Fascist Italy (3/3) - C3 the rise of fascism

how many italians dead in ww1

650,000

what was unemployment in 1919

2,000,000

what was national debt in 1914 compared to 1919

16 billion to 85 billion

how much more money did the govt spend than it collected in taxes in 1918

23 billion lire

what was PSI membership in 1914 compared to 1919

50,000 to 200,000

what % of the 1919 election did PSI get

32%

how much did purchasing power of wages decrease by 1915 to 1918

25%

how many men were there at the seizure of Fiume

2000 armed men

how many active fascist were there in 1919

~4000

how many votes in Milan were for fascism in 1919

5000/270,000

how many seats did the libs, PSI, PCI, PNF, and PPI gain in the 1921 elections

libs: 180, PSI: 123, PCI: 15, PNF: 35, PPI: 107

number of strikers in 1918 compared to 1920

500,000 to >2,000,000

how many members did socialist trade unions have during biennial rosso

1,000,000

how many trade union offices did fascist destroy in 1920-21 and how many people did this kill and injury

80 offices, 200 dead, 800 injured

% of fascist supporters under voting age

25%

% of fascist taht were ex soliders

50%

when was the socialist general strike that M stopped rather than the govt

1922

when was M offered position as PM

29th Oct 1922

when was the march on rome

30th Oct 1922

how many fascist were at the march of rome

5000

what were the overall three threats tothe liberal govt after ww1

growth of exetremist: anachists and communists

want for democratic reforms for Italy
growth of PSI/PCI and PPI

in the largest Biennio Rosso strike, how many were involved

400,000 workers

how much did PSI membership grow 1918 to 1920

250,000 to 2m

why were fears of a socialist revolution exemplified for the Italian elites

the Russian revolution had started a similar was

whta happened to the PSI in 1920

radicals split from it to form the PCI

what does the failed 1922 workers strike show about the socialist ‘uprising’

the fear was exemplifed for the elites, workers were becoming fearful (of blackshirt violence?)

what was different about the 1919 election systematicaly and why

liberals had introduced proportional representation and increased voters by 11m, in hopes that it would gain support for the liberals

what was the outcome of the 1919 election

PSI = largest party, 32% of vote share, 156 seats

PPI = 2nd largest, 101 seats

why did the liberals remain in power despite only having the 3rd largest vote share

PSI and PPI unable to form a coalition with each other, Liberals were able t form coalition with smaller groups to stay in power.

how did liberals remaining in govt cause a rise in radicalism

caused many to believe radicalisation was needed for any real change

how was the economy effected by ww1

major banking crisis becasue war industries failed, middle class wages and petitions decreased, and savings disappeared

who made up the people within M’s early (1919) fascist group

ex soldiers who wanted to bring ‘spirit of the trenches’ to everyday Italy

what did M’s 1919 fascist manifesto include

many radical left wing ideas

• make italy a republic

• coviscate church lands

• abolish the senate

• nationalise industry

• raise taxes on elites

• establish a 8 hour working day

what was it hard for fascists to get voting support

becasue they were so left wing, most people who believed in these ideas were already voting for PSI or PCI

how many votes did the fascists get in the 1919 election

<5000 votes, no seats

how threatening to the socialists was M and his new fascist group

saw a non-threatening, paraded his coffin through Milan to celebrate the death of his political career

why were fascists known as blackshirts

an army unit from ww1 that contained a lot of fascists wore a distinct black shirt and skull emblem, became popular amongst other fascists

why did fascists really hate socialists from ww1

saw them as traitors for not supporting the war, saw them as more of a threat than austrio-hungary

why did fascists believe in using violence against socialist

ex army men, good (?) at fighting, believed if they fought austria off using violence in VV then it was the method they should use against this new threat

how id squads form

mirrored how the army was made up of smaller units

what did squads do to socialists on the 15/apr/1919

first act of fascist violence- attacked PSI demostration in Milan, burnt down newspaper offices- 3 deaths of socialists

what was M’s reaction to the first act of Fascist violence against socialist

originally condemned it until govt didn’t arrest any fascists, saw it as a new tool

