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Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia (1935), joined Germany in the Axis pact (1936), and allied Italy with Germany in World War II. He was overthrown in 1943 when the Allies invaded Italy.

Unredeemed lands

referred to Trentino and Trieste. These areas of Austria-Hungary had a large portion of Italian speakers. Many nationalist believed those areas should be part of Italy.

spazio vitale

"living Space" was part of the territorial expansion plan of Italian fascism.

black shirts

A private army under Mussolini who destroyed socialist newspapers, union halls, and Socialist party headquarters, eventually pushing Socialists out of the city governments of Northern Italy.

Pope Pius XI

The pope who gave his support to Mussolini in return for him recognizing Vatican City as an independent state (Pope still sometimes disagreed with Mussolini)

Two Red Years

1919-1921- Period in Europe when there was a wave of fear about communists and possible communist revolutions.

"What is Fascism?"

1932--Encyclopedia written by Mussolini. Gives Mussolini opportunity to describe and define his definition of fascism.

Fiume Affair

1919--D'Annunzio led 2,000 ex-soldiers to occupy this port, to protest against the Italian government's agreement to hand it over to Yugoslavia. The seizure shows the level of anger that some Italians held toward the government over the terms of the WWI peace talks. The fact that the Italian govt. could not dislodge these ex-soldiers until 1920 also demonstrated the weakness of the government.

fascism

A governmental system led by a dictator having, or desiring to have, complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

social darwinism

The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - particularly as a justification for their imperialist expansion and in the case of fascist regimes, to justify the displacement or even mass killing of groups deemed inferior.

nationalism

Belief that a nation consists of a group of people who share similar traditions, history, and language. Nationalists argued that every nation should be sovereign and include all members of a community. A person's greatest loyalty should be to a nation-state.

militarism

A political orientation of a people or a government to maintain a strong military force and to be prepared to use it aggresively to defend or promote national interests

authoritarianism

belief that "the state" should have a significant influence or control over many aspects of life. Sometimes justified with language of limiting individual liberties in the name of social cohesion as well as "law and order."

social unity--from a fascist orientation

attempts to suppress any divisions that would lessen loyalty to the state.

corporate state

Mussolini's economic and political machinery to manage the Italian economy and settle issues between labor and management

Acerbo Law

1923 electoral reform that would give 2/3 of the seats to the party with the most votes; it enabled Mussolini to create a dictatorship

Giacomo Matteotti

Was a leading noncommunist, socialist leader and member of Parliament that the fascists murdered. Had frequently criticized Mussolini and had exposed the criminality of the fascist movement. Deputies that were against the murder withdrew from parliament and were not given readmission. This gave Mussolini more freedom to do as he wished.

Law on Powers of Head of Government

12/1925--gave Mussolini additional executive powers. Allowed for strictly controlling the press, outlawed opposition parties and trade unions.

OVRA

Mussolini's secret police

Versailles Peace Treaties revisionists

these were people focused on the changing or revision of the terms of the various treaties that came out of the Versailles Peace Talks.

Battle for Grain

Mussolini encouraged Italian farmers to grow grain so that the country would not need to import it from other countries.

Invasion of Corfu/Corfu Affair

1923-Italian troops invaded this Greek Island. League of Nations condemned this action, but it was the threat of British naval intervention that led the Italians to withdraw its troops.

Pact of Rome 1924

One of Mussolini's foreign policy victories. Yugoslavia agrees to give Italy the port of Fiume.

Invasion of Ethiopia 1935

It was an invasion in 1935 that led to a war lasting from 35-36. Italy invaded Ethiopia resulting in their subjection to the European state. The war demonstrated the issues with the League of Nations. By gaining Ethiopia, Mussolini expanded his empire; however his actions were condemned by the League of Nations as it went against the anti-colonization acts put in place. The League of Nations tried to put economic sanctions on Italy but it failed because it did not generate enough support. It helped to increase the tension between fascist states and Western democracies.

