The Police Forces in the Province of Bologna, 1923-25 324
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THE UNIVERSITY OF HULL THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE ITALIAN STATE INSTITUTIONS IN THE RISE TO POWER OF FASCISM: THE POLICE FORCES IN THE PROVINCE OF BOLOGNA, 1897-1925 being a Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Hull by Jonathan M. Dunnage, B.A. August 1990 4 Corrections to the text will be found in the appended leaves at the back of the thesis and are indicated in the body of the text by an asterisk in the RH margin. CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction Chapter I: Police, Prefecture and Prevention; A History of the Italian Police System, 1800-1926 1 Chapter II: Social, Political and Economic Developments in the Province of Bologna, 1897-1925 90 Chapter III: A Case-Study of Bologna's Police Forces, 1897 - 1918 147 Chapter IV: Policing in Bologna during the Rise of Fascism, 1918-22 237 Chapter V: The Police forces in the Province of Bologna, 1923-25 324 Conclusion 366 Appendix 1: Maps S 372 Appendix 2: Documents 378 Appendix 3: Bologna's Prefects, 1894-1925 395 Bibliography 396 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My special thanks are due to Dr Doug Thompson for his help and guidance during the completion of this thesis. I am also grateful to Prof. Massimo Legnani, Prof.ssa Fiorenza Tarozzi and Prof. Alberto Preti (University of Bologna), Prof.ssa Brunella Dalla Casa (Director of the Istituto Storico Provinciale della Resistenza di Bologna) and Dott. Nazario Sauro Onofri (Assistant Director of the Istituto Regionale della Resistenza dell'Emilia Romagna). ABBREVIATIONS ASB. Archivio di Stato di Bologna. Gabinetto di Prefettura ACS: PS. Archivio Centrale dello Stato. Ministero dell'Interno. Direzione Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza (Affari Generali e Riservati) ACS: UC. Archivio Centrale dello Stato. Ministero dell'Interno. Direzione Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza. Ufficio Cifra (Arrivi/Partenze) ACS: Personale. Archivio Centrale dello Stato. Ministero dell'Interno. Divisione I. Personale Fuori Servizio (Riservato) INTRODUCTION This thesis aims to demonstrate and account for the role played by the Italian state institutions in the rise of Fascism. It is based on a case-study of Bologna's police forces. While most historical accounts of Italian Fascism mention the collusion of the police and judiciary with the Fascist movement during the period 1920-22, my thesis attempts to provide a clearer definition of the part played by the prefect, Questore, Regie Guardie and Carabinieri during the years of serious and prolonged civil disturbance and to provide convincing motives for such conduct. I hope to demonstrate that there are many hypothetical explanations for the connivance of Bologna's police forces with local squadristi. These range from anti-Socialism and opportunism to numerical weakness, the physical, psychological and moral pressure of Fascism and the ambiguous attitude of the central government towards Mussolini's movement. I aim, above all, to show that the relationship of Bologna's police forces with the provincial Fascist movement may be linked back to several traditional internal and external factors inherent in Italian policing, the most crucial of which was Italy's weak and out- moded police system itself, and that from an institutional point of view Fascism may be considered a 'revelation' of Italy's past in spite of the 'revolutionary' desires of many of its exponents for an end to Liberal politics and a break with the past. The first of two introductory chapters considers the origins and development of the Italian police system, the roots of which are to be found in the Napoleonic occupation of the peninsula at the beginning of the nineteenth century and the pre-unification monarchic dynasty of Piedmont. Using mostly secondary sources, it refers particularly to the two main police corps, the Carabinieri and the Guardie di PS., the Napoleonic figure of the chief representative of the state in the provinces, the prefect, nineteenth-century preventive police legislation and traditional internal weaknesses inherent in the Italian police system. This chapter is fundamental in explaining the role of the police in the rise of Fascism. The second chapter traces social, political and economic developments in the province of Bologna between 1890 and 1926. Based again on secondary sources, many of which are the works of local historians, it aims to point out those aspects of Bolognese history directly involving the provincial police authorities, such as development of the peasant Socialist movement, the agrarian strikes which dominated the period researched, the growth of agrarian employers' defensive associations, the effects of the First World War, the founding of the Fascist movement and the struggles between provincial and state Fascism during the years immediately following the March on Rome. Chapter III is a case-study, using primary sources, of policing in Bologna between 1897 and 1918. It is roughly