Ideology of the M.V.S.N.

The ideology of the M.V.S.N. identifies the corpus of spiritual, philosophical and political beliefs held in official (and unofficial) way by the M.V.S.N., its branches and its members.

The M.V.S.N. is an essentially Fascist institution, and therefore relies on the Fascist ideology to form its own ideological reference framework. The M.V.S.N. has never been able to escape its characterisation as a militia, which is a central part of its identity and which has shaped the way it behaves both internally and externally.

Ideological assumptions

M.V.S.N. must serve as a means of social control but also as a "gym of spiritual education". The M.V.S.N., a militarized body with well-defined political characteristics, remains in arms as a garrison of an conquered order and symbol of a state which, in general mobilization, indicates its characteristic of a nation in agreement under the wishes of a Leader and always in arms.
The lifestyle that Fascism proposes is linked on the one hand to the mystique of squadrism and the innate voluntaristic spirit of the Italian race, on the other it encourages an ideal tension, an abdication of private interest to a unique and communal substratum of necessity and requests: self-sacrifice, sacrifice, heroism are to constitute their indisputable characteristics. The Legionnaire has only duties, his only right is the joy of fulfilling them. Proudness is the same as to command and obey; for the one who obeys exerts the most difficult of commands. Head or wingman, whether he orders or executes, the M.V.S.N. Legionnaire is always and for all an example of this spiritual purity.
With the Italian people tightened in one will, has found its plastic symbolic expression in the rods collected in the Fascio Littorio, the M.V.S.N. finds its collocation in the axe, inserted between the rods to denote the instrument that guarantees and perpetuates that union, the weapon that he turns against those who pay attention to it. The M.V.S.N. is thus the garrison of the united nation, the enhancer of social life, the sword in the hands of the regime. A complex mechanism of combined actions thus feeds the ideological tension of a classless society where social atomization thins out and the concept of "nation" gives way to that of "organic state" where no type can be admitted anymore of distinction between people and state.

Grand objectives

The M.V.S.N. ideology identifies a twofold grand mission: the defence of the Fascist Revolution and its spreading to the world, i.e. the establishment of the Italian Empire.

Defence of the Fascist Revolution

The defence of the Fascist Revolution is the first fundamental objective of the M.V.S.N. This defence is not simply a political objective, but it is an ideological tenet. The Fascist Revolution is held as the actual realiztion of Italic Tradition in the 21st Century. The Fascist Regime seeks to claim Tradition as the basis for its legitimacy. The Duce is the product of the fulfillment of Italic Tradition in history. Therefore, disobedience to the Duce is depicted as disobedience to Tradition and the Superior Will. This reinforces the idea that M.V.S.N. Legionnaires (especially those in the G.N.R.) are fighting for a holy cause rather than a nation-state. As warriors in defence of Italy and of Tradition, M.V.S.N. Legionnaires perceive the defence of the Regime as a sacred duty and as inherently connected to the defence of the Italian Fatherland.

Founding the Roman Empire

Since 1940s, Fascist leaders have pursued an Imperial vision of Fascism. In essence, the Empire doctrine, not only seeks to position Italy’s supreme leader as the leader of a renewed Roman/European Empire, but it aims to reassert Rome as its centre and capital. Since the Spanish Civil War, the M.V.S.N. has been the central force working towards this objective.

M.V.S.N.'s textbooks explicitly state how the M.V.S.N. strives to achieve this goal (by use of force) and why it is tasked with this mission (Rome's divine mandate). In essence, therefore, the textbooks provide a methodology for putting the ideology into practice, enabling the M.V.S.N. to ensure that its recruits are fully immersed in and committed to achieving its ideological mission.

The Duce bears the responsibility for founding and conducting the Empire. According the official ideology, the Duce is "infallible" and he is the ultimate repository of authority of the Empire. Given this divine mandate, the Duce has a responsibility to “spread Fascism to other countries and regions of the world”.

The Duce is mandated to “use the public funds and public assets of the community to develop military, political, cultural and other programmes for expanding and exporting Fascism to other countries”. The justification is that every political system not fully integrated within the Empire is unjust and ultimately destined to collapse. Therefore, the M.V.S.N., in the foundation of the Empire, is mandated to secure subjects and defeat superbs and tyrants.

