History UsefulNotes / FascistItaly

One of the most capable Italian generals, Italo Balbo (who was also a renowned aviator), was shot down by his own AA guns ([[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories some say on behalf of Mussolini, who feared that he could be the lynchpin of a coup]]) and [[OhCrap another army ten times the size of the British opposition was comprehensively defeated]] in North Africa during Operation Compass. The British took '''100.000 prisoners''' in the first disaster suffered by Italy in the conflict and had to stop their advance only because they run off of petrol and ammunition.

On top of it all, General Sebastiano Visconti Prasca - the Italian Commander-in-Chief - was so confident in a Greek defeat that he sent nearly half of the invasion force home to help with the incoming harvest. What was left of the aforementioned invasion force was first humiliatingly beaten by the Greeks during some of the bloodiest battles of the war; then, the "Julia" Alpine division was completely annihilated (but fought so valiantly that a German general, Karl Eibl, once said: "My tanks are the Italian Alpines"). The Greek Army, though, was on the edge of collapse by the start of February (having taken 83,000 casualties to the Italians' 102,000, with an army less then 1/5 the enemy's size), critically low on supplies of every type and only stuck with two more months worth of ammunition. Extensive British material aid had extended Greece's lifeline, but they were bound for defeat eventually, German intervention or no.

'''fasces''' (hence the party's name), that is, a bundle of wooden rods including an axe whith its blade emerging that dates back to the days of ancient Rome - where it symbolised the magistrate's power and, on a broader degree, justice. Therefore, it's no surprise that Mussolini - who had always been fascinated by everything Roman - chose it as the party's symbol; by 1929, they were even emblazoned on the Royal Family's Coat of Arms. In many ways, the Fascists considered themselves the [[ResurgentEmpire spiritual successors of the Roman Empire]].

On top of it all, the ''Duce'' wanted Italy to join the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar on the '''Nationalist''' side. However, a lot of Italian anti-fascists joined the Republican troops, with the result that the Italian Expeditionary Force often fought a fratricidal war ''against other Italians'' (the battle of Guadalajara was a perfect example, with Italian International Brigade volunteers fighting their fascist countrymen). Mussolini's volunteers, the CTV, where sent in as a show of fascist military strength; the support of their armor and air force would prove decisive for many Francoist victories, such as the battles of Maiorca (August 1936), Malaga (February 1937), Bilbao (June 1937), Santander (August-September 1937, which resulted in the Republican Basque forces surrendering to the Italians), the Asturias Offensive (September-October 1937), the Aragon Offensive (March-April 1938), the Battle of the Ebro (July-November 1938) and the Catalonia Offensive (December 1938-February 1939). However, at Guadalajara in March 1937, they suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the International Brigades, which resulted in Mussolini losing considerable amounts of prestige, and the world now knowing that Franco was receiving foreign aid from the Fascists. To make matters worse for Mussolini, the Nationalists and German volunteers [[WeAreStrugglingTogether would not stop mocking the retreating Italians for days afterwards]]. While Nazi Germany used these battlefields as a benchmark for new tactics and equipment, Italian commanders learnt nothing; moreover, the war proved long and costly for Italy and the few supplies the Army had received were dilapidated in a pointless intervention. As if that wasn't enough, the Royal Italian Air Force or, better, the ''Aviazione Legionaria'' ("Legionary Aviation", as it was known during that war) got involved - along with the Germans - in the infamous bombing of '''Guernica''' (26 April, 1937), where 400 civilians died.

!!'''28 October, 1922: the March on Rome'''

!!'''Italy from 1922 to 1935'''

!!'''1935 - 1936: the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and the involvement in the Spanish Civil War'''

!!'''The Racial Laws - Italy joins the Axis'''

!!'''Italy occupies Albania'''

!!'''Interval: society and culture in Fascist Italy'''

!!'''10 June, 1940: Fascist Italy digs its own grave'''

!!'''The war: Italy faces disaster'''

!!''' The Foibe killings'''

!!'''Conclusion'''

[[caption-width-right:350:National Fascist Party headquarters in 1934, the facade of which featured a [[BigBrotherIsWatching giant stone Mussolini face looking down]] surrounded by a sea of "Si" (Yes) ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer]]).]

[[caption-width-right:350:National Fascist Party headquarters in 1934, the facade of which featured a [[BigBrotherIsWatching giant stone Mussolini face looking down]] surrounded by a sea of "Si" (Yes) ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer]]).]]

[[caption-width-right:350:National Fascist Party headquarters in 1934, the facade of which featured a [[OminousMugshot giant stone Mussolini face]] [[BigBrotherIsWatching looking down]] surrounded by a sea of "Si" (Yes) ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer]]).]]

