Rise of Fascism 1919-1922 Flashcards
When was Fasci di Combattimento formed, who did it consist of and how many people attended the first inaugural meeting?
- 23 Mar 1919
- Representatives of 20 ex-servicemen leagues
- 100 people
How did Mussolini begin his political life and why did he move towards the right-wing?
- Began as strong socialist
- Experiences in trenches allowed him to see power of war for unity
- This was described as ‘trincerocrazia’, which is the rule of trenches where men were linked by their war consciousness
What was Mussolini’s position before his entrance into fascist politics?
- Conscript in army
- Lost job as full-time organiser job for socialist organisation in 1909 for anti-clerical articles + preaching violent rev
- Editor of socialist newspaper Avanti! in 1912 (popularity of paper x4 during this period)
- Expelled from Socialist party for rejecting neutrality
When was the Fasci’s political programme announced, what did it include and what was the issue with it?
- Jun 1919
- Confiscation of church property (anti-clerical)
- End to monarchy
- Republicanism
- Extended suffrage to women
- Anti-imperialism
- Nationalisation of arms industry
- 8 hr working day
- Abolition of senate, titles of nobility, compulsory military service
- Universal education
Issue was that it did not identify from other left-wing parties, especially PSI
How many attended the original meeting, how many members did they have by June and who was it predominately made up of?
- 50 members
- 3000 by June
- Made up of arditi, who were crack troop commandos formed after defeat at Caporetto
What had the arditi worn during the war and how had this developed within the party?
- Black uniform that was diff to other soldiers
- Emblem of black flag w/ white skull gripper dagger in teeth
- became identity of Fascist Party and were known as ‘blackshirts’
How were the socialists and communists striking perceived as by the fasci, how did they answer this and who specifically did they target?
- No different from the enemy they had fought in WW1
- Formed themselves into small military units called squadrismo (members known as squaristi)
- Used extreme violence
- Targeted key PSI members + socialist councils
As a result, what did Mussolini encourage the formation of and what were the features of these groups?
- Armed squads
- Organised under a ras (commanding officer)
- Blackshirt uniform
- Revolver
- Manganello (club)
What were squads like towards their ras and how were they funded?
- Extremely loyal
- At local level, instead of centralised
Give one event where the squadrismo attacked socialists and what happened during this
- 15 Apr 1919 –> squadrismo of 200 to 300 attacked socialist demonstration in Milan and burnt down offices of Avanti!
- 3 socialists + 1 fasci killed
- None of fasci arrested, nor were actions condemned by gov
What were the squadristi’s tactics, how many were killed and what was the public reaction to the violence?
- Beat them
- Forced them to drink castor oil
- Murder
- First 5 months of 1921 –> 200 people killed + 1000 wounded in fascist violence
- These soldiers have saved Italy from Austria and from the socialists
How was support for the PSI growing?
- More radical position due to Russian rev and war (wanted rev)
- Refused to work w/ liberals
- Supported strikes + factory occupations
How did Orlando try to ease public anger in 1918 + 1919?
- Dec 1918 –> New law for universal male suffrage
- Increased suffrage by 11 mil
- 1919 –> System changed to PR to give public vote more influence
What is proportional representation?
- Number of elected representatives is proportional to percentage of votes received
- Difficult for any one party to win majority resulting in trouble when passing legislation
When did Nitti come to power?
Jun 1919
What were the results of Nov 1919 election and how did the public feel about this?
- Greatest share of 32.4% won by PSI, w/ 156 deputies (3x number in 1913 elections)
- Next biggest was PPI w/ 20.5% (101 seats)
- Old liberals still remained in power until 1922 because of PR (91 seats)
- Angered public as nothing seemed to change despite growing support for other parties
How had the fasci performed in 1919 election and why did Mussolini choose to continue w/ his political career?
- Very poorly
- Less than 5000 votes + no seats
- No action taken in Milan showed gov was prepared to tolerate squadristi violence to prevent a socialist rev
How many active supporters did the fascists have by the end of 1919?
No more than 4000
How did the fasci attempt to gain votes from the people and how did others help them do this?
- Squads used to attack socialist campaigns and intimidate voters
- Police lent vehicles + army gave weapons
- Ransacked union leaders’ HQs
- Engaged in strike breaking
- Organised tax strikes in socialist-controlled towns
- Judiciary were lenient towards fascists involved in attacks against socialists
In early 1920s, what did workers have to join, why and what were their opinions of it?
- Fascist syndicates
- To gain employment after socialist + Catholic TUs broken up by violence
- Some disliked violence used by TUs against uncooperative striking workers
- Some liked policies offered eg. fair wages
How did the Fasci’s political programme from 1919 change in May 1920?
New Programme
- Much more right-wing, pro-business, militaristic
- Mentions of removal of monarchy or attacks on power of pope removed (no more anti-clericalism)
- Removal of refs to nationalisation
- No demand for female suffrage
- Promise to sell nationally owned businesses to private investors
- Call for compulsory military service
- Goal of complete unification w/ irredente
- Limited citizen freedoms
- Taxes proportional to income + no forcible confiscations
- Education system providing future soldiers w/ physical and moral training
When did Nitti’s gov collapse and why?
- 9 Jun 1920
- Worsening economy
- Occupation of Fiume
- Ongoing strikes
Who replaced Nitti, but why was he despised by nationalist Italians?
- Giolitti replaced him
- His anti-interventionist policy in WW1
What happened in November 1920 and what was the general reaction?
- Giolitti opened direct negotiations w/ Yugoslavia
- Treaty of Rapallo –> Fiume was to be an independent city
- Generally welcomed as many were tired of d’Annunzio’s antics in Fiume and at least it wasn’t Yugoslav territory
What was Giolitti’s solution to Bienno Russo, how did he do this and was it successful?
- Seek compromise for the workers
- Pressured banks to withdraw support for companies who refused to negotiate w/ striking workers
- No violence against strikers
- Encouraged businesses to allow workers shares in their companies + representatives in management boards
- Successful in short-term as by 25 Sep 1920, strikes had ended
Which groups of people were considerably angry at the way Giolitti handled the strikes, why and how was this beneficial for PNF ?
- Middle classes
- Industrialists
- Nationalists
- Landowners
- Catholics
- Giolitti had given in to the workers’ demands
- Stark contrast to the success of the fascist squadristi
How was the political strength of the left-wing weakened and how was this helpful for fascist propaganda?
- Jan 1921 –> more radical members of PSI split to form PCI w/ support from Russia (similar to Communist Party)
- Even though PCI pushed rev more than PSI, they were too small to provide a political threat
- Appeared rev was close now that there was an official communist party
Why was trasformismo much harder in post-war Italy?
- Ideological splits were more deep-rooted so parties could not be bought off like before
- Increase in parties made it more difficult to organise a working coalition
In 1921 election, how did Giolitti try to absorb the fascists and how did this backfire on him?
- Offered members running for parliament a place in his national bloc on ballot paper
- After being voted into parliament, Mussolini announced that he would vote w/ opposition
After realising it was impossible to create a stable gov, what did Giolitti do and what happened after this?
- He resigned
- Replaced by Ivanoe Bonomi then Luigi Facta (both weak leaders)
