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Title: A Level history Italy Revision notes 1911-46
Description: these notes got me an A in history A Level. (edexcel)
Description: these notes got me an A in history A Level. (edexcel)
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Italy Revision 1911-1946!
!
2
...
!
• However, behind the facade of cheering crowds lay a darker reality that was hard to
ignore; the Catholic Church boycotted the events and refused to celebrate Italian
unification, while socialists saw a united Italy as meaningless
...
!
• There was partial unification in 1861, but had only been unified fully with Rome in 1870
...
!
• Risorgimento= the ‘rebirth’ and unification of Italy between 1859-1870!
• May 1898 protests against Italy’s political system and growing economic problems was
met by brutal government crackdown & 100 protesters killed in Milan
...
!
• Attitude of Catholic Church and the ‘Roman Question’ (the split between the Italian state
and the Catholic Church which refused to recognise the legitimacy of the unified nation)
...
!
• Less than 25% of Italian men could vote
...
Instead prominent politicians formed
governments by offering key positions to other parliamentary members (deputies), who
would then agree to support them as Prime Minister
...
Therefore skill as a
politician was due to the ability in forming political alliances by knowing how to buy the
support of other deputies
...
!
• Any demonstrations against the govt
...
- the iron and steel industries grew
significantly as did the chemical, mechanical and electrical industries
...
!
• Protests against unemployment, food shortages and high taxation were commonbetween 1901-1911 there were over 1,500 strikes involving nearly 350,000 workers
...
!
!
The North-south divide:!
• Meridionale= the southern areas of Italy- poor due to geographical location, history and
poor treatment from the richer north
...
!
• In 1911 the government consensus showed that almost half of Italy’s 2
...
!
• By contrast, the south was one of Europe’s most impoverished areas, wehre the peasant
population suffered from poor diet, malnutrition, a lack of clean drinking water, high rates
of infant mortality, malaria and tuberculosis
...
More than half of the south were illiterate, 5x the rate of Piedmont in the
north
...
!
• They tried to encourage industrial investment in Naples, but failed to make a difference
in improving the lives of southern peasants
...
5 million
...
!
• This emigration helped to lessen the economic strains in the south, but failed to deal with
the central, long-term issues facing Italy and was reliant on other countries’ willingness to
accept large influxes of poor, unskilled Italian migrants
...
Italy’s industrial
development was behind that of Britain or Germany, while geographically it was
disadvantaged by the fact that the French and British navies dominated the
Mediterranean
...
!
• Italian foreign policy goals tended to focus on irredentism (to reclaim Istria & south Tyrol
as areas were ethnically Italian, spoke language, rightfully Italian but under AustroHungarian Empire rule)!
• Italy did not have the military power not the diplomatic means to reclaim the areas so it
looked to gain overseas colonies, particularly Africa, as colonisation was seen as
essential for any nation wanting to be seen as one of Europe’s great powers
...
!
• The Triple Alliance angered a lot of Italians as it allied Italy with Austria, a traditional
enemy of the ‘unredeemed’ lands
...
-from 1894 on Italy sought to gain
Abyssinia
...
!
• The humiliation at Adwa accentuated the growing anger towards Italy’s political class and
was the catalyst for the mass protests and riots that rocked italy at the end of the 19th
century
...
!
• Giolitti was the master of trasformismo and he kept files on the weaknesses of every
deputy in the Italian parliament so that he had a specific understanding of how to
guarantee their support
...
!
• 1911 he became PM for the 4th time- his policies varied very little from his other terms
and focused on making Italy into a modern, industrialised and successful country where
the masses were unified by shared values and faith in the liberal ideas of parliament
...
!
!
Giolitti and the socialists:!
• The main focus of the 1911 Giolitti programme was the PSI which had formed in 1892
and had quickly developed into a powerful political institution
...
By 1913 it had grown significantly, winning nearly a quarter of
all votes and achieving 79 deputies in parliament
...
!
• This urbanisation transformed Italian politics: peasants who moved to the city
encountered a new modern world- increased literacy, education and awareness of
political engagement, in turn encouraged growth of socialism for WC advancement
...
to achieve the dreams of Risorgimento
...
!
