The Italians and the Fascist Party

The fascist movement quickly matured into a fascist party. This party cannot be seen as a homogeneous and invariable body but rather as an institution undergoing a slow and incessant metamorphosis. It adapted to the structural changes that had taken place in the Italian state and society, as well as to the power dynamics within the fascist leadership group itself. For at least the decade following the March, the PNF had a life of its own, contributing decisively to shaping the political system, transforming it into a personal dictatorship and a corporate regime. The fascist regime operated by integrating men and party offices into the state—and by the service that public officials rendered to the fascist party. With the appointment of Achille Starace as secretary in 1931, the PNF lost the character of being an institutional representative of a political movement. Instead, it became a political organ designed to drive consensus around the fascist state. The chapter presents the structure of the party and the political personalities who led it over the years, dwelling on their political and social background and the generations they represented. The PNF and its Militia were thus structured as a male world from which women were excluded. The party was an all-male party relegating the female component to marginal tasks. Women militants were called to serve in the welfare state but never fully assumed leadership responsibilities, which remained the preserve of political professionals, thus men. Only in mid-1930s the PNF realized the political apathy to which Italian women had been relegated, and sought to grow the number of new female recruits in order to prepare the groundwork for a mass party. In addition in fascism’s political liturgy, the leader is key. The presence of the Duce, the leader, the man who represents the political movement and at the same time the Fascist state—its domestic and foreign policies and the entire community of Italians—gives solidity to power and reinforces the hierarchical principles of authority and deference. The chapter analyzes also the creation of Mussolini's personality cult through literature and media. Another successful operation was that of converting Benito Mussolini’s birthplace into a pilgrimage site for his personality cult: in one decade, Predappio village was monumentalized and Mussolini’s family, including parents and children, became a model for Italians to emulate, replacing the Savoy as a popular dynasty.