J'he fuse .\ Rule oi Sinsle P:rrtr- St:rtcs King-retained his o The statuto remained ltaly's constihrtion and the ' Mussolini was p"riti,ons as Head of stat'e and Commander-in-Chief. hesignated Head of Government and Duce of the Fascist Party. were still dominated o The civil service, including the prefects, and police " Bocchini, a tt;";eer-offici-aLs, rather tXan by Fascists; for ixample, Arturo l|rr nbn-Fascist, was Chief of Police (1926-40). (from 783,000 in 1923 to o The PNF',s membership expanded massively GT-I I,85i.,000 by 1934) and'mosl of those joining were careerists ancl public of officials. Consequently, the PNF became increasingly an organisation bureaucrats and'proie-ssionals,rather than militant activists. ;! over the Mussolini now created a personal dictatorship, extending his control Party bY: Fascist EI:I o Appointing Roberto Farinacci,one of the Ras,in 1925 as PNF SecretarY with instructions to impose greater discipline on the unrulY elements .I within the PartY. lEI o sacking Farinacci as PNF Secretary(April 1926) when Farinacci proved :I too independent-minded. t:qll:: o Appointing the compliant-Augusto Turati as PNF Secretary!o Farinacci.furati then set about, over the next three years,purging 60,000 :I FI members of the PNF. Most of those expelled were radicals or militant Mussolini loyalist, Achille squad members. During th9 l!3^0s unolh"r Starace,occupied the post of PNF Secretary' ;! were to be appointed o- A Party statuteof 7926laiddown that all.party posts from u'bo,u"(PNF headquartersin Rome),rather than electedfrom below or appointed by local Fascistbosses. c! Mussolini now dominated the FascistParty. Furthermore Mussolini was not -I entirely dependent on the PNF's suPPort b".urrt" he had close relations with tu,-\Ft non-Fascistcentres of power such as ihe Church, the King, the armed forcesand big; business.From t6zs a personality cult of the 'Duce' developed 1"+.thtt further elevated MussoliniS position above that of any other individual, whether a govemment or Party member. Soby 7929the FascistParty had been zubordinated to the state and centralised :i ,tnJdt the personal control of Mussolini. Its role now had effectively been limited to oiganisingpropaganda and rallies,overseeing mass organisations like Dopolavoro"(in chirge bf-recreation and sport) and supervising the youth :G fi,* organisations. I'I-J FASCIST RULE :r }= The CorporateState F-:T Fascistpropaganda suggested that what distinguishedlvlussolini's regime from the rest of the *orlf," was Corporatism. Indeed, there is no doubt that, In t internationally,the 'CorporateState'established in Italy had m91y adllers. theory, Corporatism wai a third way between Communism and Capitalism and Corporatismwas an influential *oufi'Uring aboutharmonious labour relations. '_aE,i t32 w -fhc Risc cetRule of Singlc Ptrtv Statcs idea in pre-war ltaly, particularly associated with Filippo Corrodoni, an anarcho-syndicalist. Some leading Fascists had for a_long time been passionate advocates of Corporatism, including Michele Bianchi and Edmondo Rossoni, Secretary of the Cbnfederation of Fascist Syndical Corporations (the Fascist trade unions). Syndicalists wanted to- transform society by reorganising it on the basis of ciifferent economic spheres of activity. In each sPhere, synclicates would represent both workeis .rnd employers and these joint-representatives would reiolve issues concerning both working conditions and economic management. Syndicalists envisaged ih" cotpotutions having a- major_ say in clirecting the eiono-y and, ultimately, Corporations replacing the trac-litional parliamentary system; instead representatives from different corporations would wield political power. In the early to mid-1920s, opinion within the Fascist movement was- strongly divided about how far a Corporate state should be established. This reflected the wider debate about the nature of Fascism and the Pressures being placed on Mussolini by the various factions among his supporters. Mussolini needed the support of industrialists and landowners but sections of the PNF demancled a fascist revolution. ln 7925, Rossoni organised a strike by 100,000 workers in Lombardy, which alarmed employers and Mussolini. In contrast to the syndicalists, many other Fascists were decidedly hostile to Corporatism as it riised the prospect of much greater power for the working classes.Conservatives like Alfredo Rocco sought to use Corporatism simply as a way of keeping the workers in order and supporting the interests of the big employers. Ultimately, although the structures of a corporate state were erected, Mussoiini came down decisivEly in favour of a neutered version of corporatism that chimed in with Rocco's views. The establishment of the 'Corporate state' was a rather haphazard Process a1d_it took until 1939 before the corporate edifice was complete. However, beneath the structures, the Corporate state was essentially a sham: the-tribunals set uP 9y t\q Syndical Law (1926) favoured the industrialists and the Charter of Labour (7927) was mere window dressing in terms of safeguarding workers' rights' The Creation of the'Corporate State' 1925 Vidoni Palace Pact . The Fascist Labour Confederation (Fascist trade unions) and Confindustria (Confederation of Industry), agreed to recognise only each other as representatives of workers and employers in negotiations. Fascist unions were delighted that this excluded the free trade unions (Catholic, Socialist and Communist) from labour relations. Employers were pleased that elected factory councils were abolished. However, they were unhappy at the Drospectof bindins arbitration in labour disputes. 