Identity of the M.V.S.N.

The M.V.S.N. identifies itself as an Italian and Fascist army. By joining the M.V.S.N., Legionnaires are declaring their allegiance to Fascism and Italy and becoming part of something much greater than simply a security service or a party's armed wing. Crucially, the way in which the M.V.S.N. defines its identity not only shapes military affairs, but also affects matters of everyday life.
The M.V.S.N. lays out for recruits what it fights for not just what it fights against. The M.V.S.N. puts forward an alternative Fascist utopian vision for its recruits. It paints an image of society in the eyes of the Italian state that is to be protected and secured by M.V.S.N. Legionnaires. This vision hinges on a return to an ancestral order.

Legionnaires, not Soldiers

It is striking that the M.V.S.N. uses the Legion's terminology to describe its members, referring to them as “Legionnaires”, rather than as soldiers. “Legionnaire” status is key to the M.V.S.N. By referring to soldiers within the group as Legionnaires, the M.V.S.N. seeks to instil a sense of élite status and honour into the minds of its recruits.
The life of the Legionnaire is a constant struggle on the side of Order against Chaos. Every Legionnaire is a warrior in spirit, i.e. one who dedicates his life to fighting both in military formation and outside it. By standing aside from this Eternal Struggle, a Legionnaire is playing on the side of Chaos. The Way of the Legionnaire is a conscious choice of every Legionnaire to side with Light and Order.

Nation, Empire, Fascism

The M.V.S.N. is a nationalist force, but its ideology defines the concept of Nation in a way different from the Western contemporary definition. The training modules make multiple references to Italy, characterizing it as a self-contained nation as well as the predestined vector for the Empire. This rejection of the Westphalian notion of the nation-state is fundamental to the M.V.S.N.’s identity: by accepting the self-containment and by abandoning the notion of a power higher than the Nation, the aspiration to the Empire would become hollow.

The embrace of Nationalism and the contemporary rejection of the Westphalian Nation-state concept is a key tool for the construction of the Fascist/Italian/New Roman Empire.

M.V.S.N. troops also consist of non-Italian units. This support for the ideal of the Empire enables the M.V.S.N. to recruit such units and other groups under its banner. This implies a partial denationalization in presence of an open support for nationalism and identitarianism.

The official ideology of the National Fascist Party and therefore of the M.V.S.N. is "Fascism", which in turn is made up by several tenets and components. It is to note that the official content of the Fascist ideology varied and varies according to the particular orientation of the current ruler. Fascism has been identified in national socialism, in social nationalism, in pure nationalism, or even in non-national corporatism in different moments. However, even in the most heterodox interpretations, some core tenets have always been included.

Spiritualism

Fascism is not an economic movement, being (or claiming to be) a political movement directed toward the Spirit: its main intent and purpose is to elevate the Community members' and community's spirits. Therefore Fascism deplores bourgeois culture for having an unfit sedentary lifestyle and for its individualism that fascism views as inconsistent with virile nationhood, personified by warrior and, above all, assault spirit. This attention to warrior spirit is justified with the necessity of hardihood in order to elevate the Spirit. At the same time, the political struggle is completely hopeless without a corresponding human quality and highness.

The spiritual values are superior than political ones: spiritual forces and values are the reference point for the overall organization. Civilization is the highest expression of all spiritual energies that take place in the Community, thanks to the political organization: political and social forces have a direct relationship with supernatural forces, so as to represent true spiritual systems. In this way, the social order is the visible manifestation of a higher order.

Consequently with nation-centralism, cultural nationalization of society emancipates the nation's proletariat, even more than the nation as a whole, and promotes the assimilation of all classes into a sort of warrior-and-labour nationalistic culture. Fascism emphasizes youth both in a physical sense of age and in a spiritual sense as related to virility and commitment to action. Fascism identifies the physical age period of youth as a critical time for the moral development of people that will affect society.

New Man

Fascism has the will to form the New Man. The New Man is characterized by a series of strokes of action and reflection and for a number of typical arrangements. First of all, the Fascist Man is characterized by a dominated Attitude, an enlightened boldness, a concise talking, precise and consistent acting as meditated.