• They promoted education as a way for the poor to change the political order, working to
encourage greater school attendance and providing books to workers
...
!
• In the agricultural sector, 218,000 had joined the thousands of socialist agricultural
cooperatives that had been formed by 1910
...
!
• Giolitti’s most important concession to the socialists came in 1906 when he asserted a
new policy of non-intervention in labour disputes and the establishment of arbitration
courts that would look to settle pay disputes between employers and employees, thereby
lowering the need for strike action
...
!
• 1911 Giolitti even offered key socialist, Bissolati a place in his cabinet, he declined
...
!
• The issue was that the party was split between reformists who were prepared to work
with Giolitti to bring about change, and the maximalists (including Mussolini ) who
believed in revolution and the violent overthrow of the state
...
!
!
Giolitti and the Catholic Church:!
• Giolitti recognised the power and influence of the Church and was extremely careful in
his dealings with them
...
!
• As PM in 1904, he allowed a divorce bill to disappear from parliament and promoted
Catholic interests in areas such as education
...
!
• Giolitti was happy to use the Catholics to improve his parliamentary majority, but while he
welcomed any support the Church provided, he was not prepared actively to court a
greater link with the Church
...
!
• He was also not prepared to give the Pope any concession on Roman territory and
therefore was unable to solve the ‘Roman Question’ which was still at the heart of the
tension between the Church and the state
...
!
• The nationalists were anti-socialist and anti-liberal and believed that only through an
aggressive foreign policy that looked to expand Italy’s power in Africa and claim the
irredente lands could Italy assert itself as a world power
...
!
• Their movement was supported by the educated middle classes, who viewed it in terms
of a force for national renewal which would undermine the rising popularity of socialism
and destroy the cynical corruption of Rome, bringing a new more dynamic Italy
...
!
• In 1910 the nationalists formed the ANI, bringing the currents of nationalism into a more
formalised organisation under the leadership of Enrico Corradini
...
!
• In 1911, Giolitti pursued a different path and attempted to embrace nationalism by
expanding Italy’s empire in North Africa through the invasion of Libya
...
!
• Italy interest in Balkans clashed with supposed ally Austria who held territory that many
Italians believed was theirs
...
!
• However in 1911, Giolitti was prepared to placate the nationalists by expanding Italy’s
colonial empire by invading Libya (this came about for many reasons)!
• Firstly, Italy had signed a deal in 1902 in which Italy would support the French expansion
in Morocco in return for the French backing Italian influence in Libya
...
!
• Secondly, an invasion of Libya by the Italians would gain the support of the Church, who
had considerable financial interests in Libya
...
!
• In the short term Giolitti was successful in this- the invasion of Libya on 20 sept 1911
was greeted with lots of national enthusiasm, even from socialist leaders who had hoped
that acquiring the colony could help provide land for Italy’s poorest
...
committed 70,000 troops in its invasion
...
Instead, Giolitti looked to put pressure on the Ottomans elsewhere
...
Turkey
begun war with Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece in October 1912 meant
Ottoman surrendered control of Libya on 8 October
...
!
• However, the colonisation of Libya was greeted as a resounding Italian victory that had
overcome the shame of Adwa and demonstrated Italy as being a true European power
...
!
• Overall!
- By 1912 it appeared that Giolitti’s programme had been successful
...
!
- Catholic Church became less antagonistic to the state, and was cooperating with the
liberals in some areas
...
But Libyan War & universal suffrage had
!
severe consequences for the government
...
!
• The nationalists took credit for the war , claiming that Giolitti only invaded due to
nationalist pressure
...
!
• The Libyan War destroyed Giolitti’s cooperation with the PSI, which formed the key basis
of his programme of trasformismo- they opposed the war as imperialist militarism
...
The revolutionary wing of the party seized control and rejected further
cooperation with Giolitti
...
!
• Giolitti’s attempt to absorb the socialists into the liberal state had failed
...
!
• Previously the vote had been restricted to literate men over 21, but it was now hard not
to give the vote to many who were fighting in Libya who were illiterate
...
!
• Now that 70% of Italy’s voters were potentially illiterate, this was a concern, Giolitti hoped
that increased suffrage would promote national unity and popularity of the liberals
...
!
!
Resignation of Giolitti:!
