Booklet 3

• When was the Fasci di Combattimento founded?

  23rd March 1919. They were the first form of fascist party. (MAY BE WRONG)
• What were the three main goals of the Fasci di Combattimento in 1919?


  1) To remember those who have fallen in WW1 and uphold the rights of those who fought.2) To oppose imperialism against Italy (and others).3) To prevent those who did not support Italy's intervention in the war, from gaining power in Parliament.
• Why was Squadristi violence so important to the fascist rise to power?

  It showed how the army and police were willing to tolerate it as they hoped it would stop a socialist revolution. Squadristri broke the power of the socialists and created the myth that the fascists 'saved' Italy from revolution, thus increasing their support.
• How did fascism appeal to industrialists?


  Industrialists opposed the socialists strongly and the industrialists feared their rise would result in more taxation and better treatment of workers.
• How did fascism appeal to agrari (major landowners)?

  Fascists broke strikes, forced unions to disband and attacked socialist leaders causing fear for their supporters.
• How did fascism appeal to ex-soldiers?

  Strong assertion of nationalism and the role of returned soldiers as the leaders of the new Italy. Promised to punish those who had not supported Italy during the war.
• How did fascism appeal to small-landowners?

  Fascists attacked the socialist land leagues and violently weakened their power.
• How did fascism appeal to the working-class?


  They had policies for fair wages and prices, provided peasants with land. They didn't like the violence used against them by the socialist trade unions against those who did not strike.
• How did fascism appeal to the bourgeoisi?

  Fascists promised to bring order to Italy. They used violence to crush strikes and claimed that only they could stop a potential revolution. They would tax proportionally to income. They had less calls for economic and social reform.
• How did fascism appeal to young people and students?

  Provided an alternative to the corrupt liberal system. 10% of fascists were students in 1921.
• What did the fascists promise in November 1921?


  8 hour working days, exceptions for agricultural and industrial workers.citizen freedoms limited in relation to the needs of the state.Taxes proportional to incrome.No reference to confiscating property of the Catholic Church.Obligatory military service.Expansion of Italy's influence in the meditteranean.
• What was the general mood in Italy after the First World War?


  One of anger and despair, with a looming fear of revolution.
• Where was Mussolini born?

  He was born in the North-East of Italy, his mother was a teacher and his father a socialist blacksmith. Mussolini was an aggressive bully.
• What did Mussolini do in the first world war?


  He fought at the front but was seriously injured in a training exercise. He felt Italy needed a new political movement.
• What were the key features of the new movement created by Mussolini in 1919?

  Uniformity, youth, action and violence.
• What attitude did the fascists have towards the Jews in 1919?

  They were not anti-Semitic, in fact many Jewish people joined the fascists. Many Jewish people were freed from the ghettos by the nationalist government after Italy's unification.
• Who were the black shirts and what did they do?

  They saw themselves as the front line against socialism. They were a party militia within fascism. Their main purpose was to destroy socialist movements and believed that socialism could only truly be defeated by force, not through parliament.
• What were the attitudes of the army and police towards the blackshirts?


  They often didn't do a lot because they thought they would stop the the threat of socialism.
• In what ways did the fascist party become stronger in 1919?

  38 fascists including Mussolini, were elected to Parliament. Support was widespread.