The Behaviour Of Political Leaders

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

The formation, the evolution and the behaviour of political leaders have been elements which have raised the researchers’ interest along the time, in their attempt to explain why the image of politicians, of charismatic leaders cannot be erased from time’s and history’s retina, but, on the contrary, it lays even deeper and more consistent in the social imaginary and memory. The image carries not only sensitive value, but rather an ideational value, this meaning it has the capacity of communicating messages and of having an ideological load, accordingly. Political leaders have been using their charisma to create a divine aura for themselves, a mystical aura through which they are able to convince masses to follow them and offer them the power they are craving.

"Public image can be defined as a complex of collective representations of a group, generated by recalling and refreshing some images related to the group’s actual experiences. As an expression of the collective unconscious mind, the public image can be defined as a symbolical projection of fundamental experiences in humanity’s life, which gives it sense or meaning through individuals’ attitude towards these experiences." [1] 

The image represents far more than a sketch or a model of an individual’s personality. Leadership specialists believe that, among the required qualities and aptitudes for a personality to attract the attention and interest of the groups, the masses they intend to "hypnotise", popularity, prestige, authority, oratorical abilities and competence are all counted for an aspiring leader. In order to gain the masses’ respect and to obtain a position of power, a public figure has to be reliable on his general ability to make predictions, to negotiate, to delay or to dare to express his point of view or to guide the group in a certain direction, taking full responsibility.

Power’s transcendent character has been imposed in individual’s and masses’ common thinking, being regarded beyond its conventional boundaries, namely beyond the concrete horizon of day-to-day life. Man has projected an ideal image in time, one with a divine feature, of the leader and the privileged human condition, an image to represent him and to be capable of protecting his interests.

The historical eras’ sequence has revealed a series of emblematic political figures, charismatic leaders who have changed the world’s face and the course of historical events forever. One such character is Benito Mussolini, to whom this here writing is dedicated, in an attempt to analyse an imposing figure in history, a character who has been worshiped and followed by the masses, a man who has fallen in love with his own image, being found at the confluence between myth and reality. The intention is to present this character’s complete trajectory and setting his place in the variety of political leaders who have changed history, from the very first moment of rebellion to fascism’s affirmation as country politics, the personality cult and personal weaknesses.

The man and the story behind him

"The public person is born public. It is about a stigma accompanying him since birth. It represents a moral connotation. We are born public people, just as we can be born intelligent or less intelligent. The public person is like a poet: he is born with this curse. He cannot free himself of it. His tragedy is infinite: he goes from martyr to autographs. I am perfectly at peace with my destiny as public person. However, I am enthusiastic about this situation of mine. Not only for the publicity it brings along. Not just for the fame and glory a public person can come to obtain. The real observation is that I am not my own anymore, but everyone’s – loved by all, hated by all – a necessary element for other people’s lives, it gives me a state of almost "nirvanic" ebriety. And then, when you belong to everyone, you are actually nobody’s. It has already been said that masses can give a bitter taste, but also sweet, to loneliness, more than the desert." [2] (Benito Mussolini, 1925). This is what the Duke has asserted in his biography’s preface, written by Margherita Sarfatti, his personal biographer. But, before the great Duke appeared on the time stage, there was the man.

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born on July 29th, 1883, in Predappio, Romagna region, son of a blacksmith. Later, he expressed his pride towards his humble origin and often mentioned about himself that he was a man from the people, a man belonging to the people. The Mussolini family was actually not as humble as he made it sound. His father, who was both a blacksmith and a socialist journalist, was the son of a National Guard lieutenant and his mother was a teacher. However, the Mussolinis were poor [3] . The Duke himself, the later one, openly asserted that "hunger is a very good educator, almost as good as prison and enemies. [...] We almost never had meat on our table, but there always were passionate conversations, debates and hopes. My father went to prison for socialist propaganda. This gave me a strong impulse. Having a different kind of father as an example, I might have had a different trajectory in life." [4] 

