Torre Littoria , or Grattacielo Reale Mutua , is the first high-rise building in Turin , and one of the most renowned rationalist buildings in Italy . It is located in the city centre, on Via Giovanni Battista Viotti, near Piazza Castello .
160-557: Torre Littoria was built in 1933–34, with the intent of hosting, among other offices, the national headquarters of the National Fascist Party ; in fact it never did, with the party's headquarters located first in Milan and then in Rome . Instead it became wholly owned by Reale Mutua Assicurazioni (Royal Mutual Insurance), an insurance company that already financed almost all of its costs and
320-617: A coup d'état , titled the March on Rome by Fascist propaganda, in which almost 30,000 fascists took part. The quadrumvirs leading the Fascist Party, General Emilio De Bono , Italo Balbo (one of the most famous ras ), Michele Bianchi and Cesare Maria de Vecchi , organised the March while the Duce stayed behind for most of the march, though he allowed pictures to be taken of him marching along with
480-546: A duty to promote the common good . His ideas spread rapidly and were developed by other thinkers such as Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse and John A. Hobson . In a few years, this New Liberalism had become the essential social and political programme of the Liberal Party in Britain, and it would encircle much of the world in the 20th century. In addition to examining negative and positive liberty, liberals have tried to understand
640-411: A reactionary restoration of the pre- French Revolutionary world, which it considered to have been flawed as it had a forward-looking direction. It was opposed to Marxist socialism because of its typical opposition to nationalism, but was also opposed to the reactionary conservatism developed by Joseph de Maistre . It believed the success of Italian nationalism required respect for tradition and
800-509: A "return" of Italy to North Africa. In January 1939, Italy annexed territories in Libya that it considered within Italy's Fourth Shore, with Libya's four coastal provinces of Tripoli, Misurata, Benghazi and Derna becoming an integral part of metropolitan Italy. At the same time, indigenous Libyans were given the ability to apply for "Special Italian Citizenship" which required such people to be literate in
960-471: A 9-storey low-rise section, and a 19-storey high-rise section reaching 87 metres at its roof, upon which rises an antenna tower, giving the building a total height of 109 metres; until 1940 it was the tallest continuously habitable building in Italy. During World War II its roof mounted one of the 58 air raid sirens in Turin, and the building sustained minor damage during the bombing of 13 July 1943. The height of
1120-610: A Fascist. He was fired from his newspaper and put under 24-hour surveillance, but otherwise not harassed; his employment contract was settled for a lump sum and he was allowed to work for the foreign press. Knickerbocker contrasted his treatment with the inevitable torture and execution under Stalin or Hitler, and stated "you have a fair idea of the comparative mildness of the Italian kind of totalitarianism". However, since World War II, historians have noted that in Italy's colonies Italian Fascism displayed extreme levels of violence. One-tenth of
1280-574: A central role in the ideas of Kant and John Stuart Mill. Both thinkers believed that society would contain different conceptions of a good ethical life and that people should be allowed to make their own choices without interference from the state or other individuals. Adam Smith 's The Wealth of Nations , published in 1776, followed by the French liberal economist Jean-Baptiste Say 's treatise on Political Economy published in 1803 and expanded in 1830 with practical applications, were to provide most of
1440-433: A central role in the economy through their coordinating function. He also highlights qualities essential for successful entrepreneurship and focuses on judgement, in that they have continued to assess market needs and the means to meet them. This requires an "unerring market sense". Say views entrepreneurial income primarily as the high revenue paid in compensation for their skills and expert knowledge. He does so by contrasting
1600-467: A challenge to anyone looking for a clear definition. Although all liberal doctrines possess a common heritage, scholars frequently assume that those doctrines contain "separate and often contradictory streams of thought". The objectives of liberal theorists and philosophers have differed across various times, cultures and continents. The diversity of liberalism can be gleaned from the numerous qualifiers that liberal thinkers and movements have attached to
1760-411: A class of yeoman farmers. Beginning in the late 19th century, a new conception of liberty entered the liberal intellectual arena. This new kind of liberty became known as positive liberty to distinguish it from the prior negative version , and it was first developed by British philosopher T. H. Green . Green rejected the idea that humans were driven solely by self-interest , emphasising instead
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#17328452337941920-456: A clear sense of a shared past among the Italian people , alongside a commitment to a modernised Italy. Italian Fascism is based upon Italian nationalism and in particular seeks to complete what it considers as the incomplete project of Risorgimento by incorporating Italia Irredenta ("unredeemed Italy") into the state of Italy. The National Fascist Party founded in 1921 declared that the party
2080-428: A dangerous existence was to form a common and supreme power capable of arbitrating between competing human desires. This power could be formed in the framework of a civil society that allows individuals to make a voluntary social contract with the sovereign authority, transferring their natural rights to that authority in return for the protection of life, liberty and property. These early liberals often disagreed about
2240-413: A forward-looking direction on policy. It was opposed to Marxist socialism because of its typical opposition to nationalism, but was also opposed to the reactionary conservatism developed by Joseph de Maistre . It believed the success of Italian nationalism required respect for tradition and a clear sense of a shared past among the Italian people alongside a commitment to a modernised Italy, as well as
2400-682: A full-partner Allied Power against the Central Powers , Italian nationalism claimed Italy was cheated in the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919), thus the Allies had impeded Italy's progress to becoming a "Great Power". Thenceforth, the PNF successfully exploited that perceived slight to Italian nationalism in presenting Fascism as best suited for governing the country by successfully claiming that democracy, socialism and liberalism were failed systems. In 1919 at
2560-421: A general defence for religious toleration . Three arguments are central: Locke was also influenced by the liberal ideas of Presbyterian politician and poet John Milton , who was a staunch advocate of freedom in all its forms. Milton argued for disestablishment as the only effective way of achieving broad toleration . Rather than force a man's conscience, the government should recognise the persuasive force of
2720-536: A governing framework that harmonises and minimises conflicting views but still allows those views to exist and flourish. For liberal philosophy, pluralism leads easily to toleration. Since individuals will hold diverging viewpoints, liberals argue, they ought to uphold and respect the right of one another to disagree. From the liberal perspective, toleration was initially connected to religious toleration , with Baruch Spinoza condemning "the stupidity of religious persecution and ideological wars". Toleration also played
2880-603: A law passed in 1928 and Italy remained a one-party state until the end of the Fascist regime in 1943. The new laws were strongly criticised by the leader of the Socialist Party Giacomo Matteotti during his speech in Parliament and a few days later Matteotti was kidnapped and killed by fascist blackshirts. After taking sole power, the Fascist regime began to impose the Fascist ideology and its symbolism throughout
3040-435: A mercantile society where there were no slaves, but almost everybody had to earn a living through work. Instead, the voters would elect representatives who would deliberate in Parliament on the people's behalf and would save citizens from daily political involvement. The importance of Constant's writings on the liberty of the ancients and that of the "moderns" has informed the understanding of liberalism, as has his critique of
3200-432: A new kind of citizen – politically active Fascist Italians. The Doctrine of Fascism (1932) described the nature of Italian Fascism's totalitarianism, stating the following: Fascism is for the only liberty which can be a serious thing, the liberty of the state and of the individual in the state. Therefore for the fascist, everything is in the state, and no human or spiritual thing exists, or has any sort of value, outside
