Mussolini himself said, "The masses must obey; they cannot afford to waste timesearching for the truth."Another major aspect of society that suffered as a result of Fascist government was the economy. "In the beginning, Fascism had no economic policy; its doctrines of planned economy were one day to be called typically Fascist, but in fact they were developed late andas an afterthought" (Smith 402).For Mussolini, the objective of Italian economy was the corporate state."Its main ingredients were five: (1) State control of foreign trade, wages, and prices;(2) prohibition of free collective bargaining and trade unions; (3) no free privateenterprise; (4) subsidizing of large- scale enterprises by the state; and finally (5)establishment of industry- wide corporations with obligatory membership forall formerly free businesses" (Forman 67). Not suprisingly, this corporate state did not work out. The lire declined in value, bread prices rose, and coal shortages lead to less industrial production. In conclusion, it is clear that many members of the government, as well as a few aspects of society gained from Fascism. However, despite those who gained, more Italians suffered as a result of Fascist government. A comprehensive definition of traditional Fascism would describe it as "the seizure and control of economic, social, political, and cultural aspects of a state by a small group of activists, backed by a large segment of the conservative middle and upper classes fearful of the Communist-worker Left, to the end that the state becomes intensely nationalistic, anti-Communist, and finally imperialistic" (Forman 17). After Fascism's declineItaly embarked on a long rebuilding journey. No matter how hard Italy tries to forget Fascism, it will always leave an everlasting mark on society there, and it will go down in history as the most infamous system of government to ever be conceived....
