WEAKNESSESAND FAILURES OFMUSSOLINI/FASCISM IN ITALY

1. Dictatorship
Mussolini is blamed for being a fanatical dictator. He established a fascist slate i.e. rule by decree. In 1922, he forced the parliament to grant him dictatorial power for one year and extended it throughout his regime. The fascist Grand council and corporate state system were all instruments of his dictatorship. In 1925, Mussolini abolished political parties, which event suffocated pluralism. There after there was intensive persecution of opposition through imprisonment, exile and death that denied Italians peace, democracy, freedom of choice and expression.
2. Discrimination
Mussolini's achievements were monopolised by a few diehard supporters of fascism at the expense of the masses. In his domestic policy, he is accused of promoting dualism and more poverty in the south in comparison to other parts of Italy. He also encouraged anti-Semitism where the Jews were segregated and persecuted.
3. Press censorship
Mussolini and his fascist regime censored the press just to promote fascism. The opposition newspapers were banned and their offices were locked. Anti-fascist journalists, editors, presenters of radios, films and theaters were arrested and exiled to Lipari Island. These undermined press freedom and "killed" freedom of expression.
4. Election malpractices
The fascist regime under Mussolini's dictatorship was responsible for election malpractices. The 1924 elections were rigged in favour of the National Fascist Party. The army was used to terrorise people to vote for fascist candidates, which caused resentment that led to the murder of Matteotti and Amandola. (They opposed rigging and were murdered by fascists).
5 Failure of self-reliance
Mussolini and fascist policy of self-reliance failed to succeed. The policy of protectionism boomeranged leading to high levels of inflation and unemployment. This is because cheap and superior goods from more developed nations such as Britain and Belgium were blocked from Italy. As Economic depression came to an end, Mussolini's priority shifted from economy to military and semi-military production primarily to help him in his imperial ambitions. This led to general poverty amongst the ordinary masses in the post-depression era.
6 Economic decline
There was general economic decline during the fascist reign of Mussolini. By 1930, Italian economy had clearly deteriorated. Mussolini failed to stabilise the exchange rate and the revalued Lire too high. The welfare and conditions of work of Italian workers were the worst in Europe. They were the lowest paid in Europe yet the cost of living was very high. The rate of inflation and unemployment were also very high.
The poor state of economy made the government unable to provide services to the rural areas. By 1939, the rural areas lacked good roads, electricity, water, hospitals, schools etc.
7 Corruption and Embezzlement
Corruption and Embezzlement characterised fascist rule under Mussolini's leadership. There was excessive corruption, bribery and embezzlement of government official. This led to the failure of government programs such as poverty eradication and land reclamation. Mock/fake factories and companies were also established just to attract government subsidies, which made the government to loose huge chunks of money.
8 Failure of the battle of Natality / births
The battle of births declared by Mussolini was a failure by 1939. In 1922, Mussolini launched the battle of births. Mussolini argued that a nation with a big population (e.g. Germany before World War I) was powerful. Consequently, he declared the battle of births in which he aimed to increase the population of Italy from 37million to 60 million. To achieve this; high taxes were introduced for bachelors and awards were given to the most fertile mothers. Those who produced twins, triplicates, quadruplicates, etc. received the most prestigious awards. However, this policy was not very successful given that by 1940 the population had increased merely to 43.8 million. This was partly because many people fled to other countries to escape fascist oppression and dictatorship.
9 Land shortage
Land shortage in the rural areas was a problem during Mussolini's fascist rule in Italy, Mussolini's battle for births and resistance to rural -urban migration created land crisis in the rural areas. Little attempt was made to redistribute land from capitalistic landlords to the poor peasants. In 1930, about only 15 families held a total of over 1 million acres of land. Much of the land used for wheat production like hillside terraces were more suitable for olives and fruits than wheat.
10 Alliance with Hitler of Germany
In his foreign policy, Mussolini is accused for collaborating with Hitherto promote fascism and Nazism in Europe by fighting other political ideologies like communism, socialism and democracy. In 1937, Mussolini signed the Rome- Berlin axis and in 1939, he concluded the pact of steel with Hitler. This solidarity encouraged Hitler's aggression in Europe that led to German occupation of Poland in 1939 and the outbreak of the Second World War.
11 Aggressive foreign policy
Lastly, Mussolini's foreign policy was more aggressive than diplomatic. He embarked on imperial wars in Greece, Albania, Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Spain. These wars led to loss of lives, destruction of property and hostility with other powers. His aggression and alliance with Hitler are blamed for the outbreak of World War II that led to the heaviest bloodshed and destruction of property in the history of the world. It should be noted that the Second World War came with events that led to the death of Mussolini and the end of fascism in Italy.