Consolidation of a dictatorship

Question 1

What problem did M face upon his appointment as PM in November 1922?

Answer 1

He faced the serious problem that there were only 35 fascist deputies in parliament, with his hated rivals the PSI, still dominating 123 seats

Question 2

Who did M’s cabinet include?

Answer 2

4 liberals, 2 members of the PPI, 1 ANI member and 2 members of the military

Question 3

What roles did M appoint himself at such an early stage in his appointment to PM?

Answer 3

Minister of the interior & foreign minister

Question 4

What was his early goal in 1922 upon being appointed PM?

Answer 4

To placate the ruling classes

Question 5

How did M initially attempt to placate the ruling classes?

Answer 5

By appointing the orthodox economist Alberto De’ Stefani as minister of finance;

a move that helped to galvanise the support of conservative industrialists, who were re-assured that the appointment of M wouldn’t. lead to radical economic change

Question 6

How did M gain the support of the powerful Catholic Church?

Answer 6

By re-instating crucifixes in public buildings and increasing clerical pay

Question 7

Describe how the PNF were able to absorb the ANI

Answer 7

-On the 28 October, M announced that a compromise had been reached between the ANI & the PNF

-In February 1923 the ANI were officially absorbed into the fascist party

Question 8

Why was absorbing the ANI an important political move?

Answer 8

This was important move, taking away a powerful rival and clearly designating the PNF as the only party representing Italian nationalism

Question 9

How did M attempt to incorporate the PPI in his government early on?

Answer 9

By appointing PPI member Stefano Cavazzoni as the minister of work and welfare, who subsequently encouraged the party to accept collaboration with Mussolini

Question 10

When was the PPI threat mitigated? How?

Answer 10

In July 1923 when Sturzo, the party leader was ordered to step down by Pope Pius XI; M’s pro catholic policies had managed to encourage the Vatican to support the PNF at the expense of the PPI (who without the crucial endorsement of Vatican support witnessed their power decline)

Question 11

When was M’s Maiden speech? What can be said about it?

Answer 11

16 November 1922

It was a brilliant mixture of offers to work with parliament and threats of violence to those who challenged him, clearly contextualising his dual policy

(The violence in the run up to 1922 whereby socialism was effectively mitigated was crucial)

Question 12

What did M tell deputies during his Maiden speech?

Answer 12

That given Italys political and economic turmoil, he required a year of emergency powers to carry out the reform Italy required

However M warned parliament that he had 300,000 young men ready to take to violent action against deputies who wouldn’t support him

-“I could have barred up parliament and formed a government only of fascists. I could have. But I have not wanted to, at least for the moment”

Question 13

Was his maiden speech successful?

Answer 13

Yes- most of parliament felt it necessary to give Italy at least a year of political calm and those that didn’t complied due to fear of civil war and violence.

Question 14

How many votes was M’s year long emergency powers approved by in 1922? What did this mean?

Answer 14

306 to 116 votes

M couldn’t be removed from parliament and had full power to govern and raise taxes without seeking parliamentary approval for a year

Question 15

What crucial organisation was created? When?

Answer 15

December 1922

The Fascist Grand Council was established, to which he appointed key fascists such as Balbo, Blanch and De Bono

Question 16

What did the FGC do?

Answer 16

-It helped Mussolini to overcome his weak position in the cabinet and undermined liberal government institutions by effectively bypassing them

-Secondly, as the leader of the FGC, with the sole ability to appoint its members, M effectively centralised control over the party

Question 17

What key organisation was created in 1923? What month?

Answer 17

In January 1923, Mussolini created the MVSN

This absorbed all the Squadristi and formalised their role as a party based paramilitary force, whose job was to support the army and police in defending the ‘Fascist revolution’

Question 18

Why was the establishment of the MVSN important?

Answer 18

As it was an attempt to formalise the role of the squadristi within the state. Its 300,000 members pledged allegiance to Italy and their commander in chief- M

This allowed M to strengthen his control over the blackshirts at the expense of the Ras

Question 19

Why did M propose the Acerbo law?

Answer 19

M looked to hold a general election that would provide the PNF with the parliamentary mandate they currently lacked.
However, Italys system of proportional representation made it very difficult for one party to secure a majority. He proposed the AL to overcome this

Question 20

What did the Acerbo law propose?

Answer 20

That 2/3 of the parliamentary seats went to the party that won more than 25% of the vote

Question 21

Who opposed the Acerbo Law? Who supported it? What was the effect of this support?

Answer 21

Although the PCI and PSI opposed the law, the liberal elites such as Giolitti, the king, and vatican all supported the law, which put pressure of the PPI to abstain from voting

Question 22

Where did the Fascists stage demonstrations in attempting to influence the passing of the Acerbo law?

Answer 22

Tuscany and Umbria, threatening violence if the bill was to fail

Question 23

When did M call an election for after the Acerbo law was passed?

Answer 23

6 April 1924

Question 24

Describe the fascist campaign in the run up for the 1924 election

Answer 24

It was marred by fascist intimidation and violence as blackshirts destroyed hundreds of opposition clubs and offices and even murdered the PSI candidate Antonio Piccini

*This was despite the fact M believed that he required a legitimate victory to cement his power

Question 25

How else was the PNF’s electoral victory helped?

Answer 25

by the actions of several prominent liberal politicians such as Orlando and Salandra, to have themselves included on the government electoral list alongside the PNF

Question 26

What can be said about opposition forces during the 1924 election?

Answer 26

Crucially opposition was polarised between the PCI, PSI, the PPI and the liberals, who refused to work with fascists such as Giolitti

They were unable to reach an agreement that could gave key a united opposition against the PNF and its allies

Question 27

What was thee electoral turnout in 1924? What evidence is there that M won a resounding victory?

Answer 27

Electoral turnout was 64%
The Fascists gained 66.3% of the vote, thus making the Acerbo law irrelevant

Question 28

How had the PNF increased their deputies?

Answer 28

from 35 to 275

Question 29

What problems did M face following the fascists overwhelming electoral victory?

Answer 29

Italy was still a democracy

The PSI, PCI & PPI still held 80 seats between them

Question 30

What pivotal event would lead to the demise of deomocracy in Italy?

Answer 30

The matteoti crisis