Propaganda of Fascist Italy

Propaganda of Fascist Italy was the material put forth by Italian Fascism to justify its authority and programs and encourage popular support.

The Fascist regime made heavy use of propaganda, including pageantry and rhetoric, to inspire the nation into the unity that would obey.

At first, all propaganda efforts were grouped together under the press office; propaganda efforts were slowly organized until a Ministry of Popular Culture was created in 1937. A special propaganda ministry was created in 1935, with the avowed purpose of telling the truth about fascism, refuting the lies of its enemies, and clearing up ambiguities, which were only to be expected in so large and dynamic a movement.

A fascist doctrine was first set forth in The Manifesto of the Fasci of Combat, and further enumerated in The Doctrine of Fascism purportedly written entirely by Benito Mussolini, but he only wrote the second part, the first part was actually also written by Giovanni Gentile.

Fascism's internal contradictions were justified by Mussolini as a product of its nature: a doctrine of action, a revolt against the conformity and alienation of bourgeois society.

Il Duce was the center of Fascism and portrayed as such. The cult of the Duce was in many respects the unifying force of the fascist regime, acting as a common denominator of various political groups and social classes in the fascist party and the Italian society. This leadership cult helped reconcile Italians with the regime despite annoyance with local officials. A basic slogan proclaimed that Mussolini was always right (Italian: Il Duce ha sempre ragione).

Endless publicity revolved about Mussolini with newspapers being instructed on exactly what to report about him.

He was generally portrayed in a macho manner, although he could also appear as a Renaissance man, or as military, family, or even common. This reflected his presentation as a universal man, capable of all subjects; a light was left on in his office long after he was asleep as part of propaganda to present him as an insomniac owing to his driven to work nature. Mussolini as a practitioner of various sports such as fencing, auto racing, skiing, horse riding, lion taming and swimming was promoted to create an image of a valiant and fearless hero. Mussolini's prestige as a hero aviator in the manner of Charles Lindbergh was especially important, as for fascism the aeroplane embodied qualities such as dynamism, energy and courage. Mussolini himself oversaw which photographs could appear, rejecting some, for instance, because he was not sufficiently prominent in a group.

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