Rise to power
1. Italian involvement in WWI was a turning point for Italian liberalism as well as Mussolini.
a. The Italian army was locked in a battle of attrition in the Austrian Alpine frontier for over two years.
i. The war was condemned by the populace, the Vatican and most socialists because of its poor outcomes.
b. In October 1917 during the Battle of Caporetto, Austrians advanced into Italian soil and 40 000 Italians were lost.
i. The devastating loss at Caporetto signified the complete collapse of Italian national morale. Blame was placed on liberal politicians and military advisors.
2. A socialist threat was apparent in the years preceding Mussolini’s seizure of power. He sent squadre d’azione to address this.
a. Dissatisfied industrial workers began a wave of militant action from early 1919 to November 1920, known as the biennio rosso.
b. Socialist trade unions had over 2 million members by the end of 1919. They initially had 250 000 at the beginning of the year.
c. Industrialists in the north and landowners in the Po Valley and Tuscany funded and supported Mussolini and the squadre d’azione to address the leftist threat.
i. The squadristi burnt down offices and newspaper printing works of the Socialists and trade unions in many parts of north and central Italy.
d. Mussolini also had the support of the monarchy, including Margherita the Queen Mother and Duke Aosta, as well as the Church through Pope Pius XI. They feared the threat of a Communist revolution.
3. Mussolini formed the Fascio di Combattimento with 118 people in March 1919.
a. Nationalists, syndicalists, artists and ex-servicemen came together under a strong hatred of the Liberal state.
b. The Liberal government was weak and unstable: there were three coalition governments under Giolitti between May 1921 and October 1922.
4. Mussolini signed the ‘pact of pacification’ with moderate socialists and the General Confederation of Workers in July 1921.
a. This addressed the risk of alienating the conservative elites and encouraging an anti-Fascist unity among them.
b. The pact demonstrated Mussolini’s authority over the growing power of the ras.
i. For example, ras like Roberto Farinacci and Italo Balbo used extreme violence in their localities despite Mussolini’s opposition to this.
ii. He outmanoeuvred the ras by resigning from the Fascist Central Committee and transforming the Fasci di combattimento into a formal political party called the Nationalist Fascist Party in October 1921.
5. Gabreille D’Annuzio was forced to end his occupation of Fiume in January 1921.
a. This removed a potentially powerful rival force from the political landscape. Mussolini could now begin to assert central control over Fascists.
6. In July 1922 the Socialists began a general strike to force the government to take action against Fascist violence
a. Mussolini used the Facists to break the strike, using the opportunity to prove that the Socialists were a threat and only the Fascists could stop the risk of a socialist revolution.
Consolidation of power
1. Mussolini’s first speech to the parliament in November 1922 claimed 300 000 armed and obedient members in the Fascist Party.
a. This was a veiled threat about the strength of the Fascist Party.
b. This message, behind his call for creating a stronger and united Italy, compelled deputies including Giolitti, Salandra and Facta, to give Mussolini an enormous vote of confidence and emergency powers for a year.
2. Mussolini appointed Alberto de Stefani as finance minister.
a. His liberal economic policies pleased industrialists and shopkeepers. This expanded Mussolini’s base of support.
3. Mussolini established the Fascist Grand Council in December 1922.
a. It was the supreme decision-making body within the Fascist Party and Mussolini kept power over appointments to the council. This established total control over Fascist policy-making under Mussolini.
4. In the government’s Council of Ministers, Mussolini also acted as the interior and foreign minister.
5. In early 1923, Mussolini announced that no serious measures would be taken against tax evasion.
a. Tax evasion was widely practised among wealthy companies and individuals. As a result, the Confindustria (employers’ organization) gave him their support.
6. The Nationalist Party merged with Fascists in March 1923.
a. They were a member of the coalition government with close ties to big business and the army, and their alliance increased Mussolini’s base of power with the right and conservative elites.
b. The Fascists were also awarded with additional paramilitary forces in the National’s Blueshirts.
7. From April to June in 1923, Mussolini passed various measures, including: renouncing atheism, banning contraception, and making religious education compulsory.
a. This increased his support from the Catholic hierarchy, thus widening the Fascist political base, while weakening the position of the PPI.
8. In April 1923 Mussolini fired all PPI ministers from his government and in June Pope XI forced the PPI leader, Don Luigi Sturzo, to resign.
a. Expulsion of PPI members and the pope’s withdrawal support towards them caused the conservative Catholics lose their support for the PPI.
b. By the summer of 1923, the PPI lost its political importance.
