How Did Mussolini Gain Power

To a large extent, I disagree with this statement. Authoritarian and single-party leaders unsuccesfully attempted to use force as a means of rising to power and, once this proved to be unsuccesful, reverted to democratic methods in order establish power. This is evident when looking at how Mussolini established his role as Prime Minister in Italy. Mussolini initially used the “Blackshirts”, members of the paramilitary wing of the Fascist movement, as a means of intimidating people into supporting the Fascist Party. This intimidation and violence, however, was unsuccesful in the initial period of the Fascist movement, as shown by the November 1919 election results, when the Fascists did not win a single seat in the Chamber. Mussolini, however,

This eventually led to the March on Rome. The March on Rome was, however, merely a bluff, as the aproximately 30 000 marchers would have easily been overpowered by the military. The King of Italy at the time, Victor Emmanuel, did, however, fear civil war as a result of the March on Rome, due to the fact that the military had previously shown to be sympathetic towards the Fascist movement’s causes. This unrest led politicians close to the King advising him to appoint Mussolini as Prime Minister, as they believed that Mussolini could be subjugated and that the Fascists could be induced to moderate their programme and behaviour. This highlights the fact that it was the result of an unstable government and military, rather than force, that led to Mussolini being established as Prime Minister. These elements can also be seen in Hitler’s rise to power. The Rühr crisis of 1923 was met by the German government at the time through ‘passive resistance’. This infuriated nationalists such as Hitler, who saw this passive resistance as the sign of a weak government. This led to Hitler organising an attempted March on Munich, the Munich Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. The force used by Hitler and the