ABSTRACT
In 1927 Augusto Turati, whose surname was the same as that of the Socialist leader but who was the secretary of the Fascist Party, addressed the Fascists of Florence. In actuality Fascist ideology was composed all of rejection: rejection of democracy, rejection of Socialism, rejection of the class struggle. The note of negation was sounded with vigor, but the declarations were derived from a rhetoric that was most often reduced to a few extremely traditional ideas: the cult of action, of violence, of virility, the cult of II Duce and the state. The Fascist state—"a spiritual creation" an "ethical state," an "idealist state" was first of all, then, the celebration of the cult of the Chief. The epitome of the Fascist style was Achille Starace, who was party secretary from December 12, 1931, until 1939. The Fascist leaders demanded a price for their influence, and this traffic, highly developed in Italy long before Fascism, rose to a degree that roused apprehension.
