It's A Bad Day When You Don't Learn Something New ABout Fascism

I thought that when reading the Dunday Herald's review of Mussolini and the rise of fascism, by Donald Sassoon. I think of myself as not being one who sees a Fascist or a Nazi (they are two related but different types of creeps) behind every stupid politician (such as Bush or Cheney) but it helps to remember that Mussolini held elective office.

LIKE MANY of us, I suspect, I've always had the notion that Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy at the end of 1922 by marching into Rome at the head of a huge column of armed "blackshirts" before whom the democratic government crumbled. But, according to Donald Sassoon, it wasn't like that. Most of the fascists arrived in Rome by special trains. The ones who did march were a rain-soaked raggle-taggle bunch with hardly a modern weapon among them, and who could have been easily stopped by the army. In fact, some of them might have starved to death on the road if they hadn't been fed by friendly soldiers and police.

And far from sharing the hardships of his followers, Benito Mussolini, who was already an MP, arrived in Rome by overnight train from Milan and was whisked by limousine to the palace where King Victor Emmanuel III swore him in as head of a coalition - not a fascist - government. Mussolini then declared himself the king's "loyal servant". All of which made me realise I knew little about the rise of fascism in Italy - the subject of Donald Sassoon's latest book.

Reading further into the review, I got to thinking this sure puts the idea of "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" into perspective. The review also puts Frank Capra's Meet John Doe into perspective.