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ITALY, MUSSOLINI AND THE RISE OF FASCISM
• The united nationalstate Italy­1861.
PROBLEMS;
• Division wealthy north/poor south.
• Illiteracy
• Corruption, bureaucracy, limited confidence in the political system.
• The Vatican state­papal ban
• Constant violent friction landowners vs. landless peasants.
• American emigration.
• Cosa nostra (maffia)
• Nationalists vs. socialists
nov 17­18:55
PROBLEMS IN ITALY BEFORE THE GREAT WAR:
• The power in the hands of a small elite.
• Italian national identity only superficially established in rural areas (especially in the backward South).
• Illitteracy, no welfare.
• Hostile and powerful Catholic Church.
• No popular Press, political corruption.
• A giant gap between cities and countryside, between North and South.
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THE GREAT WAR
• Declaration of neutrality
• The popular opinion divided­violent clashes between nationalists and socialists. Catholics and Socialists opposed it.
• Benito Mussolini • Declaration of war, 26.4.1915 (Treaty of London ­ secret promises of land areas).
• Massive casualties and suffering
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THE MUTILATED VICTORY
• High hopes as Italy was on the winning side.
• 600 000 dead, 950 000 wounded
• 250 000 crippled for life
• National bancrupcy, warinflation
• Returning soldiers unemployed
• Italy disapointed and humiliated in the peaceconference
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Economic disaster:
• many firms geared to the demands of war ­ bankrupt.
• During 1919 the lira lost 2/3 of its value.
• many middle­class savings wiped out.
• Strikes, factory occupations, food riots.
nov 27­19:32
FASCISM
• 'Arditi' ­ special forces during the war organised themselves. Mussolini became a leading member.
• In 1919 he reorganised his group into the 'Fascio di Combattimento'.
• The objective was to fight communism. Violent clashes, landowners and industrialists supported the fascists.
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• Fascism was specifically an Italian term in origin.
• The 'Fasces' were a bundle of rods which were signs of power from the time of the Etruscians.
• Central to Mussolini's view was the idea of the all­powerful state. Each individual should work for the good of the state which would result in strength and glory.
• Fascism wasn't conservative, as it favoured radical changes.
• Violently anti­Marxist.
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D'ANNUNZIO AND FIUME
• Annoyed after the war Gabriele D'Annunzio organised a private army and invaded Fiume. He ruled the town as a dictator for more than a year. A pirate state.
• The town attracted young italians who enjoyed excitement.
• The international opinion finally forced Italy to take action and force D'Annunzio out of Fiume.
• Mussolini admired D'Annunzio and became convinced he could make his way to power with direct force.
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FASCIST MOBILISATION
• The clashes between socialists and fascists escalated 1920. The state was on the edge to civil war.
• Landowners, industrialists, bankers but also middle and lowered middle classes rallied behind the fascist party in their fear of communism.
• Economic fundament of the movement.
• The police usually didn't intervene with fascist violent expeditions.
• In the parliamentary elections 1921 the fascists succeeded in getting 35/535 seats.
1900, how to Battle Communism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMpqzwJkK8Q
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AGRARIAN AND URBAN FASCISM
It was the furious escalation of the class war that consolidated the partnership
between fascism and property. First in this process was the employment during
the winter of 1920 of Fascist paramilitary SQUADRISTI by the big landowners
who were determined to break the power of the peasant leagues and
cooperatives. This Agrarian fascism differed markedly from the Urban fascism; it
was more terroristic and antidemocratic. Fascism the servant of a brutal right.
The year 1920 ­ the establishment of a general confederation of industry
(Confindustria) whose purpose was to counter working­class agitation by force if
necessary.
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Italy's capitalists expected Fascism to speed up modernization by authoritarian
means and a violent suppression of the left.
