Give any two reasons for the rise of Fascism.

(1) DISSATISFACTION WITH THE PEACE SETTLEMENT — although Italy had fought on the winning side, she was denied the territories promised to her by the Treaty of London, and the national humiliation created bitter resentment that Mussolini exploited. (2) ECONOMIC CRISIS AND POLITICAL INSTABILITY — after the war Italy suffered unemployment, inflation, strikes and peasant unrest, while a succession of weak coalition governments proved helpless. Fear of a communist revolution drove industrialists and landowners to support Mussolini, who promised order and national greatness.

One mark each. The two safest are the disappointment over the peace settlement and the economic and political chaos that followed the war. The detail that distinguishes Italy from Germany is worth knowing: Italy was a VICTOR who felt cheated of promised gains, whereas Germany was a defeated power humiliated by Versailles. Both ended in dictatorship, but from opposite starting points. Mussolini came to power in 1922 after the March on Rome.