Benito was a misbehaved child, who disobeyed the rules and was extremely aggressive. At school, he was untameable and at home, he was always indisposed. Because of his increasingly aggressive behaviour towards his colleagues, he was transferred several times to different schools, exposing the same conduct every time. However, apart from this state, Benito Mussolini was also very intelligent, passing all his exams without any issue. Later on, he was offered a position as a teacher, but he soon came to realise it was not a suitable job for him. He had already started to interact with the philosophy of Karl Marx and other philosophers of the era, choosing what felt right and discrediting the rest, forming his own political concepts, according to his revolutionary spirit. Once he arrived in Switzerland, after a series of questionable jobs, he dedicated his time to political journalism and propaganda. "I left for Switzerland with one of Karl Marx’s medals in my pocket, considering it to be some sort of talisman." (Benito Mussolini)

Once he had returned to Italy, in 1904, Rome’s newspapers started mentioning Mussolini’s name [5] . Returned to his homeland, his reputation started growing thanks to the socialist ideas he had promoted as political journalist for the "Avanti" newspaper and, later on, he was named editor-in-chief for the "La lotta di classe" newspaper. This is where his fulminant ascension began, the one that made him head of the Italian Republic’s government and led to affirmation of the fascist ideology, but before the full accomplishment of his destiny, on October 14th, 1911, he was arrested and imprisoned for 6 months, for instigating to insurrectional strike, violence towards the authority’s agents and sabotage. The Duke said the following about his time in the solitary: "That is where you learn to become patient. It is like a journey on sea – on board or in prison you have to experiment patience. I have gone through 11 prisons and welcomed them all as a break. At a certain moment, while in the solitary, I read Don Quijote and had a great time." [6] Mussolini seemed to take any occasion to come his way and turn it into his advantage, learning to draw fate on his side.

The birth of fascism and the gain of power

Personality is the human subject considered to be the carrier of pragmatic, epistemic and axiological functions, being a very important element, especially for political leaders, as the political personality is where the power instinct, the love for risk, courage, the fighter instinct, the comeback capacity, patience, dissimulation and even the wish of dominance can be found. These are attributes that a political leader needs to have in order to obtain power and admiration from the masses.

Benito Mussolini is a character who has won himself an important place in the variety of great names of modern history, one of the big faces who have changed the course of history.

Gullibility, naivity, the dominance of the emotional factor on the rational one and of beliefs on conviction in traditional political cultures have allowed and still allow manipulation to take place. After all, the voters are guided by the promises regarding the future under the terms of possibility, hope identifies wish and power on a symbolic level, while the promise of happiness makes everybody vibrate. [7] 

Certain moments with a special energetic load lead to the affirmation of some particular figures, with enough persuasion power to make the masses vibrate on each speech, to determine them to follow the respective figures; these characters succeed in undeniably obtaining the political power. For Benito Mussolini, the burst of World War I would come to represent a major change on his way to his political career. He had already said, on numerous occasions, as a member of the Italian Socialist Party, the revolution is the only way to political affirmation.

The Socialist Party of which he was part was condemning the war as being an imperialistic battle fought on the expense of the working classes in Europe and it demanded that Italy remained neutral. But Mussolini saw the conflict as an event which was going to thoroughly shake the society, smoothing the way to revolution. In November 1914, he quit his job at "Avanti" to start his own newspaper. The paper had been declared as a socialistic one, but it was supporting Italy’s participation at war. Once excluded from the Socialist Party, Mussolini accepted to receive financial support for that period from companies, such as Fiat, which could have gained from weapons contracts, in case Italy did go to war. His articles helped set off the rebellion in May 1915 in favour of the intervention and he would later declare, without justification, that these public messes had pushed a hesitant government to war.

