Mussolini medal

Looking at this medal, you might wonder what “A_XI” – written beneath the face of Mussolini – means. The letter and the roman number reflect the pride and vaunting ambition of Benito Mussolini and the fascist regime he imposed on Italy.

The “A” is short for “Anno” meaning “year”. “XI” is the Roman way of writing “eleven”. So it means, “Year 11”. But “Year 11” of what?

It is Year 11 of what Mussolini called “the Fascist Era” which began, according to him, on 29^th October, 1922 when he became prime minister of Italy. He wished to make it appear that a new period of history began from that moment. He took the idea of creating a new calendar from the French Revolution which had previously dismissed the traditional calendar – dating years from the birth of Christ – to create their own.

The coin shows Mussolini looking dramatically determined which was the image of himself that he like to project. He was the first of the 20^th century totalitarian dictators to start a cult of himself and his image. Hitler in Nazi Germany, Stalin in the Soviet Union, Mao in Communist China and several others followed suit. The medal is notably heavy, presumably to suggest strength and solidity.

As for the reverse side, it celebrates the Opera Nazionale Combattenti — the state organisation for First World War veterans. Even this is part of Fascist Party propaganda because Mussolini is implicitly associating his party with the soldiers of the First World War. What about the word underneath: “Littoria”?

“Littoria” means “Lictorian”. It refers to the Lictors, the ancient Roman high officials who carried the “fasces” – a bundle of sticks with an axe. The word “fasces” is the origin of the word “fascist”.  The symbol represents a message that if people are united, they are hard to break, like a bundle of sticks. But if they are disunited, like single sticks, they can easily be broken. The Italian fascists adopted this symbol, simultaneously asserting that the country should be united behind them and that they were the rightful descendants of ancient Rome. It was part of their political philosophy that democracy made you weak.

Benito Mussolini, known as Il Duce, used violence and intimidation to establish Italy’s Fascist dictatorship. He became prime minister after the so-called “March on Rome” and quickly dismantled Italy’s democratic institutions.

He joined Hitler’s Germany against the Allies in the Second World War. When Italy was being invaded by the Allies, he was deposed. In the end, he was killed by partisans on 28^th April 1945.  Italy became a democracy again in 1946 and remains so to this day.