3360-460: A part of Italy". The Fascists quoted Italian national hero Giuseppe Garibaldi who said: "Corsica and Nice must not belong to France; there will come the day when an Italy mindful of its true worth will reclaim its provinces now so shamefully languishing under foreign domination". Mussolini initially pursued promoting annexation of Corsica through political and diplomatic means, believing that Corsica could be annexed to Italy through first encouraging
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#17328452337943520-576: A pejorative remark—in the 16th and the 17th centuries. In the 16th-century Kingdom of England , liberal could have positive or negative attributes in referring to someone's generosity or indiscretion. In Much Ado About Nothing , William Shakespeare wrote of "a liberal villaine" who "hath ... confest his vile encounters". With the rise of the Enlightenment , the word acquired decisively more positive undertones, defined as "free from narrow prejudice" in 1781 and "free from bigotry" in 1823. In 1815,
3680-549: A sense of crisis within Islam , which continues to this day, leading to Islamic revivalism . Before 1920, the main ideological opponents of liberalism were communism , conservatism , and socialism ; liberalism then faced major ideological challenges from fascism and Marxism–Leninism as new opponents. During the 20th century, liberal ideas spread even further, especially in Western Europe, as liberal democracies found themselves as
3840-465: A sense of historical continuity and legitimacy. The Fascists publicly identified King Victor Emmanuel II – the first King of a reunited Italy, who had initiated the Risorgimento – along with other historic Italian figures, such as Gaius Marius , Julius Cæsar, Giuseppe Mazzini, Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour , Giuseppe Garibaldi, and others, for being within a tradition of dictatorship in Italy that
4000-523: A shared past amongst the Italian people, along with a commitment to a modernised Italy. In a famous speech in 1926, Mussolini called for Fascist art that was "traditionalist and at the same time modern, that looks to the past and at the same time to the future". Traditional symbols of Roman civilisation were used by the Fascists, particularly the fasces that symbolised unity, authority and the exercise of power. Other traditional symbols of ancient Rome used by
4160-648: A solid belief that Italy was destined to become the hegemonic power in Europe. The National Fascist Party along with its successor, the Republican Fascist Party , are the only parties whose re-formation is banned by the Constitution of Italy : "It shall be forbidden to reorganize, under any form whatsoever, the dissolved Fascist party." After World War I (1914–1918), despite the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) being
4320-682: A variety of liberalism that endorses a regulated market economy and the expansion of civil and political rights , with the common good considered as compatible with or superior to the freedom of the individual. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica : "In the United States, liberalism is associated with the welfare-state policies of the New Deal programme of the Democratic administration of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt , whereas in Europe it
4480-558: Is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual , liberty , consent of the governed , political equality , right to private property and equality before the law . Liberals espouse various and often mutually warring views depending on their understanding of these principles but generally support private property , market economies , individual rights (including civil rights and human rights ), liberal democracy , secularism , rule of law , economic and political freedom , freedom of speech , freedom of
4640-461: Is a will to power and empire. The Roman tradition is here a powerful force. According to the Doctrine of Fascism, empire is not only territorial or military or mercantile concept, but a spiritual and moral one. One can think of an empire, that is, a nation, which directly or indirectly guides other nations, without the need to conquer a single square kilometre of territory. Fascism emphasised the need for
4800-427: Is also credited with Say's law , or the law of markets which may be summarised as " Aggregate supply creates its own aggregate demand ", and " Supply creates its own demand ", or "Supply constitutes its own demand" and "Inherent in supply is the need for its own consumption". The related phrase "supply creates its own demand" was coined by John Maynard Keynes , who criticized Say's separate formulations as amounting to
4960-721: Is applied to making one product and not enough to another" (1803, pp. 178–179). Related reasoning appears in the work of John Stuart Mill and earlier in that of his Scottish classical economist father, James Mill (1808). Mill senior restates Say's law in 1808: "production of commodities creates, and is the one and universal cause which creates a market for the commodities produced". In addition to Smith's and Say's legacies, Thomas Malthus ' theories of population and David Ricardo 's Iron law of wages became central doctrines of classical economics. Meanwhile, Jean-Baptiste Say challenged Smith's labour theory of value , believing that prices were determined by utility and also emphasised
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5120-462: Is considered closely tied to, or synonymous with, American libertarianism . Liberalism—both as a political current and an intellectual tradition—is mostly a modern phenomenon that started in the 17th century, although some liberal philosophical ideas had precursors in classical antiquity and Imperial China . The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius praised "the idea of a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and
5280-487: Is made up by a voluntary compact between men and women". Locke maintained that the grant of dominion in Genesis was not to men over women , as Filmer believed, but to humans over animals. Locke was not a feminist by modern standards, but the first major liberal thinker in history accomplished an equally major task on the road to making the world more pluralistic: integrating women into social theory . Locke also originated
5440-639: Is more commonly associated with a commitment to limited government and laissez-faire economic policies." This variety of liberalism is also known as modern liberalism to distinguish it from classical liberalism , which evolved into modern conservatism . In the United States, the two forms of liberalism comprise the two main poles of American politics, in the forms of modern American liberalism and modern American conservatism . Some liberals, who call themselves classical liberals , fiscal conservatives , or libertarians , endorse fundamental liberal ideals but diverge from modern liberal thought on
5600-426: Is nothing but the consent of any number of freemen capable of a majority to unite and incorporate into such a society. And this is that, and that only, which did or could give beginning to any lawful government in the world". The stringent insistence that lawful government did not have a supernatural basis was a sharp break with the dominant theories of governance, which advocated the divine right of kings and echoed
5760-529: Is often associated with this principle, with Friedrich Hayek arguing in The Road to Serfdom (1944) that reliance on free markets would preclude totalitarian control by the state. The development into maturity of modern classical in contrast to ancient liberalism took place before and soon after the French Revolution. One of the historic centres of this development was at Coppet Castle near Geneva , where
5920-535: Is often used as a pejorative. This political philosophy is exemplified by enactment of major social legislation and welfare programs. Two major examples in the United States are Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal policies and later Lyndon B. Johnson 's Great Society , as well as other accomplishments such as the Works Progress Administration and the Social Security Act in 1935, as well as
6080-412: Is still the owner of the entire property. The building is a prominent example of early 20th-century Italian rationalist architecture , notable for its widespread use of innovative materials such as glass brick , clinker brick and linoleum , and is also the first Italian building with a welded metal structural frame . The building occupies a little more than two-thirds of a city block, consisting of
6240-529: Is the Liberal Party , and the Democratic Party is usually considered liberal in the United States. In the United States, conservative liberals are usually called conservatives in a broad sense. Over time, the meaning of liberalism began to diverge in different parts of the world. Since the 1930s, liberalism is usually used without a qualifier in the United States, to refer to social liberalism ,
6400-470: Is to man what maternity is to the woman". In an effort to increase birthrates, the Italian Fascist government gave financial incentives to women who raised large families and initiated policies designed to reduce the number of women employed. Italian Fascism called for women to be honoured as "reproducers of the nation" and the Italian Fascist government held ritual ceremonies to honour women's role within