[[caption-width-right:350:National Fascist Party headquarters in 1934, the facade of which featured a [[Ominous Mugshot giant stone Mussolini face]] [[BigBrotherIsWatching looking down]] surrounded by a sea of "Si" (Yes) ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer]]).]]

[[caption-width-right:350:National Fascist Party headquarters, the façade of which featured a [[BigBrotherIsWatching giant stone Mussolini face looking down]] surrounded by a sea of "Sì" (Yes) ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Yes]]).]]

* ''Il Federale'' (literally, “The Head of the local Fascist Federation”, but the English version was simply titled "The Fascist") is a 1961 film set during the second half of Trope/SecondWorldWar. Primo Arcovazzi, the titular character, played by Creator/UgoTognazzi, one of the leading Italian comedians of his time, is a member of the blackshirts who must find and arrest Professor Bonafè, a renowned anti-fascist and the man who has been chosen by [[Trope/LaResistance the democratic opposition]] as the future prime minister of a liberated Italy. The film is actually an inversion of the usual depiction of the Italians who remained faithful to Mussolini after the armistice and joined his ''Repubblica Sociale Italiana''. Arcovazzi is more a naïve idealist dumbed by Fascist propaganda than a fanatical assassin. Moreover, while ignorant and boorish, he is personally brave and has a strong sense of duty. In short, a good man fighting for the wrong side in a civil war.

* ''La lunga notte del 1943'' ("The long night of 1943") is a 1960 independent movie and one of the first Italian films to deal with the civil war that erupted after Italy's surrender to the Allies. Unsurprisingly, as it is [[InspiredBy inspired by]] the Trope/RealLife murder of a Fascist high officer and the subsequent retaliation by the ''repubblichini'' that set off the most ferocious phase of the civil war, fascists are shown as little more than gangsters engaged in a power play.

After UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, the situation in Italy was dire: the veterans were not happy because of the so-called ''vittoria mutilata'' ("[[PyrrhicVictory maimed victory]]"): Italy only got a part of the territories the Allied powers promised in the Treaty of London (1915) and Italian public opinion was understandably not happy about it. As if that wasn't enough, said veterans had a [[FormerRegimePersonnel difficult time finding work and reentering normal society]], so they ended up following - as Blackshirts - a [[BaldOfEvil balding]] hothead by the name of UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini.

That was exactly what happened in 1936. Italy was a latecomer to the so-called "scramble for Africa" and had to content itself with the left-overs (said left-overs being first and foremost ''nations'' in their own right such as Eritrea, Somalia and Libya). But in 1896, the then-prime Minister Francesco Crispi pressured the ill-led colonial army to conquer Ethiopia, which was at the time the only independent African country left. Unfortunately, the expedition was a failure: the Royal Italian Colonial Corps and their Eritrean allies were slaughtered at the battle of Adowa. The Italian public opinion was so enraged it caused the Prime Minister's downfall; therefore, Mussolini wanted to avenge the humiliation which had tarnished Italy's reputation as a colonial power (and some easy land-grab, too).

The year '''1929''' saw the resolution of the ''questione romana'' (Roman Question), that is, a dispute between the Kingdom of Italy and the Papacy which had been going on since 1870 (the year in which the Italian troops annexed Rome, thus ending the temporal power of the Pope. He declared himself "prisoner in the Vatican", refused to acknowledge the Kingdom of Italy and forbade Italian Catholics, which is to say most Italians, from participating in the political life of the new country (very few took that last part seriously). Mussolini, in order to play up to the most devout strata of the population, signed the '''Lateran Treaty''' which established UsefulNotes/VaticanCity.

In '''1930''', the '''O.V.R.A.''' (that is, the infamous Fascist SecretPolice) may or may have not been established (there are allegations Mussolini came up with the name as a terror weapon and to distract people from the normal police doing the job. The acronym sounds suspiciously like "piovra", Italian for "octopus") and in October of the following year, Mussolini demanded that university professors swear an oath of loyalty to him and to the Party; few refused to, and later, laws were passed which allowed only party members to become teachers, barristers etc.

Meanwhile, in the colony of Libya a rebellion (led by Omar al-Mukhtar) had been going on since the 1920s. The Italians controlled only the coastal areas and the situation was getting worse and worse; Mussolini then sent Marshal Rodolfo Graziani to deal with the rebels. He managed to repress the revolt by making great use of the indigenous cavalry and by capturing Omar; however, his heavy-handed approach towards the Libyan civilians dwelling in the troubled areas (who were sent to concentration camps where the mortality rate was ''very'' high) earned him the nickname of "Butcher of Fezzan".