Thanks to the newspaper he was running, named "Il Popolo d’Italia", the socialistic ideology was gaining more and more followers, as did the name Mussolini, which was why he decided to act and thus formed an inaugural meeting for the new movement "Fasci di Combattimento", the first core of what was going to become The National Fascist Party, in Milan, on March 24th 1919, but which did not have the hoped-for success. However, a political program had been drawn, containing, among other entries, Italy’s expansionistic tendencies, as well as making a new National Gathering, proclaiming the Italian Republic (implying the monarchy’s removal), abolishing nobility titles, controlling personal wealth and introducing wealth tax . [8] 

At first, the new nationalist fascist movement was not very successful, as proven during the 1919 elections, when the group did not make it in the Parliament, but after 1920, it became an important force on Italy’s political scene. One of the main purposes was completely changing the political regime in the Peninsula, so the republic could be affirmed as a governing form. According to the fascist ideology, violence represented a necessary harm in the attempt to save Italy from Bolshevism. In the spring of 1922, the fascist brigades acted violently in northern and central Italy, attacking socialist town committees and properties of the union movement. The fragile governmental coalition lacked political will power to use the police’s help in stopping the violence of a party that could soon become its governing partner. In any case, the police was not willing to stop the street violence – they did not care for the socialists and they even gave guns to the fascist brigades in some areas. The fascists’ actions managed to impress the conservative middle classes, thus convincing them more and more that the fascists could be trusted with part of the governing. Starting with that moment, the problem was no longer whether the fascists could participate in the governing process or not, but rather the conditions in which they should.

Becoming powerful and well-organised, Mussolini decided to turn "Fasci di Combattimento" into The National Fascist Party in November 1921 to later channel his energy on The Revolution, which took place on October 29th 1922, with the now historical March over Rome. [9] The police and the armed forces prepared to spread the fascist crowds heading towards Rome onto roads and railways. However, king Vittorio Emmanuele refused to authorise the declaration of the martial law, which would have punished the fascists use of force. This was proven to be a fatal decision: it was a sign that the king did not trust his government and that he strongly wanted to avoid a violent explanation with Mussolini’s fascists.

The King decided to invite Mussolini to Rome for negotiations regarding the formation of the first Fascist Government of national unity, consisting of a broad coalition cabinet, including the liberals and The People’s Party, whose prime-minister would be Mussolini himself. Afterwards, the government would be consolidated following the elections in 1924. Through the voluntary and premeditated removal of the other political formation, The National Fascist Party became the only party of the Kingdom and Mussolini, to whom the King officially gave the title of Council President and that of Duke of Fascism and head of the Government, succeeded in achieving an important series of initiatives which led to the rise of Italy’s power and wealth. He became the central figure in Italy’s politics, the one who had the fate of the nation in his hand, enjoying the unconditional support from the masses. [10] 

Among the regime’s numerous successes are the construction of several new residential areas throughout Italy, solving the country’s health and hygiene issue, modifying the legislative and judiciary order, the establishment of new corporate and syndicalist systems, the promotion of Roman ethical, social and religious values towards the Italian people and Italy’s expansionist and imperialist grievances (Ethiopia, the momentary occupation of the Corfu island), fact that would slowly bring him closer to national-socialist Germany, although he had previously attacked it for its racial and expansionist politics. However, once Hitler’s dictatorship had been asserted – to whom Mussolini was bound by a deep respect, through the Pact of Steel (1939) – he came to accomplish an international alliance with Germany, which led to practicing racial politics, yet in a gentler and more reserved manner – this forever cast a dark shadow on his imposing figure. Initially, he stated: "I do not think it will ever be possible to biologically test whether a race is pure or not. Anyway, the ones who proclaim the Germanic race to be noble, are all non-Germanics. National pride does not need racial delirium. [...] Anti-Semitism does not exist in Italy; the Italian Jews have always behaved well as citizens." [11] 

The beginning of The Second World War found the heads of the nations in a state of non-belligerence, but, enthusiastic with the success Hitler had had, they decided to go to war, as Germany’s allies, on June 10, 1940. This decision was the beginning of the end, because the fleeting successes they had at first turned into loud defeats. After the Anglo-American invasion in Sicily and the latest meetings with Hitler, Mussolini fell from grace in front of The Fascism Council and the King decided to have him arrested, thus trying to save his hide from the responsibility of governing with the fascists for twenty years.

