The Emergence of Fascism 1921-1922

Question 1

What position were the socialists in before the May 1921 elections?

Answer 1

Weak
- January 1921, PSI split into PCI (radical communists) and PSI (centre-left socialists)
–> PCI = very small, not a threat

Question 2

What position were the liberals in before the May 1921 elections?

Answer 2

weak
- June 1920, Giolitti (80 y/o) as PM; despised by nationalists for being a non-interventionalist
- liberalism was dying; hadn’t achieved anything
- trasformismo no longer worked; Italian politics was too polarised

Question 3

What were the results of the May 1921 elections?

Answer 3

• PSI; 123 seats = highest
• PPI; 107 seats
• PCI; 15 seats
• fascists; 35 seats, 7% of vote = electoral breakthrough
  –> Mussolini became a parliamentary leader

Question 4

What was the fascist ‘dual policy’?

Answer 4

• adopted in 1921
• 2 simultaneous policies; try to win power legally, while turning a blind eye to the violence of the blackshirts in the countryside
• Mussolini publicly denounced the violence
  –> to please both radical, revolutionary PNF members and more conservative, centre-wing fascists

Question 5

Which radical policies were dropped by the fascists between 1921 and 1922?
(5)

Answer 5

• anti-clerical policies
• anti-monarchical policies
• progressive taxation
• nationalisation of business; began promoting privatisation
• female suffrage (no longer priority)

Question 6

What was the Pact of Pacification?

Answer 6

• July 1921
• Mussolini proposed it between fascists and parliamentary PSI members + socialist trade unions
• agreed to end violence between the organisations

Question 7

What were the consequences of the Pact of Pacification 1921?

Answer 7

• powreful ras (inc. Dino Grandi, Italo Balbo, Roberto Farinacci) angrily rejected the Pact
  –> Mussolini resigned
  –> d’Annunzio refused when offered Mussolini’s role = irreplaceable
  –> Mussolini reinstated as leader & abandoned the Pact of Pacification

Question 8

What were the real motives behind the Pact of Pacification?

Answer 8

• to attract new recruits; people who were previosuly unsure about fascism
• appeal to centre fascists
• make Catholics and liberals in parliament approach him with an alternative deal = failed

Question 9

How did the fascists organise themselves in 1921?

Answer 9

PNF
- Partito Nazionale Fascista
- founded October 1921
- tried to recruit ‘respectable members’
- had local branches
- introduced membership fees
- based in Milan

Question 10

Membership of the PNF statistics

Answer 10

• end of 1921, 200,000 members
• by 1922, 320,000 members + half million workers in fascist trade unions

Question 11

Why did the PNF join other parties in coalition?

Answer 11

• other parties; hoped to restrain PNF, de-radicalise them
• PNF; wanted to be seen as a respectable party

Question 12

What were PNF policies from the New Programme that appealed to working-class Italians?
(4)

Answer 12

• obligatory military service
• 8hour working day
• progressive taxation
• new economy to eliminate class divide through collaboration

Question 13

How did Mussolini (himself) increase support for the PNF?

Answer 13

powerful speeches
- extremely charismatic, passionate, exciting
- rallied people
- mostly vague ideas
- attacks liberals and describes what he doesn’t support rather than what he does

Question 14

What position were the PPI in by 1921?

Answer 14

weak
- ppI split into Christian democrats and modern clericals –> further split into PNF supporters/not
- many of its policies taken by the PNF = took many of its supporters too
–> Pope supported PNF by 1923

Question 15

When was the PNF’S New Programme published?

Answer 15

November 1921

Question 16

Did student support the PNF? Why?

Answer 16

1921, 12-13% of students were PNF members
–> tired of liberal ineffectiveness and corruption
–> fascism was a new, radical, dynamic alternative which promised to bring about a revitalised society

Question 17

Why were working class Italians attracted to fascism?
(3)

Answer 17

• striking organised by the socialists hadn’t achieved anything
  –> some peasants who worked through the strikes were assaulted
  –> not paid while striking + pay went down
• Fascists catered to some working class needs
• fascists promised to create a ‘greater Italy’

Question 18

How did Mussolini plan for the March on Rome?

Answer 18

• 16th October 1922, Mussolini met with de Vecchi and Italo Balbo to plan for the march
• 24th October 1922, Mussolini held a speech at the Fascist Congress, to the squadristi, asserting that they must march on Rome to seize power

Question 19

What was the reality of the March on Rome?

Answer 19

27th-31st October 1922
- supposed to be on the 28th Oct (Garribaldi’s march), but many supporters had not arrived
- bad weather = low turn out of people
- squads were poorly armed = not military spectacle
- faced no violence or real opposition
- Mussolini himself was not there

Question 20

How did the auhtorities react to the March on Rome?

Answer 20

• PM Facta wanted king to proclaim martial law and use army to crush insurrection
  –> King initially agreed to authorise troops to stop the march, BUT THEN refused to declare state of emergency and stop the fascists
  –> Facta resigned as PM
  –> King persuades Salandra be PM but Mussolini refuses to join his government
  –> 29th Oct 1922, King offered Mussolini place as PM

Question 21

Why did the King ultimately support the fascists/appoint Mussolini?

(5)

Answer 21

• Army cheifs had promised to obey the King but he feared that the soldiers would refuse to shoot at fascists and side with them
• possibly deterred by the bloodshed
• King’s cousin, the Duke of Aosta, was a fascist supporter; Mussolini had hinted that he would replace the King with his cousin
• King asked Salandra to be the PM, but he refused as Mussolini wouldn’t join his cabinet
• Salandra, Giolitti, Orlando hated each other and advised the King to appoint Mussolini instead of each other

Question 22

What were the events of Mussolini becoming PM?

Answer 22

• 30th October 1922, Mussolini travelled from Milan to Rome on an overnight sleeper train
• 31st October 1922, Mussolini was officially sworn in as PM
  –> 30,000 man fascist victory parade led by quadrumvirs, saluted the King