WELCOME THE WAY TO VICTORY THROUGH FASCIST ITALY! The Fascist regime’s goal was to implement mass politicization, utilizing Italian culture (such as art, cinema, and music) to pursue its intentions. In Fascist Italy, dictator Benito Mussolini encouraged propaganda, playing a more important role in twentieth century Italy than other dictatorial regimes (Illiano and Sala). Citizens, including artists and intellectuals, were surrendering their individuality to become part of an energetic Fascist society, becoming the cornerstone for propaganda (Illiano and Sala 12). Mussolini used a new weapon to control his people and instill his Fascist ideas in society: propaganda. Until then, “propaganda had never been deployed so systematically” (Illiano and Sala 13), and Italy was the first. An analysis of propaganda during Italy’s Fascist era reveals the government’s overarching role in the personal lives of citizens and Mussolini’s immersion in Italian culture. Propaganda instilled an idea of the omnipresent Mussolini. There were numerous governmental associates created and designed for propaganda (Courriol 18), such as the Minister of Popular Culture and the Centre for Mediterranean Studies (a propaganda institution created in 1937 as part of the Fascist imperial project). Sometimes propaganda was effective and other times it was not. After 1926, the Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism controlled film, music, radio, and print, vigilantly cataloging the public’s reaction to these forms of propaganda (Courriol). It is necessary to assess the impact music had on Italian culture during the Fascist period, because it highlights Mussolini's influence across all forms of civilization.
date: August 11, 2018
date: August 11, 2018