ABSTRACT
The Fascists did not merely form a government. They claimed to have set up a regime; and the regime was, or purported to be, totalitarian, affecting every aspect of ordinary people's lives. The Fascists also preached an ideology of national solidarity and individual self-sacrifice, and tried to train a new generation of true believers in patriotism and war. This chapter examines how far their policies were successful. Despite his militarism, Benito Mussolini always believed the pen was mightier than the sword. Altogether, it may well be argued, as Philip Cannistraro wrote, that Fascist Italy was the first State in Western Europe to recognize the potential value of the mass media for purposes of political control although Nazi Germany soon outpaced Fascist Italy in this dismal enterprise. Until imperialism replaced it, corporatism was one of the major elements in Fascist ideology. In short, there was acceptance but not devotion, consensus but not commitment, let alone hegemony.
