The RSI phase of Italian Fascism has always fascinated me. It marked a more radically anti-capitalist and pro-worker shift in Mussolini's policies that had previously been sidelined. Early Fascism had more radical elements, but these were suppressed in favor of policies that would appease big businesses. During the brief RSI period Mussolini claimed that he never abandoned his early radical beliefs and that he had been forced to compromise with the industrialists due to the monarchy. In a sense he presented the RSI as Fascism in its truest form, unrestrained by outside influence. How much of Mussolini's claims during this period were genuine? Do you think that if he had survived and miraculously managed to stay in power he would have pursued the socialization aims of the RSI? Or do you believe that this pivot was purely opportunistic and it was just a last ditch desperate measure to win back the people of Italy?
>>18525248the ironic thing is he probably would have survived the war had he not been rescued by hitler in 1943