9. The Fascist Party passed the Acerbo law, which gave two thirds of the seats in parliament to the party that won the most votes (as long as they had at least 25 per cent of the votes).
a. Mussolini claimed it would give Italy the stable and strong government it needed.
b. This gave Fascists total yet legally acquired control over Italian politics.
c. There was little possibility for the Fascists to ever be voted out of office.
d. The result was that Mussolini overcame the opposition, who outnumbered the 35 Fascist deputies in the April 1924 election.
10. Mussolini demanded that Greece pay 50 million lira as compensation for the Corfu incident of August 1923.
a. The Greek government reluctantly paid the fine, which led Italians to view Mussolini as a hero.
11. Mussolini waited until April 1924 to hold elections. Prior to that he set up the Ceka to terrorize anti-Fascists.
a. They seized voting certificates, voted on behalf of dead people and stole ballot boxes –this ensured a Fascist victory.
b. As a result Fascists won 65 per cent of the vote.
12. After the Matteotti Crisis in May 1924, opposition deputies organized the Aventine Secession to boycott parliament in protest.
a. The king condemned the opposition and gave support to Mussolini to reassert influence over a now weakened Mussolini.
b. The pope supported Mussolini by condemning PPI deputies who participated in the Aventine Secession.
c. They feared that Mussolini’s fall would be followed by a revival of revolutionary left-wing parties.
Economy
1. Mussolini’s first measure in government was the appointment of Alberto De Stefani as Minister of Finance.
a. His ‘laissez faire’ policy, which was in effect until his resignation in 1925, resulted in: a balanced budget by 1925, a rate of savings and capital accumulation that was unsurpassed until Italy’s economic prosperity of the 1950s, and major industrial growth.
i. Iron and steel production doubled between 1922 and 1926.
2. The Perrone memorandum of April 1924 stated that “Mussolini cannot submit to the present situation; he must become the master of the keys of the national economy”.
a. The Perrone memorandum demonstrated the views of key figures in government, such as Alfredo Rocco and Edmondo Rossini. They believed absolute authority over the economy was needed for prosperity in Italy because of its industrial backwardness.
i. A. James Gregor Italian Fascism and Developmental Dictatorship (1979), Fascist deputies “recognized the deficiencies of the Italian proletariat …where such industrial systems have not yet developed, the proletariat could only remain immature”.
3. The Pact of Palazzo Vidoni, signed in October 1925 between the Confederation of Industrialists and the Fascist unions, monopolized workers’ unions under a Fascist syndicate.
a. The Pact outlawed Socialist and Catholic trade unions, which placed workers under the submissive control of the Fascist party.
b. The Pact also saw the removal of the commissioni interne, which took away the right for investigation or representation for the workers.
i. This demonstrated the loss of the last remaining aspect a free electoral system in Italian society.
4. The centralization of banking began in 1926. By the fall, the Instituto di Emissione became responsible for the issuance of national currency.
5. Mussolini announced the re-evaluation of the lira in August 1926. He pegged the exchange rate at 90 lira to the pound sterling.
a. He insisted on the “quota 90” for the defence of savings and investment capital, to reduce foreign imports to minimal levels, and to maintain a strong national currency.
6. In order to make Italy independent of foreign grain imports, in June 1925 Mussolini introduced a program to increase the cereal and grain yield of the peninsula and establish protective tariffs on grain.
a. The intention of the Fascist government under the “battle of grain” was to reduce Italy’s dependency on foreign bread, which was considered a significant drain on the country’s ability for foreign exchange.
b. The result was that by 1935, Italy’s total foreign exchange reduced by fifteen percent. In 1925 this 15 per cent was devoted to grain imports.
i. This signified the success of Mussolini’s first effort towards the goal of constructing a self-sufficient nation, since Italy became independent in its production of grain.
7. Following the Depression, the Fascist government introduced public work schemes, such as the building of motorways and hydroelectric power plants.
a. This significantly increased the amount of money in circulation, which in turn stimulated demand and created more jobs.
8. The government intervened to ‘bail-out’ banks, and ultimately created the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction in January 1933.
a. It helped to avoid the severe banking collapse experienced by the US and Germany.
i. In 1932 in the US, banks were closing at the rate of 40 per day. (Peter Clements. Prosperity, Depression and the New Deal: The USA 1890-1954.)
b. At the same time, the Italain state became a major shareholder through the IRI and therefore the effective owner of many Italian companies.
