Examine the social and economic impact on Italy of Mussolini’s domestic policies.

Candidates are required to consider the relationship between Mussolini’s domestic policies and the social and economic changes that affected Italy during this period. The main focus is whether or not Mussolini’s policies changed Italian society and economy. Did he fascistize Italy and to what extent did the Fascist state direct the economy in order to achieve autarky?

Indicative content

Social policies

• Education policies were designed to indoctrinate the younger generation. Teachers had to swear an oath of loyalty to the party as did all children every morning. Textbooks were rewritten and by 1937 there was only one official history textbook. However many children left school at eleven years of age and, for those who stayed in secondary education, the Church remained
  very influential in implementing a traditional curriculum.
• Youth groups such as the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) were also a means of indoctrination and preparation for military service. Membership was made compulsory in 1937 but, despite this, 40 per cent of 4 to 18 year olds managed to avoid membership.
• The Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (OND) was an after-work organization that was also designed to indoctrinate people; 40 per cent of industrial workers were members. The OND controlled a range of leisure activities from football to libraries and concerts. Organizers accepted financial support from the state although there was little real concentration on ideology.
• In the so-called “Battle for Births”, there were rewards for large families, such as a gold medal for women who had 12 children. Despite lower taxation and incentives to marry, the birthrate declined and women remained one third of the workforce.
• The long-standing tensions between Church and state were resolved by the 1929 Lateran Accords. Roman Catholicism became the state religion and remained an independent and potential rival for Fascist ideology.

Economic policies

• The Corporate State was designed to reduce industrial conflict and increase production. Its main impact was to control working conditions and wages (Rocco’s Labour Law 1926) led to a decline in living standards for workers both in towns and rural areas where wages fell by 30 per cent. Big business remained independent and could influence government via the
  Confederazione generale dell'industria italiana (CONFINDUSTRIA, General Confederation of Italian Industry).
• Candidates may mention the Battle for Grain and the Battle for the Lire and in each case there should be consideration of whether these battles achieved their aims and also whether they were economically sound.
• Some may argue that despite increases in industrial production of around 9 per cent, Mussolini never achieved autarky as was demonstrated when war broke out in 1939.

The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.

Examiners are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.

[20 marks]