Mussolini in the First World War : the journalist, the soldier, the fascist
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Mussolini in the First World War : the journalist, the soldier, the fascist
Berg, 2005
1st ed
- : cloth
- : pbk
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Note
Includes Mussolini's writings, translated into English
Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--Trinity College, Dublin
Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-199) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
How did Benito Mussolini come to fascism? Standard accounts of the dictator have failed to explain satisfactorily the transition from his pre-World War I 'socialism' to his post-war fascism. This controversial new book is the first to examine closely Mussolini's political trajectory during the Great War as evidenced in his journalistic writings, speeches and war diary, as well as some previously unexamined archive material. The author argues that the 1914-18 conflict provided the catalyst for Mussolini to clarify his deep-rooted nationalist tendencies. He demonstrates that Mussolini's interventionism was already anti-socialist and anti-democratic in the early autumn of 1914 and shows how in and through the experience of the conflict the future duce fine-tuned his authoritarian and totalitarian vision of Italy in a state of permanent mobilization for war. Providing a radical new interpretation of one of the most important dictators of the twentieth century, Mussolini in the First World War will appeal to anyone who wants to learn more about the roots of fascism in modern Europe.
Table of Contents
Introduction * Stating the Programme: Imperialism and the Aesthetic of Violence, November 1918-June 1919 * Neutral? The Cultural Politics of Neutrality and Intervention, August-November 1914 * Making the 'Man':'Mazzini', Nationalism, and the Aesthetics of Violence, November 1914-May 1915 * Mind and Matter: Mussolini and Italy at War, May-November 1915 * Digging In: Rear, Front and the Consequences of Invasion, November 1915-June 1916 * Disenchanted Warrior: Revitalisation and Collapse of the War Diary, November 1916-February 1917 * War and Revolution: Readdressing the Home Front, February-October 1917 * Caporetto and After: Reinstating the Offensive, October 1917-November 1918 * Imagining Fascism: Mussolini, the Middle Classes and the Craft of Propaganda, October 1917-November 1918 * Conclusion
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