Totalitarianism Italian Fascism

in 1925, pnf declared italy s fascist state totalitarian. term totalitarian had been used pejorative accusation italy s liberal opposition denounced fascist movement seeking create total dictatorship. however, fascists responded accepting totalitarian, presented totalitarianism positive viewpoint. mussolini described totalitarianism seeking forge authoritarian national state capable of completing risorgimento of italia irredenta, forge powerful modern italy , create new kind of citizen – politically active fascist italians.

the doctrine of fascism (1932) described nature of italian fascism s totalitarianism, stating following:

fascism liberty can serious thing, liberty of state , of individual in state. therefore fascist, in state, , no human or spiritual thing exists, or has sort of value, outside state. in sense fascism totalitarian, , fascist state synthesis , unity of every value, interprets, develops , strengthens entire life of people.

american journalist h. r. knickerbocker wrote in 1941: mussolini s fascist state least terroristic of 3 totalitarian states. terror mild in comparison soviet or nazi varieties, fails qualify terroristic @ all. example described italian journalist friend refused become fascist. fired newspaper , put under 24-hour surveillance, otherwise not harassed; employment contract settled lump sum , allowed work foreign press. knickerbocker contrasted treatment inevitable torture , execution under stalin or hitler, , stated have fair idea of comparative mildness of italian kind of totalitarianism .

however, since world war ii historians have noted in italy s colonies italian fascism displayed extreme levels of violence. deaths of one-tenth of population of italian colony of libya occurred during fascist era, including use of gassings, concentration camps, starvation , disease; , in ethiopia during second italo-ethiopian war , afterwards 1938 quarter of million ethiopians had died.