• The first elections under the new suffrage took place in 1913 and demonstrated the
overall failure of his strategy
...
However, the critics problem
was the liberals’ links to the Catholic Church
...
!
• Gentiloni boasted after the election that 228 liberal deputies of the 318 elected owed
their victory to Catholic support
...
found themselves v
...
!
• Italy was becoming more ideologically polarised and Giolitti’s attempt to unite
oppositional groups within the liberal system using trasfromismo was now impossible
...
!
!
Growth of nationalism and socialism:!
• Giolitti’s programme of deal-making and attempting to bring oppositional forces within the
liberal parliamentary system struggled under the mass suffrage that he had been so
eager to promote
...
!
• Giolitti was replaced by Salandra who believed that he could revive liberalism by linking
it more closely with nationalism
...
!
• For a week most of northern/central Italy was in chaos (buildings torched, tax registers
destroyed, railway stations seized and churches attacked)
...
!
• Eventually this ‘Red Week’ ended after trade unions agreed to call off the strike, but the
riots showed Salandra how hard achieving national unity was
...
!
• When WW1 broke out in Aug 1914, although Italy had joined the Triple Alliance with
Germany and Austria, Italy did not have to join as Austria had not consulted Italy before
invading Serbia
...
!
• Many in parliament, including Giolitti, believed that Italy was not economically ready for a
major war so soon after Libya
...
!
!
What was the impact of WW1 on Italy?!
!
The intervention crisis:!
• Italy’s declaration of neutrality in 1914 set of a political crisis
...
!
• On the other hand, if Britain and France won and Italy had not assisted them they would
not be open to discussing Italy’s ambitions in the Mediterranean
...
!
• At the start of 1915 Salandra and foreign minister Sonnino began secret negotiations
with GB and FR as well as Germany and Austria- it was the entente however that offered
the best deal, promising that with victory Italy would gain much of the Irridente lands
...
!
• In early May 1915 the crisis of Italy’s possible intervention in WW1 grew considerably
when Giolitti denounced the Treaty of London and 300 deputies announced their
opposition to Salandra’s decision- those backing neutrality called for Giolitti as PM
again
...
!
• Salandra resigned and the King asked Giolitti to form a new govt
...
!
• Giolitti told the king that he felt committed to the ToL and might abdicate if it were not
honoured, so he declined the offer to become PM again
...
!
• Italy’s entry into the war was predominantly due to foreign and domestic political reasons
and had little to do with the interventionist protests
...
Significantly, the PSI had voted against Salandra’s
emergency powers and were the only left-wing party not to support Italy in the war
...
!
• Instead, conditions were horrific and thousands of Italian soldiers were killed by cholera
and frostbite due to mountainous conditions
...
!
• Nearly 5 million men were conscripted, with the majority being peasants or agricultural
workers- southern peasant conscripts were overrepresented and the ideals of the war
concerning Italian expansion meant very little to them
...
290,000 had deserted
...
!
• Military tribunals passed 4,000 death sentences on Italian soldiers for desertion and
indiscipline throughout the course of the war, considerably more per capita than any
other Western army
...
!
• Those soldiers who survived the prisoner of war camps came out with a strong feeling of
abandonment and considerable anger towards a govt
...
!
!
Defeat at Capporetto:!
• In 1916 the Austrian army launched the Strafexpedition, a major offensive in the Trentine
salient, in order to open a path that would allow it to attack Verona and Bologna
...
!
• Salandra was criticised by both military command and parliament and was forced to
resign
...
!
• The situation reached its lowest point with Italy’s humiliating defeat by the AustroHungarian forces at the Battle of Caporetto in Oct 1917- the battle occurred when
Austrian forces attacked the Italian front line
...
!
• The actions of the Italian troops in the face of the Austrian offensive was an
embarrassment to the Italian leadership, who only months before had claimed that the
war finally brought patriotic unity in Italy
...
!
• The defeat revealed how poor the Italian army was and prompted anger and debate in
Italy
...
!
• Following Caporetto, Boselli resigned and was replaced by Orlando, Cadorna was
removed and the army was reorganised under a new commander, General Diaz
...
!
• An organisation to look after the welfare of soldiers and their families was established
...