Tired and weak, isolated and deprived of credibility, Mussolini helplessly assisted the disruption of the Axis and the official defeat of the Nazis. He decided to find refuge in Switzerland with his mistress, actress Claretta Petacci, but he was recognised and murdered in a barbaric way by the partisans on April 28th, 1945. [12] 

Fascism

"Political movement of nationalist nature, with declared tendencies of revolutionary character regarding economical and state organisation matters, created in Italy right after World War I. Later on, this determination was used to generically identify other political regimes based on dictatorship (in contrast with the states founded on democracy) and especially the hitlerite national-socialism and the francoist regime in Spain." [13] 

Fascism used to represent a spiritualist doctrine, beyond the education system, the discipline and its general manner of conception on life. In the fascist conception, man represents the nation and the motherland, the moral law which bring individuals and generations together in a tradition and a mission, which oppress the instinct of life enclose in the world of immediate pleasure. For the fascist doctrine, education and culture were very important elements, as well as religion and history, because man outside of history represented nothing, according to the initiator of this political view, Benito Mussolini. The fascist concept, beyond the regime established by the Duke, already had a shape, a direction and a point of view, which gathered more and more followers and partisans.

"Fascism represents a large mobilisation of material and moral forces. What does it propose? We say this with no false modesty: to rule the country. With what programme? With the necessary programme to ensure the moral and material greatness of the Italian people. Let’s talk straight: it does not matter if our actual plan is not antithetical, but rather convergent with that of the socialists, in everything regarding the technical, administrative and political reorganisation of our country." (Benito Mussolini, Diario delle Volontà, 1921) [14] 

After socialism, fascism denies all of democracy’s ideological concepts, it rejects them both theoretically and practically, as fascism denies a number’s capacity, regardless of how big it is, of conducting the human societies; it only creates the electoral illusion of masses, that they can decide a state’s destiny, on periodical time intervals, through universal suffrage. [15] 

In essence, as an ideology, fascism finds itself in the extreme right of the political spectrum, being incompatible with democracy and opinion diversity. The fascist state, a state of dictatorial power, promotes the nationalist ideas, even taken to extreme. It is manifested through eliminating political opponents, state militarization, controlling the masses environment and making the individual obey the state, although Mussolini’s interpretation is that of state religion and of the fusion between the individual and the state, as the individual has no power outside the state.

In order to promote its idea, fascism was among the first in history to use a fascinating weapon: propaganda. Mass-media, posters, cinematography: everything to embellish and idealise the regime’s masterpiece. This was one of the reasons for which The Propaganda Ministry was one of the most active at that time.

During the first half of the 20th century, propaganda was used to guide individuals’ minds, to influence regular people’s behaviour as much as possible.

The personality cult and the man behind it

The main characteristic of a dictatorial (totalitarian) leader is the distrust in people, the contempt towards them. The totalitarian leader is a "lonely wolf", his decisions being simultaneously communicative and imperative and the state administration structures are meant to approve and implement the leader’s decisions. [16] 

Mussolini had started creating his image as absolute leader, as Duke (as he was to be known in history) since 1926. His clear intention was to lead the state as a dictator, to overwhelm his opponents and to have immediate and full control over the Parliament, which he succeeded to do and instituted the fascist state.

The regime was using all the available propaganda methods to send its message. Newspapers controlled by the state were praising its generosity and were particularly proud to quote foreign admirers’ opinions, especially if they were important statesmen. It was related that Mussolini was so devoted to his job, that he would work up to 20 hours a day for the government. The lights in his office would stay on almost all night to support this assertion and to hide the fact that, in reality, the dictator went to bed quite early. The newspapers also suggested that Il Duce was infallible. There was word around that "Mussolini was always right", an idea that the dictator himself kept encouraging with statements such as "many times, I wish I am wrong, but so far, it has never happened and the events have taken places just as I have predicted them".

