Consent and Control - Fascist State

Question 1

What powers did Mussolini have by 1925 to show he was a dictator

Answer 1

• Make laws by decree
• Parliament had no power and no political opposition
• OVRA Secret Police
• Press Censorship

Question 2

When was the Avanguardia Giovanile Fascista formed?

Answer 2

• December 1921 for boys between 14-17 years old

Question 3

When was the Gruppi Universitari Fascisti set up (GUF)? What was created following this?

Answer 3

• March 1923

- Followed by the balilla for children aged between 8 and 14 years old

Question 4

How many children were in Fascist Youth Associations by 1924?

Answer 4

3,000

Question 5

When was the Opera Nazionale Balilla founded? (ONB)

Answer 5

• 3rd April 1926
• Provide youth with ‘physical and moral benefit’
• Education of boys between 8 and 18 years

Question 6

When was the Ballila restructured and what to?

Answer 6

1934

• Figli della Lupa (Son of She Wolf) 6-8 years
• Ballila for 8-14 years
• Avanguardisti for 14-17 years

Question 7

What were fascist youth movements for girls?

Answer 7

• Figlie della Lupa (Daughters of the She Wolf) 6-8 years
• Piccole Italiane (Little Italians) 8-13 years
• Giovane Italiane (Young Italian Women) 14-17 years
  Organisations were controlled under Ministry of Education (1929)

Question 8

How was the ONB linked to education?

Answer 8

• Was compulsory for boys and girls at elementary schools from age 6-11 years old
• Membership was not compulsory over the age of 11 until 1939

Question 9

Why might people still want their kids to be part of the ONB despite it not being compulsory until 1939?

Answer 9

• Made it difficult to enter further education
• Barred employment in the civil service
• Suspect of anti-fascism
• ONB provided jobs and special scholarships

Question 10

What youth programmes other than the fascist ones remained?

Answer 10

Catholic Youth Programmes

Question 11

How were boys trained in these youth programmes?

Answer 11

• 8-14 moral and spiritual defence of the country
• 14, special gymnastics and physical training to prepare them for the army
• 18, able-bodied would be military trained
• Told to swore to Mussolini as that was the best Balilla
• Marching, wrestling, shooting practic, boxing and bomb throwing

Question 12

How were girls trained in these youth programmes?

Answer 12

• Gymnastics to ensure they were healthy and fit mothers who could bear children

Question 13

What were children taught at schools under the Fascists?

Answer 13

• Lots of patriotic Italians from classical Rome linked to Fascism and linked Caesar to Mussolini
• About poor treatment of WW1 soldiers and Fascism saving from communism
• 101/317 History Textbooks banned in 1926 due to lack of patriotism

Question 14

What changes were made to teachers? (2 Key ones in 1931)

Answer 14

• Anti-fascist teachers removes 1920’s - 1933 (must be PNF members)
• Only employed teachers who got their diploma after 1923
• Teachers had to take an oath of loyalty to Lateran Pacts (11/1250 refused)

Question 15

What was the GUF’s main goal?

Answer 15

• To run the Littoriali, national student games involving cultural and debate competitions with fascist themes

Question 16

Why might uni students want to join the GUF?

Answer 16

• Enhanced Career Prospects
• Use of sport facilities
• Half-price entertainment
• Part exemption from military service

Question 17

How many members did fascist youth organisations have by 1937?

Answer 17

7 Million

Question 18

How did young people in the rural south find the youth organisations, include girls too?

Answer 18

• Rural south, many stopped education at 11, due to agricultural work
• Girls less likely to continue over 11, boys found more enjoyment in their activities, girls were just being prepared for motherhood

Question 19

What did the 1937 survey conducted by the PNF in Rome show?

Answer 19

• Girls were more interested in the type of sports activities given to the boys

Question 20

When was the OND set up and what was it?

Answer 20

1925, Provided ordinary people with:

• Social events, bars, billiard halls, cycling groups, football teams, libraries and radios
• Plays, concerts and popular films
• Subsidised holidays and excursions

Question 21

What % of workers were ONB members and how did their membership grow from 1926 –> 1939?

Answer 21

• 80% of all state and private sector workers
• 40% of Industrial workers
• 300,000 1926 –> 4 million 1939

Question 22

When was Press Censorship formally introduced?

Answer 22

Press Law December 1925 and end of 1926

- Prefects could confiscate anything anti-fascist

Question 23

What was the circulation of newspapers then?

Answer 23

• Popolo d’Italia only 100,000
• Corriere della Sera and Vatican Newspaper 600,000
• Osservatore Romano 250,000
• La Stampa banned
• Only 10% of newspapers were fascist

Question 24

What event in 1937 linked fascism to Ancient Rome?

Answer 24

• 2,000th anniversary of Augustus Caesar

- 1 million people visited the exhibition set up

Question 25

What sporting events did Italy win?

Answer 25

- 1934 and 38, football World Cup | - 1933 - 35, Primo Carnera boxing champion

Question 26

What was the Minculpop?

Answer 26

- Originally Ministry of Press 1935 - Renamed Ministry of Popular Culture 1937 - Strict censorship of newspapers, radio, film, theatre and foreign publication

Question 27

How many pictures of Mussolini were circulated? What did he not include in any publications?

Answer 27

- 30 million pictures in 2,500 different poses - He was imaged as attractive to the opposite sex - Also imaged as a family man (appeal to everyone) - He never mentioned his age or that he wore glasses

Question 28

Was the Cult of Il Duce a success?

Answer 28

- If the goal was to create a militaristic society, then it failed - It focused on worship of one leader, perhaps unsustained after his death

Question 29

When was The National Institute of Fascist Culture created and what was it?

Answer 29

1926 | - Artists and intellectuals organised into particular associations, e.g artists led by Antonio Maraini

Question 30

What was the: - Experimental Centre of Cinematography - General Directorate for Cinema

Answer 30

- (ECC) trained 100 students a year in Rome 1935, renowned Michelangelo Antonioni - (GDC) regulates cinema and film in line with Fascist ideology

Question 31

What organisation did artists have to be a part of?

Answer 31

Syndicate of professionals and artists

Question 32

What did the film industry developed in the 30's get named?

Answer 32

Film City

Question 33

When was the Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution held and what was displayed?

Answer 33

1932 - celebrate a decade of rule of the fascists - 4 million people visited - Commissioned artists to show art that represented achievement - Style of art was never really disputed, just as long as it glorified fascism