6560-755: The British liberal tradition has emphasized expanding democracy, French liberalism has emphasized rejecting authoritarianism and is linked to nation-building . Leaders in the British Glorious Revolution of 1688, the American Revolution of 1776, and the French Revolution of 1789 used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow of royal sovereignty . The 19th century saw liberal governments established in Europe and South America , and it
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6720-530: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . Modern liberalism, in the United States and other major Western countries, now includes issues such as same-sex marriage , transgender rights , the abolition of capital punishment , reproductive rights and other women's rights , voting rights for all adult citizens, civil rights, environmental justice , and government protection of
6880-698: The Italian Peninsula to gradually transform it into an Italian land. The Fascist regime claimed the Ionian Islands as Italian territory on the basis that the islands had belonged to the Venetian Republic from the mid-14th until the 18th century. To the west of Italy, the Fascists claimed that the territories of Corsica , Nice and Savoy held by France were Italian lands. During the period of Italian unification in 1860 to 1861, Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia , Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour , who
7040-511: The Mediterranean Sea . Italian Fascism promoted a corporatist economic system whereby employer and employee syndicates are linked together in associations to collectively represent the nation's economic producers and work alongside the state to set national economic policy. This economic system intended to resolve class conflict through collaboration between the classes . Italian Fascism opposed liberalism , but rather than seeking
7200-579: The Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) under the direct control of the PNF and the Youth Fasces that were dissolved and merged into the new Gioventù Italiana del Littorio (GIL). On 27 May 1933, party membership was declared a basic requirement for public office. On 9 March 1937, it became mandatory if one wanted access to any public office and from 3 June 1938 those who did not join the party could not work. In 1939, Ettore Muti replaced Starace at
7360-687: The Paris Peace Conference , the Allies compelled the Kingdom of Italy to yield to Yugoslavia the Croatian seaport of Fiume ( Rijeka ), a mostly Italian city of little nationalist significance, until early 1919. Moreover, elsewhere Italy was then excluded from the wartime secret Treaty of London (1915) it had concorded with the Triple Entente , wherein Italy was to leave the Triple Alliance and join
7520-848: The Statuto Albertino , the Italian Constitution. The March on Rome was not the conquest of power which fascism later celebrated, but rather the precipitating force behind a transfer of power within the framework of the constitution. This transition was made possible by the surrender of public authorities in the face of fascist intimidation. Many business and financial leaders believed it would be possible to manipulate Mussolini, whose early speeches and policies emphasised free market and laissez-faire economics. This proved overly optimistic, as Mussolini's corporatist view stressed total state power over businesses as much as over individuals, via governing industry bodies ("corporations") controlled by
7680-527: The divine right of kings by appealing to biblical teaching, claiming that the authority granted to Adam by God gave successors of Adam in the male line of descent a right of dominion over all other humans and creatures in the world. However, Locke disagreed so thoroughly and obsessively with Filmer that the First Treatise is almost a sentence-by-sentence refutation of Patriarcha . Reinforcing his respect for consensus, Locke argued that "conjugal society
7840-550: The right to an adequate standard of living . National social services , such as equal educational opportunities, access to health care, and transportation infrastructure are intended to meet the responsibility to promote the general welfare of all citizens as established by the United States Constitution . Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under
8000-521: The rights of minorities . Besides liberty, liberals have developed several other principles important to the construction of their philosophical structure, such as equality, pluralism and tolerance. Highlighting the confusion over the first principle, Voltaire commented, "equality is at once the most natural and at times the most chimeral of things". All forms of liberalism assume in some basic sense that individuals are equal. In maintaining that people are naturally equal, liberals assume they all possess
8160-466: The rule of law , with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government , economic freedom , political freedom and freedom of speech . Classical liberalism, contrary to liberal branches like social liberalism , looks more negatively on social policies , taxation and the state involvement in the lives of individuals, and it advocates deregulation . Until the Great Depression and
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#17328452337948320-474: The workhouses and asylums for the mentally ill. During the Great Depression , the English economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) gave the definitive liberal response to the economic crisis. Keynes had been "brought up" as a classical liberal, but especially after World War I, became increasingly a welfare or social liberal. A prolific writer, among many other works, he had begun a theoretical work examining
8480-522: The "First Rome" and Renaissance-era Italy as the "Second Rome". Italian Fascism has emulated ancient Rome and Mussolini in particular emulated ancient Roman leaders, such as Julius Cæsar as a model for the Fascists' rise to power and Augustus as a model for empire-building. Italian Fascism has directly promoted imperialism , such as within the Doctrine of Fascism (1932) ghostwritten by Giovanni Gentile on behalf of Mussolini, declared: The Fascist state
8640-486: The 20th century achieved several objectives towards both goals. Other goals often accepted by liberals include universal suffrage and universal access to education . In Europe and North America, the establishment of social liberalism (often called simply liberalism in the United States) became a key component in expanding the welfare state . Today, liberal parties continue to wield power and influence throughout
8800-645: The Fascist marchers. Generals Gustavo Fara and Sante Ceccherini assisted the preparations of the March of 18 October. Other organisers of the march included the Marquis Dino Perrone Compagni and Ulisse Igliori . On 24 October 1922, Mussolini declared before 60,000 people at the Fascist Congress in Naples : "Our program is simple: we want to rule Italy". Meanwhile, the Blackshirts, who had occupied
8960-462: The Fascist movement for seeking to create a total dictatorship. However, the Fascists responded by accepting that they were totalitarian, but presented totalitarianism from a positive viewpoint. Mussolini described totalitarianism as seeking to forge an authoritarian national state that would be capable of completing Risorgimento of the Italia Irredenta , forge a powerful modern Italy and create
9120-585: The Fascist movement", but later held key positions in Mussolini's administration. They sought to restore and expand Italian territories , which Italian Fascists deemed necessary for a nation to assert its superiority and strength and to avoid succumbing to decay. Italian Fascists claimed that modern Italy is the heir to ancient Rome and its legacy and historically supported the creation of an Italian Empire to provide spazio vitale ("living space") for colonisation by Italian settlers and to establish control over
9280-470: The Fascist party, a model in which businesses retained the responsibilities of property, but few if any of the freedoms. Even though the coup failed in giving power directly to the Fascist Party, it nonetheless resulted in a parallel agreement between Mussolini and King Victor Emmanuel III that made Mussolini the head of the Italian government. On 15 December, the Grand Council of Fascism was founded and it
9440-540: The Fascist regime when Mussolini created the position of First Marshal of the Empire in 1938. This was a two-person position of control over the military held by both the King and the head of government. It had the effect of eliminating the King's previously exclusive legal authority over the military by giving Mussolini equal legal authority. In the 1930s, Mussolini became aggravated by the monarchy's continued existence due to envy of
9600-486: The Fascists declared that they emulated. However, this compromise with the monarchy did not yield a cordial relationship between the King and Mussolini. Although Mussolini formally accepted the monarchy, he pursued and largely achieved reduction of the power of the King to that of a figurehead. The King initially held complete nominal legal authority over the military through the Statuto Albertino . That ended during
