Italy

edexcel rise and fall of fascism alevel

North south divide

Economic

Social

Linguistic

Italy as a great power

* Nationalist wanted Italy to be a great power
* Focused on irredentism (all of Italy to speak Italian)
* Joined the triple alliance but left on 1915 to join the etanté

Invasion of Libya

* gained nationalist support however nationalist tried to take credit
* Lost socialist support
* Weakened the economy
* Catholic Church had interest in Libya

Giolitti government on socialist appeasement

* national insurance for health and old age
* Banning employment under 12
* Limiting working hours for women
* Maternity and pension fund

Giolitti government on catholic appeasement

* separation of church and state
* Gave church concessions in return for support
* Catholic education
* Unable to solve Roman question

Roman question

Catholic Church dispute with government concerning control of Rome

Giolitti and the nationalist

* Risorgimento failure and defeat of adwa (Ethiopia) lead to country seeming weak
* Emigration (wanted to decrease)
* Expand Italian empire in Africa and claim irredentist land
* Supported by middle class
* Didn’t want to work with Giolitti because he worked with socialist

Foreign policy 1911-1914

* triple alliance Germany Austria-Hungary & Italy
* 1911 strain with Austria due to clash of interest in the Balkans
* Deal with France to support Italy invasion of Libya was being questioned

Giolitti resignation

Word of Giolitti transformisso spread and angered socialist and anti-clergical liberals losing Giolitti vote

Declaration of neutrality

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* Italy did not join the war 
* Austria declared war on Serbia without consulting Italy 
* Not economically prepared for war 
* Most Italians did not want war
* Nationalist did want war 

Growth of nationalism and socialism

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* Nationalist and Catholics figured out that religion and patriotism gained support 
*  Salandra believed that he could revive liberalism by linking it with nationalism 

Military stalement

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* **Salandra hoped for a brief war that would give Italy territory**
* **Fought predominantly in horrific mountain conditions** 
* **1000s of Italian soldiers died due to Cholera and Frostbite**
* **Great problems with Italian society** 
* **Nearly 5 million men were conscripted and the idea of war meant little to them**

intervention crisis

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* Feared that Germany and Austria-Hungary would not be sympathetic to Italy as an Ally 
* Feared Britain and France would not allow Italy to have mediterranean land 
* Secretly negotiated with both allies 
* Salandra wanted to introduce more repressive legislation and believed if he lead Italy into victory that it would be difficult to challenge his policy 
* Treaty of london 26 April 1915
* Was done in secrecy therefore military and general public felt stabbed in the back 
* Socialist and Catholics were against intervention

Defeat at Caperto

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* Austrian attack  
* Salandra was forced to resign October 1917 
* Poor leadership and low moral lead to the defeat

Socialist response to war

* “Neither support nor sabotage”


* Blamed for Italy low moral 
* Seen as deafist, unpatriotic and anti-italian
* PSI leaders were arrested and imprisoned 
* Mussolini blamed socialist for loss
* PSI position lead to greater divide in left and right politics


* Blamed for Italy low moral 
* Seen as deafist, unpatriotic and anti-italian
* PSI leaders were arrested and imprisoned 
* Mussolini blamed socialist for loss
* PSI position lead to greater divide in left and right politics

expansion of the franchise

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* **Literate men over 20 -> all men over 30** 
* Allowed vote of conscript soldiers 
* Giolitti hoped suffrage would increase votes in rural areas 
* Working class would resist radical ideologies 

mutilated victory

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* Created military, navy, foreign office & kept alive by nationalist and & fascist 
* Treaty of London promised to give Italy Fiume but still gained Trent & Triste 
* Not given great power status 
* M/c elt entitled to Fiume 
* W/c felt that soldiers died in vain 
* Hoped myth would persuaded allies to give Italy Fiume 
* Impacted economy and politics 
* Increased: fear, resentment, desire for change,  political violence & class division 
* Rising tensions between those who went to war and those who were exempt from conscription 
* Economy was weak it needed coal and money only the allies could provide

The occupation of Fiume

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* Returned soldiers & young men wanted to set up a new gov to assert Italy’s greatness (futurist)
* Nationalist right wing began to challenge gov as a result of the mutilated victory 
* Gabrielle D’annuzio lead to protest for Italy enters to ww2 angered by weak gov 12/09/1919 - seized port of Fiume without a fight 
* Government failed to act for 15 months 
* Showed Italian government to be weak that success could be achieved brought violence and deceive actions 

Postwar economic crisis

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* Mass unemployment due to soldier coming back from the war 
* Lira collapsed due to foreign loans and printing of money 
* Saving wiped out 
* Munition companies collapsed 
* Biênio Rosso 
* Realeased radical socialist and anarchist from prison called for reader worker rights 
* Socialist rew food prices 
* Many strikes due to fear of revolution

Growth of the socialist and catholic parties

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* PPI pushed for more farming land to be made available to peasants 
* PPI was not associated with the Vatican 
* PSI encouraged by the Russian revolution to go in a more radical direction = strikes and riots

1919 elections

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* PSI won the greatest share then the PPI didn’t want to work in coalition therefore liberal remained in power 
* Failure of democracy 
* Still no reforms lead to ppl losing faith in democracy  

\
Mussolini and the development of fascism, 1919–22:

* Foundation of Fasci di Combattimento and party programme;


*  squadrismo and the move to the right; 
* political legitimacy,
*  the PNF and the ‘New Programme’;
*  nature and extent of fascist support.

