Tara

Subba

The

Rise

of

Fascism

(HL)

The

Rise

of

Fascism

191501922

Key

Dates

Date

Event

1915

Italy

entered

the

war

on

the

side

of

the

Entente

powers

Entente

powers

promised

to

award

Italy

with

lands

in

the

Trentino,

Trieste

and

Austrian

lands

in

the

southern

Tyrol,

Istria

and

Dalmatia.

The

Italian

Kingdom

was

to

dominate

the

Adriatic

Sea

and

further

colonies

were

to

be

made

in

Africa

and

the

Eastern

Mediterranean.

1919
March

June

September

First

meeting

of

Fascist

movement

-

Mussolini

founded

Fasci

di

combattimento

Treaty

of

Versailles

failed

to

and

any

German

colonies

to

Italy

Seizure

of

Fiume

(Undermined

liberal

government)

Nationalist

Gabrielle

D'Annunzio

marched

with

2000

armed

men

and

occupied

Fiume

in

defiance

of

the

Italian

government.

Showed

decisive

military

action

-

hero

to

the

public

eye.

November

Elections

--

Socialists

become

the

largest

single

party

and

Liberals

could

no

longer

rule

alone.

Fascist

failed

to

win

a

seat

in

parliament.

1920

September

Strikes

--

Occupation

of

the

factories

by

400,000

engineering

workers

November

Fascist

squad

violence

began

1921

May

Fascist

gained

35

seats

in

general

election

October

National

Fascist

Party

organization

created

1922

Increasing

Fascist

violence

July

Abortive

Socialist

General

strike

October

th

Fascists

took

control

of

key

buildings

in

northern

cities

(March

on

Rome

planned)

th

28

Resignation

of

last

Liberal

government

29th

Mussolini

invited

by

King

Victor

Emmanuel

III

to

become

Prime

Minister

30th

Mussolini

arrived

in

Rome.

Fascist

organized

a

victory

party.

27

2

Background

summary

* The

unification

of

Italy

was

completed

in

1870

-

the

new

state

suffered

from

political

and

economic

weakness.

* WW1

was

a

strain

on

her

economy

and

there

was

bitter

disappointment

at

her

treatment

at

the

Versailles

settlement.

* Proportional

representation:

Between

1919--22

there

were

5

different

governments,

incapable

of

taking

decisive

action

that

Italy

needed.

Why

was

Mussolini

able

to

come

to

power?

|

Disillusionment

and

frustration

|

In

1919

the

general

atmosphere

of

disillusionment

and

frustration

in

Italy

was

caused

by

various

factors:

'Mutilated

Victory'

(disappointment

at

It

Italy's

gains

form

the

Versailles

settlement)

Demobilized

soldiers

struggling

to

fit

into

civilian

society

saw

the

peace

settlements

as

a

humiliating

defeat.

Nationalists

who

saw

the

liberals

as

weak

and

incompetent

were

convinced

that

the

government

would

fail

to

defend

Italian

interest

at

the

peace

conference.

They

demanded

that

Italy

should

not

only

receive

territories

agreed

with

the

Entente

in

1915

(Southern

Tyrol,

Trentino,

Istria

and

art

of

Dalmatia)

but

also

be

granted

the

city

of

Fiume.

SS?
SS?
SS?
SS?

Treaty

of

St.

Germain

ceded

Austrian

land

in

the

South

Tyrol

and

Trentino

a?

Italy

USA

and

Britain

refused

to

hand

over

Fiume

-

city

vital

to

the

economy

of

the

new

Yugoslav

state.

o 1919

September:

Seizure

of

Fiume

by

Nationalist

Gabrielle

D'Annunzio

Italy

was

denied

Dalmatia

-

little

Italian

population.

German

colonies

in

Africa

would

not

be

shared

with

Italy.

Outraged

Nationalists

blamed

Liberal

weakness

for

this

humiliating

defeat.

The

Italians

felt

cheated

for

the

valiant

efforts

during

the

war

where

they

faced

700,000

casualties.

Economic

effect

of

the

war

The

financial

cost

of

war

placed

a

heavy

burden

on

Italian

treasury.

Huge

sums

had

been

borrowed

from

the

USA

and

Britain

SS?

National

debt

increased

from

16

billion

liras

in

1914

to

85

billion

lira

in

1919.

Borrowings

proved

inadequate

to

pay

for

war.

o The

government

resorted

to

printing

more

money

-

inflation

spiraled

and

prices

quadrupled

during

war

years.

* The

Lira

declined

in

value

(from

5:

$

in

1914

a?

28:

$

in

1921)

SS?

There

was

massive

unemployment

as

heavy

industry

cut

back

its

wartime

production

levels.

o Industries

whose

profits

were

falling

did

not

take

on

any

new

workers.

o Soldiers

plunged

into

the

deteriorating

economic

situation.

o Unemployment

rose

to

over

2million

in

1919.

Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our Origins and Developments of Authoritarian and Single party states Notes.