Memo to my friends in the media covering Italy's elections:
Italian fascism — and especially Mussolini — were not "right wing," but rather another statist/collectivist ideology that was worshipped among left-wing intellectuals of the day.
Italian fascism — and especially Mussolini — were not "right wing," but rather another statist/collectivist ideology that was worshipped among left-wing intellectuals of the day.
As @JonahDispatch documented in his excellent book on the subject, every liberal man of letters in the 1920s & 1930s saw Mussolini as a hero.
One of FDR’s New Deal architects, Redford Guy Tugwell, wrote of Italian fascism: “It is the cleanest, neatest, most efficiently operating piece of social machinery I’ve ever seen. It makes me envious.”
Hollywood produced a worshipful film celebrating his rise. Columbia University created a department studying Italian fascism. Over 3 years, the NYT and other publications treated Mussolini to more than 100 glowing profiles (by contrast, Stalin received only 15).
“Benito Mussolini … is the socialist of the heroic times.” — intellectual & writer and Mussolini mistress Leda Rafanelli
“You, Benito, are not only the representative of the Romagna Socialists but the Duce (leader) of all revolutionary socialists in Italy” — Italian socialst Olinda Vernocchi
Mussolini was himself a lifelong socialist intellectual. During his rise, Mussolini edited La Lotta di Classe (Class War), which Goldberg notes “served as the megaphone of the extremist wing of the Italian Socialist Party.”
When he eventually formed his new fascist party, he explicitly said the purpose was to advance socialism.
“12 years of my life in the [socialist] party ought to be sufficient guarantee of my socialist faith," he said. "Socialism is in my blood.”
“12 years of my life in the [socialist] party ought to be sufficient guarantee of my socialist faith," he said. "Socialism is in my blood.”
“I am and shall remain a socialist and my convictions will never change! They are bred into my very bones.”
He wrote that it was “necessary” to kill off the old socialist party in favor of his fascist party, “in order to save Socialism.”
He wrote that it was “necessary” to kill off the old socialist party in favor of his fascist party, “in order to save Socialism.”
In his will he wrote “I bequeath the republic to the republicans not the monarchists, and the work of social reform to the socialists and not the middle classes.”
It was only after the Soviets turned on Italy that America’s intelligentsia shifted allegiances. As the crimes of Nazism became clear, the American left began a furious effort to rewrite history and insist fascism had been right-wing all along.
We can now see that effort continues to this day (via, for example, @CNN & @nytimes, which had ironically been one of Mussolini's biggest boosters). But their current claim Mussolini was a man of the right is historical misinformation.
If you need any further convincing, read Jonah Goldberg’s “Liberal Fascism.” All I’ve done here is crib the first two chapters, and I recommend reading the full thing for anyone interested in the actual history of fascism.
P.S. I’m curious which parts of this fascist platform from 1919 modern progressives would take issue with? 
Witness these furious attempts at rewriting history (cc @Telegraph @washingtonpost @politico @BillKristol)
@Telegraph @washingtonpost @politico @BillKristol More ahistorical fiction peddlers (cc @katiecouric @therecount @nytimes @CNN)
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