Benito Mussolini Anti Fascism Essay

Prior to 1938 Fascism had already asserted their power over the citizens of Italy. Just 13 years after Benito Mussolini, Duce of the Fascist regime, announced his intent to rule without Parliament; the Fascist regime had announced their Manifesto on Race which was published in Il Giornale d’Italia on July 14, 1938. Until this point, anti-Semitism was not a staple of the Fascist ideals and very little of a racial inferiority was mentioned towards the Jewish and other foreign nationals located in Italy. Despite the lack of anti-Semitic language in Mussolini’s laws and actions, the violence the regime had allowed and commended made the transition to anti-Semitism the obvious next step. I will argue that as Mussolini and the Fascist regime continued …show more content…
95). Years of violence had been handed down among anti- Fascist groups until this point. Mussolini had stated prior to the Manifesto that the Fascist party was not racist which aided in the shock of the Jewish community when the Manifesto was published (Stone 2013, pg. 95). The Manifesto started out stating basic facts regarding race but as you read through it is easy to see the call for a “pure race” reminiscent of Nazi Germany was expected. Clearly targeting Jews, proposition number 8 of the Manifesto states, “The Jews represent the only population that has never assimilated in Italy because it is racially non-European, completely different from the racial elements that created Italians” (Stone 2013, pg.97). This statement makes it clear that the Jewish community are not Italian because they are not racially European so they could not have possibly integrated into society. Though no violence had taken place specifically against Jewish people by the Manifesto, it was easy to see the segregation forming a stronger platform at the expense of the Jewish community. The Jewish supporters of Fascism being caught off guard, their support no longer matters to the “Aryan”