Il Duce was eager to be portrayed as a brave, strong and athletic man – a role model for all the Italian men. Magazines and newspapers used to publish pictures of Mussolini on horseback, enjoying the winter sports, driving cars in high-speed or flying airplanes. A young image was maintained, eliminating any references to age or to the fact that he needed to wear eyeglasses.

Obviously, once he obtained the power, Mussolini’s personal habits and lifestyle changed. Indubitably, he had charisma and magnetism in front of the crowds, as well as in private conversations. Publicly, he adopted gladiator poses, opening his eyes widely, pushing his chin in front and giving his own speeches peremptory tones. He gave up the civilian clothes to wear military uniforms. He moved to Rome, in Villa Torlonia, remaining a modest person, who was not greedy for money or fortune, although his position gave him the possibility to satisfy any wish of his own or of his family’s. [17] 

"Between contradictions and complexity – apparent antagonisms and substantial coherences – but what is, or rather, who is this man?" Trying to create a referendum regarding Mussolini’s personality and the perception of masses in that era, a fascist newspaper was given a suggestion to cease the attempt, as The Duke himself did not know who he was, much less did the others; on other occasions, Mussolini stated he had never forgotten that he was a journalist and that, from time to time, he liked to write, even his decisions and official releases being, actually, small articles, which indicate the job’s nostalgia. Mussolini was a chameleon, he would use any situation to reach his goal, he was a man of action, who never stopped and lived a revolutionary life, always setting new targets, new goals, as he himself had said." [18] He always felt lonely, although he had everyone around him.

Benito Mussolini wished for power, he wanted to leave a trace in history, to be the subject of conversations and writings along time, he himself saying: "What have I actually done until now? I am just a journalist and a minister. I have to create order in this country and only then will I feel that I am someone."

The charisma, the determination, the power, the wish to leave a trace in history, all these create a portrait, the public image of a political leader; a name and, beyond it, a man: Benito Mussolini – this is not a eulogy, but a confirmation of the fact that big people (it does not matter what they are big for) are forever imprinted on time’s retina.

"As long as my star shined, I was enough for everyone; now, that it is fading, everybody is not enough for me. I will go where destiny will want me to be, because I have done what destiny has told me to."

Fascist propaganda and techniques of influencing the public opinion

Language, this communication means is the most important factor in influencing human decisions. How many of us notice and understand this uniqueness of the manner of speech, of shaping the words according to the message to be transmitted? In time, word has become the king and the slave of those who, understanding its importance and its power, have submitted it, offended it, alienated it, reproduced, dilated, have made it sacre, preserved it, cancelled it, according to their own interests.

In time, the political space has met an important mutation. Language and political communication analysis can help us understand the mechanisms that are governing us. Through this, we can identify the illusions, the promises, the ideals or the tricks and the lies that the person uses to obtain the power.

In a democratic regime, the plurality of the political speech is a guarantee and also a tradition. On the other hand, on a totalitarian state’s level, the political speech field is narrowed to those themes preferred by the regime, even if they are exposed by several persons. Its repressive will is expressed through words that need to be listened to and followed. That is why the type of language used by a dictator is different than the one used by a democratic leader. Although both protagonists use language techniques to promote their own ideas, the difference lies in the fact that in a democratic regime, the leader can be listened to, but not followed, too, while in the totalitarian case, the dictator’s word becomes one of law through propaganda and the state apparatus.

The Italian case is suggestive in understanding how the political language becomes of fundamental importance in the communication universe. The essential change in language occurs once a new element appears: propaganda.

