Over the centuries propaganda has played a fundamental role in enabling both single leaders and groups to gain influence and political power, thus shaping the world as we know it. This particular investigation will attempt to determine the extent to which propaganda helped Benito Mussolini, the founder of the Italian fascist party and movement, to rule Italy for over two decades by answering the question “how did propaganda help Mussolini rise to power?”.
While fascism is usually analyzed in terms of militarism, nationalism, oppression and disregard for a variety of human rights, it is important to remember that similarly to other authoritarian dictators, Mussolini was widely supported by the masses, to the extent that many saw him as a national hero. Specifically, it was commonly believed that thanks to his outstanding skills and charisma, Mussolini would have turned Italy into a powerful colonial empire. In order to evoke feelings of greatness, nostalgia and ambition, the fascist party used various forms of propaganda in such a way to convince people that the Roman Empire could be restored under his leadership and that Italy could become one of the world’s greatest nations once again (Whittam 85).
The answer around which the present investigation revolves will be answered by collecting relevant secondary data. Unlike primary data, secondary data do not take a particularly long time to gather, are cost-effective and can be obtained rather easily from various sources, including books, official records, previous studies and so forth. Even though secondary data may prevent the researcher from addressing their specific research question/s, fascism has been discussed, explored and analyzed by numerous scholars and critics ever since its establishment in 1919. Consequently, there exists a vast amount of secondary data concerning various aspects of fascism, including Mussolini’s propaganda machine, which will certainly help the author to evaluate how propaganda helped Mussolini to gain power and consensus in a relatively short time.
Even though the fascist regime is commonly associated with oppression, intimidation and violence, propaganda is an element that certainly allowed Mussolini to justify his authority and portray himself as the rightful leader of the Italian state.
First of all, it should be noted that as a political journalist, Mussolini was perfectly aware of the significant impact that words, images and framing techniques had on public opinion (Neville 28). For example, during World War I, he wrote several articles in which he encouraged Italian socialists to support Italy’s participation into the war on the side of the Entente powers (Carsten 46). His tone was both assertive and persuasive and his arguments were clearly meant to remind Italians that Austria and Germany were not suitable allies as only Western powers could help Italy redeem the Alto Adige region (Carsten 46). However, since the Italian Socialist Party promoted military neutralism within the context of World War I, he founded his own interventionist newspaper in 1914, as well as his own political movement which would then lead to the creation of the National Fascist Party (Tucker 826).
At first, Mussolini did not employ particularly sophisticated propaganda tools. Starting in the early 1920s, he began restricting the freedom of the press by requiring journalists to demonstrate their allegiance to the “Duce” (i.e. the leader) and establishing a state-controlled agency which soon became the only distributor of interviews and stories concerning the fascist regime (Cull, Culbert & Welch 125).

As Bunce Gallagher and Ward (“My Revision Notes AS Edexcel History: The Triumph of Fascism in Italy, 1896-1943”) observed, Mussolini’s propaganda campaign was carefully planned as it targeted different age groups: younger people were sent messages that conveyed innovation and change; middle-class citizens were encouraged to focus on the anti-communist views promoted by the fascist party; in working-class environments, fascism was presented as an anti-capitalist political movement; finally, older citizens were targeted with images, articles and films that prompted them to associate fascism with Italy’s glorious ancient Roman culture. This way, Mussolini was portrayed like a Roman Emperor, while his army’s endeavors were linked with those of the ancient Roman legions. Furthermore, in order to depict the Duce as both a powerful political leader and an easygoing man who was close to the Italian people, various photographs of him were distributed (Bunce Gallagher and Ward, “My Revision Notes AS Edexcel History: The Triumph of Fascism in Italy, 1896-1943”).
In some of them, Mussolini held Napoleonic poses and appeared taller, younger and stronger than he actually was (Bunce Gallagher and Ward, “My Revision Notes AS Edexcel History: The Triumph of Fascism in Italy, 1896-1943”). In some others, he was depicted working with farmers and smiling at peasants, thus suggesting that in spite of his ambition, he was close to his people and understood the struggles experienced by all citizens, regardless of their social status (Bunce Gallagher and Ward, “My Revision Notes AS Edexcel History: The Triumph of Fascism in Italy, 1896-1943”).
The Italian film industry played a particularly important role in creating consensus among Italian citizens, by linking Mussolini’s plans, actions, campaigns and ideals with the remarkable cultural, political and military merits of Ancient Rome (Reich and Garofalo 9). In this regard, Reich and Garofalo (9) reported that the fascist party reformed and restructured the film industry in such a way to align it with its goals and views. This is because Mussolini was aware that films, with their vivid images, could help to promote the idea of a strong and glorious fascist nation among the lower strata of society (Reich and Garofalo 10)
As international tensions escalated as a result of the Ethiopian War, Mussolini’s cooperation with Adolf Hitler and Italy’s participation in the Spanish Civil War, mere censorship and photographs were no longer sufficient to silence critics and control the masses (Ben-Ghiat 131). That is why the pre-existing propaganda ministry was turned into the much more effective and aggressive Ministry of Popular Culture in 1937, whose main goal was to shape public opinion while inculcating fascist values in such a way to create a brand new national culture. (Ben-Ghiat 131).
