Summary

In his post "A sense in fascism" Zak points out the interesting hypocrisy within the fascist party. As Zak points out, "They enforced tradition, like religion, by declaring that all marriages were non-secular, but at the same time, a deal was made with the Vatican, giving independence to the pope—so that he no longer has any political power in Italy". In order to establish and maintain stability within Italy, Mussolini needed to tackle the greater issue that Italy, while it had been contractually unified, was never culturally or socially unified. This lack of unification was due to the presence of opposing powers, opposing needs, etc. Consequently, for Mussolini to truly establish a secure foundation upon which he could form his fascist regime, he had no choice but to act hypocritically (such as what Zak pointed out), for he needed to please opposing sides without initiating some sort of civil war or revolution. While this system of contradiction is useful in implementing a governmental change (such as establishing Fascist rule in Italy), does it have longevity? Or will the older, more traditional Italian components (such as the power of the Catholic Church) be replaced by the newer, modern Italian components that are driven by nationalist sentiment to further the Italian state?