!
!
Socialist responses to war:!
• Politically, the PSI continues to oppose the war, refusing to vote for war credits in
parliament and declaring a policy of ‘neither support nor sabotage’ to the war effort
...
!
• The hysteria after Caporetto against ‘defeatists’ who had ‘stabbed Italy in the back’ led to
the arrest of many PSI leaders- Mussolini blamed Italian socialists saying that they were
a more dangerous enemy that the Austrians
...
!
!
The war economy and cost of war:!
• At the start, Italy was behind Austria in nearly all key economic areas crucial for the war
...
6 million
tonnes, for every 2 machine guns per Italian battalion the Austrians had 12, and Italy
were short of artillery and bullets
...
!
• Italy had created an aeronautical industry that produced 6,500 planes in 1918
...
!
• This success was driven by the under-secretariat of arms and munitions, Alfredo
Dallolio- he organised the recruitment of women and peasants into the factories and
ensured the men deemed essential for war production were exempt from conscription
...
!
• 1/4 of munition factory employees were women and 1/3 of Italy’s 900,000 workers in the
war economy were either men exempted from service or on secondment from the army
...
!
• Italy achieved rapid growth and for the industrialists there was no risk involved as they
were backed up by the states and the banks, which fuelled their expansion
...
investment in war
production, which had been paid for by foreign loans and printing more money
...
spending as the country found
itself 23 billion lire in debt
...
9 billion lire in June 1919 with 15 billion lire owing to Britain and 8
...
!
• Italy’s economy had become unbalanced with a few war-based sectors such as steel,
engineering, vehicles, cement, rubber and chemicals growing at a disproportionate rate
compared with other industries
...
!
• By 1917, bread/pasta were rationed and meat/sugar consumption was falling sharply
...
!
• The govt
...
!
• Aug 1917, 50 workers killed in Turin against bread shortages and continuation of war
...
!
!
The significance of victory:!
• The shift in military tactics combined with the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, saw Italy’s prospects in the war improve and by Oct 1918 the empire was near
to collapse
...
!
• On 24 Oct 1918 Italy launched an offensive across the Piave, entering the town of
Vittorio Veneto and splitting the Austrian army in 2- Austria signed an armistice on 4 Nov
...
!
• Salandra proclaimed the victory as representing the patriotism and self-sacrifice he
hoped the war would bring-despite the victory it was hard to see what Italy actually won
...
!
• After Caporetto the govt
...
!
!
2
...
in dealing with Italy’s problems following WW1?!
!
The ‘mutilated victory’:!
• WW1 had a profound effect on Italy- the political and economic impact caused fear,
resentment and a desire for change among many Italians
...
!
• The disappointment with the liberal govt
...
!
• At the end of WW1, Italy’s govt
...
!
• There was tension in the south as returning conscripts pushed for the land reform they
had been promised in the war- demobilised soldiers in the south forcibly occupied
hundreds of thousands of hectares of farming land
...
!
• It was clear that the war had not achieved the unity that those who had originally
supported intervention had hoped for
...
!
• The key leaders at Versailles, USA president Wilson, British PM George and French PM
Clemenceau had a condescending attitude to Italy and did not see it deserving of the
‘great power’ status
...
In June, Orlando was forced to resign as PM
...
!
• According to poet and novelist D’annunzio it was a ‘mutilated victory’, a national shame
that had disgraced the 600,000 soldiers who had lost their lives in the war- it showed the
weakness of the liberal govt
...
!
• The situation was not helped by the actions of Orlando’s replacement, Nitti- he allowed
the newly formed nation of Yugoslavia to take Dalmatia, and Fiume to be deemed a
neutral city under the protection of the LoN
...
!
• The fascists would focus on ‘multilated victory’ as part of their appeal to massesMussolini argued Italy needed a stronger govt
...
!
!
The occupation of Fiume:!
• Against a backdrop of economic problems and political turmoil, nationalist right-wing
groups challenged the govt
...
!
• The most prominent right-wing leader was D’Annunzio, who led the protests that called
for Italy’s entry into the was in 19114- he believed that only war could rejuvenate Italy
...
!
