Mussolini was the father of fascism. Lets look at some facts about Mussolini:
Mussolini was an Atheist:
Mussolini was a student of Marx:
He was a member of the Italian Socialist Party and the editor of its newspaper, Avanti! Mussolini was expelled from the party only because of him supporting military intervention into the war (the party wanted neutrality), not because he rejected socialism.
Let's now look at what he accomplished during his reign.
He imposed unionization:
Massive amount of government spending on infrastructure, schools, etc.:
Mussolini imposed a large and expansive welfare state:
He made a direct comparison between his government policies, and FDR's government policies:
Mussolini referred to himself as the "Lenin of Italy":
He was a collectivist, and hated individualism:
Last but not least, fascist Italy had a very high degree of public ownership of the means of production:
As anyone can see, Mussolini was clearly left wing. Socialism is a spectrum, with dozens of different variations. Lenin had his own version (Leninism), Stalin had his own version (Stalinism), Mao had his own version (Maoism) and Mussolini had his own version, which he named fascism.
Mussolini was an Atheist:
He believed that science had proven there was no god, and that the historical Jesus was ignorant and mad. He considered religion a disease of the psyche, and accused Christianity of promoting resignation and cowardice.
Mussolini was a student of Marx:
Mussolini was so familiar with Marxist literature that in his own writings he would not only quote from well-known Marxist works but also from the relatively obscure works.[26] During this period Mussolini considered himself an "authoritarian communist"[27] and a Marxist and he described Karl Marx as "the greatest of all theorists of socialism."
He was a member of the Italian Socialist Party and the editor of its newspaper, Avanti! Mussolini was expelled from the party only because of him supporting military intervention into the war (the party wanted neutrality), not because he rejected socialism.
Let's now look at what he accomplished during his reign.
He imposed unionization:
Under this labour policy, Fascist Italy enacted laws to make union membership compulsory for all workers.
Massive amount of government spending on infrastructure, schools, etc.:
Mussolini’s spending on the public sector, schools and infrastructure was considered extravagant. Mussolini "instituted a programme of public works hitherto unrivaled in modern Europe. Bridges, canals and roads were built, hospitals and schools, railway stations and orphanages; swamps were drained and land reclaimed, forests were planted and universities were endowed". As for the scope and spending on social welfare programs, Italian fascism "compared favorably with the more advanced European nations and in some respect was more progressive".
Mussolini imposed a large and expansive welfare state:
By 1925, the Fascist government had "embarked upon an elaborate program" that included food supplementary assistance, infant care, maternity assistance, general healthcare, wage supplements, paid vacations, unemployment benefits, illness insurance, occupational disease insurance, general family assistance, public housing and old age and disability insurance.
He made a direct comparison between his government policies, and FDR's government policies:
When New York city politician Grover Aloysius Whalen asked Mussolini about the meaning behind Italian fascism in 1939, the reply was: "It is like your New Deal!".
Mussolini referred to himself as the "Lenin of Italy":
During the 1919 elections, the Fascists had attempted to court the socialist-left while publicly dubbing himself the “Lenin of Italy”,[13] attempting to “out-socialist the socialists”
He was a collectivist, and hated individualism:
Anti-individualistic, the Fascist conception of life stresses the importance of the State and accepts the individual only in so far as his interests coincide with those of the State, which stands for the conscience and the universal, will of man as a historic entity.
Last but not least, fascist Italy had a very high degree of public ownership of the means of production:
By 1939, Fascist Italy attained the highest rate of state ownership of any economy in the world other than the Soviet Union.
As anyone can see, Mussolini was clearly left wing. Socialism is a spectrum, with dozens of different variations. Lenin had his own version (Leninism), Stalin had his own version (Stalinism), Mao had his own version (Maoism) and Mussolini had his own version, which he named fascism.
