The Fascist State 1925 - 40 Flashcards

1
Q

What organisation was set up in 1925 as a replacement for something (what was this?) ?

A
  • 1925 –> OND set up
  • Replaced socialist organisations for welfare + worker recreation that had been shut down
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2
Q

What did each OND section typically have?

A
  • Clubhouse
  • Recreation ground
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3
Q

What did OND offer workers?

A
  • Variety of social + sporting opportunities eg. libraries (8625 by 1939) + football teams
  • Plays, concerts + art exhibitions
  • Dopolavaro clubhouses for local communities (by mid 1930s, nearly every town had one)
  • Food and clothing for poorer people
  • Providing radio sets
  • Rail ticket discounts
  • Welfare for workers
  • Provided social insurance
  • Holidays subsidised by fascists for virtually no cost eg. mountain retreat
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4
Q

Compare OND membership in 1926 and 1935

A
  • 1926 –> 300,000
  • 1935 –> 2.4 mil
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5
Q

How many members did OND have by 1939 and what percentage of industrial, private and state sector workers were members?

A
  • 4 mil
  • 80% of state + private sector workers
  • 40% of industrial
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6
Q

What was different about OND when compared to other fascist organisations?

A

There was no particular promotion of fascist ideologies

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7
Q

What did the PNF complain about in relation to OND and how did Mussolini respond to this?

A
  • Complained that it made no attempt to provide fascist education to workers
  • Mussolini said the achievement of OND was that it workers were meeting in places + participating in social activities linked to PNF and that this was more important
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8
Q

Who was the OND originally set up to be responsible to, but who did this later become part of and when?

A
  • Originally, under Ministry of National Economy
  • From 1927 –> Part of PNF
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9
Q

When were youth organisations set up and under which organisation?

A
  • 1926
  • Under ONB
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10
Q

What were the 3 female youth organisations?

A
  • Daughters of the She Wolf (6 to 8 yrs)
  • Little Italians (8 to 12 yrs)
  • Young Italian Women (13 to 18 yrs)
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11
Q

How was the ONB restructured and when did this happen?

A
  • 1934
  • Split into 3 categories: Sons of the She Wolf (6 to 8 yrs) , Balilla (8 to 14 yrs) + Avanguardisti (15 to 18)
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12
Q

What did members of ONB have to do?

A
  • Swear oath of loyalty
  • Learn Balilla creed
  • Wear uniform
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13
Q

How was uniform different between the Balilla and Avanguardisti?

A
  • Balilla –> black shirt, blue scarf, black tasselled cap, grey shorts
  • Avanguardisti –> Similar uniform to Blackshirts, military rifles, bayonets, gathered together to sing Giovinezza (fascist hymn)
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14
Q

What was the GUF’s main goal, how long did this run until and what happened to those who won?

A
  • To run the Littorali (national student games involving cultural + debate competitions on fascist themes)
  • Earmarked for future success in PNF + other organisations
  • From 1934 to 1940
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15
Q

What was there an increased emphasis on and why?

A
  • Sport and exercise –> need for biologically fit Italian race
  • Religious instruction –> due to Lateran Pacts
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16
Q

How was the focus of physical education implemented into youth programme for girls and why was this an aim?

A
  • Gymnastics
  • Ensure they would be able to bear healthy children
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17
Q

What happened in youth organisations?

A
  • Constantly exposed to fascist propaganda
  • Physical exercise
  • Attendance at summer camp
  • Militaristic activities
  • Traditionally feminine activities for girls
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18
Q

Were there any other youth organisations?

A

All were banned except those provided by RCC

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19
Q

What were the advantages of being a member in a youth organisation beyond the age of 11?

A
  • Access to jobs + special scholarships
  • Free sports facilities
  • Enjoyable social occasions
  • Holidays at seaside for urban children
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20
Q

What were the disadvantages of being a non-member beyond age of 11?

A
  • Difficult to enrol in further education
  • Barred employment in civil service
  • Seen as a reason to suspect families of being anti-fascist
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21
Q

What was the aim of the youth programme for boys and activities did they do at specific ages for this?