• D’Annunzio presented his capture of Fiume as redemption for Italy’s dead soldiers,
having overcome some of the shame of the ‘mutilated victory’
...
failed to act for 15 months- eventually
D’Annunzio and his small army were removed by the Italian navy on 25 Dec 1920
...
had been weak
to accept the TOV and that it could be changed if Italy took what was rightfully theirs
...
!
!
!
Post-war economic crisis and social discontent:!
• Italy’s economy was also in a difficult situation as the government attempted to adjust to
the post war world- millions of soldiers were demobilised, flooding the job market, and by
Nov 1919 unemployment reached 2 million- inflation was at a high and the lira collapsed
...
!
• Major companies like Fiat who thrived during the war, struggled once the war ended- 2
major munitions companies collapsed in 1921, causing a banking crisis as a major bank
was forced to close
...
!
• The conclusion of the war saw the release of anarchist and socialist radicals who had
been jailed during WW1
...
Italy was rocked by major strikes, factory occupations and
violent riots
...
!
• In 1919, rising food prices had caused riots in northern and central Italy where protestors
looted shops and granaries
...
an army troops’ strike in July
...
!
• The govt
...
!
• The countryside mirrored the social and economic discontent- the govt
...
!
• Many peasants seized land from the owners by simply marching on barren or
uncultivated land, raising flags and setting to work- this alarmed the wealthy landowners
who feared rural revolution
...
response
...
!
• Many in the upper and middle classes looked towards right-wing organisations that
would provide an alternative to the weak liberal govt
...
!
!
Political reforms:!
• The Italian parliamentary elections of 1919 took place against a backdrop of political and
economic upheaval- the govt
...
!
• The amount of people able to vote was increased by 11 million by introducing a new law
that all Italians who served at the front and any male over 21 could vote
...
also changed the method of voting to proportional representation so that the
public vote would have greater influence on which parties got elected to parliament
...
!
• The PPI was a major supporter of land reform and camp gained for more farming areas
to be made available to the peasants- making the PPI a strong political force
...
!
• The political situation was further complicated by the growing power of the PSI- the was
and revolution in Russia had encouraged them in a more radical direction and the party
now refused to work with the Liberals and called for a revolution
...
!
!
Result and impact of elections 1919:!
• The political reforms introduced had a critical impact on the 1919 election and for the first
time the PSI had won the greatest share of the vote with 32%, resulting in 156 socialist
deputies taking their place in parliament; 3x what they had won in 1913
...
!
• However, neither party had a full majority nor were they willing to work with each other in
a coalition- meaning the old liberals still retained power, putting together several
coalitions that ruled italy until 1922- a dangerous failure of democracy
...
!
• Given the problems in Italy and the anger of the Italian people towards the old political
system, the 1919 election was a lost opportunity to show that democracy could help
solve Italy’s problems
...
fell in June 1920 and once again parliament turned towards Giolitti to lead
the country away from the impending social, economic and political meltdown
...
!
• Mussolini had previously begun his political career as a strong socialist, but he was
moving towards the right-wing, seeking to establish a new movement driven by exsoldiers who wanted to create the Italy they believed they had been fighting for
...
!
• The party’s programme was quite vague at this stage, but it is clear that Mussolini's
socialist background had a considerable effect on policy
...
!
• It demanded nationalisation of the armaments industry, progressive taxation and the
confiscation of profits from those companies that made profits in the war
...
!
• Although only 50 attended the original meeting, the party had reached 3,000 members
by June- predominantly made up of arditi and crack troop commandos
...
They saw the socialists and the workers participating in the strike
action as the enemies
...
!
• The fascists formed themselves into small, military units or squads- the squadrismo and
the squadristi (the members) answered the socialist threat through extreme violence
...
!
• The fascists had done v
...
!
• The success of the squadristi violence revealed to Mussolini a different path to powerafter the violence in Milan none of the fascist squad was arrested and the govt
...
!
• It was clear to Mussolini that the police, army and the govt
...
!
• Mussolini encouraged the formation of more armed squads across Italy that were
organised like military units under commanding officers known as a Ras- members wore
the uniform of the black shirt and carried a revolver and a club as weapons
...
!
• In the first 5 months of 1921, 200 people were killed and 1000 wounded in fascist
violence against the socialists
...
!