The deliberate stimulation of anarchy served to keep propertied interests in a
state of alarm. With the government unable or unwilling to intervene, Fascism
seemed the only safeguard; in effect, it acquired a monopoly of antibolshevism.
nov 24­13:13
THE ELECTION OF 1921
Because his party offered action Mussolini gained from the weakness of the
shifting governments and from the unrest in the country. Giolitti (p.m.) was
searching for allies against the socialists in 1921 and he decided to use the
fascists. He believed he could easily dominate Mussolini. He made a sad
mistake and he must be held responsible for giving Mussolini another chance.
To bring the fascists into Giolitti's parliamentary coalition, it was first necessary
to include them in the national list of government­backed candidates. During the
1921 election the government used Fascist support to unseat Socialists
deputies. The Fascists beat up opponents. The police remained neutral or
actively aided them. 35 fascists out of a total of 535 seats were elected.
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1921 ­ 22
Giolitti failed to hold his coalition together (Mussolini did his best to break up
the government. The fascists immediately took their seats with the Nationalists
on the extreme right of the chamber in opposition to Giolitti). Giolitti was
replaced by Bonorni and he, in his turn, with Facta. None of them were able to
build up a stable government. At the same time local fascist leaders did their
best to cause unrest in the country.
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Aristocratic nationalists provided an entry for Fascism into court circles. This
was also helped by the fact that Mussolini declared being a monarchist that
same year. The aristocracy and the upper­bourgeoise tolerated fascism as long
as it performed certain tasks for them. It was a dangerous game to play.
The new pope Pius XI (1922) and Mussolini were on good terms.
Liberals turned an blind eye to Fascist brutalities. Liberal journals saw fascist
assault on the most elementary rights as justified as the only alternative to
anarchy. 'Fascism would grew tamer as times went by'.
Numerous italian intellectuals thought the same way, Fascism could be made
law­abiding.
The army was loyal to king Victor Emmanuel III who feared a civil war. As a
result he made no effort to co­operate with the government against the growing
Fascist­movement. A movement which was supported by many property owners
who feared disorder and Communism.
The bulk of Fascism's popular support came from the petty bourgeoise or lower
middle­class (small shopkeepers, clerical workers, teachers). These were the
ones who were not very poor but who didn't escape harm in the postwar slump.
The ones who dreamed of climbing up the ladder and at the same time were
terrified by the thought of workers reaching the same hierarchial status as
themselves.
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MUSSOLINIS WAY TO POWER
The more the Fascists enjoyed the confidence of the power structure, the less
they needed a violent coup to obtain power. Eager to create the impression of
fascism as a revolutionary movement, Fascist propaganda later asserted that
power was taken by force in 1922. The truth was somewhat different.
On 12 May 1922 the Fascists (63.000) took over the town of Ferrara and didn't
leave before the government promised to carry out a scheme of public works
there. Mussolini was constantly terrified by the thought the government would
use arms against fascist massactions, but they didn't.
On 1 August 1922 the Socialists proclaimed a general strike as a protest against
fascist actions in Romagna. This played into Mussolinis hands for he could offer
to break the strike when the government did nothing. He could appear as the
man to restore order while making use of his disorderly supporters. It provided
an excuse for further Fascist lawlessness. The strike collapsed after a day and
Mussolini and his Fascists gained increasing support. People began to feel that
the Fascists might bring a return to order. On August 3, the fascist Squadristi
invaded the city hall of Milan and expelled its socialist administration. Now it
was only a matter of time before an attack on the legal capital, Rome.
nov 24­13:24
THE MARCH ON ROME 1922
The Italian government had virtually broken down by October 1922. P.M. Facta
suggested that the entire cabinet should resign and when this idea was turn
down by his colleagues he began to think in terms of a coalition with the
fascists.
At the same time the March on Rome was entrusted to a quadrumvirate (reflects
the diverse elements within Fascism);
General Emilio de Bono, the eldest, was a retired army officer and a nationalist
of the old school.
Italo Balbo, the youngest and typical of the extremist wing of Fascism (taste for
violence).
Cesare De Vecchi was from the ultraconservative landowning class and a
monarchist.
Michele Bianchi, secretary of the party, had reached Fascism by the syndicalist
socialist route.
