Similarities Between Nazi Germany And Fascist Italy

Nazi Germany is the common name for the German Reich from 1933 to 1945 with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in command. Fascist Italy is the era of National Fascist Party rule from 1922 to 1943 with Benito Mussolini as the totalitarian ruler. Under Hitler’s rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist dictatorial state that controlled all aspects of life. The fascists, in Italy, imposed totalitarian rule and crushed the political and intellectual opposition. With this being said, there are other similarities and differences between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany were similar in that both were dictatorships. Both Mussolini and Hitler came to power through legal means and believed that people were divided into either inferior or superior races. For example, Hitler was obsessed with the Aryan race and called for the genocide of Jews during WWII. In addition, both Mussolini and Hitler favored the wealthy, believed that an individual was meaningless and must submit to the decisions of their leaders, and aimed at self-sufficiency so that each could survive entirely without international trade. Furthermore, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy “had aimed for prestige and power for their countries, and brought instead humiliation and destruction” (Tarr, R.,

Fascist Italy also believed that women should get married and have many children. Mussolini, in 1927, started Battle for Births, where women were encouraged to have children. The more children they had, the better tax privileges they received; such as, large families received better tax benefits, unlike bachelors who were hit by high taxation. The Fascist government warmly welcomed mothers who bore more than five children. Mussolini wanted Italy’s population to be 60 million by 1950; however, the Battle for Births was a failure, and the birth rate went down between 1927 and