CREATION OF A FASCIST DICTATORSHIP

    Cards (19)

    • COMPROMISE AND COERCION (1922-25)
      • 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
    • Elections were held
      April 1924
    • Fascist MPs
      • Increased from 35 to 374
    • Giacomo Matteotti presented parliament with evidence of fascist intimidation and rigging in the April elections

      30th May 1924
    • Matteotti was kidnapped and stabbed to death, causing widespread public outrage
      11 days after 30th May 1924
    • The Italian public had no doubt that the Fascists were implicated in Matteotti's murder
    • MPs who withdrew from Parliament

      • Socialists
      • Communists
      • Populari members
    • The withdrawing MPs formed the Aventine Secession (reference to Ancient Rome)
    • Victor Emmanuel feared civil war
    • ACERBO LAW (1923)
      • Elections implemented in the same way 
      • 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
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