9760-402: The Fascists included the she-wolf of Rome . The fasces and the she-wolf symbolised the shared Roman heritage of all the regions that constituted the Italian nation. In 1926, the fasces was adopted by the Fascist government of Italy as a symbol of the state. In that year, the Fascist government attempted to have the Italian national flag redesigned to incorporate the fasces. This was stopped by
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#17328452337949920-546: The French Revolution. The British philosopher and historian of ideas, Sir Isaiah Berlin , has pointed to the debt owed to Constant. Liberalism in Britain was based on core concepts such as classical economics , free trade , laissez-faire government with minimal intervention and taxation and a balanced budget . Classical liberals were committed to individualism, liberty and equal rights. Writers such as John Bright and Richard Cobden opposed aristocratic privilege and property, which they saw as an impediment to developing
10080-736: The Grand Fascist Council: "We shall bring our border to the Gotthard Pass ". The Fascist regime accused the Swiss government of oppressing the Romansch people in Graubünden. Mussolini argued that Romansch was an Italian dialect and thus Graubünden should be incorporated into Italy. Ticino was also claimed because the region had belonged to the Duchy of Milan from the mid-fourteenth century until 1515. Claim
10240-547: The Italian language and confined this type of citizenship to be valid in Libya only. Tunisia , a French protectorate since 1881, had the highest concentration of Italians in North Africa and its seizure by France had been viewed as an injury to national honour in Italy at what they perceived as a "loss" of Tunisia from Italian plans to incorporate it. Upon entering World War II, Italy declared its intention to seize Tunisia as well as
10400-405: The Italian nation. In 1934, Mussolini declared that employment of women was a "major aspect of the thorny problem of unemployment" and that for women working was "incompatible with childbearing". Mussolini went on to say that the solution to unemployment for men was the "exodus of women from the work force". Italian Fascism believed that the success of Italian nationalism required a clear sense of
10560-451: The Italian tricolour national flag. The issue of the rule of monarchy or republic in Italy was an issue that changed several times through the development of Italian Fascism. Initially Italian Fascism was republican and denounced the Savoy monarchy. However, Mussolini tactically abandoned republicanism in 1922 and recognised that the acceptance of the monarchy was a necessary compromise to gain
10720-557: The King to resume his full authority in officially removing Mussolini as prime minister , which he did. Mussolini was imprisoned, and the Fascist organizations immediately collapsed and the party was officially banned by Pietro Badoglio 's government on 27 July. After the Nazi -engineered Gran Sasso raid liberated Mussolini in September, the PNF was revived as the Republican Fascist Party ( Partito Fascista Repubblicano – PFR; 13 September), as
10880-500: The Po plain, took all strategic points of the country. On 26 October, former prime minister Antonio Salandra warned current prime minister Luigi Facta that Mussolini was demanding his resignation and that he was preparing to march on Rome. However, Facta did not believe Salandra and thought that Mussolini would govern quietly at his side. To meet the threat posed by the bands of fascist troops now gathering outside Rome, Facta (who had resigned
11040-502: The Regent Duce (Leader) and promulgated the Carta del Carnaro ( Charter of Carnaro , 8 September 1920), a politically syncretic constitutional amalgamation of right-wing and left-wing politics – anarchist , proto-fascist and democratic republican ideas – which much influenced the politico-philosophic development of early Italian fascism. Consequent to the Treaty of Rapallo (1920),
11200-597: The Third Fascist Congress on 7–10 November 1921, the National Fascist Party marked the transformation of the paramilitary Fasci Italiani di Combattimento into a more coherent political group (the Fasci di Combattimento had been founded by Mussolini in Milan 's Piazza San Sepolcro on 23 March 1919). The Fascist Party was instrumental in directing and popularising support for Mussolini's ideology. In
11360-424: The absence of interference from government and other individuals, claiming that all people should have the freedom to develop their unique abilities and capacities without being sabotaged by others. Mill's On Liberty (1859), one of the classic texts in liberal philosophy, proclaimed, "the only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way". Support for laissez-faire capitalism
11520-746: The agreement between Italy and the Entente Allies in the Treaty of London of 1915 to have Dalmatia join Italy was revoked in 1919. The Fascist regime supported annexation of Yugoslavia's region of Slovenia into Italy that already held a portion of the Slovene population, whereby Slovenia would become an Italian province, resulting in a quarter of Slovene ethnic territory and approximately 327,000 out of total population of 1.3 million Slovenes being subjected to forced Italianization . The Fascist regime supported annexation of Albania , claimed that Albanians were ethnically linked to Italians through links with
11680-503: The anarchic and brutal state of nature came together and voluntarily ceded some of their rights to an established state authority, which would create laws to regulate social interactions to mitigate or mediate conflicts and enforce justice. Whereas Hobbes advocated a strong monarchical commonwealth (the Leviathan ), Locke developed the then-radical notion that government acquires consent from the governed , which has to be constantly present for
11840-505: The basis of liberalism based on social contract theory. To these early enlightenment thinkers, securing the essential amenities of life— liberty and private property —required forming a "sovereign" authority with universal jurisdiction. His influential Two Treatises (1690), the foundational text of liberal ideology, outlined his major ideas. Once humans moved out of their natural state and formed societies , Locke argued, "that which begins and actually constitutes any political society
12000-403: The benefit of free internal and international trade , which he thought could increase wealth through specialisation in production. He also opposed restrictive trade preferences , state grants of monopolies and employers' organisations and trade unions . Government should be limited to defence, public works and the administration of justice , financed by taxes based on income . Smith
12160-521: The building, in proximity to the Royal Palace of Turin , was regarded as a statement of Fascist dominance over the Italian Royal House of Savoy , and over the years the building has been derided as "an eyesore ", "the finger of Duce ", "the mobile phone " and "the arrogant tower". National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( Italian : Partito Nazionale Fascista , PNF )
12320-618: The canton of Valais in addition to the claims raised earlier. To the south, the regime claimed the archipelago of Malta , which had been held by the British since 1800. Mussolini claimed that the Maltese language was a dialect of Italian, and theories about Malta being the cradle of the Latin civilisation were promoted. Italian had been widely used in Malta in the literary, scientific and legal fields and it
12480-409: The citizens the right to influence politics directly through debates and votes in the public assembly. In order to support this degree of participation, citizenship was a burdensome moral obligation requiring a considerable investment of time and energy. Generally, this required a sub-group of slaves to do much of the productive work, leaving citizens free to deliberate on public affairs. Ancient Liberty
12640-483: The colonies. In 1930 came the Youth Fasces of Combat. The 1930s were characterised by the secretary Achille Starace , "faithful" to Mussolini and one of the few fascist secretaries from Southern Italy , who launched a campaign of Fascism in the country made up of a wave of ceremonies and rallies and the creation of organisations which aimed to frame the country and the citizen in all its manifestations (both public and private). To regiment youth movements, Starace brought
12800-410: The complex circumstances involved in the evolution of our moral character . In a very profound step for the future of modern liberalism, he also tasked society and political institutions with the enhancement of individual freedom and identity and the development of moral character, will and reason and the state to create the conditions that allow for the above, allowing genuine choice . Foreshadowing
12960-485: The concept of the separation of church and state . Based on the social contract principle, Locke argued that the government lacked authority in the realm of individual conscience , as this was something rational people could not cede to the government for it or others to control. For Locke, this created a natural right to the liberty of conscience, which he argued must remain protected from any government authority. In his Letters Concerning Toleration , he also formulated