Industry
1. The 1921 program saw the return of telephonic, telegraphic, and postal services back to private enterprise.
a. By reducing state intervention in industry, Mussolini reassured and secured the support of industrialists.
2. By 1929 Fascist Italy’s output index per man-hour (using 1913 as 100) was 143.7, exceeding that of all its major European competitors excluding France.
3. For the first time in its history in 1937, industrial production exceeded agricultural production. Italy’s output index per man-hour (using 1913 as 100) rose from 143.7 in 1929 to 145.2 in 1938.
a. Italy became a modern industrial nation. The Corporate State fostered the autocratic growth of key industries and allowed them to establish self-sufficency.
i. For example, by 1936 the Italian chemical industry was providing its own nation with 75 per cent of its chemical fertilizers.
ii. Mussolini’s program of autarky made “the Italain chemical industries the peers of any in the world”. (A. James Gregor Italian Fascism and Developmental Dictatorship,1979).
4. By 1934 there were 22 corporations under the Ministry of Corporations. They covered almost every aspect of the economy and could influence any every aspect of industry.
a. This system would end bitter industrial disputes that led to strikes and class conflict, such as in Britain and France. Unlike in Communist Russia however, there would still be a role for businessmen who would help industries to prosper.
5. Mussolini’s “policies stimulated modern industries such as electricity, steel, engineering, chemicals …Italy’s profile began to resemble that of modern European countries to a greater degree than in the past”. (Spencer M. di Scalia. Italy, from Revolution to Republic, 1995).
Propaganda
1. Mussolini founded the newspaper, Il popolo d’Italia (the people of Italy) in November 1914.
a. Mussolini expressed extremely nationalist ideas and advocated Italian involvement in WWI.
i. Mussolini was expelled from the Socialist Party because of his nationalist ideas.
ii. Il popolo was financed by the French Government and wealthy companies like Fiat.
iii. Mussolini’s articles contributed to the rioting in May 1915.
b. In 1917 after returning from the war, Mussolini’s articles blamed the Liberal government for military incompetence.
2. Mussolini instituted a uniform of black shirts and jack boots for his followers after establishing the Fascio di Combattimento in 1919.
a. The uniform created a sense of identity and was effective in uniting his men.
b. The use of black shirts was reflective of Garibaldi’s 1000 redshirts during Italian unification.
3. The Fascist party name was derived from the word fascinae, which was an axe head attach to a bundle of rods.
a. The bundle of rods signified strength and the blade signified force. The symbol was propaganda used to unite the Fascist.
4. The Fascist propagandist Missiroli explained that the Opera Nazonale Balilla (ONB) was “continuous activity… intended to transform the Italian nation ‘body and soul’”.
a. The Fascist youth movements were effective because they made young people identify themselves with Mussolini, Fascism, and Italy, and saw the three as inseparable. Mussolini intended for these youth to grow up and transform the Italian character.
5. The Fascist salute was made compulsory in 1937, replacing the handshake.
Education
1. The regime took measures to secure the loyalty of teachers.
a. Teachers of suspect political views could be dismissed from 1925 onwards.
b. From 1929, all teachers were required to take an oath of loyalty to the regime.
c. In 1931, the Fascist Teachers’ Association was set up to regulate the profession.
i. Membership was compulsory by 1937.
2. The Duce’s portrait had to be hung alongside the King.
a. Mussolini’s genius was constantly emphasized.
3. A compulsory textbook for eight-year-olds stated:
a. “The eyes of the Duce are on every one of you.”
b. “You must obey because you must.”
4. In 1926, 101 out of 317 history textbooks were banned for being insufficiently patriotic.
5. In 1936, there was one single official history textbook that was compulsory.
a. The achievements of Marco Polo, Michelangelo and Christopher Columbus were celebrated in the texts.
b. There were gross exaggerations, for example, the Italian victories in WWI were responsible for saving France, Britain, and the US from defeat.
Women
1. Mussolini launched the ‘battle for births’ in 1927, with the aim of increasing the population from 40 million to 60 million by 1950.
a. He wanted to raise the population dramatically to provide soldiers for his armies and colonists for the new Italian empire.
2. The ‘battle for birth’ saw the introduction of marriage loans. Part of the loan repayment was cancelled as each new child was born.
