Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism Book

When in late 2006 Donald Sassoon published The Culture of the Europeans: From 1800 to the Present (HarperCollins), it was received with critical acclaim despite being an obese 1,400 pager. His latest offering, Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism, weighs in at a tenth of its predecessor's page count. Nevertheless, in a mere 143 pages of text, Sassoon, a professor of comparative European history, provides a clear, concise analysis of Benito Mussolini's rise to power, focusing intently on the crises that led to the growth of fascism in Italy.

After World War I, Italy was a tired state plagued with problems: an ailing economy; strikes; occupations; emigration; religious and political disputes; a dread of Soviet-style revolution; a fragmented political system; and a population made uneasy and restless by the impact of war. In these conditions, it is hardly surprising that Mussolini's nostrums were appealing. Italy needed someone with a firm hand to steer the country back on route.

Initially, it looked as if, with his army of legionaries and a violent disdain for parliamentary liberalism, the poet-turned-war-hero Gabriele D'Annunzio might take over. In 1919, when they seized and reclaimed the Adriatic port of Fiume as Italian territory, they established an independent, quasi-fascist republic. According to Sassoon, this event was a turning point for the 20th century. Mussolini learnt much from D'Annunzio on how intimidation, direct action and propaganda could help to consolidate power. On 23 March, 1919, Mussolini launched the movement that was to become, two years later, the National Fascist Party.

The key question that Sassoon tries to answer is why Mussolini obtained office in the first place. Sassoon contends that, of all the events that paved the way for the fascists' rise to power, the most crucial mistake was made by the liberal politician Giovanni Giolitti, the greatest figure of Italian liberalism since Cavour. Giolitti had traditionally tried to disarm his opponents by trying to accommodate their views and sympathising with their anxieties. In 1921, he included Mussolini and the fascists in his electoral list, allowing them to win 35 of the 535 parliamentary seats. Giolitti believed that the fascists would be like "(...) fireworks. They will make a lot of noise but will leave nothing behind except smoke." Giolitti miscued, but so did almost everyone else from the old political establishment.

Interestingly, Mussolini did not require a revolution to obtain power - all he needed was a legal invitation to form a coalition government by King Victor Emmanuel III. Mussolini would later claim that he had seized power rather than received it and that the fascists' March on Rome had brought the Italian establishment to its knees and forced it to accept the inevitability of a fascist government. Yet Sassoon convincingly argues that the fascists came to power because it suited the Italian establishment at that moment.

When Mussolini became Prime Minister, his name was largely unknown. He led one of the smallest parties in the Italian Parliament and his squad of ill-armed black shirts who supported him during the March on Rome could have been easily disbanded by the army. As the author perceptively points out, "Mussolini's assigned role was to cleanse the country of the red menace (socialism) and then turn himself into a figurehead. The old establishment would rule in the shadows, as it had always done." But this never happened. When the king invited Mussolini to form a government, few foresaw a 23-year dictatorship that would leave Italy as the battered pauper of southern Europe.

Sassoon limits himself to the issue of fascism's rise to power, which he explains thoroughly. However, some more depth about how Mussolini stayed in office and more about the man behind the politician would not have gone amiss. Despite it being a short book, Sassoon presents a well-researched and accomplished work. The book is generously annotated, duly illustrated with black and white plates, properly indexed and possesses an extensive bibliography. Sassoon goes beyond a description of mere chronological events and manages to present us with a book that is never boring and that will surely please even those just slightly interested in the unsavoury history of 20th century Europe.