Repression and terror Flashcards
OND
Mussolini tried to sustain power through organisations like the OND, but also used repression
November 1926
Mussolini introduced legislation that banned all other parties and suppressed Italians who tried to protect against dictatorship
death penalty reintroduced for anyone who tried to assassinate king of Mussolini
Special Tribunals
The Special Tribunals could send political dissidents into exile (usually in South) for unspecified amount of time. process = Confino
usually against Italians who were judges as potentially dangerous, despite no concrete evidence
Confino was financially devastating for those who were sent away, and their families faced discrimination from the fascists
dangerous to employ anyone who returned from Confino
1926
Political police division formed
infiltrate and break up antifascist organisations
network of spies in Italy and abroad
June 1937
June 1937: worked with SIM (military spying organisation) to organise assassination of antifascists Carlo and Nello Rosselli in Paris
1927
secret police OVRA formed in 1927 by Bocchini. successful in stopping antifascist groups
informers
5,000 informers operating in Italy
OVRA
OVRA infiltrated universities, businesses and fascist unions
Italian mail examined and phone calls listened to by Special Reserve Service
Files
Bocchini held files on over 130,000 Italians
prosecutions
Special Tribunals prosecuted 13,547 vases and imprisoned 27,742 years of jail time
10,000 sent to Confino and hundreds arrested weekly for antiracist activities
prominent socialist leaders fled, mostly to Paris
deaths sentences
regime only carried out 9 death sentences before WW2
shows success of Bocchini and Mussolini in ensuring there was little serious opposition to the regime
nationalist movements
Mussolini concerned about nationalist movements among Slovenes who lived within Italy’s borders. their culture was restricted and speaking their own language was faced with opposition from fascist authorities
