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Mr Clapham - History > Impact of Fascist Economic Policies on Industry > Flashcards

Impact of Fascist Economic Policies on Industry Flashcards

1
Q

What were Mussolini’s main priorities whihc lay elsewhere than economics?

A
  • Securing power
  • transforming the population into loyal Fascists
  • transforming Italy into a strong military power
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2
Q

What are the three criteria to evaluate the success of Mussolini’s economic policies?

A
  • how far econ pols helped achieve wider aims,
  • impact on the Italian economy and standard of living,
  • and how well the econ pols coped with broader events like the Great Depression.
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3
Q

In the early years he pursued
…………policies that would secure his position (under De Stefani).

A

liberal

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4
Q

Who was appointed as Minister of Finance by Mussolini to win over the industrial elite?

A

Alberto De’Stefani

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5
Q

What economic improvements were seen between 1921 and 1924?

A
  • Improvement in manufacturing production and an upturn in exports.
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6
Q

How did government debt change from 1922 to 1925?

A

Fell from 74.8% of GDP to 50.6% of GDP

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7
Q

What groups were unhappy about the reduction in tariffs?

A

Agricultural groups

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8
Q

how did industrialists react to Mussolini’s traditional economic policy

A

They were happy and supported Mussolini.

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9
Q

What happened to Italian exports between 1922 and 1925?

A
  • Exports of cars, textiles, and agricultural products doubled.
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10
Q

How did De’stefani’s policies follow economic liberalisation

A

De’Stefani focused on reducing government interference in the economy e.g. he privatised the telephone sector and cut protective tariffs

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11
Q

What was outlawed under the Vidoni Pact in 1925?

A

Socialist trade unions and strikes

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12
Q

Why was Mussolini not considered an economist?

A

A: He had little interest in or understanding of economics.

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13
Q

What economic shift occurred in the mid-1930s for Mussolini?

A

Focus on economic transformation due to the War in Ethiopia and association with Nazi Germany

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14
Q

What old problems did Mussolini ignore in favor of his principal aims of autarky & corporate state?

A

‘old problems’ –>Industrial underdevelopment, rural poverty, the north-south divide, and illiteracy.

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15
Q

OVERALL, THE CORPORATIONS DID NOT…..

A

ACHIEVE THE PIVOTAL ROLE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO PLAY IN THE STATE AND THE ECONOMY

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16
Q

How were industrialists appeased during Mussolini’s regime?

A
  • By outlawing Socialist and Catholic trade unions during the Vidoni Pact (1925)
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17
Q

What was the purpose of the revaluation of the lira according to Mussolini?

A
  • It was for propaganda purposes to make the Italian economy appear stronger and demonstrate Mussolini’s power and prestige.
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18
Q

What negative impact did the revaluation of the lira have on Italian export industries?

A
  • It made Italian products much more expensive for foreign buyers,
  • leading to a depression in Italian export industries, particularly textiles
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19
Q

What happened to unemployment in Italy between 1926 and 1928

A

unemployment trebled

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20
Q

What did Mussolini do to prevent imports of foods and other products from becoming cheaper for Italian consumers

A
  • He placed high tariffs on many foreign imports
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21
Q

When was the battle for Lira launched

A
  • Augsut 1926
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22
Q

why was the battle for lir launched

A
  • to revalue the lira after it had fallen against the British pound since 1922
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23
Q

What was the exchange rate of the lira to the British pound by 1926?

A

150 lira to the British pound

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24
Q

What were the new exchange rates set for the lira in December 1927?

A
  • 19 lira to the American dollar
  • & 92.46 lira to the British pound
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25
Q

What was the significance of the revaluation of the lira?

A
  • It was the first example of Mussolini’s focus on policies that represented his power and strength
  • rather than the actual economic needs of the Italian people
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26
Q

What did Mussolini begin to ignore after 1925?

A

Business interests

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27
Q

What was a sign of Mussolini’s shift in focus in economic policy?

A

The revaluation of the Italian currency and the dismissal of De Stefani.

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28
Q

What did the revaluation of the lira increase for Mussolini?

A

His prestige with foreign bankers and the Italian public.

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29
Q

Which industries were negatively impacted by the revaluation of the lira?

A
  • Italian export industries, particularly textiles.
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30
Q

Which industries benefited from the high tariffs placed on foreign imports?

A
  • Industries such as steel, armaments, and shipbuilding that needed large supplies of cheap tariff-free imported raw materials
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31
Q

What happened to the export industries as a result of the revaluation and high tariffs?

A

They fell into depression.

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32
Q

When Mussolini set a new rate of exchange in December 1927 what happened

A
  • (this restored the value of the lira to what it was in October 1922).
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33
Q

What was the intended purpose of Mussolini’s Corporate State?

