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The political agenda put forth by the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento included a strong dose of nationalism. It called for Italy’s territorial expansion. The western coast of the Balkan Peninsula was the area of greatest interest. Many ethnic Italians lived there. Those people had to be brought within the borders of Italy, Mussolini said. If this sort of nationalism hinted at the aggressive foreign

Fascist Symbol

Mussolini adopted the fasces, a bundle of rods with an ax head stick- ing out, as the symbol for his Fascist move- ment. He was deliber- ately trying to invoke the glory of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, the fasces was a symbol of authority.

policy Mussolini would pursue once in power, early on there was little to suggest that his movement threatened democracy. Italy’s experience with democratic governance was fairly new. A constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament had been established only in 1870. That was the year Italy’s unification from various smaller states was completed. Italy’s budding democracy had never functioned especially well. Too often the country’s various political parties were unable to find common ground and compromise. The political divisions became more pronounced after World War I. Nevertheless, the Fascist Manifesto of 1919 proposed to deepen Italian democracy. It called for lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. It also called for women to be given the right to vote—a very liberal idea for the time. The manifesto also backed worker rights, such as a minimum wage and an eight-

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Fascism: Radical Nationalism