The plan was to cut off the government in Rome from the rest of Italy and then
advance into the town itself.
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But it takes two to fight and it was not at all certain that the liberal regime in
Rome would take up the challenge.
Mussolini and his immediate followers had laid down plans for military action
but the army was still loyal to the King and it would have crushed any attempt
to destroy the regime.
Mussolini planned to take action on the 28 October with a massive Fascist
march to Rome but he didn't want the fascist to threat the King or the Army. A
clash with the army was to be avoided at all costs and army units were to be
treated with courtesy and friendliness. The main idea was to raise a ultimatum
to the government;
A NEW CABINET WITH AT LEAST 6 FASCIST MINISTERS IN IMPORTANT POSTS.
Facta decided to resign but his cabinet still ran the government until a new
leader could be chosen. When the fascists started rolling into Rome Facta was
persuaded to return and to declare a state of siege in Rome. He went to the King
and asked for a proclamation declaring a state of emergency. This would mean
that the army would be called out against the Fascists columns. The King feared
civil war and doubted Facta's ability to control the situation. He refused to sign
the proclamation though he was approached twice.
Mussolini now knew that there would not be an armed clash, and so he could
afford to increase his demands; 'The goverment must have a clear fascist
character'.
nov 24­13:28
On 29 October Viktor Emmanuel III proclaimed that Mussolini was to form a
government.
Mussolini formed his government (containing only 4 fascists).
The key posts naturally went to fascists. Mussolini himself became p.m., foreign
minister and minister of the interior.
Furthermore, parliament was induced to allow the cabinet extraordinary powers
for one year.
He knew that he now had the support of the King, the army, the industrialists,
the property owners as well as the loyalty of his fascist followers.
The fascist columns didn't move on Rome until Mussolini had become prime
minister. They then paraded in Rome and were received by the King before
taking trains for home.
Mussolini had been offered his chance and he grabbed it.
Mussolini realized that Fascism's success rested, not on its own strength, but
on the weakness of its opponents. This explains the early actions taken by
Mussolini in power.
In a sense, then, Mussolini came to power constitutionally, though only in a
somewhat deceptive sense.
The cabinet that Mussolini constructed within 12 hours of his arrival in Rome
contained 14 members, of which only 4 were actually fascists. The key posts
naturally went to these fascists;
Mussolini himself became president of the council of ministers (P.M.), pro tem
(tillfällig) foreign minister, and minister of interior. But the appeareance was
none the less a conventional ministery (with Nationalists, Popolari and even two
socialists).
Mussolini's ministry received a vote of confidence in parliament but also
EXTRAORDINARY POWERS FOR ONE YEAR (which wasn't unique at the time).
The semlance (skepnad) of legality partly explains the apathy which greeted
Mussolini's advent to power in many circles. Another explanation of the apathy
was the lack of knowledge of the aims of Fascism, not least by its own
followers. Many italians either interpreted fascism in a way in which it would be
most acceptable to him or he, or just believed that Mussolini was only a
temporary expedient (opportunist).
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PROBLEMS WITHIN THE FASCIST PARTY
One of the basic characteristics of this first Fascist state was the merging of
the party and the state, so that the leader (duce) of the party became the leader
of the state.
Mussolini's new 'democratic' approach didn't sit well to all fascists. Many of
them still wanted to overthrow the old order as soon as possible and preferably
by direct action. The struggle between this fanatic front and Mussolini's tactical
moderation kept the Fascist movement in a state of tension for two years.
To control the party Mussolini had set up the GRAND COUNCIL OF FASCISM in
1922. It imposed a hierarchial structure on Fascism with Mussolini at the top.
The Duce chose the members of the Council, he served as its permanent
president, and he alone triggered its decision making process. But the council
didn't control only the party it also controlled the state, it was a second cabinet.
nov 24­14:11
Almost the first action of the Grand Council was to convert the squadristi into a
national militia financed by the state ­ MILIZIA VOLONTARIA PER LA SICUREZZA
NAZIONALE (MVSN). All members of the MVSN swore allegiance, not to the king
or the state, but to the Duce; thus, a private army was institonalized and brought
under Mussolini's private control.
