mussolini.notebook December 02, 2008

ITALY, MUSSOLINI AND THE RISE OF THE GREAT WAR • Declaration of neutrality • The united nationalstate Italy­1861. • The popular opinion divided­violent PROBLEMS; clashes between nationalists and • Division wealthy north/poor south. socialists. • Illiteracy • • Corruption, bureaucracy, limited • Declaration of war, 26.4.1915 confidence in the political system. (Treaty of London ­ secret promises • The Vatican state­papal ban of land areas). • Constant violent friction landowners • Massive casualties and suffering vs. landless peasants. • American emigration. • Cosa nostra (maffia) • Nationalists vs. socialists

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THE MUTILATED VICTORY • High hopes as Italy was on the Economic disaster: • many firms geared to the demands winning side. • 600 000 dead, 950 000 wounded of war ­ bankrupt. • • 250 000 crippled for life During 1919 the lira lost 2/3 of its • National bancrupcy, warinflation value. • • Returning soldiers unemployed many middle­class savings wiped • Italy disapointed and humiliated in out. • the peaceconference Strikes, factory occupations, food riots.

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FASCISM D'ANNUNZIO AND FIUME • '' ­ special forces during the • Annoyed after the war Gabriele war organised themselves. Mussolini D'Annunzio organised a private army became a leading member. and invaded Fiume. He ruled the town • In 1919 he reorganised his group as a dictator for more than a year. A into the ' di Combattimento'. pirate state. • The objective was to fight • The town attracted young italians communism. Violent clashes, who enjoyed excitement. landowners and industrialists • The international opinion finally supported the fascists. forced Italy to take action and force D'Annunzio out of Fiume. • Mussolini admired D'Annunzio and became convinced he could make his way to power with direct force.

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FASCIST MOBILISATION Reasons for the rise of the Fascists (1920­22) • The clashes between socialists and fascists escalated 1920. The state Disgust in Italy at the terms of the peace treaties (didn't obtain was on the edge to civil war. A.H. territory) • Landowners, industrialists, bankers The Fascists represented a means to stop the socialists and the but also middle and lowered middle communists (in the eyes of conservative politicians, who sought to classes rallied behind the moderate and control Fascism to their purposes) party in their fear of communism. • Economic fundament of the Mussolini was backed by wealthy industrialists and landowners movement. (b/c of their fear of socialist reforms) • The police usually didn't intervene Support from Pope Pius XI and the Vatican (who saw the with fascist violent expeditions. Fascists as an opportunity to normalize State­Church relationships) • In the parliamentary elections 1921 Lack of faith in Italy's institutions (failures of WWI, post­war the fascists succeeded in getting violence, high U?) 35/535 seats. After the (October 22) the King offered the post of Prime Minister to Mussolini The violence of the Fascists (i.e.: ) intimidated opponents The complicity of the police and the army (who didn't suppress Fascist violence)

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AGRARIAN AND URBAN FASCISM Italy's capitalists expected Fascism to speed up modernization by authoritarian It was the furious escalation of the class war that consolidated the partnership means and a violent suppression of the left. between fascism and property. First in this process was the employment during The deliberate stimulation of anarchy served to keep propertied interests in a the winter of 1920 of SQUADRISTI by the big landowners state of alarm. With the government unable or unwilling to intervene, Fascism who were determined to break the power of the peasant leagues and seemed the only safeguard; in effect, it acquired a monopoly of antibolshevism. cooperatives. This Agrarian fascism differed markedly from the Urban fascism; it was more terroristic and antidemocratic. Fascism the servant of a brutal right. The year 1920 ­ the establishment of a general confederation of industry (Confindustria) whose purpose was to counter working­class agitation by force if necessary.

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THE ELECTION OF 1921 1921 ­ 22 Because his party offered action Mussolini gained from the weakness of the Giolitti failed to hold his coalition together (Mussolini did his best to break up shifting governments and from the unrest in the country. Giolitti (p.m.) was the government. The fascists immediately took their seats with the Nationalists searching for allies against the socialists in 1921 and he decided to use the on the extreme right of the chamber in opposition to Giolitti). Giolitti was fascists. He believed he could easily dominate Mussolini. He made a sad replaced by Bonorni and he, in his turn, with Facta. None of them were able to mistake and he must be held responsible for giving Mussolini another chance. build up a stable government. At the same time local fascist leaders did their To bring the fascists into Giolitti's parliamentary coalition, it was first necessary best to cause unrest in the country. to include them in the national list of government­backed candidates. During the 1921 election the government used Fascist support to unseat Socialists deputies. The Fascists beat up opponents. The police remained neutral or actively aided them. 35 fascists out of a total of 535 seats were elected.