A
  • Producing young fascist soldiers
  • 8 to 14 yrs –> Trained in moral + spiritual defence of country
  • From 14 –> Special gymnastic + sporting programmes as physical prep for military life
  • At 18 –> All able-bodied males under military training
  • ONB: Sport + military training w/ activities eg. marching, wrestling
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22
Q

How successful were youth organisations in the rural south and why was this the case (give stats) ?

A
  • Not very successful
  • Most did not study past 11 esp girls
  • Nature of agricultural work made it difficult to participate
  • Boys enjoyed their activities much more than the girls (1937 survey by PNF in Rome showed girls were much more interested in sporting activities provided to boys)
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23
Q

When was membership in youth organisations beyond 11 yrs old made compulsory?

A

1939

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24
Q

After the Church’s movement was banned and ONB membership made compulsory, what did membership numbers increase to?

A
  • More than 8.5 mil
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25
Q

What had been created in 1929, what was its role, what did it control and what did this mean?

A
  • Ministry of National Education
  • Oversee scholarly education + physical training of Italy’s youth
  • All youth organisations
  • Compulsory for all boys + girls in elementary (6 to 11 yrs)
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26
Q

Who was the first fascist Minister of Education, what was his plan from 1923, was this popular and what happened in the end?

A
  • Giovanni Gentile
  • Improve literacy + increase educational standards
  • Unpopular
  • From 1929 –> Deprived of power by those who saw education as an opportunity for indoctrination
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27
Q

What changes were made in schools?

A
  • Teacher must refer to Mussolini’s heroic qualities
  • Portrait of Mussolini in every classroom alongside Kings
  • Posters emphasising fascist achievements
  • School day begins with a fascist slogan
  • Taught to read w/ books using fascist cartoons + quotes from Mussolini’s speeches
  • From 1928 –> 1 authorised gov textbook, libro unico, w/ all subjects esp achievements of Italian history + literature
  • History textbooks lacking patriotic content replaced (1926 –> 101/317 textbooks banned as a result)
  • Encouraged to make links between Caesar + Mussolini
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28
Q

What was uni like?

A
  • Less focus on formal fascist education/military training in uni
  • Had to join University Fascist Youth
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29
Q

What were the benefits of joining the University Fascist Youth?

A
  • Use of sports facilities
  • Half price admissions for entertainment
  • Partial exemption from military service
  • Enhanced career prospects
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30
Q

How did the stats for number of university students change between 1921 and 1942?

A
  • 1921 –> 54,000
  • 1942 –> 165,000
  • More diverse range of backgrounds
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31
Q

What was the biggest problem faced by fascists in relation to unis, however what shows that this was manageable?

A
  • Professors were harder to dismiss + harder to threaten into obedience + could not be tricked that it was just a formality
  • Did not want to join PNF/take oath of loyalty
  • Only 11/1250 refused
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32
Q

What did teachers have to do after 1931, how were some tricked into doing this and what did teachers have to have done to be employed?

A
  • After 1931 –> Take oath of loyalty to regime
  • Said it was just a formality
  • Must have received teachers’ diploma after 1923 (when Fascists consolidated power)
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33
Q

Which people were removed from their jobs, when and as a result what became compulsory?

A
  • 1920s –> Antifascist teachers
  • Teachers who did not agree w/ changes
  • 1933 –> Teachers must belong to PNF
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34
Q

Give examples of sporting events used for propaganda purposes

A
  • 1932 –> 12 Olympic gold medals won
  • 1934 + 1938 football World Cup winners
  • Between 1933 + 1935 –> Primo Carnera, an Italian, was world boxing champion
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35
Q

For what two reasons was culture used for in the fascist regime?

A
  • Enhance authority
  • Increase external prestige of the Fascist state
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36
Q

The definition of Fascist style was unclear. What was Mussolini’s, Farinacci’s and Bottai’s take on this?

