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What Life Was Like In Fascist Italy
Nov 7, 2025
The period between WWI and WWII brought about major political changes in Italy, and yet it's fairly uncommon to discuss what actually went on in Benito Mussolini's fascist state during those years. Mussolini implemented policies and reforms that led to a wave of censorship, nationalist propaganda, and widespread militarism, making daily life under Mussolini a tenuous existence.
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The period between World War I and World War II brought about major political changes in Italy
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Benito Mussolini implemented policies that led to a wave of censorship, nationalist propaganda, and widespread militarism
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making daily life in the fascist state a tenuous existence. So today we're going to take a look at how horrible everyday life was in fascist Italy
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The fascist party headquarters building was the Palazzo Braschi in Rome, and in 1934
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it was decorated in such a way as to remind the Italian people how they should vote
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you know, in case they forgot. And the messaging was less than subtle. On the side of the building
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there was a giant image of Mussolini's face, which was surrounded by posters exclaiming
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C, or yes, for those who quickly couldn't translate that, and that C was the only vote
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acceptable with Mussolini's candidates for upcoming elections. This wasn't the first time
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Mussolini used large gestures to remind voters to vote his way. He similarly decorated the Palazzo
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Braschi with a picture of himself in 1929, although it wasn't as large or imposing. It's
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possible that the winning of the previous election swelled his head a bit. Anyway, the decoration of
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the Palazzo Braschi was part of Mussolini's larger plan to adorn buildings all over Rome
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with fascist propaganda and to generally remake the city as he wished. To boost his juju
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Mussolini had architects design and build sports complexes, public markets, schools, and other buildings as well as roads, all in the spirit of Roman emperors and Roman Catholic church
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leaders. Before Adolf Hitler's first visit to Italy, there was widespread concern about hiding
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anyone who could be perceived as the opposition. It was probably a wise move, since the Fuhrer was famously not big on people who opposed him
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One Jewish refugee from a small village on Lake Como described his unusual experience
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with this detention. According to him, the police arrived at his door and said
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We're very sorry. We've come to arrest you and put you in prison for a few days
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The man very calmly told them that he understood because, you know, Hitler
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The police, who were looking to be as accommodating as the situation allowed
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told the man that the beds in the jail were very poor and offered to help him move his own bed into the cell
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They also admitted that the jail food wasn't terribly good and suggested he have someone send him hot meals and wine
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for the duration of his stay. For the police instructions, the man moved his bed and arranged for meals and wine
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to be sent to him at the jail. While he was imprisoned, his jailers would come visit every day drink with him and play games like trick and various other things to pass the time According to the man they had quite an amiable time After Hitler went home those arrested were released
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When Mussolini finally marched on Rome in 1922, he did so with an army of blackshirts at his side
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Blackshirts were a paramilitary force who, as their name implies, wore black shirts
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That's pretty on the nose. Mussolini used this army to evoke terror both domestically and abroad
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From the earliest days of the fascist party in Italy, Mussolini's blackshirts worked to
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get rid of any opposition. The blackshirts' motto was, mini frego, or I don't care
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And points for honesty, because they really didn't care. They first targeted the Socialist Party in Italy, and within two months in 1921, had
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demolished multiple outposts for labor leaders and socialists. Once the fascists went from being an urban phenomenon to a wider Italian force, they then
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went after peasant leaders in the countryside, showing aggression towards any potential challengers
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in villages, communities, and towns throughout the peninsula. They would also humiliate their
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enemies, like communists, socialists, or anarchists, by publicly forcing them to drink castor oil and
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other things. After 1927, Mussolini also used a secret police force known as the Organization for
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vigilance and repression of anti-fascism, or OVRA, to root out subversives. Mussolini also
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reinstated the death penalty in Italy and started rounding up his enemies. Many anti-fascists simply
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left the country, setting up shop in Paris or other European cities to escape persecution
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The famous justification for Mussolini's government usually goes something like this. Fascism in Italy was repressive, but at least it made the trains run on time
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In other words, Mussolini brought organization and discipline to Italy, as demonstrated by getting the trains to run on time
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The big question is, did he really get the trains to run on time, or was that just all hype
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The answer is, a little from column A and a little from column B
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In truth, the rail system in Italy was vastly improved under Mussolini
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but it had been devastated by World War I. Overall, the larger, more commercial express trains on the Italian rail system did a better
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job of keeping to timetables during Mussolini's decades of power. But local and daily trains were plagued by delays
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That said, even tourists who rode the express trains complained. As the Belgian foreign minister noted, we were always kept waiting for more than a quarter
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of an hour at the level crossings because the trains were never there at the times they
