Media communications in Italian fascism as a means of achieving public consensus

Abstract

The aim of the research is to identify the role of propaganda and information control, adapted to the characteristics of Italian society in the early 20th century, which were aspects of the fascist dictatorship. The article examines the media that were used by the fascist state and proved to be an effective communication weapon for creating consensus with society. The organization of propaganda, which began as early as 1923, was placed under the control of fascist institutions and had media instruments that are rarely or not fully considered in Italian literature and are absent in domestic literature, which constitutes the scientific novelty of the research: based on the material of Italian media from the 1920s and 30s, the author systematizes methods of communication. The study found that fascism attempted to elevate its politics into a kind of religious cult, endowing its leader Mussolini with mythical features and marking every event related to fascism at the level of a religious holiday.

References

1. Володарский В. М. Искусство при тоталитарных режимах // Тоталитаризм в Европе XX века. Из истории идеологий, движений, режимов и их преодоления / рук. авт. коллектива Я. С. Драбкин, Н. П. Комолова. М.: Памятники исторической мысли, 1996.
2. Голомшток И. Тоталитарное искусство. М.: Галарт, 1994.
3. Маклюэн М. Понимание медиа: внешние расширения человека. М.: Кучково поле, 2017.
4. Нестерова Т. П. Культура в идеологии и практике итальянского фашизма // Известия Уральского государственного университета. 2006. № 45.
5. Уэбстер Ф. Теории информационного общества. М.: Аспект Пресс, 2004.
6. Яхимович З. П. Происхождение итальянского фашизма и его путь к власти // Берегиня. 777. Сова. 2014. № 4 (23).
7. Albanese G. La marcia su Roma. RomaBari: Laterza, 2022.
8. Gentile E. Fascismo. Storia e Interpretazione. Bari: Editori Laterza, 2002.
9. Gentile E. Il culto del Littorio. La sacralizzazione della politica nell’Italia fascista. Roma – Bari: Editori Laterza, 1993.
10. Togliatti P. Sul fascismo / a cura di G. Vacca. Bari: Editori Laterza, 2004.

Author information

About this article

Publication history

• Received: March 9, 2025.
• Published: April 14, 2025.

Keywords

• история Италии
• итальянский фашизм
• фашистские коммуникации
• консенсус при фашизме
• history of Italy
• Italian fascism
• fascist communications
• consensus under fascism

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)
© 2025 Gramota Publishing, LLC

User license

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)