A popular socialist [=MP=], '''Giacomo Matteotti''', publicly denounced Mussolini's crimes (suppression of civil liberties, repression of opposition groups and the like). Mussolini was [[{{Understatement}} not pleased]] and [[HeroicSacrifice had him bundled into a car, beaten up by blackshirts and then stabbed several times with a sharpened file]]. Although Matteotti had seen this coming and was DefiantToTheEnd in his last moments, shouting that the workers would bless his dead body (which they did in grief, along with fellow Italian socialists), the country was in an uproar, complete with people burning their Fascist membership cards. To add insult to injury, the Duce, although denying his involvement with the murder, said that he was the one who encouraged Fascist violence against opponents ''in front of the whole Parliament''. The socialist [=MPs=], disgusted, left as an act of protest (as they had no real power anymore) but in doing so they left Mussolini and his cronies alone in control of the country. Indeed, the Fascists would later pass the so-called ''leggi fascistissime'' ("very-Fascist laws") which, among the other things, allowed only one party (guess which one?); gave (a lot) more power to the Head of the Government (who remained some sort of a PM, as the King was never removed from power); created the ''Grand Council of Fascism'', which was the main body of government; forbade strikes, protests and the like, officialised censorship and stripped the Italian people of most of their rights.

[[caption-width-right:350:National Fascist Party headquarters, the façade of which featured a [[BigBrotherIsWatching giant stone Mussolini face looking down]] surrounded by a sea of "Sì" (Yes).]]

On top of it all, the ''Duce'' wanted Italy to join the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar on the '''Nationalist''' side. However, a lot of Italian anti-fascists joined the Republican troops, with the result that the Italian Expeditionary Force often fought a fratricidal war ''against other Italians'' (the battle of Guadalajara was a perfect example, with Italian International Brigade volunteers fighting their fascist countrymen). Mussolini's volunteers, the CTV, where sent in as a show of fascist military strength. However, at Guadalajara in 1937, they suffered an utterly humiliating defeat at the hands of the International Brigades. The Italians had brought over 70 Fiat tankettes, hundreds of artillery and backed themselves up with Franco's scarily competent Moroccan troops in preparation. In contrast, the Brigades were mostly armed with Mosin-Nagant rifles and a few machine guns, had only 45 artillery pieces, 70 tanks and 20,000 men. Their only advantage against the Italians was that they had more aircraft than them. But by the end of the battle, due to terrible weather and tactical blundering, the Italians had not only lost badly, but the Brigades had managed to retake two towns ''and'' almost wiped out the Italians. Not only had Mussolini lost considerable amounts of prestige, but the world now knew that Franco was receiving foreign aid from the Fascists. To make matters worse for Mussolini, the Nationalists and German volunteers [[WeAreStrugglingTogether would not stop mocking the retreating Italians for days afterwards]].

While Nazi Germany used these battlefields as a benchmark for new tactics and equipment, Italian commanders learnt nothing; moreover, the war proved long and costly for Italy and the few supplies the Army had received were dilapidated in a pointless intervention. As if that wasn't enough, the Royal Italian Air Force or, better, the ''Aviazione Legionaria'' ("Legionary Aviation", as it was known during that war) got involved - along with the Germans - in the infamous bombing of '''Guernica''' (26 April, 1937), where 400 civilians died.

When Fascist Italians are portrayed in fiction, they are never shown to be as evil as ThoseWackyNazis. At best they're portrayed as [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain benign (and almost silly) bumblers]] who are just caught up with the wrong crowd, and at worst as obstructive toadies sucking up to their boss, UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. This characterization even applies to many works produced ''by Italians'', unless they are set in the German-occupied Italy after the collapse of the regime. In this case, fascists are usually depicted as Main/LesCollaborateurs or as [[Main/{{Mooks}} murderous and traitorous thugs]], [[Main/SycophanticServant accomplice and at the service of]] [[Main/ThoseWackyNazis the German enemy]].

[[caption-width-right:350:[[SupervillainLair National Fascist Party headquarters]], whose façade featured a [[BigBrotherIsWatching giant stone Mussolini face looking down]] surrounded by a sea of "Sì" (Yes).]]

* ''VideoGame/SniperElite'' games feature the Italian military in several entries. They make their debut in ''VideoGame/SniperEliteIII's campaign set in North Africa, complementing the German Afrika Korps in several levels. They are more heavily featured in ''VideoGame/SniperElite4'', which actually takes place in Italian territory.

* ''VideoGame/SniperElite'' games feature the Italian military in several entries, with the most prominent being 3's campaign in Kesserine, and 4 actually taking place partly in Italian territory.

When Fascist Italians are portrayed in fiction, they are never shown to be as evil as ThoseWackyNazis. At best they're portrayed as benign (and almost silly) bumblers who are just caught up with the wrong crowd, and at worst as obstructive toadies sucking up to their boss, UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. This characterization even applies to many works produced ''by Italians'', unless they are set in the German-occupied Italy after the collapse of the regime. In this case, fascists are usually depicted as Main/LesCollaborateurs or as [[Main/{{Mooks}} murderous and traitorous thugs]], [[Main/SycophanticServant accomplice and at the service of]] [[Main/ThoseWackyNazis the German enemy]].