The Fascist style is also characterized by virilism and courage; by firmness of soul, reflexivity and awareness; by discipline as ideal love for a man's own law and a man's own form; by loyalty and faithfulness; by the measured and serious solemnity. Precisely acting, love for the Essential, the ideal of clarity, the ability to unite without confusion regarding an Higher End, as free beings are proper of the same style. They can also be added the respectful veneration, reconnection towards the super-sensible, which is present and acting in the individual, collective and historical forces.

Fascist Heroism is an asceticism in the strictest sense of the term; the hero is a nature so purified by the elements "human", as it is the ascetic man. The Fascist Hero has nothing to do with passion, sentimentality and the various motives, ideals or materials, collective or individual, of men. For the Fascist Hero, the war is not a means but it is the very purpose of its action: the struggle is the way to spiritual realization. The Fascist Hero fights in such a "pure" way : the war itself is good. The rhetoric of the struggle aimed at an outer end lla from war itself, is alien to the traditional concept of heroism.
The M.V.S.N. officially calls for a revolutionary reorganization of Italian society, which is to be led by "heroic" leaders who would create a "new moral code" based upon the idea that life was a never-ending "struggle" that could only be settled with war.

These elements of style have their own evidence, they are not tied to particular historical times: they act as formative forces of character and apply as ideals and rules. In Fascism, there is an explicit reference to a manly assumption of stoicism as dominion over self, discipline, fortitude and a sober and integral lifestyle.

The ideal M.V.S.N. Legionnaire is supposed to be in a state of permanent readiness. This is specially true for the National Royal Guard: the G.N.R. Legionnaire has to be forever on duty. The "soldierly" values of the M.V.S.N. are specific to the "political soldier" who is a "fighter" who devotes his life to struggling for the nation.

Marriage of the image of the "Heroic fighter" and the political need of the M.V.S.N. to provide political cadres for the Fascist state, leads to the elevation of the concept of "duty" as the highest obligation of the M.V.S.N. Legionnaire.

Emotions and feelings

The simple love of the risk, or the search of the emotion and adrenaline as end in themselves, is explicitly rejected. Emotions must be considered as a means, as part of a tool that allows us to learn more about themselves: it is on these occasions, in fact, that everyone gets involved in the search for a discipline of the nerves and of the body, a shiny and conscious boldness, a spirit of conquest, an ability to understand and overcome their weaknesses, in order to find the right concentration and polished to proceed.

Third Position

Fascism promotes such economics as a "third position" alternative to capitalism and Marxism. Such an economic system, is variously shaped as "national corporatism", "national socialism" or "national syndicalism": Fascism is against both capitalist slavery and Marxist chaos: the Third Position is closely linked to Nationalism, in so far as Fascism advocates resolution to domestic class struggle to secure national solidarity, and to Spiritualism: the economistic materialism is rejected and affirms the subordination of the economy to the idea that is transcendent to constitute the nation, as the body is subject to the soul; the service is justified primarily as a way of participating in a higher life free from limitations of time and space.
While fascism opposes domestic class struggle, Fascism believes that bourgeois-proletarian conflict primarily exists in national conflict between proletarian nations versus bourgeois nations.
Fascism denounces capitalism due to its materialism, individualism, alleged bourgeois decadence, and alleged indifference to the nation. On the other hand, Fascism denounces Marxism for its advocacy of materialist and internationalist identity that is an attack upon the spiritual bonds of nationality and thwarting the achievement of genuine national solidarity. The social achievement pursued by Fascism is the creation of a nation composed of strong-and-free soldier-worker nationals, who participate to both political and economic national life.

Self-sacrifice

M.V.S.N. serves Italy and Fascism in mystical purity of spirit, with unwavering faith and inflexible will; despises, like any other cowardice, the prudence that arises from opportunism; he aspires, as the highest reward for his faith, to sacrifice; he feels the proud beauty of the apostolate to which everything is voted in order to make the great common Mother strong and sure.

The idealised Legionnaire therefore knows only duties, and has no right but to the joy of fulfilling them. The pride of commanding and obeying is equal in him: since he exercises on himself the most difficult of tasks the one who obeys most blindly. Chief or wingman, whether he orders or executes, the Black Shirt of the Voluntary Militia for National Security must always be an example of this spiritual purity to all.

