursue the carrot but the stick policy. We should not be afraid of new victims. The Italian border should run across the Brenner Pass, Monte Nevoso and the Dinaric Alps. I would say we can easily sacrifice 500,000 barbaric slaves for 50,000 Italians. " Mussolini, speech in Pula, September 20, 1920. Emilio Gentile, historian pointed out : " Mussolini believed that race is a fact as hard as granite, as he wrote in February 1st 1921 and this fact rendered internationalism an absurd fairy tale, because the deep masses do not and cannot override and this is a great Fortune, the irrepressible fact of race and Nation. " source : " Fascismo di pietra" by Gentile. Page 47. Claretta Petacci, Mussolini's mistress, would write in her diary that musolini told her : " I have been a racist since 1921. I don't know how they can think I'm imitating Hitler, we must give Italians a sense of a race. " Source :" " Mussolini's segreto. "Claretta Petacci.
In a speech in Bologna, April 3, 1921, Mussolini would write : " How then was this fascism born it was bored of the profound and perennial need of our Mediterranean and Aryan race... We feel those bonds of race to be alive which bind us not only to the Italians of Zara, Ragusa, and Cattaro, but also to those of the Canton Ticino and Corsica, to those beyond the oceans, to all that great family of 50 million men whom wished to be united in sahe same pride of race. " In early 1938 the grand Council of fascism would release an official statement after a few fascist intellectuals released a Manifesto of race. The council would state : " Following the conquest of the Empire the Grand Council of fascism declares the Urgent interest of racial problems and the need for a racial conscience. It points out that for 16 years fascism played and is still playing a positive role in the quantitative and qualitative improvement of the Italian race, an improvement that might be gravely compromised with incalculable political consequences by cross breathing and bastardization. " Source : Order Paper of the Fascist National Party, October 26, 1938. All of that being said, I am not saying that fascist regime in Italy was completly evil. In fact, it introduced some beneficial legislation for Italian population like : the introduction for unemployment insurance ( Regio Decroto no 3158 ) , insurance for disabled and eldery ( Regio Decreto no 3184 ), compulsory tuberculosis insurance ( Regio Decreto no 2055 ) and establishment of credit Unions for farmers and artisans ( Regio Decreto no 1706. ). Yet I would say that the negatives clearly outweigh the positives.
https://ytscribe.com/fr/v/g0_Lp5xAu6E
A notable example is the pacification of Somalia, a territory controlled by Italy since the late 19th century. Compared to other colonies Somali had been relatively stable with local populations generally tolerating the Italian authorities. However this changed when Cesare de Vecchi, a fascist party leader became Governor. To gain glory and align with fascist ideals dichi waged a brutal Guerilla campaign against a small local resistance alienating the population which resulted in increased rebellion. Similarly during the war with Ethiopia many local fascist leaders went to the front to gain prestige. Among them Bruno and Vittorio Mussolini, the sons of the Duce. The brutal tactics employed by these fascist principles were evident in in the pacification of Ethiopia where MarshallRodolfo Graziani. used Terror to subdue the local population. To suppress International criticism and prevent aid from reaching the Ethiopians, the Italian military even bombed the Red Cross marking the first time in history this organization was targeted. In this way when World War II began it's no surprise that with a stagnating economy and scattered armed forces in Africa, Mussolini declared that Italy wasn't ready for war and initially refused to enter it. Yet when Italy officially joined the conflict the military remained largely unprepared. Many poor decisions had been made regarding the armed forces. The Italian Navy for example consumed a significant portion of the military budget with Mussolini focusing on building massive battleships as propaganda symbols of military power. hese ships were impressive but outdated in a period when Naval Warfare was shifting towards air superiority. By 1940 airplanes were crucial to Naval battles but Mussolini stuck to 19th century Naval theories and continued to build battleships. These vessels were costly in both construction and operation.
They consumed vast amounts of oil making them impractical for active use and they were considered too valuable to risk in combat. As a result, these battleships were mainly used to escort Supply ships to Libya during World War II and another significant problem within the Armed Forces was the emphasis on loyalty. To the fascist party the fascist aimed to reshape Society including the military. When it came to appointing officers or generals loyalty to Fascism often outweighs skill or competence. This approach meant that if there were two candidates one with excellent skills but no allegiance to Fascism and another with average skills but complete loyalty, the last was almost always chosen. You don't need to be a military expert to know that when you have politics to infiltrate military and even enforcing it can lead to disastrous outcomes. When people in power are chosen solely for their blind loyalty to an ideology it means that key positions are likely filled with individuals who are either incompetent or at best inexperienced. This might work when fighting African tribes armed with bows and Spears or terrorizing civilians but when faced with a professional Army, the Italian military was often humiliated. The chain of command was riddled with politicized middle level officers were confused and the soldiers were demotivated and poorly equipped. For example when Italy declared war on France it failed to break through the Savoie Front, suffering 1,258 dead while the French only lost 20. Source : " La guerre italiane. " G. Rochat. Page 250. Similarly when musine decided to open the Balkan front to demonstrate Italian military power, by attacking Greece his forces were completely humiliated and pushed back into Albania. 20 years of fascism hadn't created a new warrior spirit within the Italian people. When the time came for them to prove themselves they couldn't match the military tradition.