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Aristocratic nationalists provided an entry for Fascism into court circles. This MUSSOLINIS WAY TO POWER was also helped by the fact that Mussolini declared being a monarchist that The more the Fascists enjoyed the confidence of the power structure, the less same year. The aristocracy and the upper­bourgeoise tolerated fascism as long they needed a violent coup to obtain power. Eager to create the impression of as it performed certain tasks for them. It was a dangerous game to play. fascism as a revolutionary movement, Fascist later asserted that The new pope Pius XI (1922) and Mussolini were on good terms. power was taken by force in 1922. The truth was somewhat different. Liberals turned an blind eye to Fascist brutalities. Liberal journals saw fascist On 12 May 1922 the Fascists (63.000) took over the town of Ferrara and didn't assault on the most elementary rights as justified as the only alternative to leave before the government promised to carry out a scheme of public works anarchy. 'Fascism would grew tamer as times went by'. there. Mussolini was constantly terrified by the thought the government would Numerous italian intellectuals thought the same way, Fascism could be made use arms against fascist massactions, but they didn't. law­abiding. On 1 August 1922 the Socialists proclaimed a general strike as a protest against The army was loyal to king Victor Emmanuel III who feared a civil war. As a fascist actions in Romagna. This played into Mussolinis hands for he could offer result he made no effort to co­operate with the government against the growing to break the strike when the government did nothing. He could appear as the Fascist­movement. A movement which was supported by many property owners man to restore order while making use of his disorderly supporters. It provided who feared disorder and Communism. an excuse for further Fascist lawlessness. The strike collapsed after a day and The bulk of Fascism's popular support came from the petty bourgeoise or lower Mussolini and his Fascists gained increasing support. People began to feel that middle­class (small shopkeepers, clerical workers, teachers). These were the the Fascists might bring a return to order. On August 3, the fascist Squadristi ones who were not very poor but who didn't escape harm in the postwar slump. invaded the city hall of Milan and expelled its socialist administration. Now it The ones who dreamed of climbing up the ladder and at the same time were was only a matter of time before an attack on the legal capital, Rome. terrified by the thought of workers reaching the same hierarchial status as themselves.

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THE MARCH ON ROME 1922 But it takes two to fight and it was not at all certain that the liberal regime in The Italian government had virtually broken down by October 1922. P.M. Facta Rome would take up the challenge. suggested that the entire cabinet should resign and when this idea was turn Mussolini and his immediate followers had laid down plans for military action down by his colleagues he began to think in terms of a coalition with the but the army was still loyal to the King and it would have crushed any attempt fascists. to destroy the regime. At the same time the March on Rome was entrusted to a quadrumvirate (reflects Mussolini planned to take action on the 28 October with a massive Fascist the diverse elements within Fascism); march to Rome but he didn't want the fascist to threat the King or the Army. A General Emilio de Bono, the eldest, was a retired army officer and a nationalist clash with the army was to be avoided at all costs and army units were to be of the old school. treated with courtesy and friendliness. The main idea was to raise a ultimatum Italo Balbo, the youngest and typical of the extremist wing of Fascism (taste for to the government; violence). A NEW CABINET WITH AT LEAST 6 FASCIST MINISTERS IN IMPORTANT POSTS. Cesare De Vecchi was from the ultraconservative landowning class and a Facta decided to resign but his cabinet still ran the government until a new monarchist. leader could be chosen. When the fascists started rolling into Rome Facta was Michele Bianchi, secretary of the party, had reached Fascism by the syndicalist persuaded to return and to declare a state of siege in Rome. He went to the King socialist route. and asked for a proclamation declaring a state of emergency. This would mean The plan was to cut off the government in Rome from the rest of Italy and then that the army would be called out against the Fascists columns. The King feared advance into the town itself. civil war and doubted Facta's ability to control the situation. He refused to sign the proclamation though he was approached twice. Mussolini now knew that there would not be an armed clash, and so he could afford to increase his demands; 'The goverment must have a clear fascist character'.

