The most important aspects of society are perhaps the human freedoms. These include the freedom of speech, choice of political party, movement, worship, and the freedom to strike. The freedom which Mussolini's regime had most effect on was the freedom of speech. Mussolini, being a former newspaper editor himself, realised the power the press had, and along with that, realised the power he would have if he controlled it. In 1925 state control became apparent with the introduction of the Press Law. This law stated that all journalists had to be registered with the Fascist Jo

Education was also affected heavily by the fascists. In 1923 the schools were restructured, to create an 'elite' school system. This meant that only the top students were given a technical education, which was the only way to university. The 'top' students were selected by means of rigorous examinations. This may have been influenced by Mussolini's theory of survival of the fittest. However, this new method of teaching came under heavy criticism of parents and educators, and it was modified in 1925. Any other attempts at changing the education were never put to practice. In 1936, schoolbooks became a state monopoly. This meant that the government was now in control of what was used to teach students. This was a way for the fascists to try and control people's thoughts, as totalitarian states aim to do. With the introduction of the Manifesto on Race of 1938, racism was taught and encouraged at school.

The freedom to have a choice of political parties was also destroyed under the fascist regime. When Mussolini came to power in 1922, the fascists held but 7 percent of the seats in the lower chamber in Parliament. Mussolini knew that whoever held the majority in Parliament also made up the government, and so convinced Parliament to pass the Acerbo electoral law in 1923. This law stated that the party who had 25 percent of the votes in the following elections would automatically gain two thirds of the seats in Parliament and thus form the government. In the following elections in 1924, the fascists won 64 percent of the votes, and as the Acerbo electoral law stated, took control of two thirds of the Parliament and formed the government. However, the following step to a dictatorship and totalitarian state was to eliminate all opposition parties. The Aventine Secession (1924), which was a consequence of the Matteotti Crisis, gave Mussolini this opportunity. The Aventine Secession was the walking of all non-fascist deputies out of Parliament, in protest to the Matteotti Crisis. The Communists, the Nationalists, and the Right-Wing Liberals were allowed to return to Parliament, while Matteoti's party, the PSU, or the socialist party (banned completely in 1925) and the Popolari deputies were not allowed to return. However, an assassination attempt on Mussolini in 1926 caused him to remove all opposition parties from Parliament, and to surpress opposition party activities. He set up a 'special tribunal' ('Special Tribunal for the defence of the State') to repress anti-fascist activity. This ensured that all opposition had been dealt with, and Italy was now a one-party state. The formalisation of the one-party state came in 1928, when an electoral law stated that all parliamentary candidates had to be selected by the Fascist Grand Council. This list of candidates then had to undergo many voting's by other fascist councils before it was posted. This meant that the so-called parliamentary 'elections' were nothing near the meaning of elections, but merely a choice of fascists, all of whom had the same views. In 1939, the one-party state became final when the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations replaced the Chamber of Deputies. Not only had Mussolini managed to create a one-party state, but managed to gain unprecedented power. In 1

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Approximate Word count = 2185
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)