Mussolini's Rise - Mutilated victory, Fiume and Post-war crisis Flashcards
How did ex-soldiers feel after WWI towards the liberal government?
Betrayed, humiliated and desired a new Italy that would achieve national greatness
What key issues did the Italian government face after WWI?
Debt and inflation, rising tension in the south from returning conscripts pushing for the land they had been promised, demobilised soldiers in the south forcibly occupying land, divide in the north between returning soldiers and workers exempt from military service
How was the anger in Italian society made worse after WWI?
Italy’s treatment at the Paris Peace Conference at Versailles in January 1919
What did Orlando argue at the PPC
Italy should be given all the territory it had been promised in the 1915 Treaty of London, plus the port of Fiume
Why did Orlando want Fiume?
Fiume had a large community of Italians and it should be part of Italy based on the ‘principle of nationality’
Who were the key leaders at Versailles?
American president, Woodrow Wilson
British prime minister, David Lloyd George
French prime minister, Georges Clemenceau
What did the key leaders at Versailles reject in regards to Italy?
Italy’s claim on Fiume and aspects of the TOL including the Dodecanese Islands and parts of the Balkans. They believed Italy’s contribution to the war did not justify its territorial claims
PPC
Paris peace conference
TOL
Treaty of London
Why did Orlando argue that the territorial expansions were needed at the PPC?
To justify the war effort to the Italian people and avoid mass protests, anarchy and even a revolution. He claimed he faced assassination if he couldn’t secure Dalmatia
What effects did Orlando walking out of the conference in April have?
Weakened his position at Versailles but improved popularity in Italy. In his absence, Britain and France took Germany’s African colonies without considering Italy’s demands. He returned in May but his proposals were ignored
When was Orlando forced to resign?
June 1919
What land did Italy actually acquire by 1920 from Versailles and the TOL?
Trent, Trieste
Istria and northern Dalmatia
Who made the idea of a ‘Mutilated victory’?
Gabriele d’Annunzio who claimed it was a national shame that disgraced the 600,000 soldiers who had died in war.
What did the Mutilated Victory demonstrate about Italy?
The weakness of the liberal government and Italy’s low position in relation to other European powers
Who replaced Orlando?
Francesco Nitti
How were Nitti’s actions unhelpful to Italy’s already poor situation?
Italy needed coal and money from the Allies so Nitti down-played Italy’s claims to not jeopardise its relations with Britain, France and the USA
Who did Nitti allow to take Dalmatia and Fiume?
Yugoslavia
Which of Nitti’s economic actions drew anger from nationalists and the military?
Reducing military spending and issuing an amnesty to Italian soldiers who had deserted
Which groups challenged the government in Rome?
Nationalist right-wing groups made up of returned soldiers and young men who were angry about the inadequacies of liberal Italy. Most prominent leader being d’Annunzio
12 September 1919
D’Annunzio and 2000 ex-soldiers, futurists, students and patriots seized the contested port of Fiume . The Italian government failed to act for 15 months but were removed Christmas 1920 by Italian navy
What was unemployment by November 1919?
Two million
What were the major issues in post-war Italy?
Unemployment, Inflation, the collapse of the lira’s value, wages and pensions declined, major companies struggled to stay afloat, anarchists and socialist radicals released from prison, strikes
Biennio Rosso
Labour militancy and strikes between 1919 and 1920
