In this essay I will talk about fascism in Italy, who Mussolini was, his influence among the Italian population and how far his power reached. Mussolini’s ascent to power was not the result of a single event but rather an endpoint of Italy’s post-World War I social, economic, and political crises. He skillfully manipulated these conditions, using violence and propaganda to solidify his leadership. However, while he established a dictatorial regime and expanded his control over Italian society, Mussolini's achievement of total power was not entirely successful as the Catholic Church retained influence. This essay will explore how Mussolini was able to achieve power in Italy and I will examine the extent to which he accomplished total power in Italy. Italian citizens were not happy with the outcome of the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) after World War I because they were expecting to obtain land that was not given to them and the economy was in a depressed state. They thought that democracy was failing, that it was weak and didn’t work. They were also afraid of a socialist revolution, similar to the one in Russia, because in the countryside some workers were occupying factories and there were large-scale strikes. Italians were desperate for a new leader who could improve citizen’s life and economy, a strong leader who would restore Italy’s greatness. Then, Mussolini formed the socialist Party and portrayed himself as the perfect leader who would solve Italy’s problems and restore order, the leader that Italy needed. In 1919 he founded the Fasci di Combattimento, his first combat group that was also known as Blackshirts. At first they had socialist ideals, but after his low success he changed his policies to support the Monarchy and dropped anticlericalism, gaining support. This combat group was attractive to various groups of people like middle-class citizens who feared the rise of socialism, industrialists and landlords who wanted to maintain order and protect their wealth. Mussolini’s promise of decisive action resonated deeply with a society desperate for stability. Unlike the ineffective current government, Mussolini positioned himself as a strongman who could bring Italy back from the chaos. His slogan, “Credere, Obbedire, Combattere” (Believe, Obey, Fight) reflected his vision of an ordered, militarized society in which the nation’s greatness would be restored through collective obedience and loyalty to the state. In November 1921, Mussolini formed the Fascist party out of his combat groups and in October 1922 he organized the March on Rome. He ordered the Blackshirts to approach Rome from three directions, threatening to seize power by force. Although the march itself was more symbolic than an actual military threat, the image of thousands of fascist supporters converging on the capital alarmed the government which was undecided on how to act. King Victor Emmanuel III, fearing a civil war and lacking confidence in the liberal government’s ability to restore order, chose not to use the army to resist Mussolini’s march. Instead, he appointed Mussolini as Prime Minister, handing him the power. This marked the beginning of Mussolini’s rule as Italy’s leader, though he had not yet achieved full dictatorial control. Once in power, he moved quickly to consolidate his position and eliminate political opposition. He used democratic and legal means to become a totalitarian dictator. He used propaganda and the blackshirts to get the greatest number of votes in the election and it worked, with the fascists winning 65 percent of the vote. One of Mussolini’s strongest critics was Giacomo Matteoti, a socialist member of the parliament who was kidnaped and brutally killed by a group of Fascists. That act provoked anger and discontentment in the Italian population and Mussolini’s position seemed to be in danger. However, King Victor Emmanuel's support saved him. Four years later, Mussolini had eliminated the power of the democratic parliament and, as the years passed by, he took further steps to impose dictatorship. In 1929 he got the power to rule by decree, so he didn't have to ask for anyone’s permission or opinion to act. He wanted to control people’s lives, their thoughts as well as their actions, subjecting the person to the state and, as a result, people had little control over their personal lives. He used propaganda to create a cult of personality around himself, Il Duce, portraying himself as Italy’s savior. You had to worship him and obey him blindly, and everyone did. He controlled the press, restricted civil liberties, and used newspapers, radio and photographs to create an image of the perfect leader and used the secret police, OVRA, to suppress opposition. Individual freedom was abolished, political opponents were imprisoned, exiled, or killed, and opposition parties were banned. While Mussolini exercised near-total control over Italy, his regime was not as absolute as other totalitarian states, such as Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. There were limits to Mussolini’s power, in his relationship with the Catholic Church. He was anti-clerical but he wanted to have as many followers as possible, so he did a series of actions that improved the state-church relationship. In 1929 he signed the Lateran Agreements, the terms of which were that the Pope recognized the Italian State, the government agreed to pay priest’s and bishop’s salaries and that the Catholic religion was recognized as the “sole religion of the state”. This move increased his prestige in Italy and he became more acceptable to Catholics in Italy and in the rest of Europe, but it also limited Mussolini’s ability to exert total control over religious life in Italy. In conclusion, Mussolini’s rise to power was the result of a combination of factors, including Italy’s post-war instability, the social conflict, the fear of communism and the use of violence and propaganda to manipulate public opinion and eliminate opposition. While Mussolini succeeded in eliminating Italy’s democracy and creating a one-party fascist state, his power was not entirely totalitarian. He exercised near-complete control over the territory and silenced opposition, but his inability to fully dominate all aspects of Italian society meant that his power, though extensive, was not truly absolute.