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On 29 October Viktor Emmanuel III proclaimed that Mussolini was to form a government. Mussolini formed his government (containing only 4 fascists). PROBLEMS WITHIN THE FASCIST PARTY The key posts naturally went to fascists. Mussolini himself became p.m., foreign One of the basic characteristics of this first Fascist state was the merging of minister and minister of the interior. the party and the state, so that the leader () of the party became the leader Furthermore, parliament was induced to allow the cabinet extraordinary powers for one year. of the state. He knew that he now had the support of the King, the army, the industrialists, Mussolini's new 'democratic' approach didn't sit well to all fascists. Many of the property owners as well as the loyalty of his fascist followers. them still wanted to overthrow the old order as soon as possible and preferably The fascist columns didn't move on Rome until Mussolini had become prime by direct action. The struggle between this fanatic front and Mussolini's tactical minister. They then paraded in Rome and were received by the King before taking trains for home. moderation kept the Fascist movement in a state of tension for two years. Mussolini had been offered his chance and he grabbed it. To control the party Mussolini had set up the in 1922. It imposed a hierarchial structure on Fascism with Mussolini at the top. Mussolini realized that Fascism's success rested, not on its own strength, but on the weakness of its opponents. This explains the early actions taken by The Duce chose the members of the Council, he served as its permanent Mussolini in power. president, and he alone triggered its decision making process. But the council In a sense, then, Mussolini came to power constitutionally, though only in a didn't control only the party it also controlled the state, it was a second cabinet. somewhat deceptive sense. The cabinet that Mussolini constructed within 12 hours of his arrival in Rome contained 14 members, of which only 4 were actually fascists. The key posts naturally went to these fascists; Mussolini himself became president of the council of ministers (P.M.), pro tem (tillfällig) foreign minister, and minister of interior. But the appeareance was none the less a conventional ministery (with Nationalists, Popolari and even two socialists). Mussolini's ministry received a vote of confidence in parliament but also EXTRAORDINARY POWERS FOR ONE YEAR (which wasn't unique at the time). The semlance (skepnad) of legality partly explains the apathy which greeted Mussolini's advent to power in many circles. Another explanation of the apathy was the lack of knowledge of the aims of Fascism, not least by its own followers. Many italians either interpreted fascism in a way in which it would be most acceptable to him or he, or just believed that Mussolini was only a temporary expedient (opportunist).

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Almost the first action of the Grand Council was to convert the squadristi into a PARLIAMENTARY PROBLEMS AND THE ELECTIONS OF 1924 national militia financed by the state ­ MILIZIA VOLONTARIA PER LA SICUREZZA One of Mussolini's problems was the lack of solid support in the parliament. The NAZIONALE (MVSN). All members of the MVSN swore allegiance, not to the king fascists possessed only 35/535 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In the spring or the state, but to the Duce; thus, a private army was institonalized and brought of 1923 a rift opened between Mussolini and the Popolari (much due to fascist under Mussolini's private control. brutality in the countryside). This resulted in the dissmission of the Popolari Mussolini still had problems with the local fascist leaders who carried out ministers. At this point Mussolini brought forward the ACERBO ELECTION LAW: sporadic violence throughout the country which contradicted to the image of (named after the fascist who introduced it) respectability that Mussolini induced in Rome. ­this law repealed (upphävde) the law of 1919 on proportional representation. ­The party gaining the most votes in a national election (at least one quarter) should automatically be given 2/3 of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies. ­The bill became law by the end of 1923. Elections were held the following april. The electoral campaign was by no means democratic. Fascists spread fear and terror over the country and kept opponents away from the polling boxes. 64% of the votes were cast for Mussolini's list and he had secured his Machiavellian position. On the other hand fascism had chosen a illegal course after this, something Mussolini had succeeded in avoiding before this.