Mussolini still had problems with the local fascist leaders who carried out
sporadic violence throughout the country which contradicted to the image of
respectability that Mussolini induced in Rome.
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PARLIAMENTARY PROBLEMS AND THE ELECTIONS OF 1924
One of Mussolini's problems was the lack of solid support in the parliament. The
fascists possessed only 35/535 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In the spring
of 1923 a rift opened between Mussolini and the Popolari (much due to fascist
brutality in the countryside). This resulted in the dissmission of the Popolari
ministers. At this point Mussolini brought forward the ACERBO ELECTION LAW:
(named after the fascist who introduced it)
­this law repealed (upphävde) the law of 1919 on proportional representation.
­The party gaining the most votes in a national election (at least one quarter)
should automatically be given 2/3 of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
­The bill became law by the end of 1923.
Elections were held the following april.
The electoral campaign was by no means democratic. Fascists spread fear and
terror over the country and kept opponents away from the polling boxes. 64% of
the votes were cast for Mussolini's list and he had secured his Machiavellian
position. On the other hand fascism had chosen a illegal course after this,
something Mussolini had succeeded in avoiding before this.
nov 24­14:16
THE MATTEOTTIMURDER
Fascist terror tactics in the election did not go unprotested. Most articulate of
the protesters was a prominent socialist, Giacomom Matteotti.
In the afternoon of June 10 1924 Matteotti was kidnapped. It was not until
August that Matteotti's body was discovered but long before this all Italy was
sure that Matteotti had been killed by Fascists.
About Mussolini's exact part one doesn't know, although of his moral guilt there
is no question.
Matteotti was not the first to die in the hands of the fascists, although he was
the most prominent. And coming on top of the recent election violence it made a
mockery of the contention that fascism would grow milder with the
responsibilities of office. Many looked for the King to dissmiss Mussolini but he
didn't. The oppositional elements came together but when Pius XI warned the
popular party against joining an anti­fascist front the worst threat against
Mussolini had vanished.
But Mussolini showed every sign of panic; He offered scapegoats for Matteotti's
murder and he thought about resignation (even handed it in but the king refused
to sign it).
The non­Fascist minority in parliament reacted to the crises by withdrawing for
an indefinite period from the chamber. This was a weak and ineffective protest,
and seems to have strengthened the king in his opinion to leave Mussolini in
office.
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DICTATORSHIP
The more radical fascists were very discontent with Mussolini's actions. As a
means of pressure on Mussolini, on 31 December a giant rally was held at
Florence. There loyalty to the Duce was declared to be conditional on his taking
'dictatorial action'. This message was also brought to Mussolini by 30 consuls.
On January 3, 1925 Mussolini addressed the Parliament. For the first time, he
accepted responsibility for Matteotti's death.
"Italy wants peace and guiet, and calm in which to work. This we shall give her,
by love if possible, by force if need be." This was to be the second coup d'etat
and there proved to be nothing to stop Mussolini now.
A much more thorough dictatorship was imposed. For the first time in history
the term 'totalitarian' was used, Mussolini using it with pride, and claiming that
the fascist regime was completing the work of the risorgimento by removing all
divisive forces in the state. No longer where there to be divisions of class or
political parties. In practice some limitations on totalitarianism remained. The
monarchy and the church were both to retain their independence from the
regime.
But non­fascist political parties were dissolved.
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Within two years Mussolini's cabinet ceased to be a coalition and became
exclusevily fascist. Opponents were not allowed in the parliament and Mussolini
was accorded a virtually limitless right to rule by decree.
The fascists took over all local councils.
Independent trade unions were prohibited.
Independent newspapers were taken over by the fascists.
By the end of 1926 the foundations of the dictatorship had been securely laid.