A
  • Mussolini: Looked to Novecento movement, which emphasised Roman styles, rejected recent past + embraced cultural nationalism
  • Farinacci: Favoured 18th - 19th century traditions
  • Bottai: No state art
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37
Q

What were the two main artistic/architectural tendencies that existed under the fascist regime and which did fascists tend to favour?

A
  • Neo-classical
  • Modernist
  • Fascists favoured neo-classical
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38
Q

What did art frequently portray?

A
  • Sturdy rural/industrial workers
  • Productive women
  • Virile youths
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39
Q

How did the government try to control art?

A
  • Promoted competitions at regional, national + international level
  • Artists had to join Syndicate of Professionals and Artists
  • Had to profess loyalty to regime
40
Q

In order to increase familiarity with art and celebrate achievements, how many exhibitions were organised in a yr?

A

Around 50

41
Q

What was built in Rome in regards to cinema and when? How many students did it train and to what extent was it fascist?

A
  • 1935 –> Experimental Centre for Cinematography
  • 100 students a yr
  • Not used for fascist purposes until WW1, however threats were sufficient
42
Q

How much creative freedom did film directors have and how many overtly fascist movies were produced?

A
  • Fair degree as long as fascism was not criticised and it was not political
  • Very few
43
Q

What movies were played instead and why was it the case that there were such few fascist movies (give stats)?

A
  • Hollywood/Italian movies as light entertainment (87% of box office takings were from showings of Hollywood produced movies)
  • Regime needed support of cultural industries so avoided possible political issues in cinema
44
Q

What was created in 1934, whose control was it under and what was its role?

A
  • General Directorate of Cinema
  • Control of Ministry of Press/Popular Culture
  • Responsible for regulating cinema + bringing it in line w/ fascist ideology
45
Q

At what point did the fascist regime take over Cinecitta (Hollywood + centre of Italian film industry), what was the reason for this, what were these movies like and give examples of some?

A
  • 1934 –> Director General in Culture Ministry appointed, who restricted Hollywood imports + provided subsidies and training
  • 1938 –> several fascist films now being made
  • Mainly escapist glamour rather than fascist propaganda
  • Siege of the Alcazar (1940)
46
Q

What was Cincetta, who helped fund this and when?

A
  • Series of major film studios
  • IRI
    -1937
47
Q

What preceded the movie, who was it produced by (when was this created) and what did it portray?

A
  • Compulsory newsreels + documentaries
  • LUCE, regime’s film agency (created in 1924)
  • Current events glorifying regime
48
Q

What was another important form of mass media and why was this?

A
  • Radio
  • Did not require literacy
  • Could be installed in remotest parts of country
  • State-controlled so great opportunity for fascist propaganda
49
Q

How else did fascists use radio to spread fascist ideas and where and to who did they do this?

A

Set up community listening meetings especially in rural areas + to illiterate

50
Q

When were the first radio stations set up in Italy and how many sets were there by 1932 + 1938?

A
  • 1924- 25
  • 1932 –> 300,000 radio sets
  • 1938 –> More than a mil
51
Q

What special agency was set up and who was it led by?

A
  • ERR, special rural radio agency
  • PNF secretary
52
Q

How did radio change during WW2?

A
  • Expanded by Mussolini
  • More than 2 mil radio sets installed in schools, marketplaces etc
53
Q

Give one example of fascist propaganda in radio

A
  • ‘Chronicle of the Regime’ programme by Forges Davanzati, member of Grand Council of Fascism
  • Interviewed well-known members of gov + PNF
  • 2 hrs a day of official broadcasts, which increased in 1930s
  • Mussolini’s speeches broadcast live + played through loudspeakers
54
Q

What did prefects now have the ability to do in terms of propaganda and as a result, which left-wing newspapers were closed?

A
  • Could confiscate whole editions of newspaper + suspend publication + replace editors + shut them down completely
  • Avanti!, Partito Poplare + L’Unita
55
Q

What did journalists have to join (according to which law?) and whose instructions did they have to follow when publishing?

