ABSTRACT
Mussolini's rise to the position of head of government was, it must be emphasized, formally constitutional. Fascist domestic policies changed several times during the more than twenty years of Mussolini's rule. As a result, Italian fascism is often seen as a movement without a philosophy, as if fascism were nothing but Mussolini and Mussolini nothing but an opportunist. Under Mussolini, corporatism was about increased production. Given fascist bellicosity before the March on Rome, Italian foreign policy between 1922 and 1933 was fairly quiescent; there was some early trouble with Greece, but, on the other hand, the long-standing dispute with Yugoslavia over Fiume was resolved by treaty. Greatest boon of all, the bulk of Italy's numerous clergy rose to new heights of enthusiasm for a regime that had restored the church to it proper place; this enthusiasm would, for the most part, remain through good times and bad, until it was almost too late.