13120-418: The context of American politics, "classical liberalism" may be described as "fiscally conservative" and "socially liberal". Despite this, classical liberals tend to reject the right 's higher tolerance for economic protectionism and the left's inclination for collective group rights due to classical liberalism's central principle of individualism . Additionally, in the United States, classical liberalism
13280-671: The country. Party membership in the PNF became necessary to seek employment or gain government assistance. The fasces adorned public buildings, Fascist mottos and symbols were displayed in art and a personality cult was created around Mussolini as the nation's saviour called " Il Duce ", "The Leader". The Italian parliament was replaced in duties by the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations , solely filled with Fascist Party members. The PNF promoted Italian imperialism in Africa and staunchly promoted racial segregation and white supremacy of Italian settlers in
13440-558: The critical role of the entrepreneur in the economy. However, neither of those observations became accepted by British economists at the time. Malthus wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population in 1798, becoming a major influence on classical liberalism. Malthus claimed that population growth would outstrip food production because the population grew geometrically while food production grew arithmetically. As people were provided with food, they would reproduce until their growth outstripped
13600-500: The earlier thought of Aristotle . Dr John Zvesper described this new thinking: "In the liberal understanding, there are no citizens within the regime who can claim to rule by natural or supernatural right, without the consent of the governed". Locke had other intellectual opponents besides Hobbes. In the First Treatise , Locke aimed his arguments first and foremost at one of the doyens of 17th-century English conservative philosophy: Robert Filmer . Filmer's Patriarcha (1680) argued for
13760-497: The early 18th century, building on ideas dating at least as far back as the 16th century, within the Iberian, British, and Central European contexts, and it was foundational to the American Revolution and "American Project" more broadly. Notable liberal individuals whose ideas contributed to classical liberalism include John Locke , Jean-Baptiste Say , Thomas Malthus , and David Ricardo . It drew on classical economics , especially
13920-405: The early years, groups within the PNF called Blackshirts ( squadristi ) built a base of power by violently attacking socialists and their institutions in the rural Po Valley , thereby gaining the support of landowners. Compared to its predecessor, the PNF abandoned republicanism to turn decisively towards the right-wing of the political spectrum. On 28 October 1922, Mussolini attempted
14080-585: The economic ideas espoused by Adam Smith in Book One of The Wealth of Nations , and on a belief in natural law . In contemporary times, Friedrich Hayek , Milton Friedman , Ludwig von Mises , Thomas Sowell , George Stigler , Larry Arnhart , Ronald Coase and James M. Buchanan are seen as the most prominent advocates of classical liberalism. However, other scholars have made reference to these contemporary thoughts as neoclassical liberalism , distinguishing them from 18th-century classical liberalism. In
14240-474: The end of the rule of the East India Company over India in 1858. In his Treatise (Traité d'économie politique), Say states that any production process requires effort, knowledge and the "application" of the entrepreneur. He sees entrepreneurs as intermediaries in the production process who combine productive factors such as land, capital and labour to meet the consumers' demands. As a result, they play
14400-524: The enemy by declaring war against the German Empire and Austria-Hungary in exchange for territories at war's end, upon which the Kingdom of Italy held claims (see Italia irredenta ). In September 1919, the nationalist response of outraged war hero Gabriele D'Annunzio was declaring the establishment of the Italian Regency of Carnaro . To his independent Italian state, he installed himself as
14560-437: The enterprise and supply-of-capital functions, distinguishing the entrepreneur's earnings on the one hand and the remuneration of capital on the other. This differentiates his theory from that of Joseph Schumpeter , who describes entrepreneurial rent as short-term profits which compensate for high risk (Schumpeterian rent). Say himself also refers to risk and uncertainty along with innovation without analysing them in detail. Say
14720-747: The eponymous Coppet group gathered under the aegis of the exiled writer and salonnière , Madame de Staël , in the period between the establishment of Napoleon 's First Empire (1804) and the Bourbon Restoration of 1814–1815. The unprecedented concentration of European thinkers who met there was to have a considerable influence on the development of nineteenth-century liberalism and, incidentally, romanticism . They included Wilhelm von Humboldt , Jean de Sismondi , Charles Victor de Bonstetten , Prosper de Barante , Henry Brougham , Lord Byron , Alphonse de Lamartine , Sir James Mackintosh , Juliette Récamier and August Wilhelm Schlegel . Among them
14880-430: The ethical primacy of the human being against the pressures of social collectivism ; the egalitarian element assigns the same moral worth and status to all individuals; the meliorist element asserts that successive generations can improve their sociopolitical arrangements, and the universalist element affirms the moral unity of the human species and marginalises local cultural differences. The meliorist element has been
15040-592: The existing autonomist tendencies in Corsica and then independence of Corsica from France, that would be followed by annexation of Corsica into Italy. To the north of Italy, the Fascist regime in the 1930s had designs on the largely Italian-populated region of Ticino and the Romansch -populated region of Graubünden in Switzerland (the Romansch are a people with a Latin-based language). In November 1938, Mussolini declared to
15200-468: The fact that his counterpart in Germany Adolf Hitler was both head of state and head of government of a republic; and Mussolini in private denounced the monarchy and indicated that he had plans to dismantle the monarchy and create a republic with himself as head of state of Italy upon an Italian success in the then-anticipated major war about to erupt in Europe. Liberalism Liberalism
15360-523: The first use of liberalism appeared in English. In Spain, the liberales , the first group to use the liberal label in a political context, fought for decades to implement the Spanish Constitution of 1812 . From 1820 to 1823, during the Trienio Liberal , King Ferdinand VII was compelled by the liberales to swear to uphold the 1812 Constitution. By the middle of the 19th century, liberal
15520-439: The following major common facets of liberal thought: Enlightenment philosophers are given credit for shaping liberal ideas. These ideas were first drawn together and systematized as a distinct ideology by the English philosopher John Locke , generally regarded as the father of modern liberalism. Thomas Hobbes attempted to determine the purpose and the justification of governing authority in post-civil war England. Employing
15680-486: The food supply. Nature would then provide a check to growth in the forms of vice and misery. No gains in income could prevent this, and any welfare for the poor would be self-defeating. The poor were, in fact, responsible for their problems which could have been avoided through self-restraint. Several liberals, including Adam Smith and Richard Cobden , argued that the free exchange of goods between nations would lead to world peace. Smith argued that as societies progressed,
15840-448: The former version of Lockean equality . To contribute to the development of liberty, liberals also have promoted concepts like pluralism and tolerance. By pluralism, liberals refer to the proliferation of opinions and beliefs that characterise a stable social order . Unlike many of their competitors and predecessors, liberals do not seek conformity and homogeneity in how people think. Their efforts have been geared towards establishing
16000-509: The gospel. As assistant to Oliver Cromwell , Milton also drafted a constitution of the independents ( Agreement of the People ; 1647) that strongly stressed the equality of all humans as a consequence of democratic tendencies. In his Areopagitica , Milton provided one of the first arguments for the importance of freedom of speech—"the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties". His central argument
16160-452: The government to remain legitimate . While adopting Hobbes's idea of a state of nature and social contract, Locke nevertheless argued that when the monarch becomes a tyrant , it violates the social contract, which protects life, liberty and property as a natural right. He concluded that the people have a right to overthrow a tyrant. By placing the security of life, liberty and property as the supreme value of law and authority, Locke formulated
