The rise of Mussolini Flashcards
What was the mutilated victory?
Paris Peace conference when the allies thought Italy was not deserving of getting the lands that were promised in the Treaty of London as Italy’s efforts during the war didn’t justify the lands that Italy wanted. Orlando’s position in Versailles was weakened that even the British and the French had occupied the German African colonies-> In June forced to resign as prime minister.
What caused the Occupation of Fiume?
Though Italy gained Trent and Trieste and then occupied into Istria and Northern Dalmatia-> inability to occupy Fiume or Germany’s African colonies=undermined the Lib Gov=disgraced the 600,000 soldiers who lost their lives. replaced with Nitti-> he wanted to protect the relations with the allies he = gave Dalmatia to Yugoslavia + Fiume to be deemed as a neutral city under the protection of the LoN+ reduced military spending=disgust from the nationalists and the military-> Nitti was called the coward.
What was the Occupation of fimume?
12 September 1919 D’Annunzio led 2000 men who seized the port of Fiume. The Italian government took 15 months to take action because of fear-> Christmas day 1920 the Italian navy took D’annunzio’s army away. D’Annunzio showed the fragility of the Italian gov + showed assertive nationalism could gain huge support= Mussolini got his inspiration.
Economic effects of war?
By 1919 unemployment reached 2 mill +high inflation (lira collapsed in value) + Ansaldo and Ilva collapsed in 1921->banking crisis= Biennio Rosso strikes between 1919 and 1920. Membership of the socialist unions had grown from 250,000 in 1918 to 2 mill in 1920 . Largest strike was in September 1920 with 400,000 workers. Rural socialist unions were particularly strong in areas like Ferra and Bologna where they controlled the employment of Rural labourers.
1919 poltical reform?
1919 elections alongside the upheaval in Italy had some changes> Any male above 21 could now vote and the government would proportional representation to have a greater influence on which parties got elected to parliament.
Result of 1919 election?
PSI won the greatest share with 32%->156 socialist deputies took place in parliament. PPI won 101 seats. These two parties couldn’t work together in coalition and neither parties had a majority= liberals still retained power= lost opportunity to show that democracy could help solve Italy’s problem
What was the fasci de combattimento
23rd March 1919 mussolini called together the reps of 20 ex-service mens to Milan to form the national organisation of ex-soldiers= fasci’s
What was trincerocrazia?
a movement with ex-soldiers as the men that fought were together showed a sense of unity Mussolini had not seen elsewhere. The Trincerisiti (men who fought the war) were the ones who had the strength to create the Italy that was needed to bring back a sense of unity within Italy.
What were the squadrismo?
small squads who got rid of socialist threat through extreme violence. April 1919 squad of 200-300 dressed in black attacked the socialist demonstration in Milan and burned down Avanti. Though no squad during the violence were arrested= Mussolini saw the governments fear of socialism->authorities allowing fascist violence towards the socialists. Organised the squads like military units (called ras) and attacked the socialist councils and supporters.
What happened in the 1921 elections?
May 1921 Fascists faced and electoral breakthrough and won 7% of the vote and 35 parliamentary seats = gave Mussolini respectability and legitimising fascism as a political force + Mussolini was deputy-> gave him immunity to prosecution.
What was the new programme?
May 1920 second fascist national congress was adopted which was more conservative and right wing. The new programme was more militaristic in tone, calling for compulsory military service and getting back irredente lands. Fascism further advanced in October 1921 with an official formal party called the PNF-> Helped Mussolini to centralise his control over the fascist movement.
What was the nature and extent of Fascist support?
End of 1921-> Increased to around 200,000 members.Fascism had appealed to the wealthy as they saw it protecting their wealthy lifestyle whilst they even gained support from the peasants as they were against the socialists and the violence they used to get workers to work during the strikes. Fascism appealed to everyone regardless of Gender, age or class.
Political unrest in the 1920’s
Giolotti back into power->still using his old tactics of compromise and absorption. To stop the strikes in 1920 he compromised for the workers by telling banks to stop supporting companies that weren’t negotiating with the workers + not using violence against the strikers= worked in the short term but anger from the middle class increased as workers demands had also been met. The PSI had also split at this point= weakened political strength of left-wing movement as the radicals (PCI) were not strong enough .Giolitti tried to absorb the fascists by offering them a place in the ‘national bloc’ in an attempt to control the Fascist party= the Fascists voted for the opposition instead of Giolitti.
what was the pact of pacificaiton?
Pact of pacification in August to bring political peace= political manoeuvring as Mussolini thought the catholic and liberals would come to a deal to stop working with the socialists.
How did Mussolini control the ras?
Ras bosses Grandi, Balbo and Farinacci condemned the pact of pacification made-> m threatened that he would resigned (problem to the ras as Mussolini created unity and direction for the party)= Mussolini won victory over the ras though the only concession he had was to drop the Pact of Pacification.
How much did the PNF grow by?
By 1922 the PNF had around 320,000 members and nearly half a mill workers to join the fascist TU
How did the dual policy benefit the PNF?
The battle of wanting to become PM was encouraged by Mussolini as it divided the liberals-> he encouraged this by separately promising Nitti, Giolitti, Salandra and Facta that they would become prime minister in a fascist coalition government.
What were the events of the March on Rome?
24th October-> Made speech to tell Squadristi plans for MoR. 27 Oct-> squadristi occupied government offices. 28th Oct-> king informed about the MoR=king allowed Facta to declare a state of emergency and the army to stop the fascist take over-> passed order of mussolini’s arrest.However suddenly the king changed his mind which stopped the declaration of emergency=ensured fascist victory.
What role did Victor Emmanuel III play in the March of rome?
weak and indecisive man.decision was made because lacked trust in Facta,Salandra advised him not to, possibly the army wouldn’t follow orders.->29 Oct Facta resigned, Salandra took over with the condition that Mussolini would join the gov
How did Mussolini compromise in parliament with political groups?
DeStefani as minster of finance= support of the conservative industrialists. Increased clerical pay and reinstated crucifixes in School= support of the church.- Feb 1923 ANI were absorbed into the PNF= got rid of nationalist threat. PPI member as Cavazzoni as the minister of work and welfare= gained support of the PPI.
How did mussolini solidify his prime ministership?
Maiden speech as PM in Nov 1922-> said anyone to get punished if they challenged Mussolini-> threats got rid of opposition. He also told parliament that he needed a year of emergency powers to get rid of the economic and political turmoil(whilst having 300,000 men ready to attack if they said no)=approved the year long emergency powers by 306 votes to 116 against.
When was the creation of the Facist grand council?
Decebmer 1922
What were the signifcance of the FGC?
Had key fascists like Balbo, Bianchi, Bono to discuss the key policies. This helped overcome the fascists’ weak positions in the cabinet and undermine the liberal government institutions.
How did the FGC become stronger?
In 1923 the Fasicst grand council became stronger after the creation of the MVSN which absorbed the squadristi to make their role formal to help support the army and police. It had 300,000 members who pledged allegiance to Italy and commander in chief=increased control of the blackshirts at the expense of the ras. The diluting of the ras and squadristi was important because they needed to stop the fascist violence as there was no more threat of a socialist revolution + to improve the relations with the liberal elite and the m/c.The PNF was also changing as there were now 783,000 members many from the middle class background which caused revolutionary fascists to lose their influence.