In 1926 a political police force OVRA, seperate from the Fascist militia, was
formed. Italy was now a one­party state, and in most respects a totalitarian one.
The ledaers of the opposition either went into exile or were imprisoned.
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THE DICTATOR
After 1925, there were no grounds for challenging mussolini's leadership.
Mussolini had joined the extremists in the fascist party. The power of
independent fascist sections was broken.
After this Mussolini took full control, and he usually held several ministries to
himself.
Like many crowd pleasers, Mussolini proved to be better at criticizing existing
faults than at implementing reforms.
Fascism tried to provide its own working­class cultural and leisure institutions
and in some parts of the country one achieved the support of the workers.
nov 24­14:24
Questions on Italian fascism
• Why, in 1922, was Mussolini able to become Prime Minister of Italy?
• How effectively did fascist rule in Italy solve the problems which had brought Mussolini to power? nov 28­07:53
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FASCIST CORPORATIVISM
The most sophisticated concept for the removal of social and political division
was the Corporative State.
Corporativism was put forward as an alternative "third way" between capitalism
and socialism. A device to restore social cohesion.
Corporations consisting of representatives of employers, workers, and
professional groups were to be elected to give advice to the political
government. The theory was that in a modern, industrialized country one's sense
of identity was less with a geographical than with one's occupational group. The
corporations were eventually to elect representatives to a central congress,
which would replace the old political parliament as an advisory body to the
government.
nov 28­08:00
The economic activity of the nation was to be divided into categories, each
represented by a corporation. Within the corporations, spokesmen for rival
groups and classes would be brought face to face more directly than in
traditional parliamentary institutions.
The groundwork for the Fascist corporative state was laid in 1925. The
Confindustra and the Confederation of fascist trade unions recognized each
other as the legitimate representatives of capital and labour. The traditional
trade Unions were thus effectively neutralized.
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There was to be 7 branches of economic activity ­ industry, agriculture, banking,
commerce, internal transport, the merchant marine and the intellectual
community. Only in the last category was a genuine corporation established, in
the other 6 the property owners were distinct from from workers confederations.
A ministry of corporations was created in 1926 but not until 1934 did the mixed
corporations of employers and employees come into existence. There were 22
of them, as the older economic units were subdivided.
In 1938 the Chamber of Deputies based on territorial representation was
abolished. The next year, The Chamber of Fasces and Corporations, most of
whose membership was elected or appointed from the corporations, took its
place.
nov 28­08:10
Real equality between capital and labour never prevailed. Wheras the former
was represented by traditional spokesmen, the latter was spoken for by middle­
class lawyers and a handful of fascists.
This resulted in that the industrialists who backed fascism were backed by the
corporations ­ ruthless labour exploitation.
The corporative system provided an arsenal of bureaucratic jobs for the party
faithful. This resulted in a plunder of the national treasury beyond anything
experienced before.
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For the most part the big companies received help, but not small business.
Economic centralization and cartelization grew apace.
The parliament was indeed deprived of any real significance in 1928, but
Mussolini soon lost interest in the idea of the Corporate state, especially in the
30's when he decided to build an African empire.
In the summer of 1935 the Italian dictator Mussolini starts preparations for the capture of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) by concentrating his troops on the border of Eritrea. He wants to play a full role in the partition of Africa among European colonial powers: "I beg your pardon? Would you not allow me one pound of Abyssinia, John Bull, after having devoured kilos of human meat yourself?" dec 1­13:38
One measure taken by Mussolini was destined to survive, and is still existence,
the Lateran pact of 1929, with pope Pius XI. By it Mussolini recognized the
temporal power of the papacy, which , since 1870, united Italy had refused to
do. The Vatican was thus recognized as an independent state, and the Catholic
religion as the sole religion of state in Italy. For his part the Pope recognized the
kingdom if Italy­which no pope had ever done­ and Rome as the capital city of
Italy. But Mussolini's alignment with the Papacy destroyed the argument that he
was the heir to the Risorgimento.
