How Did Mussolini Achieve Their Social Tension?

Italy emerged among the victors of World War One, yet faced dire economic and political circumstances at the end of the war. Unemployment and inflation was comparable to that of Germany and parliament experienced five successive governments between 1919 and 1922. This social tension was compounded by the unsuccessful Paris Peace Conference where Italy lost territory such as the town of Fiume, and the rapid rise of the socialist party; supported by the growing poor. In many respects the Fascist party was a product of this climate, winning the support of affluent ruling classes through promises of anti-Bolshevism and restoring “mutilated” territory. First and foremostly, however, Mussolini assured Italians that they would regain economic stability and build an empire which rivalled that of the Romans. Once in insurrectional power by 1922, Mussolini attempted to achieve this with domestic policies including the Battle for Grain, Lira and Births, as well as his use of extensive propaganda.
As previously mentioned, Italy was enduring an economic downturn following WWI and was heavily reliant on wheat and other foreign imports. The Battle for Grain in 1925 aimed to bolster the agricultural sector and economy in the hope that Italy could reach autarky. To achieve this, Mussolini introduced financial …show more content…
While Mussolini did indeed transition Italy into the 20th century, he did so at the cost of the country’s social and economic development. These failures continued into World War Two, where Fascist forces suffered heavy losses reminiscent of the Great War and propaganda proved insufficient in masking this defeat. Even protection from the far-superior German Fascists could not save Mussolini who was eventually hung, not for war crimes but rather for mistreatment of the Italian people in the form of poor leadership and ill-advised domestic