During the period between World War I and World War II, things were strange. The Communist Revolution had scared everybody else. It scared some too far to the right to try and keep Communists out. Fascism was to keep capitalism, Christianity, and Communism in.
Italy had not done well in World War I. There were in the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria, but they didn't join the war on that side like they were supposed to. They joined Great Britain and France instead. Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms is about this. Italy got little in the end of that war (a bit of Austria). There is no work in Italy. A lot of army veterans were unemployed and there was a big depression after the war. The Italian veterans of World War I were essentially treated like the U.S. veterans of Vietnam–no one wanted to hear about them. They were very bitter and cynical. There is a lot of discontent in Italy. Nationalist groups still wanted a strong, united Italy. North Italy people who were rich did not want Communists in their country and would support anything anti-Communist. The rich are scared of a Communist Revolution like what happened in Russia. The young want a strong government. The army wants a strong government (like the Roman Empire).
And along came Benito Mussolini (1883-1945). He was the son of a blacksmith. He was cynical and had read Machiavelli's The Prince (which said it was better to be feared than to be loved). He was expelled from a seminary for stabbing a boy. He couldn't cut it as an elementary school teacher. He was a journalist in World War I. He wrote propaganda about the war after it was over claiming how great Italy had been in the war and that Italy had been cheated out of the spoils of that war. He found the Fascist party. It was mostly made up of old leftover war goons. Fasces is an old Roman symbol of a bundle of sticks bound to an ax with a red strip–symbolizing the ability of Roman leaders to punish wrongdoers. It was the symbol of judges (a bundle of sticks was used to clear the way for the Roman judges to get through the streets–a bundle of sticks comes to represent judicial power–the ax shows the power of the executive to strike down bad people–the red strip symbolizes blood). Mussolini adopted this old Roman word in 1919 for his new political organization. The Fascists wore Black Shirts. The Black Shirts were street fighters who beat up Communists and Socialists. Money comes to Mussolini from capitalists, though the rich don't want to be associated with this violence so they just give him money in plain envelopes. The Black Shirts marched on Rome. Mussolini had ducked over the Swiss border in case things went badly. The old government (led by Victor Emmanuel III) capitulated. Victor Emmanuel III (king of Italy from 1900 to 1946) makes Mussolini the leader to stop the rioting. Mussolini gets the police. Mussolini was in charge. Italy is now a totalitarian state. He was called "Il Duce" (the leader). Victor Emmanuel III is only a figurehead from 1922 on. Mussolini is the leader of Italy from 1922 to about 1943. He had a good oratory style even though he rarely said anything that made sense. He recognized the Pope and vice versa. The Pope had never recognized the Republic. As for capitalism in Italy, Mussolini said he had the answer. There would be no strikes–if you have a complaint just go to Mussolini. Actually, there were no strikes but then there were no higher wages either. He built roads and made the railroads run on time (his biggest achievement). There was lots of propaganda in the schools.
I'm sure you're all dying to know just what the Fascist doctrine was? Nobody knows. Fascists opposed: rationalism, democracy, communism, socialism, individualism, etc. They were for: power, courage, and discipline. "Power, Courage, Blood." Mussolini keys into a mystic sentimentality in Italy–Italian operas have plots that don't make much sense but are very flashy shows to make us all feel better. Italians are used to this. Mussolini doesn't say anything that makes sense, but he makes the Italians feel better. Fascists wanted "freedom through authoritarianism" (I'll free you if I've got absolute power). They said they would rebuild the army. Mussolini had an operatic sense of drama.
In Germany, the Kaiser had abdicated before the end of World War I. The Weimar Republic was the government that agreed to the Versailles Treaty (and War Guilt Clause). By agreeing to those, they looked bad. People said the government had sold out. The Germans begin saying that the Versailles Treaty is so harsh that it discredits the government (Weimar Republic). In 1929, there was a giant depression everywhere. There were lots of unhappy people in Germany.
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) had a strange life. He was artistic but not good enough to get an artist's scholarship. He was an Austrian not a German (he was born in Vienna). His dad died early in his life. Hitler was poverty-stricken. He is very embittered by all of this. He learned to hate people. In 1914, he joined the German army and was a dispatch carrier. He had some success in this war, but he was also wounded and gassed during the war. He became a hero with an Iron Cross but that (the only success in his life up to that time) meant nothing cuz Germany lost the war.
Hitler organized the Nazi (National Socialist) party and designed the swastika. He was discontent. He had a great, magnetic voice. He was imprisoned for a year for marching without a parade permit and wrote Mein Kampf ("My Struggle") in prison. It was not a good book but was very Machiavellian. It is ok to lie to people if it helps them and somehow people will believe big, fuzzy lies more than small lies. Hitler practiced propaganda by using simple slogans and saying them over and over again. He said that the enemy is Russia and Communists. The internal enemies were the Jews. This is easy for the German people to buy because the Jewish people have been used as scapegoats in Europe for centuries. Hitler says that the German Jews didn't support the German efforts in World War I (nonsense–the stats show that there were more German Jews in World War I than Christians). Hitler was a racist. He said Nordics were better and the Germans were the very best. They were the Volk ("people"). They were German people on German soil and therefore the best of all. The Volk were racially, culturally, and intellectually superior to all others. He hated the Jews the most even though lots of Jews had fought in World War I. The Nazis were mostly middle class Germans who were desperate. He held massive rallies at night in the 1920s and 1930s. Nazism was like a hysterical religion. There were chants and you wanted to touch your flag to Hitler's, etc. The Hitler Youth were like military-minded Boy Scouts with teeth.
By 1933, Hitler had a big political party with the Nazis. It was lots of fun to beat up Communists and it was financed by Capitalists. The Brown Shirts were the young street thugs who beat up the Jews and Communists. Hitler became the head of a coalition of the government to stop the rioting (which he was starting in the first place). The Reichstag Fire burned down some government buildings. The Communists were blamed. Hitler asked for power to defend against the Communists. He got support from the middle class and young people. Hitler was called der Fuhrer ("leader"). He is the leader of Germany from 1933 to 1945.
Hitler formed a new Christianity. He said Jesus was not Jewish. He destroyed the New Testament–he says that the Jews wrote the New Testament. He inferred he was Jesus in the second coming. Jews are fired from jobs, etc. The Christians were with him when he was fighting communism, but they begin to turn away from him when he starts saying the New Testament is wrong. Lutherans and Catholics fought him and were jailed or killed. He has too much power to stop him now. Albert Einstein (a German Jew) left Germany and came to the United States as soon as Hitler came to power.