1926 Alfredo Rocco's Labour and Anti-Strike Law . Confirmed that only syndicates could engage in labour negotiations. Divided the economy into 7 branches of activity (agriculture, transport etc) and created separate syndicates to represent the workers and the employers. Radical Fascistshad wanted mixed or'integrated' syndicates to include employers and workers. Set up special tribunals to provide compulsory arbitration in industriai disputes. But, in practice, the tribunals favoured the 133 The Rise .t Rule trf Sinsle Pertv Stetes employersand dealt with very few cases. Bannedstrikes and lockouts (employerslocking out workers). This advantaged the employers as they were not subiect to state or PNF supervision. In disputes, officials represented the workers, whereas employers represented themselves. A Ministry of Corporationswas established,with Mussolini as Minister. However, only 1 corporationreally functioned at this stage,the corporation for artistsand intellectuals. Ir 1927 Charter of Labour t Affirmed private enterprise. a Reaffirmedthat strikesand factory councilswere illegal. lr.:. I . Set out guarantees of workers' rights, but these were not k. I honoured. 1928 Rossoni was sacked as Secretary of the Confederation of Fascist I Syndicates. The Confederation was broken up into 6 confederations x; I of syndicates, thereby weakening their bargaining power. Radicals within the PNF were disappointed. I I 1.930 The National Council of Corporahons was set up € . In theory it established representatives of workers, the PNF and employers to regulate the economy. The National Council I appeared to have the power to fix wages, settle disputes and €, I advise on the economy. However, in practice the Council did verv little. 1934 The 'Corporate State' was finally established (on paper) I I . 22 'mixed' corporations were set up - each consisting of s; employers and employees. However, the system continued to favour the employers. I . The corporations lacked any real power. State institutions and I big business interests made all the major decisions conceming the economv. *t I 1939 The Chamber of Fascesand Corporationsreplaced the Chamber, the tr I lower house of parliament. It had no real power and was purely a propagandaexercise on Mussolini's part. I € The Economv under the Fascists I- e - Q. Wt were Mussolini's aims? "t I t Mussolini had little understanding or knowledge of economics when he came to e power. Although the original Fascist programme had an anti-capitalist character, by the time Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister, this had been I dropped by him and Fascism from then on was committed to the capitalist € - system. In theory, the Fascists pursued'Corporativism' as a third way between capitalism and socialism but in practice this was mere window-dressing. t Fascism was supported by, and in tum, protected big business and the agrari € I (large landowners). I Under Fascism, economic poliry was inconsistent and erratic; broadly speaking, G" it was laissez-faire (minimum of state intervention) during the period 1922-25 - and then was increasingly marked by state intervention thereafter. The pursuit I of 'autarky' (economic self-sufficiency) characterized the mid to late 1930s as € J Mussolini's foreign policy became more aggressive. Mussolini sought to build up Italy's industry to support foreign wars of conquest. However, in that respect I ni faitea miserabiy as eionomically Italy was far from ready to go to war at the C a end of the 1930s. I € 134 - aT €, a ) 'l'he Rise& Rulc of Sinsle panv Stetes 3 Much of Fascist 'Policy' was posturing, with little substance.Mussolini asserted ) that what mattered in,economics, ,will-po*"., as in ail spheres of life, were *a 'struggle', so he launched ,battles, a series of economic -.o.np"uigr,,- e.g, the g"tti" ro, ci;i" ancl the Battle for the Lira. These grandiose were largely 3 misconceived and tended to damage the economy. 1922-25: Laissez - fai re 9 The period leading up to the establishment of the Fascist dictatorship saw Italv depression.This.was largely the resutt of an upturn rnef:tY::j,TT_:1:.g_*uryor world ii economyfrom 1923.Mussolini's Finance Minister, De 'stefani, 9 followed the same etonomic policies as previous liberal go,n".r,-"rts: batancing the.bucl-get, cutting taxes and governrirent spending urra .."Ju.i.,g ;;;;;;';fi trade' He also privatised severaTnationalised'i.,a.rstiies s,r.t, u, tnE t*l.ph";; ? company. t Protectionism and increasing state intervention rn 1925, the Italian economy was suffering a balance of payments imports,particularry.of crisis as grairyincreased.