\

***Foundation of Fasci di Combattimento and party programme:***

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* Mussolini & 20 ex services mens leagues 
* Wanted to use war to bring Italians together 
* Increased division between those who went to war and those who stayed home 
* Anticlerical, socialist to begin with 
* Nationalisation of arms including black shirts and flags because of the defeat at caporetto 
* Gained a large following (grew to 3000 by 1919) because it was similar to the PSI 

***Squadrismo and the move to the right;*** 

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* War created a culture of violence among soldiers returning from the war 
* Socialist & working class strikes as enemy 
* Communist believed in extreme violence e.g. 200-300 communist attacked socialist demonstrations 
* Paramilitary government 
* Became right wing 
* Mussolini didn’t give orders to squadrismo 
* Instilled fear into voters 
* Fascist did poor in the 1919-19 -> people were scared 
* January to May 1921 200 people were killed and 1000 wounded 
* Wealthy landowners were happy to see socialist go 

***Political legitimacy:***

\
* Liberal politicians believed the squadrismo were restoring law and order and rescuing the country from radicalism
* May 1921 fascist attacked socialist campaigns police lent vehicles & army lent weapons  
* PSI still achieved highest vote 
* Fascist who 7% and 35 seats 


* Gave Mussolini respect and authority 
* Gained political legitimacy 
* Stopped facing opposition 

PNF and the “the new programme“

\
* May 1920 new programme 
* More conservative
* More right wing
* Anti-monarch 
* No pope
* No nationalisation of business 
* More militaristic 
* Unification of irredente lands.                         
* Education system that would provide physical and moral training 
* Oct 1921 official party PNF centralised control of Fascist party 
* Recruited respectable members to help advance fascism and appeal beyond appreciation of violence against socialist 
* Developed political legitimacy

Nature and extent of fascist support

\
* End of 1921 PNF grew to 200,00 
* Appealed to Urban m/c, white collar and small business owners as they feared socialist revolution and rise in taxes 
* Appealed to many people as many grew tired of socialist strikes & liberals 
* Saw fascism as first national party appealing to both men and women of different social classes 
* Strong sense of patriotism 
* Believed Mussolini could save Italy

Mutilated victory

\
* Created military, navy, foreign office & kept alive by nationalist and & fascist 
* Treaty of London promised to give Italy Fiume but still gained Trent & Triste 
* Not given great power status 
* M/c elt entitled to Fiume 
* W/c felt that soldiers died in vain 
* Hoped myth would persuaded allies to give Italy Fiume 
* Impacted economy and politics 
* Increased: fear, resentment, desire for change,  political violence & class division 
* Rising tensions between those who went to war and those who were exempt from conscription 
* Economy was weak it needed coal and money only the allies could provide

Occupation of Fiume

\
* Returned soldiers & young men wanted to set up a new gov to assert Italy’s greatness (futurist)
* Nationalist right wing began to challenge gov as a result of the mutilated victory 
* Gabrielle D’annuzio lead to protest for Italy enters to ww2 angered by weak gov 12/09/1919 - seized port of Fiume without a fight 
* Government failed to act for 15 months 
* Showed Italian government to be weak that success could be achieved brought violence and deceive actions

Post-war economic crisis

\
* Mass unemployment due to soldier coming back from the war 
* Lira collapsed due to foreign loans and printing of money 
* Saving wiped out 
* Munition companies collapsed 
* Biênio Rosso 
* Released radical socialist and anarchist from prison called for reader worker rights 
* Socialist grew food prices 
* Many strikes due to fear of revolution 

\

Growth of socialist and catholic party

\
* PPI pushed for more farming land to be made available to peasants 
* PPI was not associated with the Vatican 
* PSI encouraged by the Russian revolution to go in a more radical direction = strikes and riots 

Result and impact of 1919 elections

* PSI won the greatest share then the PPI didn’t want to work in coalition therefore liberal remained in power 
* Failure of democracy 
* Still no reforms lead to ppl losing faith in democracy  

\

Foundation of Fasci di Combattimento and the party programme

\
* Mussolini & 20 ex services mens leagues 
* Wanted to use war to bring Italians together 
* Increased division between those who went to war and those who stayed home 
* Anticlerical, socialist to begin with 
* Nationalisation of arms including black shirts and flags because of the defeat at caporetto 
* Gained a large following (grew to 3000 by 1919) because it was similar to the PSI