A
  • To solve social/class conflict in the workplace by creating corporations in every sector of industry with employers and Fascist trade unions
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34
Q

What would each corporation organize in Mussolini’s Corporate State?

A

Production, pay, and working conditions within its industry

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35
Q

What were the objectives of the Corporate State?

A
  • Avoid industrial disputes,
  • maximize output for the good of the nation,
  • & maintain a role for private business.
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36
Q

How did Mussolini curb the power of unions with the ‘Labour Charter’ of 1927?

A
  • Declared private ownership of business as most efficient,
  • did not oblige employers to provide paid holidays,
  • & allowed changes to working hours without consultation
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37
Q

What was guaranteed by the ‘Charter of Labour’ of 1927 but not followed through?

A
  • Workers’ rights in employment, social insurance, and welfare.
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38
Q

Why were the hopes of workers having a real say in corporations destroyed?

A

Rivalries within the Fascist Party and Mussolini’s reluctance to alienate big business interests destoryed all hopes

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39
Q

Who was Giusseppe Bottai, and what was his view on unions?

A
  • Head of the Ministry of Corporations,
  • he saw little role for unions and preferred a partnership of employers and technical experts.
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40
Q

How were Fascist officials biased in labor disputes?

A
  • They tended to side with employers’ representatives over wages and working conditions.
41
Q

What was the impact of the corporate state on workers’ representatives by 1934?

A
  • Workers were represented by Fascist nominees, not by their own representatives.
42
Q

How many sectors of industry did the 1934 law implement corporations for?

A

implemenred corproations representing 22 sectors of industry

43
Q
A
44
Q

What did the 1939 replacement of Parliament with the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations signify?

A

It meant nothing, as Parliament had long lost any power.

45
Q

What were the consequences of the corporate state on the efficiency of the economy?

A

The system was inefficient, with a vast, complex, and expensive bureaucracy that never achieved its stated aims.

46
Q

How did historians view the corporate state’s effect on the economy and industrial relations?

A

Historians now dismiss claims of transformation, seeing it as thinly disguised exploitation and oppression of labor.

47
Q

What did Martin Blinkhorn say about corporativism?

A

In 1984, he called it the thinly disguised exploitation and oppression of labor.

48
Q

Who controlled the real power over the economy in the corporate state? Mussolini, in consultation with large industrial interest groups.

A
  • Mussolini, in consultation with large industrial interest groups
49
Q

What was one of the few successes of corporations regarding workers’ interests?

A

Introduction of sick pay and paid national holidays in 1938

50
Q

What was one of the few successes of corporations regarding workers’ interests?

A
  • Introduction of sick pay and paid national holidays in 1938
51
Q

What did the Rocco Law of April 1926 allow?

A
  • Allowed Syndicates (cooperative groups of employers and employees) some rights to represent views/concerns,
  • but banned strikes, go-slows, and lock-outs.
52
Q

What was the function of the Ministry of Corporations set up in July 1926?.

A
  • To discuss and implement national economic planning that met both employers’ and employees’ interests
53
Q

What was the aim of the ministry of the corporations

A
  • By having both groups work together more efficiently, harmoniously, and productively for the good of the nation
54
Q

What did Salvemini say about understanding the corporations?

A

He described it as trying to understand what the corporations actually did as looking in a dark room for a black cat which is not there.

55
Q

How did the corporate state function as propaganda?

A
  • It was used to show that Mussolini had overcome class conflict and created a ‘third way between capitalism and communism.’
56
Q

How were industrialists’ interests prioritized in the corporate state?

A
  • Industrialists kept their own employers’ organizations and largely ignored the existence of the corporations.
57
Q

What did the corporate state require for any plans put forward by the corporations?

A
  • Approval by the Central Corporative Committee headed by Mussolini
58
Q

What roles did the corporations theoretically have in 1934?

A
  • Fixing prices of goods,
  • settling disputes over hours,
  • wages, and conditions,
  • & regulating apprenticeships
59
Q

The Corporate State was studied by political and economic scientists from across the world, who acclaimed…

A
  • this new and original economic system
60
Q

What caused the Great Depression?

A
  • The Wall Street Crash in the USA in 1929
61
Q

What was the impact of the Great Depression on companies and car production?

A
  • A large number of companies collapsed, and car production fell by 50%.
62
Q

How did the Great Depression affect unemployment in Italy between 1928 and 1933?

A

Unemployment rose from 500k in 1928 to over 2 million by 1933

63
Q

What were the public works schemes introduced by the Fascist state to combat unemployment?

A

Building motorways and hydroelectric power plants

64
Q

Why were public works schemes important during the Great Depression?

A

They increased the amount of money in circulation, increased demand, and created further jobs.

65
Q

What was the purpose of the Istituto Mobiliare Italiano (IMI)?