Haile Selassie

Emperor of Ethiopia (r. 1930-19745) and symbol of African independence. He fought the Italian invasion of his country in 1935 and regained his throne during World War II, when British forces expelled the Italians. He ruled Ethiopia as a traditional autocracy until he was overthrown in 1974.

Stresa Front

agreement between French prime minister Pierre Laval, British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald, and Italian prime minister Benito Mussolini on 14 April 1935; the agreement took its name from the town of Stresa, situated on the banks of Lake Maggiore in Italy, where the conference was held; its aim was to reaffirm the Locarno Treaties and to declare that the independence of Austria "would continue to inspire their common policy"; the signatories also agreed to resist any future attempt by the Germans to change the Treaty of Versailles; the Stresa Front began to break down after Britain signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement in June 1935, in which Germany was given permission to increase the size of its navy; it collapsed completely in the aftermath of Italy's invasion of Abyssinia in October 1935

Autarky

A policy of self-reliance, avoiding or minimizing trade and trying to produce everything one needs (or the most vital things) by oneself.

Dolfuss affair

1934 where dolfuss the Austrian chancellor was killed after denying to join with Germany and Germany tired to take control but Mussolini moved troops to the border and they stopped the coup

Hoare-Laval Pact

British French agreement in 1935 to appease mussolini and to prevent Italian-German alliance by accepting Italian annexation of land in Abyssinia

Rome-Berlin Axis (1936)

Agreement between Mussolini and Hitler that recognized their common political and economic interests

Anti-Comintern Pact

In 1936 Japan signed this with Germany and it was later ratified by Italy. It was in opposition to Communism but actually proved to be the foundation for diplomatic alliance between these three powers. Each now had allies and pushed their demands for individual success. In 1938 Mussolini was willing to accept the German absorption of Austria which he had resisted in 1934.

Munich Conference

a 1938 meeting of representatives from Britain, France, Italy, and Germany, at which Britain and France agreed to allow Nazi Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia in return for Adolf Hitler's pledge to respect Czechoslovakia's new borders. Mussolini "brokers" the agreement giving him status (actually he was just a pawn of Hitler's)

Pact of Steel

May 1939 - Italy and Germany; turned the Rome-Beline axis into a full scale military and political alliance, an aggressive agreement

Invasion of Albania

April 1939 sets stage for future invasions of Greece and Yugoslavia. Albania withdraws from League of Nations, Mussolini declares creation of the "Italian Empire."

Italy leaves the League of Nations

1937

March on Rome (1922)

Mussolini and army of fascists Black Shirts marched on Rome and demanded the resignation of the existing government. The king was compelled to place Mussolini as the dictator for a year, meaning he had achieved his high status and position "legally".

Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)

a multi-nation treaty, sponsored by American and French leaders, that outlawed war.

Italy declares war on France and England, invades France

June 1940

Italy did not participate in

the German invasion of Poland

Treaty of St. Germain 1919

Treaty imposed on Austria after the war. Transformed Austria into "the tadpole state," with only 25% of its pre-war land and 20% of its pre-war population. Aside from territorial changes, the Anschluss was forbidden, and Austria's armed forces were reduced to 30,000 men. The reparations that were imposed on it caused the country to go to bankrupt in 1922.

Locarno Pact / Spirit of Locarno

The pact was an agreement to define the border between France and Germany, and in which Britain and Italy would gang up on the aggressor if the treaty was broken. The spirit was this feeling that war could be stopped again by peace talks that settled in Europe after the pact

Quadripartite Pact / Four Power Pact 1933

Mussolini's idea to supplant the League of Nations for the four powers that signed it- IT GR FR GB. The agreement stated that smaller nations should have "less say" in the decisions of the four powers. It was ignored/not taken seriously by GB FR & GR, but Mussolini sold it as a diplomatic victory to the Italian people