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THE MATTEOTTIMURDER Fascist terror tactics in the election did not go unprotested. Most articulate of The more radical fascists were very discontent with Mussolini's actions. As a the protesters was a prominent socialist, Giacomom Matteotti. means of pressure on Mussolini, on 31 December a giant rally was held at In the afternoon of June 10 1924 Matteotti was kidnapped. It was not until Florence. There loyalty to the Duce was declared to be conditional on his taking August that Matteotti's body was discovered but long before this all Italy was 'dictatorial action'. This message was also brought to Mussolini by 30 consuls. sure that Matteotti had been killed by Fascists. On January 3, 1925 Mussolini addressed the Parliament. For the first time, he About Mussolini's exact part one doesn't know, although of his moral guilt there accepted responsibility for Matteotti's death. is no question. "Italy wants peace and guiet, and calm in which to work. This we shall give her, Matteotti was not the first to die in the hands of the fascists, although he was by love if possible, by force if need be." This was to be the second coup d'etat the most prominent. And coming on top of the recent election violence it made a and there proved to be nothing to stop Mussolini now. mockery of the contention that fascism would grow milder with the A much more thorough dictatorship was imposed. For the first time in history responsibilities of office. Many looked for the King to dissmiss Mussolini but he the term 'totalitarian' was used, Mussolini using it with pride, and claiming that didn't. The oppositional elements came together but when Pius XI warned the the fascist regime was completing the work of the risorgimento by removing all popular party against joining an anti­fascist front the worst threat against divisive forces in the state. No longer where there to be divisions of class or Mussolini had vanished. political parties. In practice some limitations on remained. The But Mussolini showed every sign of panic; He offered scapegoats for Matteotti's monarchy and the church were both to retain their independence from the murder and he thought about resignation (even handed it in but the king refused regime. to sign it). But non­fascist political parties were dissolved. The non­Fascist minority in parliament reacted to the crises by withdrawing for an indefinite period from the chamber. This was a weak and ineffective protest, and seems to have strengthened the king in his opinion to leave Mussolini in office.

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Within two years Mussolini's cabinet ceased to be a coalition and became THE DICTATOR exclusevily fascist. Opponents were not allowed in the parliament and Mussolini After 1925, there were no grounds for challenging mussolini's leadership. was accorded a virtually limitless right to rule by decree. Mussolini had joined the extremists in the fascist party. The power of The fascists took over all local councils. independent fascist sections was broken. Independent trade unions were prohibited. After this Mussolini took full control, and he usually held several ministries to Independent newspapers were taken over by the fascists. himself. By the end of 1926 the foundations of the dictatorship had been securely laid. Like many crowd pleasers, Mussolini proved to be better at criticizing existing In 1926 a political police force OVRA, seperate from the Fascist militia, was faults than at implementing reforms. formed. Italy was now a one­party state, and in most respects a totalitarian one. Fascism tried to provide its own working­class cultural and leisure institutions The ledaers of the opposition either went into exile or were imprisoned. and in some parts of the country one achieved the support of the workers.

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FASCIST CORPORATIVISM The most sophisticated concept for the removal of social and political division was the Corporative State. Questions on Corporativism was put forward as an alternative "third way" between capitalism • Why, in 1922, was Mussolini able to and socialism. A device to restore social cohesion. become Prime Minister of Italy? Corporations consisting of representatives of employers, workers, and • How effectively did fascist rule in professional groups were to be elected to give advice to the political government. The theory was that in a modern, industrialized country one's sense Italy solve the problems which had of identity was less with a geographical than with one's occupational group. The brought Mussolini to power? corporations were eventually to elect representatives to a central congress, which would replace the old political parliament as an advisory body to the government.

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The economic activity of the nation was to be divided into categories, each represented by a corporation. Within the corporations, spokesmen for rival groups and classes would be brought face to face more directly than in traditional parliamentary institutions. There was to be 7 branches of economic activity ­ industry, agriculture, banking, The groundwork for the Fascist corporative state was laid in 1925. The commerce, internal transport, the merchant marine and the intellectual Confindustra and the Confederation of fascist trade unions recognized each community. Only in the last category was a genuine corporation established, in other as the legitimate representatives of capital and labour. The traditional the other 6 the property owners were distinct from from workers confederations. trade Unions were thus effectively neutralized. A ministry of corporations was created in 1926 but not until 1934 did the mixed corporations of employers and employees come into existence. There were 22 of them, as the older economic units were subdivided. In 1938 the Chamber of Deputies based on territorial representation was abolished. The next year, The Chamber of Fasces and Corporations, most of whose membership was elected or appointed from the corporations, took its place.

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Real equality between capital and labour never prevailed. Wheras the former For the most part the big companies received help, but not small business. was represented by traditional spokesmen, the latter was spoken for by middle­ Economic centralization and cartelization grew apace. class lawyers and a handful of fascists. The parliament was indeed deprived of any real significance in 1928, but This resulted in that the industrialists who backed fascism were backed by the Mussolini soon lost interest in the idea of the Corporate state, especially in the corporations ­ ruthless labour exploitation. 30's when he decided to build an African empire. The corporative system provided an arsenal of bureaucratic jobs for the party faithful. This resulted in a plunder of the national treasury beyond anything experienced before.

In the summer of 1935 the Italian dictator Mussolini starts preparations for the capture of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) by concentrating his troops on the border of Eritrea. He wants to play a full role in the partition of Africa among European colonial powers: "I beg your pardon? Would you not allow me one pound of Abyssinia, John Bull, after having devoured kilos of human meat yourself?"