Appointing inept military commanders based on ideological loyalty was probably the most damaging move.
One of the most comon misconception is that Mussolini represented totalitarianism with a human face. This perception paints him as different from the Nazis and Adolf Hitler suggesting that wasn't inherently racist as power. The 1938 racial laws were imposed on Italy rather than willingly adopted. As for Mussolini however, his regime targeted various ethnic groups based on their origins. Consider the treatment of Germans in South theole who had the protection of the Fuhrer. A plan was devised to deport them but slavs like croats and slovenians faced much harsher Fates during World War II. The RAB concentratino camp alone held around 35,000 slovenians and given the region's population of about 330 000, about 8% of all Slovenian was held in the Arbe CC. " Il cattivo tebesco e il bravo italiano " F. Focardi. Page 132. If you were an ethnic minority you were at best treated as a second class citizen. Mussolini on the slavs : " When dealing with such a race as Slavic inferior and barbarian, we must not pursue the carrot but the stick policy. We should not be afraid of new victims. The Italian border should run across the Brenner Pass, Monte Nevoso and the Dinaric Alps. I would say we can easily sacrifice 500,000 barbaric slaves for 50,000 Italians. " Mussolini, speech in Pula, September 20, 1920. Emilio Gentile, historian pointed out : " Mussolini believed that race is a fact as hard as granite, as he wrote in February 1st 1921 and this fact rendered internationalism an absurd fairy tale, because the deep masses do not and cannot override and this is a great Fortune, the irrepressible fact of race and Nation. " source : " Fascismo di pietra" by Gentile. Page 47. Claretta Petacci, Mussolini's mistress, would write in her diary that musolini told her : " I have been a racist since 1921. I don't know how they can think I'm imitating Hitler, we must give Italians a sense of a race. " Source :" " Mussolini's segreto. "Claretta Petacci.
In a speech in Bologna, April 3, 1921, Mussolini would write : " How then was this fascism born it was bored of the profound and perennial need of our Mediterranean and Aryan race... We feel those bonds of race to be alive which bind us not only to the Italians of Zara, Ragusa, and Cattaro, but also to those of the Canton Ticino and Corsica, to those beyond the oceans, to all that great family of 50 million men whom wished to be united in sahe same pride of race. " In early 1938 the grand Council of fascism would release an official statement after a few fascist intellectuals released a Manifesto of race. The council would state : " Following the conquest of the Empire the Grand Council of fascism declares the Urgent interest of racial problems and the need for a racial conscience. It points out that for 16 years fascism played and is still playing a positive role in the quantitative and qualitative improvement of the Italian race, an improvement that might be gravely compromised with incalculable political consequences by cross breathing and bastardization. " Source : Order Paper of the Fascist National Party, October 26, 1938. All of that being said, I am not saying that fascist regime in Italy was completly evil. In fact, it introduced some beneficial legislation for Italian population like : the introduction for unemployment insurance ( Regio Decroto no 3158 ) , insurance for disabled and eldery ( Regio Decreto no 3184 ), compulsory tuberculosis insurance ( Regio Decreto no 2055 ) and establishment of credit Unions for farmers and artisans ( Regio Decreto no 1706. ). Yet I would say that the negatives clearly outweigh the positives.
Je condamne fermement.
Je condamne fermement.
Je condamne fermement.
Je condamne fermement.
Je te ferais nettoyer mes bottes avec ta langue avant de t'écraser les couilles avec
Une bonne atomisation de ce shithole consanguin.
Une bonne atomisation de ce shithole consanguin.
80ans de propagande juive ont meneé à ceci
80ans de propagande juive ont meneé à ceci
80ans de propagande juive ont meneé à ceci
80ans de propagande juive ont meneé à ceci
80ans de propagande juive ont meneé à ceci
Bordel mais 8 pages
80ans de propagande juive ont meneé à ceci
Bon tg
