Synopses & Reviews
How did Mussolini come to fascism? Standard accounts of the dictator have failed to explain satisfactorily the transition from his pre-World War I "socialism" to his post-war fascism. This controversial new book is the first to examine Mussolini's political trajectory during the Great War through his journalistic writings, speeches and war diary. The author argues that the 1914-18 conflict provided the catalyst for Mussolini to clarify his deep-rooted nationalist tendencies. He demonstrates that Mussolini's interventionism was already anti-socialist and anti-democratic in the early autumn of 1914 and shows how in and through the experience of the conflict the future Duce fine-tuned his authoritarian vision of Italy in a state of permanent mobilization for war.
Review
An important study of the young Mussolini, Inventing Fascism shows us the future fascist leader in a new light, helping us to understand better why Italy turned to fascism and how Mussolini himself - still a socialist firebrand in 1914 - became the champion of the Italian Right. This study will become essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the development of the fascist movement and its duce. Paul Corner, Professor of European History, University of Siena
About the Author
Paul O'Brien is an independent scholar.
Table of Contents
Mussolini and the First World War: The Journalist, The Soldier, The Fascist--Paul O'Brien * Stating the Programme * Neutral?: The Cultural Politics of Neutrality and Intervention * Making the "Man": "Mazzini", Nationalism and the Aesthetics of Violence * Mind and Matter * Digging In: Rear, Front and Invasion * Disenchanted Warrior * War and Revolution * Caporetto and After * Imagining Fascism