paper 1 - rise of fascism (italy)

Question 1

benito mussolini

Answer 1

created first fascist party in 1919 and became prime minister in 1922

Question 1

fascism

Answer 1

• extreme right of the political spectrum
• nationalistic + anti-communist
• belief that individuals should serve the government

Question 2

squadristi

Answer 2

mussolini’s action squads that attacked enemies of the fascists

Question 3

acerbo law

Answer 3

• acerbo: secretary of state
• gave 2/3 of the seats of parliament to the party who won 25% of the votes cast
• mussolini pressured parliament to pass the law in 1923 through intimidation

Question 4

OVRA

Answer 4

secret police force that supressed political opponents made in 1927

Question 5

il duce

Answer 5

• 1926, mussolini insisted on being called “il duce” –> “the leader”
• catholic church backed il duce a few years later
• cult of personality

Question 6

battle for birth

Answer 6

• goal: increase population from 40 million to 60 million by 1950 to create a larger base for army
• failed because birth rates actually dropped in the 1930s

Question 7

battle for grain

Answer 7

• goal: export more cereals to reduce foreign imports
• doubled cereal production, but then italy had to import non-cereals like cattle and sheep

Question 8

battle for land

Answer 8

• goal: increase amount of farmland by draining marshes/swamps, clearing woodlands
• created jobs
• led to decline in exports, thus increase in unemployment, causing recession

Question 9

lateran accords

Answer 9

• 1929
• pope officially recognised fascist state and in return got sovereignty over vatican city
• mussolini made roman catholocism the official religion + made religious education mandatory
• the papacy agreed not to join political parties, but the pope backed il duce

Question 10

march on rome

Answer 10

• 1922
• mussolini and army of fascist black shirts marched on rome
• demanded the resignation of the existing government
• the king was compelled to place mussolini as the dictator for a year, meaning he had achieved his position “legally”

Question 11

pact of rome

Answer 11

• 1924
• one of mussolini’s foreign policy victories
• yugoslavia agrees to give italy the port of fiume

Question 12

locarno treaties

Answer 12

• agreements negotiated at locarno, switzerland in 1925
• allied powers and states of europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement, in return normalising relations with defeated germany (weimar republic)

Question 13

fasces

Answer 13

bundle of rods bound around an ax symbolising authority

Question 14

battle of caporetto

Answer 14

• where austrians and germans launched a major offensive against the italian position
• italians retreated

Question 15

victor emmanuel III

Answer 15

king of italy who gave mussolini legitimacy as dictator

Question 16

corfu incident

Answer 16

• italian general killed in august 1923, greece
• mussolini demanded formal apology and paid reparations
• greece refused, mussolini invaded corfu
• increased mussolini’s power as he was now seen as a national hero
• helped him get more votes for the next election
• reparations were paid, but a formal apology was not

Question 17

treaty of london

Answer 17

• 1915
• secret pact between italy and triple entente
• italy was to leave the triple alliance and join the triple entente, as well as declaring war on germany and austria-hungary
• would recieve territory

Question 18

triple entente

Answer 18

britain, france, russia

Question 19

triple alliance (central powers)

Answer 19

germany, austria-hungary, italy

Question 20

battle of adawa

Answer 20

• 1896
• when the ethiopians defeated the italians

Question 21

hoare-laval pact

Answer 21

• 1935
• british-french agreement to appease mussolini and prevent an italian-german alliance by accepting italian annexation of abyssinia

Question 22

tripartite pact

Answer 22

• signed between axis powers in 1940 (italy, germany and japan)
• pledged to help the others in the event of a US attack

Question 23

pact of steel

Answer 23

• 1939
• italy and germany; turned the rome-berlin axis into a full scale military and political alliance, an aggressive agreement

Question 24

rome-berlin axis

Answer 24

• signed in 1936
• informal alliance between italy and germany

Question 25

stresa front

Answer 25

made up by italy, france, and britain to keep the status quo in europe when hitler decided to rearm germany

Question 26

autarky

Answer 26

policy of self-reliance, avoiding or minimising trade and trying to produce everything by yourself

Question 27

invasion of abyssinia

Answer 27

• italy ignored league of nations sanctions and quit the league
• ultimately established control of abyssinia in 1935

Question 28

law on powers of head of government

Answer 28

• 1925: gave mussolini significant executive powers
• political parties and trade unions were banned
• press was now controlled
• local elected officials were replaced by appointed government officials