Italian Fascism and Nazism Are Essay

Total Length: 862 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

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The heroic past was important for both Mussolini and Hitler and the new form of heroism the two leaders demanded from the people were to be achieved exclusively thorough war, a war destined to reclaim the rights the two countries lost following their defeat in the First World War as well as a war of expansionism.

If, in order to accede to the ruling ranks of the government, Mussolini's National Fascist Party made use of the support of the monarchy, the NSDAP, Hitler's Nazi Party, rose to power and finally gained majority in the German Parliament under the circumstances of the Parliamentary Weimar Republic. Democratic elections played a part in the party's gain of the majority, but Hitler was also the beneficiary of other factors such as: economic instability as a consequence of the Wall Street Crash in the U.S. In 1929, well constructed and coordinated propaganda, directed to reach diverse audiences, paramilitary forces destined to weaken and finally annihilate any forms of opposition. Both Mussolini and Hitler were appointed as prime minister respectively Reich chancellor as a result of an agreement with the head of the state: the emperor, respectively the president of the republic. They will both soon assume the uncontested and total leadership as heads of state, even if, in Italy's case, Victor Emmanuel III held his title as king of Italy until 1946. Mussolini and his fascist party made sure that he had the support of the monarchy (regardless of the motives that made the king not react against Mussolini's future actions) as well as that of the Catholic Church, through the Lateran Treaty, signed in 1929.

The right wing Nazi party was very well aware of the psychological and sociological factors present in Germany and used its knowledge of the people and the charisma of a leader like Hitler to their maximum advantage, earning the unconditional support of the whole German nation.
Most political scientists and historians agree that the international factors, especially the communist menace added to the internal socio-economic factors, contributed to the chances of success of fascism and Nazism in Italy and respectively Germany between the two world wars.

Spencer Wellhofer shows a special interest in the two years prior to the political success reported by the Italian Fascist movement in 1921. In undertaking a thorough analysis of the period between 1919 and 1921 in Italy, the author underlines the major differences between.....

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