Fascist mysticism (Italian: ''Mistica fascista'') was a current of political and religious thought in Fascist Italy, based on

Fideism Fideism () is an epistemological theory which maintains that faith is independent of reason, or that reason and faith are hostile to each other and faith is superior at arriving at particular truths (see natural theology). The word ''fideism'' c ...

, a belief that faith existed without reason, and that Fascism should be based on a mythology and spiritual

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

. A

School of Fascist Mysticism The Sandro Italico Mussolini School of Fascist Mysticism () was established in Milan, Italy in 1930 by Niccolò Giani. Its primary goal was to train the future leaders of Italy's National Fascist Party. The school curriculum promoted Fascist mystici ...

was founded in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

on April 10, 1930 and active until 1943, and its main objective was the training of future Fascist leaders, indoctrinated in the study of various Fascist intellectuals who tried to abandon the purely political to create a spiritual understanding of Fascism. Fascist mysticism in Italy developed through the work of

Niccolò Giani Niccolò Giani (20 June 1909 – 14 March 1941) was an Italians, Italian Fascist philosopher and journalist who was the founder of Fascist mysticism. Biography After attending the "Dante Alighieri" High School in Trieste he moved to Milan, ...

with the decisive support of

Arnaldo Mussolini Arnaldo Mussolini (January 11, 1885 – December 21, 1931) was an Italian journalist and politician. He was the brother of Italy's Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, and a Fascist himself. He was also the brother of Edvige Mussolini and the broth ...

Definition

Niccolò Giani took the definition of mysticism from the writing of French philosopher

Louis Rougier Louis Auguste Paul Rougier (; 10 April 1889 – 14 October 1982) was a French philosopher. Rougier made many important contributions to epistemology, philosophy of science, political philosophy and the history of Christianity. Early life Rougie ...

: In line with Rougier, Giani stressed in his manifesto for the

,'' "that fascism has its 'mystical' aspect, as it postulates a complex of moral, social and political, categorical and dogmatic beliefs, accepted and not questioned by the masses and minorities ... Fascistputs his belief in the infallible Duce Benito Mussolini, the fascist and creator of civilization; Fascistdenies that anything outside of the Duce has spiritual or putative antecedents."'' The establishment of the School was made to allow his followers to devote themselves fully to the worship of Mussolini, meditating on the writings and speeches of Mussolini, and living according to his words, in a spirit of absolute loyalty and unquestioningly, as specified in the article "Fascist mysticism" in the Political Dictionary edited by the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

in 1940: The use of the term "mysticism" provoked hostility from the Roman Catholic Church, which used the term in the sense of being strictly limited to the spiritual sphere, without any political influence. But in Giani's conception of mysticism, he claimed it was in the political sphere without fear of overlap between the two worlds. Giani stated: "Neither the Church should make policy, nor the State must make religion. Fascist Catholics, therefore, Catholics, or fascists, whichever is more like it, but Fascists: ''let us remember''." The Bishop Onofrio Buonocore stated that he viewed Fascist mysticism as "the testimony of an Italy no longer divided, but renewed and reconciled under the papal insignia and littoriali". In February 1937, the

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

of Milan,

Ildefonso Schuster Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster OSB (, ; 18 January 1880 – 30 August 1954), born Alfredo Ludovico Schuster, was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate and professed member from the Benedictines who served as the Archbishop of Milan from 1929 until his d ...

, gave a speech at the

. Many years of friction took place between the Catholic Church and the Fascist Regime, erupting into open conflict in 1931, after Mussolini's withdrawal of several concessions his regime made to the Catholic Church in a 1929 Concordat.

The protagonists

While considering the Fascist mysticism a "trend of thought" there are only contributions made by Italian thinkers, although they quoted Rougier,

Albert Sorel Albert Sorel (13 August 184229 June 1906) was a French historian. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times. Life He was born at Honfleur and remained throughout his life a lover of his native Normandy. His father, a rich man ...

and

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson

, cited by

Nino Tripodi Nino or Niño may refer to: *Nino (name) *Niño (name) *Antonin Scalia, American Supreme Court justice whose nickname was "Nino" *El Niño, a climate pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean *NINO, an abbreviation for National Insurance number in the ...

even if they were important in predetermining a state of mind in young mystics rather than provide guidance. According to the philosopher

Enzo Paci Enzo is an Italian given name derivative of the German name Heinz. It can be used also as the short form for Lorenzo, Vincenzo, Innocenzo, or Fiorenzo. It is most common in the Romance-speaking world, particularly in Italy and Latin America but ...

, Fascist mysticism was influenced by

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, Prose poetry, prose poet, cultural critic, Philology, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philo ...

and Sorel, as was much of the culture of the period: The principles of mystical fascism were largely formulated by Niccolo Giani and a small group of young Fascists bound to the teachers at the School of Fascist Mysticism (including

Guido Pallotta Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...

and Berto Ricci), some high-ranking (including Ferdinand Mezzasoma,

Giuseppe Bottai Giuseppe Bottai (3 September 1895 – 9 January 1959) was an Italian journalist, and member of the National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini. Early life Born in Rome, Giuseppe was son of Luigi, a wine dealer with republican sympathies, and Ele ...

), by writers and journalists of proven Fascist faith (

Telesio Interlandi Telesio Interlandi (20 October 1894 – 15 January 1965) was an Italian journalist and propagandist. He was one of the leading advocates of antisemitism in Fascist Italy. Born in Chiaramonte Gulfi, Interlandi took his degree in law and became a ...

Virginio Gayda Virginio Gayda (12 August 1885 – 14 March 1944) was a prominent Italian fascist journalist during Fascist Italy, led by Benito Mussolini. Early life Gayda was born in Rome, studied economics at the University of Turin and began his career as a ...

) and

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

.Cfr. Benito Mussolini in ''Giornale della gioventù fascista'', 10 luglio 1932 It ultimately traced the cultural lines that were followed in the development of "Fascist" disciplines and guidelines pertaining to the policies of the

. Around this core of "hard" high-profile intellectuals revolved others, including

Paolo Orano Paolo Orano (15 June 1875 – 7 April 1945) was an Italian psychologist, politician and writer. Orano began his political career as a revolutionary syndicalist in Italian Socialist Party. He later became a leading figure within the National Fasci ...

Luigi Stefanini Luigi Stefanini (1891–1956) was an Italian philosopher. References 1891 births 1956 deaths People from Treviso 20th-century Italian philosophers {{Italy-academic-bio-stub ...

(who was an official consultant to the

) and

Julius Evola Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian philosopher, poet, painter, esotericist, and radical-right ideologue. Evola regarded his values as aristocratic, masculine, traditionalist, heroic, and defiantly ...

, and

Giovanni Gentile Giovanni Gentile (; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian neo-Hegelian idealist philosopher, educator, and fascist politician. The self-styled "philosopher of Fascism", he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for I ...

and his student and friend

Armando Carlini Armando Carlini (9 August 1878 – 30 September 1959) was an Italian philosopher and author. He was born in Naples, Italy. Carlini was a follower of the Fascist philosopher Giovanni Gentile. In 1922 he replaced Gentile in the chair of theor ...

, but Carlini seems to have had a rather marginal role in Fascist "mysticism".

References

{{Authority control Italian Fascism Mysticism Syncretic political movements Fascism National mysticism

Definition

The protagonists

See also

References