3. A man with at least six children was exempt from all taxation.
4. Bachelors were increasingly taxed, resulting in the generation of 230 million lira in 1939.
5. The 1933 quota system aimed to limit women to 10 per cent of the work force.
6. The population increased to 47.5 million Italians by 1950.
Role of the military
1. The squadre d’azione were used to terrorize strikers.
2. National Security Guard (MVSN) established in January 1923.
a. Swore an oath of loyalty to Mussolini and not the king.
b. 30 000 members continued to use violence against anti-Fascists
c. Reduced power of the ras.
3. November 1926: Public Safety Law which allowed the police to arrest at will and citizens had no appeal
4. Special tribunal to judge crimes against the state: from 1927 to 1929, 5, 046 people came before tribunal, a fifth convicted
5. 1927: the Chief of the Security Police, Arturo Bocchini set up the OVRA: task to investigate any activity considered hostile: tapped telephones, read private correspondence and ‘even drew up reports on graffiti in the public urinals.’
6. In February, Mussolini became ill and Farinacci took over and launched a new campaign of squadristi violence against socialist and communist parties.
a. Also supervised a purge of Fascist Party members, especially local leaders who were seen as insufficiently loyal to Mussolini
Use of force and secret police
1. Ceka created in 1924; small squad or gang composed of about 12 violent criminals
a. Mussolini’s critics named the group after the Bolshevik secret police, Cheka
b. Run by Giovanni Marinelli, the Party Treasurer of the Fascists
c. Group used against most dangerous opposition/enemies of Mussolini
d. June 10 1924; Ceka murder Giacomo Matteotti,
2. Oct 1926: all opposition parties outlawed
3. Nov 1925: The Law of Associations banned officials from joining any organization which the state disapproved
4. Nov 1926: the Public Safety Law removed individual rights and restraints on the political power of the state.
a. Police able to arrest anyone at will, no form of appeal for the people.
5. Special tribunal was established to judge crimes against the state
a. Political prisoners convicted by this court could be sent to penal settlements on Lipari and other remote islands off southern Italy
b. 1927-1929; 5, 046 people held before the tribunal, a fifth were convicted.
6. 1927: Arturo Bocchini (Chief of Police and senator) set up the OVRA (Organizzazione di Vigilanza Repressione dell’Anti-fascismo or Organization for Vigilance against Anti-Fascism)
a. Job was to investigation any activity that was potentially hostile to state
b. Tapped telephones, read private correspondence
Role of religion
1. The Catholics form the Italian Popular Party in January 1919.
2. From April to June 1923, Mussolini announced measures such as renouncing atheism, making religious education compulsory and banning contraception.
a. This worked to increase his support from the Catholic hierarchy and widen the Fascist political base. At the same time, it weakened the position of the Popolari.
b. These moves temporarily neutralized the Church as a potential source of opposition.
3. In 1923, the Pope secured his confidence in Mussolini by withdrawing support of the Popolari, the Catholic political party.
a. The result was that conservative Catholics stopped supporting the PPI. By the summer of 1923, the PPI had lost most of its political importance.
4. Through the Lateran Accords of 1929, the Pope recognized Italian control over Rome and the old Papal States and in return, the state recognized the Pope’s control over the Vatican and gave financial compensation of £30 million.
a. The Lateran Accords ensured that no members of the Church could become a focus of opposition and more importantly, the Church would give its support to Mussolini as Duce.
5. The Church sponsored Catholic Action groups, which the Fascist regime attempted to suppress.
a. This dispute occurred because these groups provided a rival for Fasicm’s own youth and leisure
Anti-Semitism
1. Several members in the anti-Fascist group “Justice and Liberty” were Jews. The French Prime Minister was a Jew, which explained French opposition to Italian involvement in the Spanish Civil War.
a. This contributed to convincing Mussolini of Nazi racist ideas that a Jewish influence was behind the resistance to Fascism both in Italy and across Europe.
2. In July 1938 the Fascist regime published the Manifesto of Racial Scientists, which claimed that “the Jews do not belong to the Italian race”.
a. This was the first clear example of Nazi influence over the Fascist government.
3. In August 1938, foreign-born Jews were banned from state schools. In September, this extended to Italian-born Jews.
4. In October 1938, Jews were excluded from the National Fascist Party, and prevented from owning large companies or large landed estates.
5. In November 1938 Jews were forbidden to marry non-Jews.
6. Roberto Farinacci said in 1942: “The Jews want to destroy us; we will destroy them”.
7. Over 7500 Italian Jews were sent to Nazi death camps, only 600 survived.
Foreign policy
1. During the Corfu incident of 1923, Mussolini demanded 50 million lira and a full apology from Greece. Once they refused, he occupied the island of Corfu.
a. When the European powers backed by Britain’s Mediterranean fleet demanded that Italy withdraw, Italy complied.
i. This showed that even though Mussolini could bully smaller powers, he was unable to stand up to great powers.
