Fascism And Social Revolution

The study of welfare can illuminate debate about some of the grand themes in modern Italian history - the question of the success or failure of nation-building; the question of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the state; and the question of continuity and discontinuity from liberalism to fascism. It can also deepen understanding of one of the most pressing problems confronting historians of Italian fascism - the question of the actual impact of fascist rule on Italian society. Despite this, surprisingly few scholars have done any work on this important topic. This book aims to contribute to scholarship on the social history of modern Italy by examining welfare thinking and policies from the nineteenth century to the fascist period.

What is fascism? Is it revolutionary? Or is it reactionary? Can it be both? Fascism is notoriously hard to define. How do we make sense of an ideology that appeals to streetfighters and intellectuals alike? That is overtly macho in style, yet attracts many women? That calls for a return to tradition while maintaining a fascination with technology? And that preaches violence in the name of an ordered society? In the new edition of this Very Short Introduction, Kevin Passmore brilliantly unravels the paradoxes of one of the most important phenomena in the modern world—tracing its origins in the intellectual, political, and social crises of the late nineteenth century, the rise of fascism following World War I, including fascist regimes in Italy and Germany, and the fortunes of 'failed' fascist movements in Eastern Europe, Spain, and the Americas. He also considers fascism in culture, the new interest in transnational research, and the progress of the far right since 2002. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Benito Mussolini (1893 - 1945) is the living image of Fascism and one of the most well known historical figures ever, the antonomasia of a Dictator: nevertheless few are the ones aware that early in the 20th century he was the coming man of the Italian Revolutionary Socialism, headed to represent the Socialist Party, in which everyone had high hopes for the overthrowing of the so-called "bourgeois system," when Socialism was still revolutionary and hostile to Capitalism. Lenin said of him: "in Italy, comrades, in Italy there is only a Socialist capable of guiding the people towards the revolution, Benito Mussolini," soon after the Duce would lead a revolution, but a Fascist one... So, why did he become a Fascist after wall? Has he really betrayed Socialism as his critics accused him of doing? Or was Fascism the genial and natural outcome of a Socialist's evolution, of a charismatic mass leader, towards the real revolution? In "Revolutionary Fascism" Erik Norling, author of "Blood in the Snow: The Russo-Finnish War" (Shelf Books, 2001), acquaints us not only with the Revolutionary and Socialist roots of primeval Fascism but also describes the Italian Social Republic period, at the end of the war, when these values reemerged in its utmost purity.