divided into three periods. The first (1897-1900) examines traditional nineteenth-century policing methods and the effects of prevention laws as epitomized in the repression of Molinella's braccianti strikes in 1898. The second period (1901-1914) questions the success of Giovanni Giolitti in promoting social and political peace and changing the role played by the police in syndical disputes. It particularly aims to demonstrate that the failure of the prime minister to give the police less of a repressive and more of a mediatorial outlook may be directly linked to his failure to update and enlarge an archaic police system. The third and final part of the chapter considers the Interventionist crisis of 1915 and the role of the police forces in this as well as the restrictions which the First World War placed on local Socialist political and syndical power. This chapter generally questions the relationship of the provincial police authorities with the Socialist movement, its attitude towards strikes, the development of trade unions, revolutionary Socialism and Anarchy. In doing this it seriously calls into question whether police collaboration with the Fascist movement during the post-war period may have stemmed from an anti-Marxist tradition which was so much in evidence between 1897 and 1918. It also examines the weak and inefficient nature of the police forces and the negative repercussions which this had on policing. The fourth chapter firstly questions the social and political effects of the First World War in Bologna in 1919 and 1920. (iv) It examines the manner in which the provincial police authorities dealt with both the threat of Socialist revolution, as epitomized in braccianti land occupations and the metalworkers' occupation of the factories in September 1920, and the founding and development of the Bolognese 'Fascio di Combattimento'. The second half aims to show, as accurately as possible, how many members of Bologna's police forces collaborated with the Fascist movement and how the state did or did not attempt to overcome both Fascist violence and police connivance in this. Particular attention is paidhere to the role of the prefect of Bologna, Cesare Mori, probably one of the last state representatives to oppose Fascism. The final part of the chapter outlines possible motives for police connivance with the Fascist movement. Special emphasis is placed here on the importance of Fascism as a physical, psychological and moral influence on police conduct and the ambiguous nature of government directives concerning the Fascist movement so that the phenomenon of connivance cannot alone be attributed to anti-Socialism. Chapter V starts by examining the effects of Mussolini's rise to power on the police system. Considerable attention is given to the founding of the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale in 1923 and its relationship to the traditional police system. It then questions whether connivance between provincial Fascism and the police authorities altered after the March on Rome and particularly whether such collaboration was political or opportunist, that (v) is, whether the police organs became Fascist or simply 'Fascistized'. Much consideration is given to the attitude of the police towards the conflict during the period 1923-6 between state and provincial Fascism, particularly during the Matteotti crisis, as well as the role of the police in ousting opposition to the Fascist government, particularly following Mussolini's speech of 3 January 1925 which put Italy on the road to dictatorship. By examining the role of Bologna's police forces this chapter tries to demonstrate that from an institutional point of view Fascism was a continuation or indeed development of Italy's 'Liberal' regimes of the past. My main sources for Chapters III, IV and V were the Interior Ministry police documents from the Archivio di Stato di Bologna and the Archivio Centrale dello Stato in Rome. These were supported where possible by local and national newspapers dating back to the period researched. The use of this primary material posed several difficulties. Firstly, the documentation was of such a vast quantity that it was physically impossible to consult all of it in the time available to me. This meant that I tended to examine those files which, by the nature of their title, seemed relevant to my research, unless my attention had been drawn to them specifically by some other source. Experience gained from these documents showed me, however, that often the most relevant documents were found by chance in the 'wrong' files. Hence a letter concerning events in 1921 might be found in a 1925 file. Similarly, for example, a document concerning (vi ) the Fascist movement might be found in a file entitled 'Personale di Pubblica Sicurezza'. This in itself suggests that I may have overlooked certain documents of great significance to my research. Having stated that the vast quantity of documents posed difficulties for me on occasions, it must be additionally pointed out that in places documentation was scanty, particularly from the 1925 files onwards.