A
  • Fascist union, according to Press Law of Dec 1925
  • Mussolini’s press officer, who had specific instructions about what should be published about Duce
56
Q

What were journalists told not to print stories on?

A
  • Crime
  • Suicides
  • Traffic accidents
57
Q

In 1925, how did the authorities try to solve the issue of satirical magazines?

A

Tried to buy them and appoint fascist editors

58
Q

How was this problem ended after 1925 (give examples of one that survived + two that did not)?

A
  • Independent newspapers closed + their editors arrested
  • 1925 –> Luigi Albertini, editor of Corriere della Sera, dismissed
  • Sep 1925 –> La Stampa, anti-fascist newspaper, banned
  • La Critica (critical newspaper) survived even after repressive press laws
59
Q

What percentage of entire newspaper sales in Italy were fascist? Compare the circulation of Mussolini’s newspaper to others?

A
  • Only 10%
  • Popolo d’Italia: 100,000
  • Corrier della Sera: 600,000
  • Osservatore (Vatican newspaper): 250,000
60
Q

Who was the only press agency run by?

A

A fascist

61
Q

How were independent newspapers allowed to exist?

A
  • Increased subsidies for printing positive stories about Mussolini
  • Fascist intervention was rarely needed as most editors carried out censorship themselves
62
Q

What did fascist propaganda focus on and what was one key symbol in doing this?

A
  • Creating a shared patriotic feeling
  • Rome was a key symbol
63
Q

What did the cult of Ancient Rome do and how did they show this?

A
  • Celebrated greatness of Ancient Rome
  • Celebrated fact that Italians should be proud to be heirs of greatest empire
  • Medieval buildings destroyed to display Rome’s classical ruins
64
Q

What large event was held in 1937, where, how many people visited and how many items were there? What was the relevance of this to Mussolini’s regime?

A
  • Commemoration of 2000th anniversary of Augustus Caesar w/ 30,000 items
  • Rome
  • Over 1 mil
  • Mussolini said to be heir of Augustus, as he was rebuilding Italy in the same way
65
Q

How else did Mussolini relate himself to Ancient Rome?

A
  • Often referred to words like ‘consul’ and ‘Imperial Rome’
  • Manipulated archaeology to show closer connections to Ancient Rome
  • Took fascist symbol from ‘fasces’ carried by lictors of Ancient Rome
66
Q

What was formed to organise propaganda, when and what was this renamed later on?

A
  • 1935 –> Ministry of the Press
  • 1937 –> Ministry of Popular Culture
67
Q

What problems did the Ministry of Popular Culture have?

A
  • Not very sophisticated (sarcastic name of ‘Minculpop’)
  • Had difficulties exploiting modern mediums
  • Lack of mass media in south hindered national integration
68
Q

What should all art in Italy do?

A

Serve the goal of fascist state

69
Q

What two changes were made in 1926 (give an example) ?

A
  • National Institute of Fascist Culture created
  • Artists + intellectuals organised into associations eg. Fascist syndicate of artists led by Antonio Maraini
70
Q

What did the National Institute of Fascist Culture do?

A

Organised cultural events, free concerts + publications encouraging mass participation in fascist cultural propaganda

71
Q

Who funded the Italian film industry and what was constructed in late 1930s?

A
  • PNF
  • Film City (state of the art film production complex)
72
Q

What was held in 1932 to celebrate a decade of fascist rule, what did artists have to do for this and how many people visited it?

A
  • Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution
  • Artists commissioned to produce artwork representing this achievement
  • 4 mil
73
Q

How was architecture an intrinsic part of fascist culture?

A

New buildings were modelled on a neo-classical Roman style connecting Ancient Rome + fascist regime

74
Q

What types of buildings were constructed to show stability + power of fascist regime?

A

Vast and imposing buildings

75
Q

What was the largest building project during Mussolini’s reign, what was this, what was it designed for, when did construction begin and was it fully completed?

