Mussolini and the Economy Flashcards

1
Q

What were Mussolini’s main aims with the Economy?

A
  • He wanted to gain big business support to consolidate his power between 1922-25
  • Privatising industry to achieve Autarky, e.g telephone industry
  • laissez-faire approach, minimal gov interference with economy
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2
Q

What is Protectionism?

A
  • A policy of shielding countries domestic industries from foreign competition
  • Agricultural farmers did not like this as it cut their income
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3
Q

Who was appointed Minister of Finance at first and why?

A
  • Alberto De’Stefani

- A Conservative who was also Pro-Business

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4
Q

Did Protectionism affect all industries?

A

No

- Exports of goods such as cars and textiles doubled in 1922-25

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5
Q

Why was De’Stefani replaced and why?

A

1925 - Volpi

- Poor Harvest in 1924 led to lira going down in value and spiking inflation

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6
Q

What was the Corporate State?

A
  • A third way between Capitalism and Communism

- Workers, Employers and Fascist Officials would discuss industrial relations and productivity problems

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7
Q

How many Corporations would the Corporate State accumulate by 1934?

A

22 mixed corporations

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8
Q

What was the Palazzo Vidoni Pact and when was it signed?

A

2nd October 1925

- Only Confindustria and Fascist Trade Unions were allowed to negotiate problems and issues on behalf of everyone

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9
Q

What happened to non-Fascist Trade Unions?

A
  • They were dissolved after 1926
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10
Q

What was Syndicalism and who was a notable Syndicalist?

A
  • A movement for ownership and means of production and distribution to be handed to the workers
  • Edmondo Rossoni
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11
Q

How were Syndicalists and TU’s dealt with?

A
  • 1928, TU’s broken down into 6 smaller federations

- Edmondo Rossoni’s followers were also removed

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12
Q

What was the Ministry of Corporations?

A

Set up in 1926

  • Was meant to oversee labour relations
  • Giuseppe Bottai was the Minister of Corporations from 1929-32
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13
Q

What did the Rocco Law do and when was it signed?

A

April 1926

  • Banned Lockouts and Strikes
  • Teachers, Police and Civil Servants banned from TU’s
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14
Q

What was the Charter of Labour and when was it signed?

A

1927

  • Ensured workers rights
  • To allow workers to change working hours
  • To negotiate terms with employers
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15
Q

Why did the Charter of Labour have no real effect?

A
  • Employers retained right to change working hours without lengthy consultations
  • They were not obliged to give annual holidays
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16
Q

What did the workers gain after the Charter of Labour?

A
  • Sick pay for workers
  • 1938, Paid National Holiday
  • Industrialists retained right to maintain non-Fascists organisations
17
Q

What was the misrepresentation issue within the corporate state?

A
  • EMPLOYERS chose who represented the Employers
  • Fascists (Minister of Corporations) appointed who represented workers
  • Anything put forward had to be approved by National Council of Corporations
  • Central Corporative Committee 1935
18
Q

What was the Battle for Grain and when was it started?

A

July 1925

  • ‘Liberate Italy from the slavery of foreign bread’
  • Wanted a self-sufficient Italy who made its own wheat and cereal
19
Q

What did the Battle for Grain achieve?

A
  • Wheat Production increased by 50%
  • Large farms in the Po Valley encouraged mechanisation and production
  • High tariffs on imports to prevent Italy importing
20
Q

What were the failures of the Battle for Grain?

A
  • Families had to pay 400 extra a year cause of price surge
  • Lots of importation of olives, fruits and vegetables from Spain
  • 1933, 500 million tonnes imported
  • Livestock decreased by 500,000 due to misuse of land
  • In terms of grain it was a success but everything else it was an overall failure
21
Q

What was the Battle for Lira?

A
  • Lots of post war inflation had devalued the Lira, in 1922 £1 was 138 Lira
  • Mussolini wanted a stronger Lira for independence, especially from the USA (Autarky)
  • 1927, Quota Novanta, Mussolini wanted £1 to be 90 Lira
22
Q

What were the failures of the Battle for Lira?

A
  • Exports took a hit, some big businesses could not cope
  • Lots of cuts in wages, standard of living decreased with mergers between 1928 and 29
  • Unemployment trebled between 1926-28
  • Fiat and the textiles industry went into a depression
  • Made Economy vulnerable to the 1929 depression
23
Q

What were the partial successes of the Battle for Lira?

A
  • Import heavy industries thrived
  • Steel (Terri), Chemicals (Montecatini) and Shipping (Ansaldo) all saw cheaper imports as the gov did not place a tarrif on these (needed for war)
  • From a propaganda perspective, this strengthening of the Lira made Mussolini seem more popular with the people
24
Q

What was the Battle for Births?

A

May 1927

  • M wanted to increase population from 40mil to 60mil by 1950
  • More military strength
  • Larger population to create more competition for jobs and keep wages and labour costs lower
  • Wanted women to be the mothers of the Italian future and give birth to fascists
25
Q

How did Mussolini try to boost the birth rate?

A
  • Marriage Laws, a part of a loan would be cancelled after every child and 6 children would wipe the debt
  • Married man with 6 children received greater career opportunities and less tax
  • A bachelors tax was introduced
  • Large families were given prizes, some by M himself
26
Q

How were women discouraged from work to give birth, did this work?

A
  • Womens wages were lowered to discourage them from working
  • Quota system 1933 to limit 10% of the workforce to women
  • Lower class women still worked to support family
  • Middle class women worked for lower wages anyway
  • Women were employed more as they were cheaper to employ
27
Q

What were the failures of the Battle for Births?

A
  • 2nd Highest proportion of married females in employment in the 30’s, making up 33% of workforce, a 3% decline since 1921
  • Birth rate fell between 1911 and 1936 (147 to 112)
  • Italian population ended up being only 47 million in 1950
  • M claimed ‘lack of patriotic behaviour’ by not making babies, 15 potential army divisions lost
28
Q

What was the Battle for Land?

A

1928

  • He wanted to ruralise Italy this meant retrieving lost land for crops and ‘old-style’ life
  • He also aimed to start infrastructure projects, irrigation schemes and housing
29
Q

What law allowed for the reclaim of land under the Battle for Land?

A

Mussolini Law 1928

  • Promised huge sums of money towards land reclamation projects
  • Up until 1911 500,000 hectares of land had been reclaimed
30
Q

What were some of the schemes under the Battle for Land?

A
  • Bonfica Integrale - Land improvement
  • ‘Empty the Cities’ movement to the rural parts of Italy
  • 1922 Law to break up big estates and distribute them to peasants (later dropped)
31
Q

What were some successes of the Battle for Land?

A
  • Pontine Marshes, successfully drained and utilised, good bit of tourist attraction too as it was near Rome
  • New towns of Predappio and Mussolinia, made him seem great to foreign influence
  • Marshes being drained decreased Malaria by 50%
  • Land reclamation projects provided employment during the depression
32
Q

What were the failures of the Battle for Land?

A
  • Too much pleasing of landowners
  • 475 million hectares meant to be put under the scheme, only 58% reclaimed and 3 irrigation projects completed
  • 1920 America stopped allowing Italians in (200k) this led to movement into cities, 1/2 mil left rural and Rome population 2x in 1920/30
  • 1940, 90% of peasants owned 13% of land, richest 0.5% of population owned majority 40%
  • 18th on European league table for calorie intake, lowest numbers in the South showing the divide