Futurism and the Birth of Fascism

This study analyses selected aspects of the Italian Futurist movement’s political agenda, its involvement in interventionist campaigns for Italy to join the First World War, and its subsequent role in the forming of the Fascist movement. The Intervento, the nine-month period when the nation was deciding whether to join the war, became an important milestone in Italian history, bringing together diverse political forces in Italy previously hostile to each other, shaping the traits which would determine its future. The turbulent days of the Intervento also marked the beginning of co-operation between the founder of Futurism, F. T. Marinetti, and Benito Mussolini, which culminated in the founding of the Fasci di Combattimento.