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FASCIST DIPLOMACY
Fascism had been welcomed by many Italians because it seemed to offer
solutions to two specific problems ­ The threat from bolsjevism and the
humiliating peacetreaties of the 1 WorldWar.
The italians saw Italy as one of the great powers and were insulted by the
general international view 'the least of the great powers'.
But the fact is that Italy was very vulnerable; Italy was dependent on
foodimport, nearly all Italy's coal and raw iron came from abroad. This meant
that Italy was put in the grip of whichever power controlled the entrances to the
Mediterranean.
Italy's long coastline left her open to invasion by a superiour naval force (Great
Britain could put pressure on Italy).
Many italians hoped that Mussolini would lift up Italy to one of the great powers
and actually Italy's international status was very much to be the measure by
which Mussolini's regime would stand or fall.
dec 1­19:01
FOREIGN POLICY
Mussolini was unhindered in making Fascist foreign policy. Whether he held the
post formally or not, he was in reality his own foreign minister during the entire
fascist era.
1. THE CORFU INCIDENT
From the start of his first ministry Mussolini was determined that he should
create a good impression as the moderate young leader who was determined to
restore the prestige of Italy abroad. The Italian Press claimed that Mussolini
was putting Italy on the map again.
Mussolini needed a reason to show Italy's new strong and determined fascist
foreign policy (to increase his support in Italy). The first chance came in
September 1923;
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Disputes between Greece and Albania had resulted in that a boundary (gräns)
commission had been set out. This commission ran into problems on the Greece
island of Corfu. An Italian general and all the other italian members were killed.
Mussolini acted at once without waiting for full information about the incident.
He sent a note to the Greek government demanding a full apology and a
compensation amounting to 50 million lire. The Greeks refused and claimed that
the League should investigate. The Italian navy bombarded Corfu (the city
suffered severely) and italian marines landed on the island
dec 1­19:02
This involved Mussolini in a brush with the League of Nations. Mussolini planned
to leave the League but an clash was prevented, by the French, who feared the
League's cognizanse ,(undersökning, intresse) of the Corfu crisis might be a
precedent to interference in the French occupation of the German Ruhr.
Finally The Conference of Ambassadors (a preserve of the major Allied Powers)
came up with the solution;
Greece was to pay Italy 50 million lire as a compensation for the assassination
of Italian officials on Greek soil.
In reality Mussolini's intention had been to annex Corfu so he wasn't satisfied at
all and actually Britain had to threaten Mussolini with its fleet before italian
troops evacuated Corfu.
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2. FIUME
Two weeks after the Corfu incident Mussolini sent a military force to govern
Fiume. The explanation from Rome was that negotiations to found an
independent Fiume didn't proceed and the town was falling into anarchy.
Yugoslavia accepted the coup because France, Yugoslavia's protector, was too
absorbed with the Ruhr occupation to do anything; and also because King
Alexander of Yugoslavia admired Mussolini.
In january 1924 a settlement between Yugoslavia and Italy gave the bulk of
Fiume to Italy. This was accompanied with a Italo­Yugoslav friendship pact. (but
hostility broke out two years later over each other's ambition in Albania.)
dec 1­19:05
Fascist Italy's failure to hold Corfu and her success in acquiring Fiume had been
due, in the final analysis, not to Greece and Yugoslavia, but to the reactions of
Britain and France. This touched on the crucial question for Fascist foreign
policy. How far could Mussolini follow a nationalist and expansionist course and
at the same time remain within the framework of the First World War alliance
with Britain and France?
Mussolini's first treaties of alliance were with small states rather than with
great powers. In 1927 he signed a treaty with Hungary and in 1928 with
Ethiopia. The same year the relations with Greece were normalized through a
treaty and finally in 1930 one with Austria.
The great powers had been sympathetic to him as fascism was seen far less
alien and less dangerous to accept values than Bolshevism.
Abroad Mussolini tried to behave in a normal, respectable, bourgeois manner,
observing the diplomatic niceties (omdöme).
The first major foreign crisis faced by the regime was over Austria in 1934.
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