2. The 1924 Pact of Rome ceded Fiume from Yugoslavia to Italy.
a. Mussolini’s diplomatic success through the Pact brought him great prestige and popularity.
b. Success over Fiume persuaded Mussolini that he could establish a sphere of influence over Yugoslavia.
c. When the Italian-sponsored chieftain Ahmed Zog came to power in Albania on Yugoslavia’s southern border, Mussolini financed him.
i. This led to increased Italian influence over Albania.
d. The Treaty of Friendship resulted between Italy and Albania in 1926.
i. Albania became a satellite state of Italy. This made Italy a clear potential military threat to Yugoslavia.
1. Mussolini’s threat was emphasized by his funding of ethnic minorities in Yugoslavia, such as the Croats.
3. Italy remained in the League of Nations, signed the Locarno Treaties, and entered into the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928.
a. Mussolini enjoyed being taken seriously as a European statesman, and saw it as an opportunity to enhance his prestige and power at home.
b. He hoped his moderation would lead to concessions for Italy from Britain and France.
c. Mussolini entered the Locarno conference by racing across Lake Maggiore in a flotilla of speedboats.
i. These dramatic entrances were portrayed by the Italian press to show that Mussolini was treated as an equal to the great powers. His exaggerated portrayal created a powerful impression on Italians.
4. An Austro-German union, Anschluss, was a significant threat to Mussolini.
a. Austria would become a powerful extension of Germany and it would share an Alpine border with Italy. This would mean Italy lost the security of north-east Italy.
5. Mussolini took part in the ‘Stresa Front’ with Britain and France.
a. This gave Mussolini added protection against Anschluss, and indicated to him that the Western powers wanted to avoid Germany allying with other states. Mussolini would use this to his advantage to gain Italian concessions.
6. Abyssinia
a. Conquest of Abyssinia was meant to avenge Italy’s honour from the loss at the Battle of Adowa in 1896, where 6 000 Italian men were killed by the Ethiopian army.
Ideology
1. Alfredo Rocco, a key Fascist, argued that “Italy was an economically retarded nation forced to compete in the international arena” (A. James Gregor Italian Fascism and Developmental Dictatorship,1979).
2. To compete with far more powerful nations, Rocco believed that Liberalism was inadequate. “He insisted on a state-supported policy of technological innovation and an orchestration of citizen support in a political program he identified as ‘national syndicalism.’”
3. Edmondo Rossini became Secretary General of the Confederation of Fascist Corporations in 1922. He stated that the Italian economy required a “totalitarian solution: all corporations should be grouped together in one great Confederation …the head of the Confederation could only be B. Mussolini”. (Adrian Lyttelton, The Seizure of Power: Fascism in Italy, 1919-1929, 2004).
4. Mussolini declared the Corporate State in April 1926: “We are …a State which controls all forces acting in nature. We control political forces, we control material forces, we control economic forces, and therefore we are a full-blown Corporate State”.
5. The Corporate State would supersede the problem of class-struggle and economic individualism, which was necessary for mobilizing the Fascist economy towards self-sufficiency under the all-encompassing authority of the State.
Cult of Personality
1. Created a ‘new Fascist man’ who would be strong, aggressive and willing to do anything to protect the nation. He acknowledged the importance of good public image and good publicity. Mussolini was “always standing ramrod straight, titling back his head, and thrusting out his lower lip and jaw, he tried to cut a figure of belligerent strength.”
a. Established a press office to ensure that photographs and newspaper articles projected a positive image of the ‘Fascist man.’
b. 1924: Established a state radio, in 1939 only 1 million in Italy. 1 radio: 44 Italians (Germany 1:7, Britain 1:5). Free radios given to schools.
c. Systems for public addresses were set up in cafes, restaurants and public squares.
d. 1926: Encouraged state-sponsored newsreel films that played in cinema programmes
e. Mussolini never established a complete monopoly as the Vatican Radio continued to broadcast
2. Galeazzo Ciano 1933: leader of the press office, renamed in 1935 as the ministry for press and propaganda. 1937: renamed as the ministry of popular culture (Minculpop), which ensured that all films, plays, radio programmes and books depicted Mussolini as a new Caesar and the Fascists as saviours of Italy.