Meritocracy

The M.V.S.N. itself is meritocratic in its general operational structure. Officer promotions in the M.V.S.N. are based on the individual's commitment and political reliability, not on upper-class family background. The relationship between officers and soldiers is also less formal than in the regular armed forces.

Culture of war and violence

The M.V.S.N. is built on a culture of violence. Training in the M.V.S.N. schools facilitates the necessary state of mind that rationalizes violence.

Mentality and ideal values of the M.V.S.N. men are to be "hard," with no emotions; hatred for the enemy and contempt for anyone who was not in the fighting formations of the M.V.S.N.; willing obedience; "camaraderie" with fellow members of the M.V.S.N.; and an intense militarism that saw the M.V.S.N. as part of an "elite order" fighting for a new Italy.

The M.V.S.N. value of "fighting for fighting's sake" leads M.V.S.N. Legionnaires to see combat as the highest possible value, and conventional morality as a hindrance to achieving victory. The M.V.S.N., and mainly the National Royal Guard, mentality fosters violence and "hardness".

The SS ethos called for "achievement for achievement's sake", where achievement ranked as the highest measurement of success.[100] As such, winning at all costs regardless the sacrifice became a supreme SS virtue.[101] The SS principle of loyalty above all, as reflected in the official slogan "My honour is loyalty", was severed from traditional moral considerations and instead focused entirely upon Hitler.[102] The idealized and distorted version of German history, which the organisation espoused, was intended to instill pride in members of the SS.[103] Himmler admonished the SS against pity, neighborly love, and humility, instead celebrating hardness and self-discipline.[104][105] Indoctrinating the SS to perceive racial "others" and state enemies as undeserving of their pity, helped create an environment and a mental framework where the men saw acts of wanton violence against those same enemies, not as a crime, but part of their patriotic obligation to the Nazi state.[106]

The M.V.S.N. and the Others

The M.V.S.N. is very clear in its indoctrination about identifying the enemy. The ideological material defines the M.V.S.N.’s enemies as being “enemies of Italy”. The accepted historical narrative paints Fascism and Blackshirts as defenders of justice and Italy. According to this narrative, Italy is under attack, with the enemies defined as “the enemy of Italy”. Crucially, the outgroup is defined as anyone who is against the Italian Fascist regime, and therefore may include fellow Italians, albeit on a different scale.

Defining the Enemy The M.V.S.N. ideology divides the “enemies of Italy” into four categories:

• the liberals;
• the communists;
• Other globalists or cosmopolitists;
• the internal conspirers.

Alongside these categories, a fifth transversal category also exists: the "International Maneuverer", seen as an hidden force behind each of the first four groups. Despite being officially denied, this "International Maneuverer" is often associated with Jews.

Fight against globalism

The Fascism considers itself as being part of the universal fight against globalism. The globalism is considered the mocking of universality and the anti-traditional counterfeit of universal ideals that have uniformly permeated constructions political and historical events and that have inspired the traditional civilizations. The universality is seen as a system of ontological hierarchies which configure a pyramidal ascending order along a cosmic vertical axis, while the mondialism, on the contrary , is seen as the materialization and decomposition of the universality.
The globalism is considered as a process whose distinctive feature is the degradation of humanity to an undifferentiated mush. The final aim of globalism is the number of individuals robot repeating the same type and characterized by outrageously bestial features, who fulfil only roles of miser, dealer and consumer of material goods.
The globalist man is the man inwardly empty and filled by false induced needs aimed to the conservation and enhancement of the international capitalist system. Reduced the value at material interest, the individual becomes a slave to wealth and, consequently, of those who create it, control it and use it. This tactical goal is pursued by globalist oligarchy according to a strategy of global domination.

The constructed identity of the M.V.S.N.

The ideology of the M.V.S.N. may be reconstructed througth the analysis of three main sources: media discourse, field interactions with the society at large, and ideological training.