A
  • EUR
  • Extension to Rome
  • Designed to combine housing apartments, monuments + gov buildings
  • Palazzo della Civilta Italiana completed, but some weren’t due to WW2
76
Q

Give an example of one building linking Ancient Rome + Fascist Italy

A
  • Foro Mussolini
  • Sports venue built between 1928 + 1938
77
Q

What was drama like during Mussolini’s rule?

A

It was a minority pursuit

78
Q

What were musicians required to join and what were they encouraged to develop?

A
  • Fascist Union of Musicians
  • Relevant fascist syndicate
  • Develop ‘cultural autarky’ by rejecting foreign influences
79
Q

What was the aim of the cult of Il Duce and what famous fascist slogan represented this?

A
  • Portray Mussolini as an able leader who was leading Italy to greatness
  • ’ Mussolini is always right’
80
Q

How many pictures of Il Duce were circulated around Italy, in how many different poses?

A
  • 30 mil in 2500 poses
81
Q

In what different ways was Mussolini described as in propaganda?

A
  • Superb swimmer + aviator
  • Respected statesman
  • Attractive (shirtless in some photos)
  • Traditional family man
  • Supreme patriot
  • Literary figure
  • Without friends + human emotions
82
Q

What was the problem with the Cult of Il Duce?

A
  • Focused on worship of one leader rather than a sustainable ideology even after Mussolini died
  • As Mussolini aged, it was harder to match the image of young, dynamic leader
  • Through 1930s, Mussolini seemed to believe in the cult himself, leading to more radical policies in future
83
Q

What punishment was reintroduced and for whom did this apply?

A
  • Death penalty
  • Anyone who tried to assassinate King/ threatened state security
84
Q

Who was Confino usually used against and why was this an impactful punishment?

A
  • Financially devastating
  • Families faced considerable discrimination from fascists
  • Others saw it as dangerous to employ anyone who had returned from Confino
85
Q

What was formed in late 1926, what did they do and who were they led by?

A
  • Political Police division
  • Led by Arturo Bocchini
  • Had considerable network of spies in Italy + Italian communities abroad
86
Q

Who was SIM, why did the Political Police division work with them, when did they do this?

A
  • Military spying organisation
  • Jun 1937
  • To organise assassination of prominent Italian anti-fascist exiles Carlos + Nello Rosselli in Paris by French fascist grp members
87
Q

When was OVRA set up, who was it led by, whose control was it under and what was its role?

A
  • 1927
  • Bocchini
  • Under Ministry of Interior
  • Spy on Italians across Italy + stamp down on any domestic antifascist activities
88
Q

How many informers operating in Italy and OVRA were successful in stopping organisation of anti-fascist grps?

A

Around 5000

89
Q

Where could OVRA spies be found and what forms of media did they examine?

A
  • Infiltrated unis, businesses + fascist unions
  • Anywhere where working men + women would meet
  • Mail examined
90
Q

Who listened in to phone calls?

A

Special Reserve Service

91
Q

What was the militia used for and how many members did it have?

A
  • Intimidate potential political opponents
  • Beat up uncooperative people
  • Seize property
  • 50,000
92
Q

Where did the fascists set up prisons (give examples), why and how many were sent there during fascist regime? How many were kept as political prisoners in this time?

A
  • Remote areas eg. islands of Lipari + Lampedusa
  • To house political opponents
  • 10,000 sent there
  • 5,000 as political prisoners
93
Q

How many Italians is it estimated Bocchini held files on, but how many of these were actually arrested and sent to prison?

A
  • Over 130,000
  • 4000 arrested + sent to prison
94
Q

When was the Special Tribunal for the Defence of the State set up?

A

Nov 1926

95
Q

How many cases did the Special Tribunals prosecute?

A

132,547 cases

96
Q

How many death sentences did the Special Tribunal carry out before WW2 and what was the reason for this number?

A
  • Only 9
  • Repression was so successful that there was little serious opposition
97
Q

Who was Mussolini most concerned about for the national security of Italy and why?

A
  • Nationalist movements among Slovenes living in Italy
  • They were restricted in their culture + speech of their national language
  • Faced considerable oppression from fascist authorities