Cimmerian

Hello all, I am a long-time browser of this fine site, first time poster. While I have been furthering my knowledge of Fascism and the second world war, I came across an instance of persecution that I was previously unfamiliar with, that of the Masons. I'm curious about the reasoning behind this- was there any particular cause to put down the society, or was it merely the paranoia of the Fascist leaders?

In his Feb. 23, 1941 speech, Benito Mussolini says: "We have actually been at war since 1922-that is from the day when we lifted the flag of our revolution, which was then defended by a handful of men against the Masonic, democratic, capitalistic world."

So, are there any Historumites that can shed light on this?