The previous and later performances of the Italian armed forces were never as bad as their fiasco in [=WWII=], which led to the false perception (strengthened by the ignominious Allied propaganda) that the Italian flags came in white only, the red and the green bands being omitted for expediency.

* Naturally played with in ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia''. The "Italy" of the title is essentially Fascist Italy and manages to be more of a "cheese-eating surrender monkey" than France is usually depicted. There's also [[{{Tsundere}} Romano]] representing the southern half of Italy (even though Rome, from which the name "Romano" derives, belongs to Central Italy). Interestingly enough, Mussolini himself never makes a direct appearance whatsoever. Which can come off a bit of a surprise when one considers the presence of [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Germany's boss]] and [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Russia]]'s in the World War II arc.

'''fasces''' (hence the party's name), that is, a bundle of wooden rods including an axe whith its blade emerging that dates back to the days of ancient Rome - where it symbolised the magistrate's power and, on a broader degree, justice. Therefore, it's no surprise that Mussolini - who had always been fascinated by everything Roman - chose it as the party's symbol; by 1929, they were even emblazoned on the Royal Family's Coat of Arms.

On top of it all, General Sebastiano Visconti Prasca - the Italian Commander-in-Chief - was so confident in a Greek defeat that he [[GeneralFailure sent nearly half of the invasion force home to help with the incoming harvest]]. What was left of the aforementioned invasion force was first humiliatingly beaten by the Greeks during some of the bloodiest battles of the war; then, the "Julia" Alpine division was completely annihilated (but fought so valiantly that a German general, Karl Eibl, once said: "My tanks are the Italian Alpines"). The Greek Army, though, was on the edge of collapse by the start of February (having taken 83,000 casualties to the Italians' 102,000, with an army less then 1/5 the enemy's size), critically low on supplies of every type and only stuck with two more months worth of ammunition. Extensive British material aid had extended Greece's lifeline, but they were bound for defeat eventually, German intervention or no.

* ''[[Film/SaloOrThe120DaysOfSodom Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom]]'', a notoriously offensive adaptation of the Creator/MarquisDeSade's ''Literature/The120DaysOfSodom'' is a ''definite'' aversion to the traditional portrayal of Italian fascists. Here, they're portrayed as being particularly {{Squick}}y rather than the bumbling fools of other media.

Mussolini became the duce and head of government of the '''Italian Social Republic''' (or '''R.S.I.''' for ''Repubblica Sociale Italiana''), a republic operating in opposition to the Kingdom of Italy in the north with its government based in Salò. (In practice [[TheQuisling Mussolini essentially functioned as the Gauleiter of Lombardy]]). He also remained duce of the Republican Fascist Party, the new incarnation of the National Fascist Party which was the ruling party of the Italian Social Republic throughout its existence. He [[YouHaveFailedMe had most of the Grand Council members who deposed him and whom he could put his hands on killed]]. The Italian Social Republic had its own armed forces as well as a National Republican Guard to replace the Carabinieri and Voluntary Militia for National Security, which often fought against the Italian partisan formations and occasionally engaging in war-time atrocities alongside their German counterparts. The national republican forces were contemptuously nicknamed '''repubblichini''' (literally, the "little republicans", but the intended meaning is more the "petty" or "miserable" republicans) by the population. At this point in history, Italy had plunged into a '''civil war''', which left a bitter legacy that still resonates in Italian politics nowadays.

Mussolini became the duce and head of government of the '''Italian Social Republic''' (or '''R.S.I.''' for ''Repubblica Sociale Italiana''), a republic operating in opposition to the Kingdom of Italy in the north with its government based in Salò. (In practice [[TheQuisling Mussolini essentially functioned as the Gauleiter of Lombardy]]). He also remained duce of the Republican Fascist Party, the new incarnation of the National Fascist Party which was the ruling party of the Italian Social Republic throughout its existence. He had[[YouHaveFailedMe had most of the Grand Council members who deposed him and whom he could put his hands on killed]]. The Italian Social Republic had its own armed forces as well as a National Republican Guard to replace the Carabinieri and Voluntary Militia for National Security, which often fought against the Italian partisan formations and occasionally engaging in war-time atrocities along their German counterparts. The national republican forces were contemptuously nicknamed '''repubblichini''' (literally, the "little republicans", but the intended meaning is more the "petty" or "miserable" republicans) by the population. At this point in history, Italy had plunged into a '''civil war''', which left a bitter legacy that still resonates in Italian politics nowadays.