Thread by @FascioLiftorio

Alright, time for a thread.

The Capitalism in Decay Spook (1/?)

Who financed Mussolini and why did he change his mind about World War 1?

An usual claim among Communists, especially in ML groups, is that Fascism was born out of a man that, influenced by money and self interest, chose to pro-actively support war and left behind his comrades with no reason.

The reality of the matter is that, despite all of these claims, as always; they all come from two factors, lying, and taking things out of historical context. One main example of this, would be the famous work of Michael Parenti "Blackshirts & Reds"...

a book that although loved by Communists, holds onto a lot of claims that lack sources or are directly historically dishonest. Which this is a reality of the Capitalism in Decay mythos, most of it stems from be it ignorance or willful dishonesty.

If we were to take a look at Mussolini, especially his early years, we can notice a trend within his person that indicates his troublesome personality. Be it on his early years in the Italian Socialist Party, or later within the Fasci Di Combattimento, he always managed...

to be that one person causing issues or confronting the ways in which one gets power.

As an example of this, we can see his proposal of Revolutionary Praxis compared to Reformist Praxis within the Italian Socialist Party. Like Lenin, he considered that change could not...

be achieved through the means of parliamentary democracy, but through Revolutionary Means. Young Mussolini would dismiss reformists as "Tagliatelle Socialists". Later on he would embrace reformist views once in power, compared to revolutionary sentiments within the Fascist Party.

As his ideas developed, one could also see his nationalistic notions as early as 1911, where he would display the recognition of Nationalism as an important means for Revolution. As well with the paper that Nietzsche had in his development of praxis & ideology.

The argument of Mussolini having second interests and changing his mind over nothing gets usually dropped as a means to discredit his views or portray him as a defender of Capitalism, nevertheless, this requires a wider examination of what happens during WW1.

Reality of most Socialist Parties is that they would side with their own Nation during the conflict, or they would take a pro-active stance of the war. This can be seen in the support of the German Socialist Party for the invasion of Belgium, or with...

how the British and French Socialist parties also took an active role in pushing for war as means to revolution, the latter, would be a key element of kickstarting Mussolini and Il Popolo D'Italia, but that will be relevant soon.

As old dogmatic Socialist Praxis would preach; if a big conflict among Capitalist Nations were to arise, the workers, through general strikes, could spark the flame of revolution, to then swiftly destroy the Ruling Classes and then stop the conflict, nevertheless...

Mussolini would note that most parties were siding with their own government, and not only that, they were actively pushing for war. In this form, Mussolini would gradually take the stance that the proletariat, once done with the foreign enemy, would take up arms after such...

a destructive conflict, and would aim them at the ruling class. The logic for this can be traced for the idea that Marx once said that social revolution usually follows war. Adding up to this logic, and as Nicholas Farrell points out in his biography of Mussolini...

the young Benito would put a shot of Nietzsche against Marxist Determinism. Men were not condemned to just stare at the progress of history, Men have to make history, and in this sense, the proletariat had to make the bourgeois war, a war of its own.

Adding up to this, he would reach his final and most important conclusion; it being that the Nation had a stronger grip on people than Class. We also have to point out that he was not the only man on the Italian Left changing his view of neutrality.

This change in favor of a pro-active stance of war could be seen in the Italian Left across factions like the Republicans, Reformist Socialists like Leonida Bissolati, Revolutionary Syndicalists like De Ambris and Corridoni, Even Gramsci would be critical of neutrality.

Mussolini, in the same fashion as Lenin, would be financed by foreign governments. In his case, the british, in Lenin's case, the Germans. This is usually ignored by MLs. Be it FIAT, the British Government, etc. all financed Mussolini to do something he was already doing.

His views had changed through conviction, and not only that, had it not been for the French Socialist Party, he wouldn't have been able to finance Il Popolo D'Italia. This is often times dismissed and unknown to many, yet, it's a reality of how Fascism came to be.

As a nail on this claim, I can refer to an inquiry made by a Socialist Majority in Milan, 1915; that concluded that Mussolini only got financement and support after his resignation from Avanti, and that he had not engaged in any sort of moral/professional misconduct.

The same would be concluded by a police report in 1919, claiming that his change from partial neutrality to a supporter of war, came from passionate beliefs, and no influence whatsoever from Money or Second Interests.

There's also a claim going around that Mussolini met with a group called Federazione Industriale in 1922 to plan and finance the March on Rome; nevertheless, NOT A SINGLE SOURCE MENTIONS NOR BACKS THIS CLAIM asides from Parenti's Blackshirt's and Reds. In conclusion, it's a lie.

You can go around and read thousands on authors about the March on Rome, and nobody will mention anything similar to it, all one can infer is that Parenti quite literally made this claim up.

As the main biographer (Felice) of Mussolini concluded, the party financed itself...

through different means and had a majority of members belonging to the working class and peasantry. The role of the latter has been explained in previous threads. Fascism indeed, had popular support, contrary to popular belief.

Without anything else to add, note that this will be a series of threads in which you guys can suggest claims that go around the Capitalism in Decay Meme. So, feel free to DM them or comment under this tweet.

The End