Relations between party and state Flashcards
How did the party lose its previous dynamism?
It became a bloated bureaucracy offering secure, undemanding jobs to fascist supporters
What did it still have despite this?
A role in M’s state
What did he hope that the party could do?
Tranform ordinary Italians into obedient, disciplined fascists
What did he do in pursuit of this?
Gave it a significant role, particularly in the areas of leisure, education and propaganda
What did the PNF therefore come to represent?
A rival authority to the institutions of state
What was the result of this?
There were tensions and arguements between party organisations and government departments
How was there disagreement over the fascist youth group?
Should the OMB be controlled by the party or by the government’s ministry of education?
How did a similar question take place over leisure?
There was a question over who should run the organisation for adult leisure activities
What was the organisation
The Dopolavaro
What does Dopolavaro translate to?
After work
How was there a rivalry in terms of industry?
There was a rivalry between the government economics ministry and the fascist bureaucracy controlling the new fascist Corporations
Where was there rivalry in the armed forces?
Between the fascist militia and the regular army
Where did the rivarly stem from?
The regular army rejected the idea that the blackshirts were of equal status to them. They also argued about the distribution of weapons between them
What was this rivalry not confined to?
National politics
Explain this
In the provinces local party secretaries would compete with provincial prefects who, according to the Ministry of the Interior in Rome, had responsibility for local government
How did conflicts like this benefit M?
Because in these disputes over jurisdiction both sides looked to him to solve the disputes, giving him great power
Give an example of him favouring the party
In 1927 he transferred control over the dopolavaro organisation from the Ministry of National Economy to the party
Give an example of him favouring the state
In 1929 he took the youth organisation (OMB) out of the hands of the party and handed control to the Ministry of National Education
What was the downside of these disputes?
Disputes between party organisations and government departments made government slow and inefficient
Why was this?
Delays were unavoidable as so many matters awaited the personal decision of man who, despite his pretence, did not work 20 hours a day
How did M make matters worse?
Because of his determination that he should personally occupy the most important ministries of state
How was decision making poor?
They were often taken without proper thought or consultation
Give an example of M doing this
When he selected the air force’s new fighter plane after only a most cursory glance at the relevant info
What did his tenure of so many ministries mean?
That he found it impossible to ensure that his decisions were actually being carried out as he intended
What can we therefore conclude about fascist government?
That it was not nearly as streamlined and efficient as M and his foreign admirers liked to suggest
What undermined M’s position of supreme power?
Because below him there was all too often confusion, delay and incompetence
