With the end of First World War (1914-1918), the Italy it was ignored in the treaties that sealed the conflict. The poorly rewarded social and economic wear and tear mobilized different political groups engaged in solving the problems of the Italian nation. In the year 1920, a general strike of more than two million workers demonstrated the chaotic situation in the country. In the countryside, the southern peasant groups demanded the realization of agrarian reform.
Growth of Fascism in Italy
The mobilization of working groups brought to the surface the fear of the middle sectors, the industrial bourgeoisie and conservatives in general. The possibility revolutionary on Italian soil was reflected in the rise of the socialist and communist parties. On the one hand, socialists favored a reform process that would bring about change in strictly partisan ways. On the other hand, members of the communist factions understood that deep reforms should be encouraged.
The process of ideological division of the left took place while the conservative sectors and the upper bourgeoisie pleaded for support for the
Creating a militia force known as “black shirts”, the fascists gained a lot of popularity amid the strife of the national economy. The movement's demonstration of power came when, on October 27, 1922, the fascists carried out the March on Rome. The demonstration, which took to the streets of the Italian capital, demanded that King Victor Emanuel III hand over power to the National Fascist Party. Under pressure, the royal authority called Benito Mussolini to compose the government.
Inserted in the spheres of central political power, the fascists would have the opportunity to impose their authoritarian and centralizing political project. Already in the 1924 elections, fascist political representatives won a majority in parliament. The socialists, unhappy with the frauds of the electoral process, denounced the fascist anti-democratic strategy. In response, the socialist Giacomo Matteotti was brutally murdered by fascist partisans.
Mussolini was already taking actions to undermine representative institutions. Legislative power was completely weakened and the new government published the Lavoro's Letter, which declared the intentions of the new faction installed in power. Outlining fascist principles, the document advocated a corporate state where Mussolini's sovereign leadership would solve Italy's problems. In 1926, an attack suffered by Mussolini was the breach used for the fortification of the fascist state.
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Repression and imperialist race
The press organs were closed, the political parties (except the fascist one) were outlawed, the black shirts joined the official repressive forces and the death penalty was legalized. The fascist state, with so many powers, annihilated most of the avenues of political opposition. Between 1927 and 1934, thousands of civilians were killed, imprisoned or deported.
The appeal to young people and the family instigated great popular support for the regime of Duce (the way the Italians referred to Mussolini). In 1929, the agreements signed with the Church in the Lateran Treaty brought the Italian Catholic population closer to the totalitarian regime. At the same time, demographic growth and the encouragement of public works began to reverse the signs of the deep crisis that gripped Italy. The agricultural and industrial sector started to gain considerable growth, interrupting the inflationary process of the economy.
With the 1929 crisis, the economic prosperity experienced in the early years of the regime was seriously threatened. Trying to get around the economic recession, the government of Benito Mussolini entered the imperialist race. In the year 1935, the Italian armies carried out the occupation of Ethiopia. The pressure from the other capitalist powers would result in the tensions that led to the outbreak of Second World War (1939–1945), when Mussolini approaches the regime german nazi.
*Image Credit: Olga Popova and Shutterstock.com
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SCHOOL, Team Brazil. "Fascism in Italy"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/fascismo.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