16320-407: The grounds that economic freedom is more important than social equality . Consequently, the ideas of individualism and laissez-faire economics previously associated with classical liberalism are key components of modern American conservatism and movement conservatism , and became the basis for the emerging school of modern American libertarian thought. In this American context, liberal
16480-509: The helm of the party, a fact that testifies to the increasing influence of Galeazzo Ciano , the Minister of Foreign Affairs and son-in-law of Mussolini. On 10 June 1940, from the balcony of Palazzo Venezia Mussolini announced the entry of Italy into World War II on the side of Hitler 's Germany . On 25 July 1943, following a request from Dino Grandi due to the failure of the war the Grand Council of Fascism overthrew Mussolini by asking
16640-458: The idea of a state of nature — a hypothetical war-like scenario prior to the state — he constructed the idea of a social contract that individuals enter into to guarantee their security and, in so doing, form the State, concluding that only an absolute sovereign would be fully able to sustain such security. Hobbes had developed the concept of the social contract, according to which individuals in
16800-674: The idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed". Scholars have also recognised many principles familiar to contemporary liberals in the works of several Sophists and the Funeral Oration by Pericles . Liberal philosophy is the culmination of an extensive intellectual tradition that has examined and popularized some of the modern world's most important and controversial principles. Its immense scholarly output has been characterized as containing "richness and diversity", but that diversity often has meant that liberalism comes in different formulations and presents
16960-592: The ideas of economics until the publication of John Stuart Mill 's Principles in 1848. Smith addressed the motivation for economic activity, the causes of prices and wealth distribution , and the policies the state should follow to maximise wealth . Smith wrote that as long as supply, demand , prices and competition were left free of government regulation, the pursuit of material self-interest, rather than altruism, maximises society's wealth through profit-driven production of goods and services. An " invisible hand " directed individuals and firms to work toward
17120-409: The law. Liberals also ended mercantilist policies, royal monopolies , and other trade barriers , instead promoting free trade and marketization. Philosopher John Locke is often credited with founding liberalism as a distinct tradition based on the social contract , arguing that each man has a natural right to life, liberty and property , and governments must not violate these rights . While
17280-466: The material means to benefit from those rights and call for a greater role for government in the administration of economic affairs. Early liberals also laid the groundwork for the separation of church and state. As heirs of the Enlightenment, liberals believed that any given social and political order emanated from human interactions , not from divine will . Many liberals were openly hostile to religious belief but most concentrated their opposition to
17440-524: The metropolitan Italian military deposed the Regency of Duce D'Annunzio on Christmas 1920. In the development of the fascist model of government, D'Annunzio was a nationalist and not a fascist, whose legacy of political– praxis ("Politics as Theatre") was stylistic (ceremony, uniform, harangue and chanting) and not substantive, which Italian fascism artfully developed as a government model. Founded in Rome during
17600-504: The moral development of people that will affect society. Italian Fascism pursued what it called "moral hygiene" of youth, particularly regarding sexuality . Fascist Italy promoted what it considered normal sexual behaviour in youth while denouncing what it considered abnormal sexual behaviour. It deemed homosexuality as deviant sexual conduct. The Fascist State also criminalised the dispersion of birth control as well as abortion and created laws that taxed bachelors. Fascist Italy regarded
17760-467: The most appropriate form of government, but all believed that liberty was natural and its restriction needed strong justification. Liberals generally believed in limited government, although several liberal philosophers decried government outright, with Thomas Paine writing, "government even in its best state is a necessary evil". As part of the project to limit the powers of government, liberal theorists such as James Madison and Montesquieu conceived
17920-482: The nation's economic producers and work alongside the state to set national economic policy. This economic system intended to resolve class conflict through collaboration between the classes . Moreover, the PNF strongly advocated autarky . Italian Fascism, similarly to German Fascism (Nazism) , opposed liberalism , but did not seek a reactionary restoration of the pre- French Revolutionary world, which it considered to have been flawed, and not in line with
18080-407: The nation's economic producers and work alongside the state to set national economic policy. It supports criminalisation of strikes by employees and lockouts by employers, as it deems these acts prejudicial to the national community as a whole. The Italian Fascists' political anthem was called Giovinezza ("The Youth"). Fascism identifies the physical age period of youth as a critical time for
18240-404: The nation's good as an unintended consequence of efforts to maximise their gain. This provided a moral justification for accumulating wealth, which some had previously viewed as sinful. Smith assumed that workers could be paid as low as was necessary for their survival, which David Ricardo and Thomas Robert Malthus later transformed into the " iron law of wages ". His main emphasis was on
18400-496: The new liberty as the freedom to act rather than to avoid suffering from the acts of others, Green wrote the following: If it were ever reasonable to wish that the usage of words had been other than it has been ... one might be inclined to wish that the term 'freedom' had been confined to the ... power to do what one wills. Rather than previous liberal conceptions viewing society as populated by selfish individuals, Green viewed society as an organic whole in which all individuals have
18560-407: The next day on 29th October 1922 but continued to hold power) ordered a state of siege for Rome. Having had previous conversations with the king about the repression of fascist violence, he was sure the king would agree. However, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign the military order. On 30 October, the King handed power to Mussolini, who was supported by the military, the business class, and
18720-775: The notion of separation of powers , a system designed to equally distribute governmental authority among the executive , legislative and judicial branches. Governments had to realise, liberals maintained, that legitimate government only exists with the consent of the governed , so poor and improper governance gave the people the authority to overthrow the ruling order through all possible means, even through outright violence and revolution , if needed. Contemporary liberals, heavily influenced by social liberalism, have supported limited constitutional government while advocating for state services and provisions to ensure equal rights. Modern liberals claim that formal or official guarantees of individual rights are irrelevant when individuals lack
18880-572: The population of the Italian colony of Libya died during the Fascist era, including from the use of gassings, concentration camps , starvation and disease; in Ethiopia during and after the Second Italo-Ethiopian War , a quarter of a million Ethiopians died. Italian Fascism promotes a corporatist economic system. The economy involves employer and employee syndicates being linked together in corporative associations to collectively represent
19040-520: The prehistoric Italiotes , Illyrian and Roman populations and that the major influence exerted by the Roman and Venetian empires over Albania justified Italy's right to possess it. The Fascist regime also justified the annexation of Albania on the basis that — because several hundred thousand people of Albanian descent had been absorbed into society in Southern Italy already — the incorporation of Albania
19200-559: The press , freedom of assembly , and freedom of religion . Liberalism is frequently cited as the dominant ideology of modern history . Liberalism became a distinct movement in the Age of Enlightenment , gaining popularity among Western philosophers and economists . Liberalism sought to replace the norms of hereditary privilege , state religion , absolute monarchy , the divine right of kings and traditional conservatism with representative democracy , rule of law, and equality under