Propaganda consists of all the techniques available for the political power to construct an image of a certain reality. The general frame is provided by the flow of information coming from one sole broadcaster, going to several receivers, having the purpose of building an image that has no connection to reality. This flow of information is, on the other hand, a creation of words which, in time, after being regularly repeated, become facts or are declared so. The means of transmitting these "words" are: the press, the balcony, the square, the radio and the cinema. Basically, the goal of this step is to realise a new kind of language. Behind this alternative language lies the intention to captivate the audience, while hiding the poverty of the language and the ideas. [19] 

"Bombing" the listener through all the broadcasters with information of their own activity is the technique used. Basically, the individual is "forced" to listen. [20] 

Jean Marie Domenach considers propaganda to represent one of the phenomena in 20th century democracy. Without it, the great turnarounds of our era, such as communism, fascism or Nazism, would not have been possible. Through propaganda, Lenin could have created a humanitarian image for bolshevism. In the case of right-wing totalitarianism, propaganda represented the spearhead in winning over citizens’ adherence, in both Mussolini’s and Hitler’s case. [21] 

Benito Mussolini was the figure who, at the beginning of the 1920s, changed the way the political person expressed himself through new techniques of the political language. The novelty introduced by the soon-to-become Duke consisted in succeeding to revolutionise the way the election campaign and propaganda were done up to then. Each public appearance was an "enactment". A large spectre of techniques was being used, meant to impress the author. His favourite place was the square. Mussolini appeared in front of the crowd with the intention of "bewitching" the auditorium. Using words, the people present were connected to his speech, through some sort of frightening magic spell. At the same time, there seemed to be three personalities in only one character: the religious man, the military man and the revolutionary man. [22] 

The ingredients for this "enactment" are: mimics, gestures, tonality, flattering the auditorium with the purpose of receiving positive feedback. The goal is that of self-glorification. Face and lips mimics, body posture, hands position, the roman salute are all external elements used in an attempt to catch the audience’s attention. Nevertheless, the propaganda machine did everything possible to exploit the old sub-layers of the Italian character. [23] 

With these elements, Mussolini declared on an echoing tone: "Who says Alpines, says strength, tenacity, cold-blood, contempt for danger, in one word: heroism. Maintain these solid virtues and forward them to your sons. It is not the Alps that make the alpines, but the alpines that makes the Alps." [24] 

There is a eulogy for violence in the fascist mythology, well hidden through the conception of an action mythology. The type of language explains the competition mentality of the fascism dedicated to the cult of action and heroic acts. These elements are the basis of an ideology in which physical strength and youth are being excited with an adequate and functional vocabulary. The action mythology is sustained by military expressions such as "daring", "safety", "dynamic", "infallible", "prophetic", "formidable", "target", "bold", compared to the negative vocabulary used to describe the enemies: "bourgeois", "communist", "undermining", "bolshevik", "gaunt", "weak", "hunched", "dropsical", "reduced brain", "pederast", "sedentary", "half of barrel". [25] 

Umberto Eco analysed Mussolini’s language and considered it to be "a degenerate rhetoric, meaning a language dense in emotional requests, but lacking arguments." [26] 

Here is a speech sample: "[...] for these young people and for the others, Italy is not the bourgeoisie or the proletariat, private or collective property, Italy is not even those who govern or don’t govern the nation and almost don’t understand us. Italy is a race, a history, a pride, a passion, a greatness of the past. I have no fear of words. If I have to, tomorrow I will proclaim myself prince of reactionaries. To me, all the right-wing, left-wing, conservatory, aristocratic and democratic ideologies are fade scholastic terminologies. They only help in being distinguished at sometimes and in often being confused." [27] 

It would be wrong to consider that the fascist regime only acted through the Duke. Starting with 1936, "School of Fascist Mysticism" was created, headquartered in Milan. The school’s purpose was to recruit young people for forming and educating a new elite. The goal was making "the new man". [28] 

School of Fascist Mysticism is an extreme episode in the regime’s pedagogy, imaging a vast project of forming the Italian citizen. The fertile land identified by the fascists was school and the engine was The National Education Ministry. This endeavour’s objectives were:

Establishing a linguistic form through the Italian education, to diminish the importance of dialect and illiteracy

Using the Latin language as teaching object, to create a linguistic model for the Italian language and for foreign languages, as well

Establishing a hierarchy between modern languages according to their political utility [29] 

Fascism intended to constitute the Italian "nation" and, as a consequence, it promoted an official language, fighting against dialects and regionalisms.

