Year 12 Unit 2 Transition
Course Overview
The focus of this unit is on key developments in the history of Italy, from the political
instability of the liberal state, through the rise and fall of Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship, to
the return to democracy and the creation of an Italian republic in 1946. You will be required
to place documentary extracts in their historical context, but the knowledge you will need to
have will be central to that specified in the topics. You will need to understand the features
of, reasons for and consequences of the specified events and changes in each topic.

Topic 1: The liberal state, c1911–18
The topic covers the reasons for, and extent of, political instability in the liberal state
in the years 1911–18.

Topic 2: The rise of Mussolini and the creation of a fascist dictatorship, 1919–26
The topic covers the years of the final collapse of the liberal state, the development
of Italian fascism, and the process of, and reasons for, Mussolini’s rise to power as a
fascist dictator.

Topic 3: The fascist state, 1925–40
The topic covers the methods and policies used by Mussolini to create a fascist state
in the years before Italy’s entry into the Second World War.

Topic 4: Challenges to, and the fall of, the fascist state, c1935–46
The topic covers the events which led to the fall of fascism and the restoration of
democracy.
Assessment Tasks
For transition you are required to complete the tasks below. These tasks will form the basis
of your first assessment and suitability to study History at A Level. If you have any problems
or questions please email me at [email protected]
Task 1
Read ‘Unification of Italy 1815-70’ and label a map showing the process of unification.
Task 2
Read G.A. Borgese’s reflection on unification:
a. Explain his interpretation of the Italy that emerged in 1870.
b. Explain what he means when he describes Italy as ‘the last born.’
On 20th September 1870 Italian troops breached the walls of Rome and, after a brief
resistance, the soldiers of the Pope surrendered. The Risorgimento, or Rebirth, of Italy had
apparently succeeded. After centuries of division and foreign domination there now
existed an Italian state covering the entire peninsula. Sixty years later the exiled Italian
intellectual, G.A. Borgese, reflected
“She (Italy) was the last born among the nations (of western Europe). Yet she had a kind of
primacy, the only desirable one. No other nation, not France, not England, could be
compared to her so far as the voluntary and intellectual character of her foundations were
concerned. She was born late, but on her birthday was an adult…with self-knowledge and
purpose.
There was no reason for, and no possibility of making Italy the centre of the universe…But
she might have been a beacon for all, a thing of beauty.
Why did it happen?
Why was (Liberal) Italy so short lived?
A course of about fifty years is less than what is ordinarily granted to the natural
development of an individual life. That nation, the Italy of the Risorgimento, did not
exceed by much the duration of half a century.
In 1922 Fascism came.”
Task 3
Read G.M. Trevelyan’s and Antonio Gramsci’s interpretations of the Liberal State.
a. Explain how far these interpretations differ.
Why Fascism came to Italy is a central question. The fact that Fascism emerged first it
Italy, pre-dating Hitler’s Nazi regime by over 10 years, has directed further attention
towards the problem.
To historians of a liberal persuasion, Fascism was a deviation, an unfortunate historical
accident. The real progress of the Liberal State from 1870 – the consolidation of Italian
unity, real economic growth, measured social reform, parliamentary rule – was destroyed
by the shock of the First World War, and its dire social and economic consequences. To
such writers, the pre Fascist regime had represented something of a ‘beacon for all’ in
Borgese’s words. The English historian, G.M. Trevelyan, writing in the years before the
First World War, illustrated their view:
“Nothing is more remarkable than the stability of the Italian kingdom and the building is
as safe as any in Europe. The foundations of human liberty and the foundations of social
order exist there on a firm basis.”
To those on the left this was sentimental nonsense. For them, Fascism was the result of
the utter failure of the new Italian state. The Liberal regime had been imposed on the
Italian people, made no attempt to represent or involve the masses in political life, and far
from upholding political liberties, willingly employed repression against popular protest.
Politics was the preserve of a wealthy elite dedicated not to the public good, but rather to
the pursuit of personal power and financial gain. This interpretation was summed up by
Antonio Gramsci writing in the 1930s:
“The leaders of the Risorgimento said they were aiming at the creation of a modern state
in Italy, and they in fact produced a bastard. They aimed at stimulating the formation of
an extensive and energetic ruling class and they did not succeed, at integrating the people
into the framework of the new state, and they did not succeed. The paltry political life
from 1870-1900. The fundamental rebelliousness of the Italian popular classes, the
narrow existence of a cowardly ruling elite, they are all consequences of that failure.”