Fascism's rise to power in Italy directly involved the main exponents of neo-idealism -the dominant philosophy at that time: Giovanni Gentile and Benedetto Croce, who were promoters respectively of the Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals and the Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals.At the beginning of the century the two philosophers were committed to reforming Hegelian dialectic, the outcomes of which seem to account for both Gentile's fervent adherence to fascism and Croce's equally fervent opposition.