19360-606: The promotion of male sexual excitation before puberty as the cause of criminality amongst male youth. Fascist Italy reflected the belief of most Italians that homosexuality was wrong and even went as far as to create punitive laws against homosexuals. Instead of the traditional Catholic teaching that it was a sin, a new approach was taken based on then-modern psychoanalysis that it was a social disease. Fascist Italy pursued an aggressive campaign to reduce prostitution of young women. Mussolini perceived women's primary role to be childbearers while men were warriors, once saying that "war
19520-564: The proper relationship between liberty and democracy. As they struggled to expand suffrage rights , liberals increasingly understood that people left out of the democratic decision-making process were liable to the " tyranny of the majority ", a concept explained in Mill's On Liberty and Democracy in America (1835) by Alexis de Tocqueville . As a response, liberals began demanding proper safeguards to thwart majorities in their attempts at suppressing
19680-424: The province of Constantine of Algeria from France. To the south, the Fascist regime held interest in expanding Italy's African colonial possessions. In the 1920s, Italy regarded Portugal as a weak country that was unbecoming of a colonial power due to its weak hold on its colonies and mismanagement of them and as such Italy desired to annexe Portugal's colonies. Italy's relations with Portugal were influenced by
19840-465: The relationship between unemployment, money and prices back in the 1920s. Keynes was deeply critical of the British government's austerity measures during the Great Depression . He believed budget deficits were a good thing, a product of recessions . He wrote: "For Government borrowing of one kind or another is nature's remedy, so to speak, for preventing business losses from being, in so severe
20000-622: The restoration of the Mazzinian Risorgimento tradition that pursued the unification of Italy, that the Fascists claimed had been left incomplete and abandoned in the Giolittian -era Italy. Fascism sought the incorporation of claimed "unredeemed" territories to Italy. To the east of Italy, the Fascists claimed that Dalmatia was a land of Italian culture whose Italians, including those of Italianized South Slavic descent, had been driven out of Dalmatia and into exile in Italy and supported
20160-658: The return of Italians of Dalmatian heritage. Mussolini identified Dalmatia as having strong Italian cultural roots for centuries via the Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice . The Fascists especially focused their claims based on the Venetian cultural heritage of Dalmatia, claiming that Venetian rule had been beneficial for all Dalmatians and had been accepted by the Dalmatian population. The Fascists were outraged after World War I, when
20320-461: The right-wing part of population. The march itself was composed of fewer than 30,000 men, but the King in part feared a civil war since the squadristi had already taken control of the Po plain and most of the country, while fascism was no longer seen as a threat to the establishment. Mussolini was asked to form his cabinet on 31 October 1922, while some 25,000 Blackshirts were parading in Rome. Mussolini thus legally reached power in accordance with
20480-449: The rise of social liberalism, classical liberalism was called economic liberalism . Later, the term was applied as a retronym , to distinguish earlier 19th-century liberalism from social liberalism. By modern standards, in the United States , the bare term liberalism often means social liberalism, but in Europe and Australia , the bare term liberalism often means classical liberalism. Classical liberalism gained full flowering in
20640-409: The rise to power of the authoritarian conservative nationalist regime of António de Oliveira Salazar , which borrowed fascist methods, though Salazar upheld Portugal's traditional alliance with Britain . In 1925, the PNF declared that Italy's Fascist state was to be totalitarian . The term "totalitarian" had initially been used as a pejorative accusation by Italy's liberal opposition that denounced
20800-555: The same right to liberty. In other words, no one is inherently entitled to enjoy the benefits of liberal society more than anyone else, and all people are equal subjects before the law . Beyond this basic conception, liberal theorists diverge in their understanding of equality. American philosopher John Rawls emphasised the need to ensure equality under the law and the equal distribution of material resources that individuals required to develop their aspirations in life. Libertarian thinker Robert Nozick disagreed with Rawls, championing
20960-453: The same thing. Some advocates of Say's law who disagree with Keynes have claimed that Say's law can be summarized more accurately as "production precedes consumption" and that what Say is stating is that for consumption to happen, one must produce something of value so that it can be traded for money or barter for consumption later. Say argues, "products are paid for with products" (1803, p. 153) or "a glut occurs only when too much resource
21120-730: The single party of the Northern and Nazi-protected Italian Social Republic (the Salò Republic). Its secretary was Alessandro Pavolini . The PRF did not outlast Mussolini's execution and the disappearance of the Salò state in April 1945, amidst the final Allied offensive in Italy . Italian Fascism was rooted in Italian nationalism and Georges Sorel 's revolutionary syndicalism that eventually evolved into national syndicalism in Italy. Most Italian revolutionary syndicalist leaders were not only "founders of
21280-487: The spoils of war would rise, but the costs of war would rise further, making war difficult and costly for industrialised nations. Cobden believed that military expenditures worsened the state's welfare and benefited a small but concentrated elite minority, combining his Little Englander beliefs with opposition to the economic restrictions of mercantilist policies. To Cobden and many classical liberals, those who advocated peace must also advocate free markets. Utilitarianism
21440-583: The state. In this sense fascism is totalitarian, and the fascist state which is the synthesis and unity of every value, interprets, develops and strengthens the entire life of the people. American journalist H. R. Knickerbocker wrote in 1941: "Mussolini's Fascist state is the least terroristic of the three totalitarian states. The terror is so mild in comparison with the Soviet or Nazi varieties, that it almost fails to qualify as terroristic at all." As example he described an Italian journalist friend who refused to become
21600-470: The strong opposition of Italian monarchists. Afterwards, the Fascist government in public ceremonies raised the national tricolour flag along with a Fascist black flag. Years later, after Mussolini was deposed by the King and rescued by German forces in 1943, the Italian Social Republic founded by Mussolini and the Fascists did incorporate the fasces on the state's war flag, which was a variant of
21760-695: The subject of much controversy, defended by thinkers such as Immanuel Kant , who believed in human progress, while suffering criticism by thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau , who instead believed that human attempts to improve themselves through social cooperation would fail. The liberal philosophical tradition has searched for validation and justification through several intellectual projects. The moral and political suppositions of liberalism have been based on traditions such as natural rights and utilitarian theory , although sometimes liberals even request support from scientific and religious circles. Through all these strands and traditions, scholars have identified
21920-433: The support of the establishment to challenge the liberal constitutional order that also supported the monarchy. King Victor Emmanuel III had become a popular ruler in the aftermath of Italy's gains after World War I and the army held close loyalty to the King. Thus any idea of overthrowing the monarchy was discarded as foolhardy by the Fascists at this point. Importantly, Fascism's recognition of monarchy provided Fascism with
22080-492: The term "liberalism", including classical , egalitarian , economic , social , the welfare state , ethical , humanist , deontological , perfectionist , democratic , and institutional , to name a few. Despite these variations, liberal thought does exhibit a few definite and fundamental conceptions. Political philosopher John Gray identified the common strands in liberal thought as individualist , egalitarian, meliorist and universalist . The individualist element avers
22240-445: The unification of Italy. The Fascist regime produced literature on Corsica that presented evidence of the italianità of the island. The Fascist regime produced literature on Nice that justified that Nice was an Italian land based on historic, ethnic and linguistic grounds. The Fascists quoted Medieval Italian scholar Petrarch who said: "The border of Italy is the Var; consequently Nice is