Sqaudrismo and move to the right

* War created a culture of violence among soldiers returning from the war 
* Socialist & working class strikes as enemy 
* Communist believed in extreme violence e.g. 200-300 communist attacked socialist demonstrations 
* Paramilitary government 
* Became right wing 
* Mussolini didn’t give orders to squadrismo 
* Instilled fear into voters 
* Fascist did poor in the 1919-19 -> people were scared 
* January to May 1921 200 people were killed and 1000 wounded 
* Wealthy landowners were happy to see socialist go 

\

Political legitimacy

\
* Liberal politicians believed the squadrismo were restoring law and order and rescuing the country from radicalism
* May 1921 fascist attacked socialist campaigns police lent vehicles & army lent weapons  
* PSI still achieved highest vote 
* Fascist who 7% and 35 seats 
* Gave Mussolini respect and authority 
* Gained political legitimacy 
* Stopped facing opposition

PNF and the “new Programme”

* May 1920 new programme 
* More conservative
* More right wing
* Anti-monarch 
* No pope
* No nationalisation of business 
* More militaristic 
* Unification of irredente lands.                         
* Education system that would provide physical and moral training 
* Oct 1921 official party PNF centralised control of Fascist party 
* Recruited respectable members to help advance fascism and appeal beyond appreciation of violence against socialist 
* Developed political legitimacy 

\

Nature and extent of fascist support

* End of 1921 PNF grew to 200,00 
* Appealed to Urban m/c, white collar and small business owners as they feared socialist revolution and rise in taxes 
* Appealed to many people as many grew tired of socialist strikes & liberals 
* Saw fascism as first national party appealing to both men and women of different social classes 
* Strong sense of patriotism 
* Believed Mussolini could save Italy

\

Taking advantage of political unrest

* Giolitti was despised by the nationalist
* split of socialist party
* too many partys = no functioning coalition

establishing dual policy

\
* Mussolini trying to obtain power legally but also using violence.
* Mussolini had to balance the more radical, revolutionary members of the PNF and the more conservative ones he called for an end to squadristi violence with the fear of communist revolution fading, supporters would begin to question why fascist violence was continuing

Aug 1921 pact of pacification

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* Peace agreement made with the socialist trade union and PSI members in parliament
* Cynical political manoeuvring - he hoped the liberals and catholics would come to a deal to stop him working with the socialists
* an attempt to assert his dominance over fascism and force the ras to follow his political direction. unsuccessful in this aim

RAS struggle

Fascist movement (prior to party formation) was split in groups. RAS leaders condemned the pact and meetings of the squadristi were held throughout Italy, calling for an end to the pact of pacification -> Mussolini resigns -> without his leadership, the fascists lacked unity or direction

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* The ras were unable to work together to formulate policy. His absence consequently strengthened his position by demonstrating how crucial he was to the party. 
* November 1921: Fascist delegates overwhelming voted to support Mussolini as leader and confirm the organisation of the movement into an official party

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March on Rome

31st of Oct

took over government

Role of Victor Emmanuel

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* King lacked confidence in Factas government 
* Encouraged not to sign the decree by Salandra and his supports (hoped to gain prime minister himself)
* Feared the military would side with fascist 
* Feared bloodshed if military were to stay loyal to government 
* Kings cousin Duke of Aosta was a fascist support and could replace the king if fascist were to take over

Mussolini appointment as Prime minister

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* Facta resigned king needed to elect a new Prime minister, Salandra did not want to rule with Mussolini as he knew there was a chance he would take over and rejected the kings offer 
* 29 October, Mussolini offered prime minister in a collation government 
* 30 October sworn in as PM 
* 31 October parade 
* Mussolini tried to create a myth that it was the march on Rome that gave him power not constitutionally to keep this idea of aggressive role to powerful fascist party 

1921 election

*- 123 socialist*

*- 15 communist*

*- 107 PPI*

*- 35 fascist*

\
*Giolitti resigns*

Parliamentary compromise and coercion

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* *November 1922 35 fascist deputies whilst PSI had 123 weak gov*
* *16 November maiden speech of offers to work with parliament and threats of violence to anyone who challenged him* 
* *Emergency decree approved 306/116 meant Mussolini could not be removed by parliament and had full power to govern and raise taxes without seeking parliamentary approval for at least a year to fix the socio-economic situation*  
* The main goal was to placate the ruling classes 
* Gained support of conservative elite by appointing the orthodox economist Alberto De’Stefani minister of finance
* Increased clerical pay and reinstating of crucifixs in schools to gain catholic support and support of the Vatican taking away power from PPI
* February 1923 ANI absorbed into PNF meant PNF was now the only nationalist party

controlling the PNF

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* December 1922 Fascist Grand council created helped Mussolini overcome his weak position in the cabinet and undermine liberal government 
* Consolidated control over both the PNF and parliament 
* January 1923 created