Italian chronology

Question 1

1919

Answer 1

Fascists win 2% of the vote in the General Election

Question 2

1921

Answer 2

Mussolini forms the National Fascist Party

In the general election the fascists win 35 seats

Question 3

August 1922

Answer 3

General Strike in Italy due to socialists; Fascists help to break the strike

Question 4

October 1922

Answer 4

Mussolini demands to be made Prime Minister

March on Rome leads to the king caving in to Mussolini’s demands

Question 5

1923

Answer 5

Mussolini rescues the Catholic Bank of Rome from financial difficulties

Also occupies Corfu, withdrawing when the Greeks payed ‘compensation’

Question 6

November 1923

Answer 6

Acerbo Law dictated that the party with the most votes in the election would get 2/3 of all seats

Question 7

April 1924

Answer 7

After using violence and intimidation in the lead to the general election, the Fascists win 65% of the vote

Question 8

April 1924

Answer 8

Fascist murder of Socialist Party leader Matteotti leads to opposition MPs resigning from parliament in process

The so-called ‘Aventine Secession’ is a mistake, allowing Mussolini to consolidate his position

Question 9

January 1925

Answer 9

Press censorship is introduced, closing all independent newspapers

Question 10

1925-1929

Answer 10

Battles for the Grain, for the Lira, for the Land, for Babies

Question 11

November 1926

Answer 11

All other political parties banned, OVRA established

Question 12

1929

Answer 12

Lateran Treaty between the fascists and Vatican signed

Question 13

1935

Answer 13

Mussolini invades Abyssinia

Question 14

November 1936

Answer 14

‘Rome-Berlin Axis’ - first treaty with Germany signed by Count Ciano

Question 15

1937

Answer 15

Italy, Germany and Japan sign the ‘Anti-Comintern Pact’, uniting their countries in their aim to crush the USSR

Question 16

March 1939

Answer 16

Italy issues ultimatum to Albania to accept takeover, tries to bribe King Zog

Question 17

April 1939

Answer 17

Italy invades Albania, defeating Albanian forces and deposing King Zog

Question 18

May 1939

Answer 18

Von Ribbentrop and Ciano sign the ‘Pact of Friendship and Alliance’ known as the ‘Pact of Steel’

Question 19

September 1939

Answer 19

Mussolini declares Italy neutral when Germany invades Poland

Question 20

1940

Answer 20

Believing a German victory is inevitable, Mussolini enters the war

Italian entry of Egypt is crushed by British forces

Question 21

October 1940

Answer 21

Italy invades Greece form Albania - attack defeated

Germany intervenes to prevent an Italian defeat

Question 22

1941

Answer 22

Italy loses Abyssinia

Question 23

1943

Answer 23

Mussolini is deposed soon after the Allied invasion of Sicily

Eventually reinstalled by the Germans in a regime in Northern Italy

Question 24

1945

Answer 24

Mussolini is executed