Key aspects of fascism's development from 1919-22

Question 1

When did mussolini form the fasci and what did the fasci consist of?

Answer 1

• 23 march 1919
• representatives of 20 ex-servicemen’s leagues

Question 2

Describe trincerocrazia

Answer 2

• the rule of the trenches where men are linked by their war consciousness
• divisions of the north, south upper and lower class ceased to exist and that mattered in war was that they were fighting for italy

Question 3

Trinceristi

Answer 3

the returned soldiers who had the strength and moral right to lead a new italy that would replicate the patriotic feeling of togetherness they had experienced in the war

Question 4

By June 1919 what was the fasci de combattimento programme?

Answer 4

• anticlerical
• confiscation of church property
• called for an end to the monarchy
• suffrage to be extended to women and younger Italians
• establishment of the 8 hour working day
• abolition of the senate
  nationalisation of the armament industry, progressive taxation

Question 5

How many members did it have by June?

Answer 5

3000

Question 6

What became the identity of the entire fascist movement?

Answer 6

blackshirts

Question 7

What were socialists and communists viewed as?

Answer 7

internal enemy who was a much greater threat to the Italians state as the Austrians had been

Question 8

What was squadrismo?

Answer 8

small, military units or squads

Question 9

15th April 1919: socialist demonstration - describe it

Answer 9

squads of around 200-300 dressed in black attacked a socialist demonstration and burned down the Milan offices of Avanti
3 socialists and 1 fascist killed

Question 10

What was the outcome of the 1919 elections for the fascists?

Answer 10

done poorly winning less than 5000 votes and zero seats

Question 11

What did mussolini realised after the violence in Milan?

Answer 11

• police, army and the gov were prepared to tolerate the squadristi violence because of their fears of the socialist revolution
• encouraged the formation of more armed squads - organised under the commanding officers -> ras

Question 12

Who did the ras attack? What did they do?

Answer 12

• socialist councils and supporter
• key psi members
• forced to drink castor oil
• first 5 months of 1921 200 people were killed and 1000 wounded in fascist violence

Question 13

Where was the fasci movement popular?

Answer 13

• countryside - wealthy landowners were happy to see the socialist land leagues destroyed
• soldiers had saved the italy once from Austria and now from radicals

Question 14

How did the fascists make use of the squads in the 1921 elections?

Answer 14

• used the squads to attack socialist campaign meetings and intimidate voters
• police lent vehicles and the army gave weapons to the fascists to help this campaign
• italian judiciary showed leniency to any fascists brought before the courts

Question 15

Results of the 1921 elections

Answer 15

• psi still achieved the highest vote
  fascists won 7% of the votes and 35 seats

Question 16

Why were the results of the election crucial for mussolini?

Answer 16

• gave mussolini a new respectability and authority as the member of parliament
• as a deputy mussolini benefitted from the immunity to prosecution

Question 17

May 1920 what did the new programme consist of?

Answer 17

• more conservative and right wing
• dropped any mention of removing the monarchy or attacking power of the pope
• references to the nationalisation of the businesses were removed and a more pro-business attitude was adopted
• more militaristic in tone

Question 18

When did the movement form the pnf?

Answer 18

oct 1921

Question 19

What did mussolini try doing through the formation of the formal party?

Answer 19

centralise his control over the fascist movement as opposed to a wide range of radical squads
- pnf founded local branches and attempted to recruit more ‘respectable members’

Question 20

At the end of 1921 how many members did the pnf have?

Answer 20

200,000 members

Question 21

Who did the pnf appeal to?

Answer 21

• urban middle class, white collar workers –> feared an increase in local taxes that the psi were trying to implement
• middle and upper class of landowners
• wealthier farmers who saw the fascists as a means of protecting their lifestyle from the socialist agitation for greater land reform

Question 22

From who did the financial support come from?

Answer 22

• richer landowners and Italian industrialists who supported the fascism’s attempts to break union and socialist power

Question 23

Who else did the fascist party appeal to?

Answer 23

• worker and peasants farmers who opposed the strength of the socialist and the violence used against those labourer that wanted to continue working during strikes
• young Italians: who had grown tired of the corruption and lethargy of the old liberal order and saw fascism as a new dynamic alternative that might bring a revitalised society

Question 24

What aspects was this broad band of support united by?

Answer 24

• strong patriotism
• a hatred for socialists
• belief in mussolini as the man who could sweep away the decaying, weak italy and lead the country to a new, stronger united future