in power

name (very simply) 5 groups mussolini had to win loyalty from at the beginning

1. king

2. church

3. confindustria

4. agari

5. nationalists

how did mussolini compromise with the king? how did he intimidate him? at the beginning

C. Promised not to get rid of him (1921 programme)

C. became friends with the family of the monarchy
→ cousin (Duke of Aosta) and mother (made it hard to go against m)

I. march on rome - posing as a revolution to overthrow him

how did mussolini compromise with the confindustria at the beginning

C. low taxes- corporate tax cut by 30%

C. banned trade unions- 1926 rocco’s law

C. abolished all taxes on luxury goods

will make economy struggle long term

how did mussolini compromise with the agari?

agari= middle/large sized farmers

C. farming grants awarded

C. corporate tax for large farms cut significantly

C. grants to buy modern equipment like fiat tractors awarded

C. battle for grain (1925)- attempted to drive autarky forward

how did mussolini compromise with nationalists?

C. wanted to be one large party

C. imperalism was prioritised and things like Mare Nostrum were huge factors

membership of party increased from 300,000 in 1922 to 800,000 in 1923

what did membership increase from 1922 to 1923?

1922: 300,000

1923: 800,000

how did the matteotti crisis begin?

• may 30th 1924

• matteoti (socialist leader) had a 30 min speech prepared to denounce the fascist violence in the recent election and calling for results to be annulled

• (many opposite candidates beaten up and tortured with castor oil)

• he was quickly interrupted and it took him 2 hours to finish his speech

when did matteoti make his speech?

30th may 1924

what happened to matteoti after the speech?

• june 10th 1924

• he was blocked by ex-squads on his way to the chamber

• he was stabbed repeatedly 

• the car that took matteotti belonged to filipelli (a leading fascist) and the murder was traced to dumini (member of cheka and the assistant to m’s press secretary)
  shows mussolini was close to extremists

when was matteotti stabbed?

10th june 1924

who was linked to the murder of matteotti?

filipelli’s car (leading fascist)

dumini traced to murder (member of cheka and assistant to m’s press secretary)

what is the cheka?

secret hit squad

what was the political response to matteotti crisis?

• press started to slander M

• four ministers offered their resignation 

• few strikes and protests after june 10th

• people tore up fascist membership cards, protested in the street and communist called for a general strike

• aventine secession

explain the aventine secession

• opposition had walked out of parliament in protest
  → they thought this would force the king into dismissing m

• but this led to no chance of gov being overthrown by parliamentary vote

• the king didn’t see how he could dismiss m’s gov if there was no parlimentary majority

• parties started to argue and go after each other rather than m

how did the ras and squads respond to the matteoti crisis? (before visiting them)

• squadristi were furious with the bad press against them 

• the ras started to mistrust m

• balbo was made to resign in november due to involvement with other crimes

• a new leader of the fascist militia (MVSN) was brought called gandolfo
  → gandolfo replaced old squads with ex army officers who weren’t fascist which upset ras as they thought m was trying to separate state and gov

how did the ras go to mussolini after matteoti crisis?

• 33 ras visited m on dec 31st 1924 and demanded a real fascist regime

• fascists had rioted in florence and he couldn’t remain a constitutional pm

when was ras member forced to resign? who?

balbo

november

who was the new leader of the militia? what is the militia called?

gandolfo

MSVN

when did ras visit m? how many?

dec 31st 1924

33

where had fascists rioted?

florence

what did mussolini do in the chamber after the matteotti crisis?

january 3rd 1925

made a speech saying:

1. he had nothing to do with matteoti’s murder and has always been legal

2. accepted responsibility for actions of fascism

3. stated he was setting up a dictatorship

when did mussolini make his speech in the chamber?

january 3rd 1925

how did m’s respnonse to matteoti crisis reassure people?

1. ras: he would be more responsive to their wishes

2. old gov: squads wouldn’t be used and police would be instead

m seized initiative and turned his almost fatal downfall into something beneficial

how many decrees did pass under new dictatorship by 1926?

2,000

name 5 ways mussolini consolidated power through violence

1. confinos

2. castor oil

3. special tribunals

4. matteoti

5. OVRA

how did mussolini use confinos to consolidate power

• internal exile without trial

• sent to remote islands → e.g. lipari

• introduced under leggi fascistissme

• used against: socialists, communists, anti fascists

• prisoners lived under:

  • police survaillence

  • poor conditions

  • isolation from politics

evaluate the use of confinos

• allowed to remove opponents quietly and legally without creating martyrs

• oppositon removed but not destroyed, italian communist party sill operated underground and was active in 1930s (shown by OVRA)

how did fascists use castor oil to consolidate power

socialists/communists were purged with castor oil by forcing them to drink large amounts of castor oil. this caused severe dehydration and diarrhoea and then they were often beaten until they had wounds that would be infected, heightening chance of death

evaluate use of castor oil

• cheap and effective and easy to access so could be done locally

• humiliated and traumatised opposition so that they don’t speak out again or diss the fascist party. other people are unlikely to do so to avoid this

• resentment towards fascist cruelty → church and conservatives

• made look illegitimate

explain use of special tribunals

• created to try political crimes against fascist state

• under leggi fascistissme

• judges were pnf members or military officers

• 5600 people tried from 26-43 → 4600 convicted

• led to prison or confino

evaluate special tribunals

• eliminated opposition and criminalised anti fascism

• controlled courts

• only conforming, fear not loyalty

explain ovra

• 1927- network of informants and survaillence

• arrested and monitored political opponents and ordinary citizens suspected of fascism → special tribunals

• detailed files on 130,000 italians

evaluate ovra

• self censorship- confirmity through fear and survellaince state

• extended fascist control into everyday life → don’t know who to trust

• conformity not internalisation

• relied on people telling the truth but was often motivated by grudges

explain 3 parliamentary ways of consolidating power

1. rule by decree - 1922

2. acerbo law - 1923

3. leggi fascistissme - 1926

explain rule by decree

1922

emergency powers by king to reform administration and tax system

12 months without consulting parlaiment

evaluate rule by decree

• weakened power of parlaiment and democracy - laws without debate/discussion

• act quickly and decisively

• support from conservatives as it removed socialist threat

• temporary and could be withdrawn by king

• doesn’t remove opposition

• only admin and tax

explain acerbo law

• 1923 (came in in 1924)

• ¼ votes = 2/3 seats

• intimidation from fascists to sign law → squads roamed chamber during debate

• 303-40 votes

evaluate acerbo law

• some saw as positive change to failure of trasformismo and proportional representation → coalitions falling apart

• could pass laws easily

• elections following year and election rigging legitmises fascist majority

• only 2/3 not all

• led to matteoti crisis (nearly ruined m’s career)

• good but need leggi fascistissme to make dictatorship

explain leggi fascistissme

• 1926

• rocco’s law- ban free trace unions (not fascist ones)

• press laws

• ban opposition parties

• purge civil service of non-fascists

• made m head of gov and only responded to king- not parlaiment

• set up of OVRA

evaluate leggi fascistissme

• no threatening strikes until 1940s

• corporate state

• one party state

• ended democracy

• still threatened king

• underground resistance and repression still