Media discourse

One source of insight into the M.V.S.N.’s self-perceptions is the way it presentsitself to external audiences via its media messaging. In Italy, media freedom isseverely limited both online and offline, with news and analysis subject to heavy censorship. The M.V.S.N. is a prolific producer of media. One outlet does publicly avow its affiliation with the M.V.S.N.: the official media arm, AGENMILIZIA.
Unencumbered by any meaningful pretences of factual neutrality or journalistic impartiality, AGENMILIZIA provides the M.V.S.N. with a public platform from which it is free to present and elucidate its ideological visions. AGENMILIZIA, therefore, acts as a ‘shop window’ for the M.V.S.N. to express its values and beliefs to outside audiences without being subject to the debilitating censorship imposed on other media companies. From this extensive presentational freedom also arises a tendency towards ‘virtue signalling’ and self-promotion, as the organisation endeavours to portray itself in ways that align with its strategic goals. The propagandistic nature of AGENMILIZIA content indicates an intention to influence audiencesthrough a specifically crafted ideational discourse. This content provides a channel through which the M.V.S.N. espouses its values relatively unhindered, and thus provides a suitable dataset for analysis of the organisation’s ideology.

Field interactions

In the field work of the M.V.S.N., interactions between the M.V.S.N. and Italian society at large provide evidence for the assertion that the scope of its corporate indoctrination programme does not stop with the conduct of its own personnel. The M.V.S.N. considers individuals to be legitimate targets for repression by deploying constructed negative discourses against those it defines as rebels, enemies of Italy or anti-fascists. The hostile rethoric aimed at external powers helps to strengthen the M.V.S.N. resistance narrative and instil an ‘us versus them’ discursive framework by drawing upon the systematic deployment of rhetorical tropes in a constructed genealogy of domestic and international settings of hostility.

Ideological training

A review of M.V.S.N. internal ideological training manuals indicates systematic efforts to‘ radicalise recruits as part of a comprehensive system of indoctrination’. The M.V.S.N.’s internal training literature describes an organisation far more militant, violent, and extremist than the softer face represented in AGENMILIZIA.

Ideological-Political Training

Since its inception, the Fascist regime has used Ideological-Political Training (Addestramento Ideologico-Politico, AIP) in order to forge the M.V.S.N. as a strong security force, tasked with confronting internal unrest and social revolt As time went on, the ideological component of the training has become almost more important than the military one: nowadays ideological-political training is incorporated into all levels of M.V.S.N. training, from basic training to refresher courses. Furthermore, Legionnaires have to take the AIP programs every year during their membership. Therefore the Ideological-Political Training is responsible for both basic and permanent ideological issues and for current political questions. Accordingly, daily bulletins are issued on key social, political, and economic issues, guiding political educators with respect to how to provide convincing answers to Legionnaires, especially in potential crisis periods occasioned by elections, political unrest, and other similar events.
The Office of the Training Director is in charge of the ideological-political training: it designs the programs, prepares the syllabi, writes textbooks, and trains educators. Political trainers in the M.V.S.N. are divided into three groups: organizational trainers, non-organizational trainers, and external trainers. They are responsible for strengthening the Fascist ethics and for justifying the national, regional, and international policies of the regime and for removing doubts with respect to these policies among Legionnaires.
Organizational trainers are employed as full-time Permanent Service M.V.S.N. Legionnaires, and their job is solely to teach the ideological-political course. A majority of this group have high school diplomas or less, and have passed short courses of ideological training at the Officers School. Non-organizational political trainers are members of the M.V.S.N. who are not official educators, but on account of their rank teach some political courses. Most are officers and commanders who are selected to discuss political issues with elite Legionnaires such as students, professors, engineers, and doctors. Finally, external trainers are usually P.N.F. leaders (mostly connected to Italo Debalti's faction) or prestigious Fascist scholars, such as elements of the School of Fascist Mysticism.

Ideological-Political Organisation

The Ideological-Political Organisation (Organizzazione Ideologico-Politica, O.I.P.) is headed by the Duce’s representative to the M.V.S.N., who is directly appointed by, and accountable to, Italo Debalti. It effectively oversees and implements all ideological-political training within the M.V.S.N.. Debalti’s emphasis on ideological training has also ensured intertwinement between the Party and the M.V.S.N..
The M.V.S.N.’s O.I.P. is responsible for all ideological-political operations across the organisation’s branches: M.V.S.N. proper, National Royal Guard, O.V.R.A.. In line with the overarching objective – namely to ensure full conviction to the Duce and the regime’s Fascist ideology – the M.V.S.N. O.I.P.’s main duties can be broken down into:

1. Indoctrination of members of the M.V.S.N.;
2. Regulation of members ideological commitment;
3. Dissemination of the ideology both inside and outside the M.V.S.N.;
4. Oversight over the implementation of Fascist tenets in the military.