Dialects were considered to be an anticoagulant fact. Thus, the national issue and the linguistic one, matters that existed in the Italian cultural universe became priorities for the fascist doctrine. A first step had been made in the previous period, 1922-1924, when the education reform based on new programmes, created by Giovanni Gentile was introduced. School became the propaganda field of the new regime, because in day-to-day life, the dialect was widely spread and a brutal action would have caused adverse reactions. So, through school, "dialect" was being removed step by step, to form "the new Italian citizen". [30] 

Another project had the purpose to Italianize all foreign names. In July 1939, a decree compelled families not to use foreign names for the children of Italian citizens. Between 1939 and 1940, no less than 18.000 French family names were turned into Italian ones. The year 1931 had predicted this policy through the fact that an order had been sent out to eliminate all the foreign language scenes from Italian movies. [31] 

A "Commission for Italianizing the language" is created, formed by Antonio Boldini, Emilio Cecchi, Ungo Ojetti etc., which began, with pitiful results, to replace foreign technology with Italian expressions. Examples: parquet – tassellato, cocktail – arlequino, charlotte – carlota, bar – barra, choc – scossa, plaid – scialle di vaggio.

The Italian Royal Academy explained in 1941 the purpose of this policy, showing that "when caprice or history foster the spread of a foreign world, an intervention is mandatory, because it is easier to prevent than to suppress." It was a time when newspapers, cultural magazines and any other type of publication participated on the subject of Italianizing the language, from rational positions to fanaticism. [32] 

The fascist school did not limit itself to promoting institutional projects, actively supporting the creation of a religion: the fascist religion. This position started to sharpen after the "reconciliation" with the Vatican and tended to become the state’s official religion, a doctrine focused on religious values for binding the Catholics’ agreement, having the purpose of fighting the laic cultural streams. Armando Carlini, considered "filosofo della Concilazione", passed from an idealism to a politicised religious spiritualism. He identified three theological virtues inside fascism: trust, hope and the love for the neighbour(?). Writings with a really religious fanaticism were being published, which left u extreme ideological and linguistic consequences. For example: "the book and the musket", the perfect fascist submits to the "to believe, to listen, to fight" triad. This triple commandment with religious and military spirit represented The Fascist School members feature as "Mussolini’s vestals" or "Templars of Italy".

War is another "battlefield", being glorified, heroised. Famous expressions of time: "war as a celebration", "blood bath", "educational value", "ethical exercise", "rebirth". [33] 

This is why we can consider that fascism, in some of its aspects, can be seen as a regime based on words, which proposed an alternative modernisation process to the liberal one.

Carefully noticing the entire arsenal the fascists have used, in relation to the public opinion, we cannot help but draw the following conclusion: fascists have managed to introduce new, revolutionary elements in the idea field, which, tested on an unprepared public, have been successful. Of course, Mussolini is not an innovator. He merely copies off Gabrielle D’Anunnzio. The future Duke only succeeds in enacting the schemes on a general level, using every means of modern science. But all these elements hide the regime’s true imposition. Faced with the obvious economical failures, the fascists try to elude reality, inoculating the spirit of violence in society. A search for the guilty starts and they can only be the bourgeois or the Jew. In fact, Italy has gone through more than 20 years of fascist regime, relying on the remainders of the liberal economy. The introduction of the corporatist model showed that this was nothing but a demagogic project that could not be practically sustained. Once the years passed, the inefficiency of each ideological element proposed by the fascist regime was proven.