Mussolini's Rise to Power

Question 1

What were some issues faced by Italy coming out of WW1?

Answer 1

• Campaign against Austria funded through foreign loans and printing more money = infation
• Tension in the south of conscripts wanting promised land reform
• Divide between returning soldiers and those who did not fight

Question 2

When was the Paris Peace Conference, who represented Italy and what did he want?

Answer 2

• January 1919, Vittorio Orlando represented Italy
• He wanted all territory promised in the Treaty of London + the port of Fiume on the Croatian Coast
• Majority of Fiume was not Italian

Question 3

What would the big three respond with to Orlandos request?

Answer 3

• Rejected Fiume

- Rejected parts of the Treaty of London, Dodecanese Islands and parts of the Balkans

Question 4

When would Orlando walk out of the Paris Peace Conference and when would he resign?

Answer 4

• He walked out of the conference in April 1919

- He was forced to resign in June of 1919

Question 5

What would Italy claim at the Paris Peace Conference?

Answer 5

• Trent, Trieste, Istria and Northern Dalmatia

Question 6

What is the ‘mutilated victory’

Answer 6

• Phrase used and developed by poet and novelist Gabrielle D’Annunzio
• disgrace to 600,000 soldiers who had lost their lives in the war

Question 7

What would Orlandos replacement, Franceso Nitti do?

Answer 7

• Weak economy had made him not want to damage relations with allies, they had coal and money
• Allowed Yugoslavia to take Dalmatia
• Allowed Fiume to be deemed a neutral city under League of Nations protection
• Reduced military spending and issued amnesty’s for those soldiers who deserted during WW1

Question 8

When and who occupied Fiume?

Answer 8

• Led by Gabrielle D’Annunzio
• 12th September 1919
• 2,000 made up of ex-soldiers, Futurists, students and patriots

Question 9

For how long did the Italians occupy Fiume?

Answer 9

• 15 months

- Removed the Italians by the Italian Navy Christmas Day 1920

Question 10

What would Mussolini learn from events at Fiume?

Answer 10

• Assertive Nationalism was effective
• Weakness of Italian Government
• Only need one strong leader
• Success through violent actions

Question 11

What would cause Biennio Rosso?

Answer 11

• Millions of demobilised soldiers flooding the job market
• Nov 1919, unemployment hit 2 million
• Inflation saw lots of savings wiped
• Companies such as Fiat, Ansaldo and Ilva were struggling - Ansaldo and Ilva collapse (1921) and cause a banking crisis with Banca di Sconto

Question 12

Who carried out the strikes of Biennio Rosso?

Answer 12

anarchist and socialist radicals who had been jailed WW1

Question 13

By how much had socialists unions grew since 1918 to 1920

Answer 13

250,000 —> 2 million

Question 14

What would the first strike of 1919 be about?

Answer 14

• Rising food prices in northern and central Italy

- Protestors looted shops and granaries

Question 15

When would railway workers go on strike?

Answer 15

January 1920

Question 16

When would there be telegraph workers on strike?

Answer 16

April and September 1920

Question 17

When would army troops go on strike?

Answer 17

July 1920

Question 18

What would the largest strike of Biennio Rosso be?

Answer 18

September 1920

• 400,000 workers taking over factories, red flags of communism and black flags of anarchism for four weeks
• Recession in late 1920 would scare economic collapse

Question 19

What would the economic discontent be in the countryside?

Answer 19

• Seized land from owners who were absent

- Rural socialist unions in Ferrara and Bologna

Question 20

What political reform would Italy’s electoral system undergo, what would its effects be?

Answer 20

• Vote extended to all males over 21 and those who had served on any front
• Vote increased by 11 million
• Switched to proportional representation

Question 21

What were the results of the 1919 election?

Answer 21

• 32% votes for PSI
• 156 Socialist Deputies
• 101 PPI seats
• > 5000 votes for fascists
  Both parties unwilling to work together so liberals remained in power
• Nitti government would fall in June 1920

Question 22

When was the fasci di combattimento founded and who did it consist of?

Answer 22

23rd March 1919

• 20 ex-servicemen in Milan
• Men linked through trincerocrazia, men who fought in the war
• trinceristi, returned soldiers who had strength and moral right to lead Italy
• arditi, crack troop commandos
• June - 3,000 members

Question 23

What were the policies of the fasci di combattimento

Answer 23

By June:
- Anticlerical, confiscation of church property 
- Anti-monarchy
- Suffrage to women and younger Italians
- 8 Hour working day
- Progressive taxation, nationalisation of armaments and profits cut from companies who benefited from war
Note very similar to the PSI

Question 24

When and who burned down Avantis offices in Milan?

Answer 24

15th April 1919

• Squad of around 200-300 dressed in black attacked
• 3 socialist and 1 fascist died
• no fascists were arrested

Question 25

Who commanded squads and what were some key features?

Answer 25

• Commanded by ras
• Uniform black
• Carried revolver and manganello
• PSI members targeted, castor oil torture

Question 26

Name some early statistics of fascist violence?

Answer 26

• First five months of 1921 200 killed, 1,000 wounded

Question 27

Why was the movement popular in the countryside?

Answer 27

• Landowners happy to see socialist land leagues destroyed who tried to bring land reform

Question 28

What were the results of the May 1921 election and why?

Answer 28

• 35 fascist deputies
• Squads attacked socialist meetings
• Police lent vehicles and army landed weapons
• Italian Judiciary showed particular leniency towards the fascists

Question 29

When did the fascists adopt the ‘New Programme’ and what was it?

Answer 29

• May 1920
• Removed anti-monarchy and attacks on Pope
• Pro-business
• Compulsory military service
• Unification of Italian irredente

Question 30

When was the PNF created, what was it?

Answer 30

• October 1921
• Formal political party
• Aimed to recruit more respectable members

Question 31

How did the PNF grow and who did they appeal to?

Answer 31

• End of 1921, 200,000 members
• Appeal to urban middle class
• Professional white collar workers
• Landowners
• Young Italians