A
  • To bail out banks that could no longer pay their investors
66
Q

When was the Institute of Industrial Reconstruction (IRI) created and what was its role?

A
  • created in January 1933, it took control of major shareholdings in Italian companies after their banks were bailed out.
67
Q

How did the IRI impact the Italian state’s involvement in businesses?

A

The Italian state became a major shareholder of many top Italian companies

68
Q

What managerial improvements did the IRI attempt to promote?

A

The latest managerial techniques

69
Q

How did these measures taken by the Fascist state help Italy during the Great Depression?

A
  • They cost the taxpayer but enabled Italy to weather the depression better than its democratic neighbors
70
Q

How did Mussolini’s early economic policies respond to the Great Depression?

A
  • Government funding for road building doubled between 1929 and 1933,
  • & large public works schemes were introduced to keep employment levels stable.
71
Q

What was the role of the IMI in protecting major banks during the Great Depression?

A
  • It ensured major banks that had loaned millions of Lire to Italian businesses were protected from possible collapse.
72
Q

What did the IRI do to prop up the Italian economy?

A
  • The government bought shares in banking and industry to prevent these companies from going bankrupt
73
Q

How did welfare spending change between 1930 and 1940?

A
  • Welfare spending went from 6.9% to 20.6%.
74
Q

hat was the impact of welfare increases during the Great Depression in Italy?

A
  • It eased difficulties for workers who lost their jobs but put a huge strain on the government’s finances.
75
Q

How did the Fascist state handle workers’ wages and company mergers during the Great Depression?

A
  • Workers’ wages were cut, and companies were merged to prevent closures
76
Q

What percentage of industry was owned by the Italian state compared to other European countries?

A
  • The Italian state owned a larger percentage of industry than any other country in Europe other than the Soviet Union
77
Q

What drove the quest for self-sufficiency (autarky) in Italy?

A
  • Decline in overseas trade,
  • sanctions placed on Italy in 1936 in response to aggression in Africa,
  • & preparation for war in the late 1930s
78
Q

Why were agricultural products such as cereals and wool stockpiled?

A
  • To boost reserves, ensuring supply and price stability.
79
Q

What synthetic substitute was developed instead of wool?

A

Lanital

80
Q

What raw materials were scarce in Italy during the late 1930s?

A

Coal, oil, and iron

81
Q

How much iron ore did Italy produce annually in the late 1930s compared to Germany?

A
  • Italy produced 1.8 million tonnes of iron ore annually,
  • less than a tenth of Germany’s production at the time.
82
Q

Which industries suffered because they were not prioritized under autarky?

A

Textiles

83
Q

How did government spending on autarkic measures change from 1934 to 1938?

A

It doubled from 30 billion Lire in 1934 to 60 billion by 1938

84
Q

What did firms have to do to comply with autarkic measures?

A

Find new energy sources that did not require importing oil or gas

85
Q

What quotas were introduced to favor domestic goods?

A
  • Quotas on foreign imports
86
Q

What was a negative result of autarky on the Italian economy?

A
  • Goods were produced that would be cheaper to buy from abroad, adding to the national deficit
87
Q

How did Mussolini’s focus on foreign affairs affect Italy?

A

Living standards and the general health of the Italian economy suffered.

88
Q

What did Mussolini believe was inevitable, prompting the push for autarky?

A
  • War, whether in Europe or to further his African Empire
89
Q

Which industries were promoted to prepare for self-sufficiency?

A
  • Armament industries.
90
Q

What seemed to prove Mussolini right about the need for self-sufficiency?

A
  • Economic sanctions imposed by the League of Nations after Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia in 1935.
91
Q

How did Mussolini encourage heavy industries like steel, chemicals, and shipbuilding?

A
  • By placing large government contracts
92
Q

What percentage of shipbuilding and steel production was directed by the state under Mussolini?

A
  • 80% of shipbuilding & 50% of steel production
93
Q

What was the impact of regime policies on major companies?

A
  • Major companies were allowed to merge into near-monopoly organizations,
  • e.g., Fiat in car manufacturing and Pirelli in rubber.
94
Q

What did Italy still need to import

A
  • key materials like oil, coal, and iron ore for the making of steel in large quantities
95
Q

What was Italy unable to match during WWII?

A
  • The production levels of its enemies and the ability to replace losses in shipping and aircraft.
96
Q

What was the result of the government not increasing taxes in the late 1930s?

A

Government expenditure greatly exceeded its income.

97
Q

Why did the government not increase taxes during the autarky period?

A
  • To avoid alienating big business and conservative elements of society.
98
Q

How did autarky affect government financial difficulties?

A

The government spent huge sums on armament contracts and military ventures in Ethiopia and Spain

Mr Clapham - History (22 decks)

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