A light rain is falling on Milan’s Piazza del Duomo. Our tour of Sforza Castle and Leonardo’s Last Supper is over, so now we’re back on our own. As far as city squares go, this is a big one – really big, and kind of ominous. This is where Mussolini gave so many speeches to cheering crowds. I assume they were cheering. If anyone wasn’t cheering, they probably got bopped on the head with a nightstick. Fascism was like that.
Ready for a Change
Fascism started here during World War I. At the end of the war, present-day northern Italy was in a shambles. France, Germany, or Spain had occupied this area for hundreds of years, and Italians were sick of it. When a group came along with a strong nationalist message, Italians were ready to hear it.
That’s one thing about fascism – it has a strong nationalist message. Your country is the team, and you’re either on the team, or you’re not on the team. And if you’re not on the team, well, you’re probably gonna have problems.
A number of groups emerged to fill the political vacuum after the war. They were called “fasci,” which translates to “bundles.” Benito Mussolini started a group that won out over the rest. His group’s philosophy and operating mode became known as “Fascism.”
Besides being nationalistic, fascists believed in centralized government control of just about everything. After all, how did anyone expect to fix the mess without central control to organize everything and make things happen?
If We Were Fascists…
If we were fascists, our first priority would be to set up a hierarchy similar to that of a big company or an army. Everyone would report up to a boss, who reported up to a higher-level boss, etc., until one reached the top. All major businesses and unions would be included in the hierarchy.
Okay. Now we have the team, and we’ve gotten ourselves organized. Next, if we’re going to be fascists, we need to get serious. A big part of fascism was that there’s no messing around. If something isn’t happening fast enough, we force it to happen faster – one way or another. To do that, we’ll have to establish a strong and aggressive military and police force.
Fascism confuses people because it combined socialist ideas with capitalist ideas. Fascists liked the parts of socialism about big government taking care of everyone, but they didn’t like the part about everyone being equal.
They liked the parts of capitalism about productive companies and rewarding personal achievement, but they didn’t like the parts about democracy or individual freedom.
It’s complicated. That’s why people don’t know or can’t agree on what a fascist is. One thing just about everyone can agree on, though, is that nobody likes ’em.
Troppi Errori
Mussolini and his fascist pals had a pretty good run. He was cagey, at least at the start. He buddied up with Hitler, and just before France surrendered to the Nazi’s, he declared war on France. Hey, no harm in getting a little piece of the action, eh? Seemed like a good idea at the time.
He invaded a few North African countries where he thought he could rack up some easy victories. That was another bad call. Next thing he knew, the United States had boots on the ground in Naples and all heck was breaking loose on home turf.
The Italians had had enough of Mussolini. They kicked him out of office, but Hitler reinstated him when the Nazis occupied Italy. By this time, Mussolini was doomed no matter who won the war. The end came quickly, and it wasn’t pretty.
Dov’è Andato?
No one is giving any big political speeches in Piazza del Duomo today, so we made our way over to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. It was lunchtime, and we were hungry. We saw a place upstairs where people were merrily eating away, but how to get there?
We went spotted a door with a sign saying “Scale” – stairs. We went in, went up, and opened a door. No restaurant. We seemed to be in a place not meant for the public. Maybe it was up one more flight. We went up, opened the door, and looked around. Still no restaurant. Dov’è andato?
To be continued…
Just for fun…
Fascio – bundle
Fasci – bundles
Le scali – the stairs
Troppi errori – Too many errors
Dov’è andato? – Where did it go?