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should have been passing. Still though no one dared to report it when the trains were late because really who going to complain to a fascist that they doing a bad job
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Telephones weren't widely available in Italy, and the telephone system itself was fairly antiquated
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for the day. But this only made it easier for the secret police, headed by Arturo Bocchini, to tap what lines did exist
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With mainly just the elites using phones, the fascist state could get information
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about their business dealings, as well as any political conversations they might be having
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The secret police also kept dossiers on people throughout Italy, acquiring information
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any way they could. Fun times. Fun times. Much like Hitler and his Hitler youth
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Mussolini knew children were vital to the success of his regime. And he went to great lengths to bring them
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into the ideological bubble early on. Italian students, particularly young boys, were taught in stages about what it took
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to be a proper Italian citizen. From ages four to eight, boys wore black shirts and were told to listen to individuals in charge
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and to refer to Mussolini as Il Duce. This was foundational training for when they became
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members of the Italian fascist youth organization Balila at eight years old and were given play
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guns and taught to march. When they turned 14, boys became avanguardista, decked out with black
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shirts, hats, pants, and gray socks. These groups supplied discipline and arguably brainwashing
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for Italy's Young Men. Young girls and women were praised for motherhood and domesticity
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and were expected to be submissive to men. The family unit and the continued importance of children
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factored into how women were treated, especially since Mussolini wanted to grow the Italian population
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The larger the family, the better it was for the fascist state
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Families with more children were given tax breaks, while single men were taxed heavily
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Women who bore a large number of children were publicly rewarded. The emphasis on motherhood and family left little room for Italian women to deviate from
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that plan. Women who would not conform were sent to asylums due to the mental illness of not going along
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with the state. Between 1922 and 1943, women were admitted to asylums in Italy for deviancy, which meant
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they were insufficient mothers in the eyes of the fascist state. Women who refused to submit intimately were also deviants, punished for not giving in
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to their partners. As a former newspaper man, Mussolini understood the power of the press
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and worked to suppress it in some ways and use it to his benefit in others
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In 1929, the High Commission for the Press was established. While it was supposed to avoid interference
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with the free press, it actively intervened when any activity contrary to the national interest occurred Mussolini steered the press in the direction he wanted it to go confiscating and banning publications as well as raiding bookstores
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Unlike its German counterpart, the Italian fascist state was more reactive than proactive
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when it came to censorship, as it tried to control the written word
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In cinema, Mussolini similarly used the medium as a propaganda tool, while banning films that could influence Italians with any anti-fascist ideas
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Italy also controlled what people heard about the conflict. One man recalled hearing radio reports as a child that aimed to inspire nationalism
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There were several news bulletins a day, and his school made him listen to one at breakfast
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and one at lunch. The program would begin with music, at which point he would have to stand and then stand
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his feet in silence until the broadcast was finished. At the end, the teacher would cry
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Aquila Vittoria, which means, to whom victory? the class would respond with the fascist salute known as il saluto romano and shout
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anoi, meaning to us. The news itself was nothing but reports of victories
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unprecedented heroism acknowledged by the enemy, and victorious strategic planned retreats in the desert to trap the enemy
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In the fascist state, homosexual men were classified as degenerates and were often
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punished with imprisonment, albeit outside of Italy. In 1938, a group of 45 gay men were sent to San Domino
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in the Tremedy Islands for a five-year internal exile sentence. They were kept on the island under supervision
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but weren't subjected to forced labor or anything particularly harsh. Ultimately, they found a place where they could be
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and were expected to be openly gay. However, when World War II broke out in 1939
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the men were sent back to Italy to be placed on house arrest. Mussolini was an atheist, but he knew he needed the support of the Catholic Church if he was going
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to be successful. So after years of decrying the power of the church, he began to use Catholicism
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to his advantage. He later made Catholicism the official religion in Italy. There was no state
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mandated anti-Semitism in Italy until the late 1930s, when Mussolini took citizenship away from
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Jewish people in Italy. In 1938, new legislation prohibited Italian Jews from holding public
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office, marrying Aryans, or owning substantial land, among other restrictions. Foreign-born Jewish people were deported
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Like so many other elements of life in the Italian Socialist Republic, these policies were partially about fear
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and partially about staying on good terms with Germany. Mussolini treated his enemies harshly
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and it was only with his passing in 1945 that Italian fascism truly came to an end
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