Mussolini and Fascist Italy

Although, children from the ages of 13-18 would be less likely to join the regime as they would have their independent views and would therefore be less likely to join, therefore Mussolini felt it was utmost importance to influence the 'young' while he had the opportunity to do so. It is clear that Mussolini attempted to capture the hearts and minds of the young, but Mussolini was only partly effective in doing so as his education polices had succeeded in propagating the 'Cult of Il Duce' among the youngest children, however in doing so it weakened as the children became older and had their independent views and ideas. Similarly, the youth organisations may have made up for this in their addition of older children, but the degree of real commitment to Fascism was probably less than real. The policies had worked to strengthen the popularity of the regime, but Fascism's closure after Mussolini's death has proved that on the larger scale, the minds of the youth were only captured for a short period of time.…