Italian+Fascism

//Page by Kelli S// After the First World War, most Italians felt betrayed by the Allies as they hadn’t received all of the territory they expected. These regions were called the //**Italian Irredenta**//. Socialism was also becoming more popular, with workers trying to get better working conditions and pay. In turn, people like landowners and small business owners were frustrated and blamed this revolt on Italy’s democratic system of government.

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**//__Benito Mussolini__//**
Mussolini, a former socialist, appeared on the Italian political scene in the wake of the unrest over the democratic government. He left the socialist party during World media type="youtube" key="fFJ1fODdtWU" height="349" width="425" align="right" War I as they were not very involved, and created his own party in 1919; the Fascisti.

__**//Goals and platforms of the Fascisti//**__

 * Restore law and order to Italian society
 * Eliminate the growing socialist movement
 * Eliminate the democratic style of government in Italy
 * Practice aggressive nationalism
 * The belief in action over thought

__//Blackshirts//__
 To develop and make his party more popular, Mussolini gathered recruits from ex-servicemen, middle class youths and anti-Communists. He put them in uniform to give the members a feeling of importance. These men were called the //Blackshirts//, and they would spread the word and promote the Fascisti.

//__March on Rome - October, 1922__//
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">//Fascisti gov't before the March:// <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Mussolini threatened to bring in 26,000 troops to Rome in order forcefully restore order in the Italian government; stating that if he was ignored, his troops would overthrow the government. King Emmanuel III refused the Parliament's request to sign emergency legislation, and on October 29, the King asked Mussolini to form a government. Mussolini's "March on Rome" faced no resistance and he took over with barely any struggle.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Time Period || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">No. of Members || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">No. of seats in Italian Parliament ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">1921 (Before March on Rome) || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">300,000 || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">35 out of 535 ||

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**//Italy as a Totalitarian State - Mussolini's Rise//**
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">At first, after the King had given Mussolini governmental power, he did not have complete control. He was running the country in a coalition government. Soon, Mussolini would take drastic steps to transform himself into **//Il Duce//**, his ideal persona as a complete ruler: <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">
 * **//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Acerbo Law - //**//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">1923: //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">An electoral law which was forced through Parliament. This law meant a mandatory two-thirds majority for the party with the most votes, and gave the Fascisti great power after the 1924 election.
 * **//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Elimination of the Opposition - //**<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The leader of the socialists, Giacomo Matteotti, was murdered after he spoke out about the fascists. All anti-fascist parties were eliminated by 1926.
 * **//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Loss of Freedoms - //**<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Mussolini abolished what he called "useless or harmful freedoms;" freedom of press, assembly, speech, and arbitrary arrest.
 * **//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">OVRA - //**<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">A secret police force that was created in 1927.
 * //**<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Trade unions abolished. **//
 * //**<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Fascist Grand Council - **//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Elections were cancelled in 1928, parliamentary democracy removed. The "Fascist Grand Council" now had the authority to choose the Chamber of Deputies.
 * **//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Civil service was purged. //**
 * **//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Lateran Accords - //**<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">As Mussolini had a threat in the Catholic church, and Italy was a very Catholic country, he signed an agreement with them. He gave the church control over the school curriculum of religious education, recognized it as the official religion of Italy, and gave the Pope the right to rule the Vatican as its own state.
 * **//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Mass indoctrination - //**<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Silly slogans like "Mussolini is always right" were constantly communicated to the Italian public, and a picture of him hung in every classroom of Italy.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**//<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Fascist Italy //**
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Once in power, Mussolini's government used terror and limitation of rights to control the Italian society. The economy was made into a "//**Corporate State**//," in which all economic planning was centralized and the rights of workers were taken away.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**//Mare Nostrum -//** Mussolini's term that basically described his imperialist values. He wanted to recreate the "glories that once were Rome." His invasion of Ethiopia (then Abyssinia) was his most famous conquest of this nature.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">//**Mussolini's Fate**//

 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">In 1943, the Allies invaded and he was replaced as ruler.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Then, he was re-instated by Hitler's forces as a puppet ruler.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">April 1945: Mussolini and his mistress were shot as they tried to leave the country, then hung upside down in a plaza of Milan.