The Second Italo-Ethiopian War and Benito Mussolini the ‘Gangster’

Italy – Fascism, 1935-48

In this course, Professor Richard Bosworth (University of Oxford) explores the nature and development of Italian fascism from 1935-48. In the first module, we look at Italy’s involvement in the second Ethiopian war from 1935-36, and the development of Benito Mussolini as a ‘gangster’. In the second module, we turn to survey the ambiguities and contradictions of the Italian dictatorship from 1922-40, looking at whether we need to treat the fascism and totalitarianism in Italy as distinctively ‘Italian-style’. In the third module, we look at Italo-German relationships from 1936-40, before in the fourth module looking at Italy’s presence as an ‘ignoble second’ from 1940-43. In the fifth and final module, we look at the Italian ‘civil war’, and the flawed foundation of a democratic Italian Republic between 1943-48.

The Second Italo-Ethiopian War and Benito Mussolini the ‘Gangster’

In this lecture, we look at Italy’s second Ethiopian war and Benito Mussolini’s emergence as a ‘gangster’, focusing in particular on: (i) the character and main events of the second Italo-Ethiopian war, including the brutality of leading Italians, for example Galeazzo Ciano (1903-44) and Benito Mussolini’s sons Vittorio (1916-97) and Bruno (1918-41), and the foundation of the Italian Empire in 1936; (ii) continued violence in Ethiopia from the end of the second Italo-Ethiopian war until the start of the Second World War; (iii) the significance of the second Italo-Ethiopian war for encouraging the development of an international perception of Mussolini as a ‘gangster’; and (iv) the question of whether Italian fascism was the same as nazism.