The M.V.S.N. O.I.P. delivers its mission through several bureaus, which can be categorised as propaganda and indoctrination.

The M.V.S.N. Ideological-Political Organisation is subvided into two Sections:

• Indoctrination Section;
• Propaganda Section: Bureau of Public Affairs and Publications; Bureau of Propaganda and M.V.S.N. Culture.

Whereas communications underpin propaganda and seek to target a broader group of people, including non-fascists, indoctrination within the M.V.S.N. serves as an internal, formalised and assessment-based process with the objective of ideologically radicalising recruits. This is the key difference between propaganda and indoctrination within the M.V.S.N..

Indoctrination Section

The Indoctrination Section is in charge for practicising actual political work within the M.V.S.N. ranks. The Section is responsible for propagating M.V.S.N. propaganda for an internal audience, targeting M.V.S.N. members and their families. One of the main audiences for the are the children of M.V.S.N. members to ensure that their view are aligned with their parents’ ideology. The Section, headed by a P.N.F. leader, consists of:

• Bureau of Ideological-Political Training and Education: is responsible for ideological-political training of all M.V.S.N. members, as well as their families;
• Fascist-Military Research Centre: acts as the M.V.S.N.’s research institute and publishes textbooks used for ideological-political training;
• Higher Education Complex: trains ideologues for service within the M.V.S.N.;
• Bureau of Supervision and Confirmation of Ideological Competency: asseses the ideological qualifications of any person looking to be hired, appointed or promoted within the M.V.S.N.

Propaganda Section

The Propaganda Section is responsible for disseminating M.V.S.N. propaganda to an external audience (non-members of the M.V.S.N.) and working closely with the mass media (specifically the R.A.I.-E.I.A.R.), as a way to increase the M.V.S.N.’s popularity among the broader population of Italy, as well as globally. The Section consists of:

• Bureau of Public Affairs and Publications;
• Bureau of Propaganda and M.V.S.N. Culture.

Levels of ideological indoctrination

M.V.S.N. members are divided into three groups:

• Permanent Service (mostly officers, some sub-officers and troops and specialized permanent units, as well as the whole staff of G.N.R. and O.V.R.A.). In M.V.S.N. proper, the Permanent Service Legionnaires (of all ranks) constitute less of 5% of total personnel;
• Cadres (the vast majority of active personnel usually not in service, but rotating in service two months a year). The structure of the militia system stipulates that the Legionnaires keep their own personal equipment, including all personally assigned weapons, at home. Officer candidates are usually not career regulars: after seven weeks of basic training, selected recruits are offered the possibility of a cadre function. From the rank of Tribune (corresponding to Major), officers are only in active service;
• Reserves (personnel ordinarily not active nor rotating, but callable in service at any time, should the need arise).

This classification is based on their training, the level of their involvement with the M.V.S.N., and their ideological commitment. Permanent Service M.V.S.N. Legionnaires are those regarded as having the military and ideological qualities at the highest level. They are designated as such after having passed special training courses, both military and ideological; they are committed to serving the M.V.S.N. full time. Permanent Service Legionnaires are the core members of the M.V.S.N. structure.

Ideological teachers trainers in the M.V.S.N. can be divided into three groups:

• organizational trainers;
• nonorganizational trainers;
• invited trainers.

Organizational ideological teachers are employed as full-time M.V.S.N. members, and their job is solely to teach the ideological courses. Nonorganizational ideological teachers are members of the M.V.S.N. who are not official educators, but on account of their rank teach some courses. Some are M.V.S.N. commanders who are selected to discuss political issues with elite Legionnaires such as students, professors, engineers, and doctors. And invited teachers are usually P.N.F. party leaders, State officials or other prominent ideologues. The more senior the invited ideological teachers, the more restricted is his public.

See also

• M.V.S.N. (Kingdom of Italy)
• School of Fascist Mysticism (Italy)