3. Achille Starace, (appointed party secretary in 1930), depicted Mussolini as a hero.
a. Lights left in Mussolini’s office suggesting that he worked for 20 hours daily.
b. Photographs and posters of Mussolini were posted in all public areas; buildings, streets and workplaces.
4. Catchphrases such as ‘Credere, Obbedere, Combattere’ or ‘Believe, Obey, Fight’ and ‘Mussolini is always right’ were prominent.
5. Political theatre established constantly around Mussolini. He was accompanied by Blackshirt bodyguards soon known as the ‘applause squad’ who fed the sufficient enthusiasm for Mussolini’s speeches.
a. “Even Goebbels was impressed by the Fascist propaganda machine” – Rob Mark 2006
6. Education and Indoctrination
a. Infant schools started with daily prayers: “I believe in the genius of Mussolini”
b. Primary school students were taught that Mussolini and the Fascists saved Italy from a communist revolution
c. 1929: Teachers forced to take oath of loyalty to both the king and to Mussolini’s Fascist regime
d. 1931: Oath extended to university lecturers. Only 11 individuals resigned in protest.
e. School textbooks were examined, banned, and then replaced with books that glorified Mussolini and the Fascists
i. 1926: 101/317 history textbooks were banned
ii. 1936: only one official history textbook
7. Balilla (Opera Nazionale Balilla-ONB) :
a. Children of the She Wolf for boys and girls aged 6-8
b. The Balilla for boys aged 8-15
c. The Avanguardisti for boys aged 15-18
d. The Picole Italiane for girls aged 8-12
e. The Giovanni Italiane for girls aged 13-18
f. 1937: ONB merged with the Young Fascists to form the Gioventu Italiana del Littorio (GIL) where membership was compulsory for children aged 8-21.
i. 1937: ONB membership risen over 7 million
ii. All members of ONB and the Fascist University Groups (GUF) had to swear loyalty to Mussolini
iii. Compulsory fitness programs, pre-military training and political indoctrination enforced upon members.
iv. 40 percent of 4-18 year olds managed to avoid membership
8. May 1925: Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro(OND)created to organize concerts, dancing and summer holiday activities. Also established network of clubs, libraries and sports grounds.
a. By 1930s: OND controlled all of Italy’s football clubs, 1 350 brass bands, 8 000 libraries
b. 1926: membership reached 300 000 and in 1939: 4 million
c. Overall, 40 percent of workers and 25 percent of peasants were members
d. 1931-1939: l’inquadramento; expand membership of the party and increase Fascist influence
i. 1931-1937: worst of Depression, Fascists establish welfare agencies
e. Networks results in nncreased party contact, surveillance and control
f. Party membership did not dramatically increase; 1939: 6 percent of Italian population were members of the Party
9. The Romantia Movement- associated greatness of Ancient Rome to the Fascists and Mussolini
a. Fascists writers, artists and scholars portray Fascism as revival of Roman civilization
b. 1926: Mussolini referred to as Il Duce
Historiography
1. Paul Corner. State and Society 1901-22 (2002). …hopelessly divided between Liberals, Socialists, and Catholics, it proved impossible to stem the tide of the new [Fascist] movement…
2. Alexander De Grand. Italian Fascism: Its Origins and Development. (1982). The first measures of the Mussolini government were designed to please industry. Alberto De Stefani, a convinced economic liberal, became the new finance minister.
3. Adrian Lyttelton, The Seizure of Power: Fascism in Italy, 1919-1929, 2004). From 1925 onwards the totalitarian vocabulary of combat was applied to economic crises. 'The battle of wheat' was followed by 'the battle of the lira', and 'the campaign for the national product', and the party was 'mobilized' for the general 'economic battle'.
Three Quotes
1. Mussolini stated that the doctrine of Fascism was “everything within the state, nothing against the state, nothing outside the state.”
2. Mussolini stated that Italy was in a “permanent state of war”.
3. Marquis d’Azeglio, one of the architects of Italian unification, said: “Now that we have made Italy, it is necessary to make Italians.
Other
1. The constitutional crisis of 1898-1900
a. Resulted after a combination of bank scandals, ongoing civil disorder, and failures in foreign policy. The conditions created an atmosphere of uprising against the liberal political system.
b. General Luigi Pelloux attempted to win power in Parliament by advocating a strong executive in government (similar in characteristic to Mussolini’s Fascist program).
c. The opposition withdrew in protest to the Aventine Hills, and Pelloux resigned.
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