Mussolini

I. Conditions that produced authoritarian and single-party state 1. Before Mussolini came into power, there were many problems facing Italy. a. Italy had been going through a post World War One depression after 1918. b. Italy was also on the brink of a socialist takeover, which caused mass hysteria among Italians. c. Even after winning the war against Germany, Italy felt they were cheated out of the territorial settlements they thought they were promised to receive (1). d. All these factors of distrust and poverty enabled Mussolini’s rise to power and allowed him to consolidate his position in Italy between 1918 and 1926. 2. It was the First World War that fatally damaged ‘liberal Italy’ (2). a. Although Italy had only been in war for three years, the war drained all of Italy’s money, which caused mass unemployment and heavy inflation (3). b. The war also slowed down trading of goods as other countries could not afford it due to war debts. i. War reparations only covered only a small sum of the total debt. ii. By the end of the war, Italy’s war debt rose from $2,929,000,000 to $6,918,000,000 (4). c. Italy was in desperate need of money; other countries stopped buying Italian goods and denied giving Italy loans (5). d. To add to the problems, the end of the war slowed down jobs as factories stopped creating war goods. Unemployment was a major issue in Italy, returning veterans returned looking for jobs but jobs were very hard to come by. e. Inflation also caused many problems in Italy as well, by the end of the war the lire was only one fifth of its pre-war value, prices went up 50 per cent while wages remained the same pre-war values. f. All these problems causes social unrest in Italy as people turned to the extreme parties in government (6).

II. Emergence of leaders 1. Fear of a socialist take over was one of the major factors that enabled Mussolini to gain power in Italy. a. As Italy was going downhill after the war, many citizens turned to the extreme left and right wings in government. i. The Socialist party became the largest and most organized political party in the election of 1919, winning 156 seats (9). ii. This fear of a Socialist takeover caused mass hysteria among Italians, as soon many peasants turned to socialism as they lost their land after the war. b. In 1921, many people whom had joined Mussolini’s ‘Fascist’ party, began a campaign of violence against Socialist that led to some 200 dead and 800 wounded. c. However, working-class voters were attracted to left-wing parties in hope of pressing wage claims. d. Strikes and riots were still very prevalent throughout Italy’s tough economic years after the years. e. Many factory workers took action on their behalf by striking and occupying factories (10). i. Consecutively, this raised concern of a revolution in Italy, and soon Fascism seemed like the logical answer to those who owned property and feared Socialism. ii. Fascism looked as if the only firm action to prevent a revolution. It was also the only alternative to Bolshevism. From 1921 to 1922, violence in the streets of Italy continued. f. Fascist thuggery became more eminent than ever. i. Some Socialist even claimed that before October 1922, 3000 of their supporters had been murdered by Fascist thugs. g. In June 1921 Giovanni Giolitti was forced to resign due to Fascist opposition, and after tense negotiations with the government, the King gave Mussolini dictatorial powers to restore order and introduce reforms (11). III. Totalitarian 1. On November 25, 1922 the King gave Mussolini dictatorial power in order to enable him to restore order. a. The dictatorship was only supposed to last until December 31, 1923, but this was not the case. b. Mussolini disbanded the Royal Guard, setting up his own private army of 300 000 of MVSN, a volunteer militia. c. He also began to appoint new people in key jobs, such as the police force and prefectures of local government. i. As this continued, Orlando and Salandra joined the Fascist’s cause, giving it legitimacy. 2. A new law was passed that said whichever party receive at least 25 per cent of the vote would gain two-thirds of the Chamber seats. a. When the election was held, the Fascists and their supporters gained two-thirds of the vote.(15) i. This overwhelming support gave the King an excuse to take no action against the Fascists as violence continued. ii. Giacomo Matteotti, who had openly criticized the Fascists of using force in the elections, was murdered. (16) b. The King continued to refuse action. a. The only alternative he saw was Socialism, which he not only disliked, but knew his support for it would lead to violence. b. The murder of Matteotti enraged other parties, which withdrew from the government in the Aventine Sucession. (17) 3. On July 1st Mussolini began to censor the press and on August 3rd he banned meetings by opposing parties. a. In 1925 further press control was enacted. b. The Prime minister’s position was changed so that he was also the Head of State and only responsible to the King. (18 ) c. Elections were changed in that candidates were submitted and the Fascist Grand Council chose 400 candidates. d. The voting populace, which had been suppressed from 10 million to 3 million, then voted either yes or no to the candidates. e. In the first election held in this way, in March 1929, the majority voted surprisingly for the candidates rather than against.

I. Methods: force, legal a. Legal i. Voting populace limited ii. Fascists approved all candidates iii. Prime Minister made Head of State b. Force i. Secret Police (blackshirts & OVRA) c. Image i. Publicized his illegitimate children to appear as the common man ii. Any who mentioned of his ulcer or syphilis were expelled II. Ideology a. Fascism i. Imperialism ii. Life (population increase) iii. State over individual iv. Limited tights v. Greater rights for certain individuals vi. Peace isn’t impossible b. Began very socialists (appeal to works) with suggestions such as: i. The monarchy abolished ii. A wealth tax iii. Church property was to be confiscated iv. 85 per cent tax was to be levied on anyone who profited from war c. A year later the policies were forgotten and a year after that Mussolini changed his policies to support landowners d. Battle for Grain e. Expansionist campaign (Italian Pride) III. Opposition a. Giamcomo Matteotti, after criticizing Mussolini, was murdered. Mussolini quelled the uproar by arresting the murderers and declaring law and order had been restored. b. The press was censored c. Political parties, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly were suppressed. d. Disbanded the Royal Guard and replaced with a volunteer militia