National Government also consisted of: four liberals, two members of populari, three independents including Diaz and philosopher Giovanni Gentile- who worked close with Mussolini to create a fascist philosophy
Mussolini demands full powers that would allow him to govern by himself
Deputies, including Giolitti and Salandra, voted to give Mussolini powers he had demanded for one year only
In the meantime, he exerted control through a mixture of political intimidation and compromise with key political rivals
CONTROLLING THE PNF
Mussolini instead established a policy of ‘normalisation’ which was the wish to end political violence and operate within the constitution
Mussolini had to deal with fascists that still wanted violence- such as Vecchi. Mussolini sent Vecchi to govern Italian Somaliland as a solution
MALITIA (MSVN) (1923)
Consisted of 300,000 blackshirts who were paid directly by the state
200 Ras were expelled from the party as a consequence
MSVN gave employment to thousands of fascists around Italy, who were encouraged to keep a high public profile
FASCIST GRAND COUNCIL (1922)
Created in December 1922 to ensure that leading fascists had influence in Italy
Were a consultative committee created to build a bridge between the fascist movement and the fascist government
Mussolini chose the 22 Grand Council members
GROWTH IN PNF MEMBERSHIP
Grew from 300,000 in Oct 1922 to 783,000 by the end of 1923.
Nationalist (upper middle class) merge with the PNF helped to weaken the more extreme fascist ideas and policies allowed Mussolini to establish control over the movement by the mid 1920s
Votes cast in different constituencies would be totalled and the party list
Who gained the most votes would then be allocated two thirds of the seats in the chamber of deputies (this was depended on receiving 25 percent of all votes cast)
Mussolini arranged armed black shirts to be present when Acerbo’s recommendations were discussed to intimidate parliament. Also threatened to use emergency powers if Acerbo was not passed
Only the socialists and communists opposed Acerbo, which were passed 235 to 139 in July 1923
FASCIST PRESSURE ON MUSSOLINI
In Dec. 1924 leading fascists approached Mussolini and asked him to form a dictatorship
If Mussolini refused to establish a dictatorship they threatened to withdraw their support
On 3rd Jan 1925 Mussolini announced to Parliament that he accepted responsibility for all previous fascist actions and in the next 48 hours he would be establishing a dictatorship
Mussolini was confident that the King would not oppose him and nor would the Deputies, as he had a strong majority in the Chamber
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS (1925-28)
In Jan 1926 alone more than 2000 decrees were issued
Law of May 1928 gave the Fascist Grand Council the opportunity to select candidates for the Chamber from a list made by fascist trade unions and other bodies
9 December 1928 the Grand Council became the supreme body of the regime
MEASURES AGAINST THE PRESS
After Dec 1925 all journalists had to have their names on a central office register controlled by the fascists- which allowed them to dictate the flow of information
BAN ON PARTIES
Dec 1925 Mussolini passed the Legge Fascitissme- banning all political parties and trade unions that were not affiliated to the fascist movement
The freedom to gather in political groups ended on 25th Nov 1926- although this had really occurred since the march on Rome
CENTRALISING POWER
New secret police – OVRA was established
Between 1922 and 1943 the police opened 114 000 new files on ‘subversives’
Jan 1926 Mussolini gained the power to pass laws by personal decree