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One measure taken by Mussolini was destined to survive, and is still existence, FASCIST DIPLOMACY the Lateran pact of 1929, with pope Pius XI. By it Mussolini recognized the Fascism had been welcomed by many Italians because it seemed to offer temporal power of the papacy, which , since 1870, united Italy had refused to solutions to two specific problems ­ The threat from bolsjevism and the do. The Vatican was thus recognized as an independent state, and the Catholic humiliating peacetreaties of the 1 WorldWar. religion as the sole religion of state in Italy. For his part the Pope recognized the The italians saw Italy as one of the great powers and were insulted by the kingdom if Italy­which no pope had ever done­ and Rome as the capital city of general international view 'the least of the great powers'. Italy. But Mussolini's alignment with the Papacy destroyed the argument that he But the fact is that Italy was very vulnerable; Italy was dependent on was the heir to the Risorgimento. foodimport, nearly all Italy's coal and raw iron came from abroad. This meant that Italy was put in the grip of whichever power controlled the entrances to the Mediterranean. Italy's long coastline left her open to invasion by a superiour naval force (Great Britain could put pressure on Italy). Many italians hoped that Mussolini would lift up Italy to one of the great powers and actually Italy's international status was very much to be the measure by which Mussolini's regime would stand or fall.

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FOREIGN POLICY Disputes between Greece and Albania had resulted in that a boundary (gräns) Mussolini was unhindered in making Fascist foreign policy. Whether he held the commission had been set out. This commission ran into problems on the Greece post formally or not, he was in reality his own foreign minister during the entire island of Corfu. An Italian general and all the other italian members were killed. fascist era. Mussolini acted at once without waiting for full information about the incident. He sent a note to the Greek government demanding a full apology and a 1. THE CORFU INCIDENT compensation amounting to 50 million lire. The Greeks refused and claimed that From the start of his first ministry Mussolini was determined that he should the League should investigate. The Italian navy bombarded Corfu (the city create a good impression as the moderate young leader who was determined to suffered severely) and italian marines landed on the island restore the prestige of Italy abroad. The Italian Press claimed that Mussolini was putting Italy on the map again. Mussolini needed a reason to show Italy's new strong and determined fascist foreign policy (to increase his support in Italy). The first chance came in September 1923;

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This involved Mussolini in a brush with the League of Nations. Mussolini planned 2. FIUME to leave the League but an clash was prevented, by the French, who feared the Two weeks after the Corfu incident Mussolini sent a military force to govern League's cognizanse ,(undersökning, intresse) of the Corfu crisis might be a Fiume. The explanation from Rome was that negotiations to found an precedent to interference in the French occupation of the German Ruhr. independent Fiume didn't proceed and the town was falling into anarchy. Finally The Conference of Ambassadors (a preserve of the major Allied Powers) Yugoslavia accepted the coup because France, Yugoslavia's protector, was too came up with the solution; absorbed with the Ruhr occupation to do anything; and also because King Greece was to pay Italy 50 million lire as a compensation for the assassination Alexander of Yugoslavia admired Mussolini. of Italian officials on Greek soil. In january 1924 a settlement between Yugoslavia and Italy gave the bulk of In reality Mussolini's intention had been to annex Corfu so he wasn't satisfied at Fiume to Italy. This was accompanied with a Italo­Yugoslav friendship pact. (but all and actually Britain had to threaten Mussolini with its fleet before italian hostility broke out two years later over each other's ambition in Albania.) troops evacuated Corfu.

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Fascist Italy's failure to hold Corfu and her success in acquiring Fiume had been due, in the final analysis, not to Greece and Yugoslavia, but to the reactions of Britain and France. This touched on the crucial question for Fascist foreign policy. How far could Mussolini follow a nationalist and expansionist course and at the same time remain within the framework of the First World War alliance with Britain and France?

Mussolini's first treaties of alliance were with small states rather than with great powers. In 1927 he signed a treaty with Hungary and in 1928 with Ethiopia. The same year the relations with Greece were normalized through a treaty and finally in 1930 one with Austria. The great powers had been sympathetic to him as fascism was seen far less alien and less dangerous to accept values than Bolshevism. Abroad Mussolini tried to behave in a normal, respectable, bourgeois manner, observing the diplomatic niceties (omdöme). The first major foreign crisis faced by the regime was over Austria in 1934.

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