Sources have been selected on the basis of their reliability, accuracy and impartial / critical approach to the topic being explored. Any sources that appeared to adopt an overly critical and unbiased tone have been excluded, as the present investigation aims to analyze fascist propaganda in such a way to determine how it helped Mussolini to rise to power in a relatively short time.
Two particular sources have been found to contain particularly relevant and reliable information about the fascist propaganda machine and its contribution to Mussolini’s rise to power. These are Bunce, Gallagher and Ward, whose book consists of a series of notes covering themes such as violence, terror, intimidation and propaganda. The authors provide accurate dates and facts and, since their book is meant for students who need to refresh their memory about an important historical period and / or are going to attend an exam concerning the fascist period, its structure is simple, clear and concise (many concepts and historical events are summarized through bullet points, diagrams and tables).
Francis Carsten’s book “The Rise of Fascism” is a typical history book, which provides a detailed account of the most important events that marked the fascist era. Since this book is not meant to help students revise essential notes before their exams, it discusses fascism from various points of view, exploring Mussolini’s background and mentality, identifying the various factors and elements that enabled dictators such as Mussolini and Hitler to exploit citizens’ frustration in order to gain power and portraying a picture of Europe in the 20th century.
From an analysis of the evidence mentioned in the previous sections, it emerged that although fascist propaganda is usually analyzed in relation to the events that occurred during the 1930s and 1940s, Mussolini began using his journalistic skills and political knowledge as tools to influence specific demographic groups before World War I. As a man who was aware of the power of the media, Mussolini and his supporters made extensive use of photographs, leaflets and films whose goal was to evoke specific feelings and emotions, while inculcating fascist values in every single Italian, regardless of their age and social status.
In order to appreciate the effectiveness of fascist propaganda, it is important to consider that Mussolini promoted a dual image of himself: on the one hand, he was a man of the people, a hard worker who didn’t mind taking off his black shirt to thresh corn with his fellow farmers (Clark 132); on the other hand, he was the rightful successor of Julius Caesar, a smart, strong and powerful man who could restore Italy’s ancient glory and cultural / military merits. In view of the special attention that the fascist party paid to photographs and films, it can be inferred that visual elements represented a very important aspect of Mussolini’s propaganda campaigns, as they proved extremely effective in relaying specific messages and evoking specific sensations, depending on the response that the fascist party needed at the time.
During the initial stage of the regime, in fact, Mussolini placed special emphasis on the relationship between contemporary Italy and the ancient Roman Empire, as well as on values such as family, honor and bravery, in order to ensure that fascism would be welcomed and appreciated by the masses. At a later stage, when he needed support for his military campaigns and wanted to persuade Italians that an alliance with Germany would benefit the fascist nation, he switched to a much more aggressive communication strategy and even formed a dedicated ministry whose goal was to gain consensus, while armed forces used violence, oppression and intimidation to silence any opponents and critics.
Exploring various sources concerning fascism and fascist propaganda, it emerged that propaganda contributed greatly to Mussolini’s rise to power by creating consensus among Italian citizens and targeting different age groups and social classes through specific messages and images. From a general perspective, during the first two decades of the 20th century, Mussolini focused mainly on tools that would link his endeavors with the greatness and glory of the ancient Roman Empire, so that people would see him as a Roman Emperor. He also presented himself as a man of the people, laughing with farmers and working hard by their side. However, as a political journalist, he knew that the press and the media could be used to persuade various groups to embrace his values and support his totalitarian regime.
That is why fascism was presented as an innovative, fresh and dynamic movement among young people, as an anti-communist party among middle-class citizens, as an anti-capitalist and socialist force among workers and as the possibility to restore the ancient Roman Empire among older voters. In other words, thanks to an effective propaganda campaign, the fascist party succeeded in portraying Mussolini as a revolutionary and yet traditional man, whose main goal was to unite Italy under a set of common values, rather than supporting and fueling class conflict like other socialists had been doing for decades.
Sources
Ben-Ghiat, Ruth. Fascist Modernities: Italy, 1922-1945. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001. Print.
Bunce, Robin, Laura Gallagher, Sarah Ward. My Revision Notes AS Edexcel History: The Triumph of Fascism in Italy, 1896-1943. London, UK: Hachette UK, 2014. Print.
Carsten, Francis L. The Rise of Fascism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1982. Print.
Clark, Martin. Mussolini. Oxon, UK: Routledge, 2014. Print.
Neville, Peter. Mussolini. Oxon, UK: Routledge, 2014. Print.
Reich, Jacqueline and Piero Garofalo. Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2002. Print.
Tucker, Spencer. Encyclopedia of World War I: a political, social, and military history. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005. Print.
Whittam, John. Fascist Italy. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. Print.