Mussolini Totalitarianism Analysis

During the inter-war period (1919-1938), totalitarianism emerged in both Italy and Germany. Mussolini and Hitler rose to power in 1922 and 1933 respectively as the totalitarian leader of the state and had a total control in all aspects of life on their nation, dominating all the political, social and economic activities. (Cheung, 2011) However, with different factors, the totalitarian rule of Mussolini and that of Hitler exhibited both similarities and differences in different aspects. Horizontal comparison method would be used to compare and contrast the totalitarian rule of Mussolini and that of Hitler in terms of political, social, cultural, economic, and diplomatic aspects.

The general direction of Mussolini’s totalitarian rule possessed

Since they both were not welcomed by the western allied powers, such as the US, Britain and France, they actively tried to seek political and military alliances with non-democratic countries. Being isolated by the allied powers, Hitler and Mussolini signed the Berlin-Rome Axis in 1936 and later the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis with Japan in 1940. The Pact of Steel was signed between Italy and Germany in 1939. Meanwhile, Hitler signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan in 1936 and the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact with the Soviet Union in 1939. (Cheung, 2011) Such alliances were formed to promise mutual support when members are attacked by other countries, which resulted in the division of two opposing military camps in WW2, with Germany, Italy and Japan standing as the axis

The government income had increased by over 30% in 1939 when compared to 1929. The unemployment had also fallen from 6 million in 1933 to 300,000 in 1939. However, Italy was less economic efficient under Mussolini. As Mussolini hoped to achieve a dependent economy in Italy, a lot of trade opportunities were intentionally dismissed, resulting in the slow progress of economic recovery after the WW1 of Italy. (Keynes, 1920) Moreover, Mussolini based the economic development of Italy on agricultural production instead of industrial production like Germany, with the policy of ‘Battle of the Grain’. However, when Italy was led into the WW2, the agricultural economy collapsed in a relatively shorter time since the industrial output remained low under Mussolini’s policy, which was essential in fighting WW2. Mussolini also inflated the value of the lira in his ‘Battle for the lira’, making exports more expensive. (Robert, 2003) This created unemployment at home as many industries and firms could not sell their goods. Furthermore, the Italian officials were very corrupted and serious crippled the corporation system. This has further worsened the economic situation in Italy and unemployment even rose under the rule of Mussolini. (Robert, 2003) When the world was at the brink of another world war, Italy still relied on foreign imports of raw materials; the Italian economy remained a dependent economy by