22400-465: The union of religious and political authority, arguing that faith could prosper independently without official sponsorship or administration by the state. Beyond identifying a clear role for government in modern society, liberals have also argued over the meaning and nature of the most important principle in liberal philosophy: liberty. From the 17th century until the 19th century, liberals (from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill ) conceptualised liberty as
22560-612: The winners in both world wars and the Cold War . Liberals sought and established a constitutional order that prized important individual freedoms , such as freedom of speech and freedom of association ; an independent judiciary and public trial by jury ; and the abolition of aristocratic privileges. Later waves of modern liberal thought and struggle were strongly influenced by the need to expand civil rights. Liberals have advocated gender and racial equality in their drive to promote civil rights, and global civil rights movements in
22720-444: The world . The fundamental elements of contemporary society have liberal roots. The early waves of liberalism popularised economic individualism while expanding constitutional government and parliamentary authority. Liberal , liberty , libertarian , and libertine all trace their etymology to liber , a root from Latin that means " free ". One of the first recorded instances of liberal occurred in 1375 when it
22880-466: Was a political party in Italy , created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat . The party ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 when Fascists took power with the March on Rome until the fall of the Fascist regime in 1943, when Mussolini was deposed by the Grand Council of Fascism . The National Fascist Party
23040-491: Was a reasonable measure that would unite people of Albanian descent into one state. The Fascist regime endorsed Albanian irredentism, directed against the predominantly Albanian-populated Kosovo and Epirus – particularly in Chameria inhabited by a substantial number of Albanians. After Italy annexed Albania in 1939, the Fascist regime endorsed assimilating Albanians into Italians and colonising Albania with Italian settlers from
23200-523: Was also limited to relatively small and homogenous male societies, where they could congregate in one place to transact public affairs. In contrast, the Liberty of the Moderns was based on the possession of civil liberties , the rule of law, and freedom from excessive state interference. Direct participation would be limited: a necessary consequence of the size of modern states and the inevitable result of creating
23360-661: Was also one of the first thinkers to go by the name of "liberal", the Edinburgh University -educated Swiss Protestant, Benjamin Constant , who looked to the United Kingdom rather than to ancient Rome for a practical model of freedom in a large mercantile society. He distinguished between the "Liberty of the Ancients" and the "Liberty of the Moderns". The Liberty of the Ancients was a participatory republican liberty, which gave
23520-675: Was also raised on the basis that areas now part of Graubünden in the Mesolcina valley and Hinterrhein were held by the Milanese Trivulzio family, who ruled from the Mesocco Castle in the late 15th century. Also during the summer of 1940, Galeazzo Ciano met with Adolf Hitler and Joachim von Ribbentrop and proposed to them the dissection of Switzerland along the central chain of the Western Alps , which would have left Italy also with
23680-474: Was leading the unification effort, faced opposition from French Emperor Napoleon III who indicated that France would oppose Italian unification unless France was given Nice and Savoy that were held by Piedmont Sardinia, as France did not want a powerful state having control of all the passages of the Alps. As a result, Piedmont-Sardinia was pressured to concede Nice and Savoy to France in exchange for France accepting
23840-401: Was one of Malta's official languages until 1937, when its status was abolished by the British as a response to Italy's invasion of Ethiopia. Italian irredentists had claimed that territories on the coast of North Africa were Italy's Fourth Shore and used the historical Roman rule in North Africa as a precedent to justify the incorporation of such territories to Italian jurisdiction as being
24000-471: Was one of the progenitors of the idea, which was long central to classical liberalism and has resurfaced in the globalisation literature of the later 20th and early 21st centuries, that free trade promotes peace. Smith's economics was carried into practice in the 19th century with the lowering of tariffs in the 1820s, the repeal of the Poor Relief Act that had restricted the mobility of labour in 1834 and
24160-431: Was seen as a political justification for implementing economic liberalism by British governments, an idea dominating economic policy from the 1840s. Although utilitarianism prompted legislative and administrative reform, and John Stuart Mill's later writings foreshadowed the welfare state, it was mainly used as a premise for a laissez-faire approach. The central concept of utilitarianism, developed by Jeremy Bentham ,
24320-483: Was succeeded by the Republican Fascist Party in the territories under the control of the Italian Social Republic , and it was ultimately dissolved at the end of World War II . The National Fascist Party was rooted in Italian nationalism and the desire to restore and expand Italian territories , which Italian Fascists deemed necessary for a nation to assert its superiority and strength and to avoid succumbing to decay. Italian Fascists claimed that modern Italy
24480-518: Was that public policy should seek to provide "the greatest happiness of the greatest number". While this could be interpreted as a justification for state action to reduce poverty , it was used by classical liberals to justify inaction with the argument that the net benefit to all individuals would be higher. His philosophy proved highly influential on government policy and led to increased Benthamite attempts at government social control , including Robert Peel 's Metropolitan Police , prison reforms ,
24640-402: Was that the individual could use reason to distinguish right from wrong. To exercise this right, everyone must have unlimited access to the ideas of his fellow men in " a free and open encounter ", which will allow good arguments to prevail. In a natural state of affairs, liberals argued, humans were driven by the instincts of survival and self-preservation , and the only way to escape from such
24800-470: Was the heir to ancient Rome and its legacy and historically supported the creation of an Italian Empire to provide spazio vitale ("living space") for colonisation by Italian settlers and to establish control over the Mediterranean Sea . The party also supported social conservative stances. Fascists promoted a corporatist economic system, whereby employer and employee syndicates are linked together in associations to collectively represent
24960-463: Was the supreme organ of the PNF. After a drastic modification of electoral legislation (the Acerbo Law ), the Fascist Party clearly won the highly controversial elections of April 1924 . In early 1925, Mussolini dropped all pretense of democracy and set up a total dictatorship. From that point onward, the PNF was effectively the only legally permitted party in the country. This status was formalised by
25120-550: Was to serve as "a revolutionary militia placed at the service of the nation. It follows a policy based on three principles: order, discipline, hierarchy". It identifies modern Italy as the heir to the Roman Empire and Italy during the Renaissance and promotes the cultural identity of Romanitas ("Roman-ness"). Italian Fascism historically sought to forge a strong Italian Empire as a " Third Rome ", identifying ancient Rome as
25280-599: Was used as a politicised term for parties and movements worldwide. Yellow is the political colour most commonly associated with liberalism. The United States differs from other countries in that conservatism is associated with red and liberalism with blue. In Europe and Latin America, liberalism means a moderate form of classical liberalism and includes both conservative liberalism ( centre-right liberalism) and social liberalism ( centre-left liberalism). In North America, liberalism almost exclusively refers to social liberalism. The dominant Canadian party
25440-416: Was used to describe the liberal arts in the context of an education desirable for a free-born man. The word's early connection with the classical education of a medieval university soon gave way to a proliferation of different denotations and connotations. Liberal could refer to "free in bestowing" as early as 1387, "made without stint" in 1433, "freely permitted" in 1530, and "free from restraint"—often as
25600-660: Was well-established alongside republicanism in the United States . In Victorian Britain , it was used to critique the political establishment, appealing to science and reason on behalf of the people. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, liberalism in the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East influenced periods of reform, such as the Tanzimat and Al-Nahda , and the rise of constitutionalism , nationalism , and secularism . These changes, along with other factors, helped to create
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