who did fascist squads gain support from

police, army, and some liberals for dealing with the socialists, supplied weapons

why did the public support the fascist violence

they were tired of bienno rosso and getting attacked while trying to work, fascists got rid of socialists riots

why did the southern landed elite support the fascists

got rid of socialists who wanted to bring fairer land reform

how many socialists were hurt by fascists in the first 5 months of 1921

200 killed, 1000 hurt

why was support from anti-socialists going to the fascists rather than the liberals

mad that the liberals were trying to compromise and did little to actively stop the riots, fascists were straight up murking them so a bit more visible and efficient

how did fascist use the violence as propaganda

portrayed that liberals were too weak, fascists were needed to prevent Russian style revolution

what changed in the fascist 1920 manifesto

supported catholic church

dropped nationalisation of industry

increased appeal to cofindustria

bigger focus put on iredentaism and unification of claimed Italian lands

what did the evolution of the fascist manifesto show about mussolini

that he was more interested in gaining power rather than bringing change that would better Italy

what was the fascist outcome of the 1921 election

got 7% vote share, 35 seats, still small but was clearly growing

what did M do in Oct 1921 to try to make fascism more creditable and appealing

made the fascists into a formal party, the PNF, also centralised M as the head of Fascism

why did M need to secure himself as the definite head of fascism

people such as Farranachi were popular in smaller regional areas

how many members did PNF have at the end of 1921

200,000

what was different about who supported fascism by the end of 1921

covered a broad range of people, unlike PSI, Libs, etc, ‘fascist’ brought unity ‘Italian’ didn’t:

• middle class business men who feared socialism

• peasants and workers who needed to work and were threatened by BR

• youth, saw it as new and exciting

• rich southern land owners who didn’t want land reform

how influencial was mussolini himself in the rise of fascism

the black shirts, weakness of the Liberals and Socialist got him to the 7% vote share, but M used it to get himself to becoming PM (along with the help of the king etc) through his abilty, otherwise why didn’t the more popular right wing PPI gain control?

how was the dowfall in socialism shown in July 1922

PSI and PCI tried to a 24h strike but not enough workers joined, regardless of blackshirts but M used as propaganda that they were too scared of BSs

who was PM 1920-22

Giolitti, resigned because tranformismo wasn’t working anymore, the PSI, PCI, PPI, PNF ideas all too strong and conflicting now

who replaced Giolitti after he signed 1922

2 PMs in quick succession, Bonomi, and then Facta - showed instablitiy

what was M’s dual policy

to the public supported his blackshirts and promoted violence, but to P he was a serious politican

how did fascist violence continue in 1922

murdered PSI and PCI leaders, burnt down offices, forced PSI MPs to resign, even started attacking reformist Liberals in Oct ‘22

in Oct 1922 how many PNF members and workers in fascist trade unions were there

320,000 PNF members, 500,000 fascist TU members

how (as part of dual policy) did M negociate with p about becoming PM

promised a conserviative regime and wanted t ocome to power lawfully:

• supporting catholic church

• controlling taxes

what was the opinion on M of leading Lib MPs

Orlando, Nitti, Salandra, Giolitti all wanted a PNF coalition but all believd they individually should by PM, Libs couldn’t work together and liked M more than eachother

why did M refuse to form a coalition

wanted power as P for himself, said he needed to because he could only control squads as head

why did m only want to sezie power legally

worried because it opposed squads cause they wanted to just take power, but wanted support of the king and army

what happened on 24th Oct 1922

M made a speech in Naples announcing idea of March on Rome if not appointed PM

what happened 27th Oct 1922

squads started to march towards rome, invading PSI and Lib offices on the way, M still formally descussing with the King and Govt

what happened 28th Oct 1922

Facta requested Marshal Law and emergancy powers from king and army, king initally agreed

what happened 29th OCt 1922

king changes mind in the morning and appointed M as PM

why did the king change his min

highly debated: didn’t trust Facta, MPs he trusted like Salandra did’t support it (S belieed that if Facta fell he could become PM), feared the fascist sympathy of the army, feared a civil war

what happened on the 30th Oct

march on rome! framed as propaganda that this is when m became PM