• The fascist failure in the 1919 election and the popularity of the fascist action against the
socialists among Italians who feared revolution, mainly the Middle classes, but also part
of the elite like the military, encouraged Mussolini to take the fascist movement more to
the right
...
!
• Police stood by and allowed the fascists violence, sometimes even actively joining in
...
!
• Although the PSI still achieved the highest vote, the fascists achieved an electoral
breakthrough- winning 7% of the vote and 35 seats
...
Secondly, as a deputy, Mussolini benefited from
immunity to prosecution
...
!
• References to nationalisation of business was dropped and a more pro-business attitude
taken, with the fascists now promising to sell of nationally owned businesses to private
investors
...
!
• The PNF founded local branches and attempted to recruit more ‘respectable members’
who might help advance fascism’s appeal beyond the appreciation among certain
classes of italians used against the socialists
...
!
• The PNF’s appeal to the urban middle class, professional white collar workers and small
business owners was particularly strong- these Italians feared not only socialist
revolution, but also an increase in local taxes the PSI might try to implement
...
!
• Financial support came from richer landowners and Italian industrialists who supported
fascism’s attempts to break union power and socialism
...
!
• Many who hated the corruption of liberal order saw fascism as a new, dynamic
alternative that might bring about a revitalised society
...
and a belief in Mussolini as the man
who could sweep away the weak Italy and lead the country to a more nationally united
future
...
!
• Giolitti employed hid old tactics of compromise and absorption to address the industrial
unrest during the Bienno Rosso- his solution to the 1920 strike was to see compromise
with the workers, pressuring Italy’s banks to withdraw support for companies that would
not negotiate with strikers,!
• In the short term this was successful; by 25 Sept 1920 the strikes had ended and there
was considerable anger from the middle classes, industrialists, nationalists, landowners
and Catholics that Giolitti had ‘given in’ to the workers demands
...
!
• In Jan 1921 the more radical members of the PSI split into the PCI with support from
Russia- they wanted revolution and an end to the capitalist system in Italy
...
!
• The PCI was too small to provide a political threat via either ballot box or revolution
...
!
• A further issue was that Giolitti’s old tactics of compromise and trasformismo were
proving inadequate in post-war Italy where ideological splits were more defined,!
• With more parties, it was harder to organise a working coalition that would provide a
majority govt
...
!
• During the 1921 election, Giolitti tried to absorb the fascists by offering the members a
place in the ‘national bloc’ on the ballot paper- he wanted to tame fascism
...
backed candidate, Mussolini
announced that he would vote with the opposition- the 1921 was a disaster for Giolitti as
parliament was now made of 123 socialist, 15 communists, 107 PPI and 35 fascist
deputies
...
and Giolitti chose to resign
...
!
• The dualistic approach was complicated by Mussolini's balancing act between
revolutionary members and those conservative & wanted power through parliament
...
!
• In Aug he made a Pact of Pacification with the PSI members in parliament and socialist
trade union members- Mussolini thought it was necessary to bring political and social
peace to Italy at a time when the nation required it
...
!
One of the key issues for Mussolini was that until October 1921 fascism was a movement, not an
•
organised party- the multiple squads had a strong loyalty to their ras, who had built up a
solid power base in provinces taken from socialists
...
Mussolini overestimated his control of ras
...
!
• Mussolini showed political skill, threatening to resign as leader if they were not willing to
follow his policy direction
...
STRENGTHENED HIS POSITION
...
!
• The Ras were unable to work together to formulate policy, his absence showed how
crucial he was to party
...
!
• PNF conference Nov 1921 fascist delegates supported Mussolini as leader & confirmed
official party
...
!
• Mussolini won significant victory over ras, now subordinate to him
...
Mussolini came to believe best way to
power was squadristi violence to blackmail govt into giving him power
...
!
• From spring 1922 fascist violence expanded
...
Helped by inadequate response of liberal govt
...
!
• Balbo lead squads through Rimini to Bertinoro on east coat, destroying houses and
offices where socialists & communist held meetings
...
Govt did nothing to stop violence &
attempted July PCI strike strengthened fascist cause
...
!
• Squads attacked large cities (Genoa, Milan, Livorno, Ancona & Bari), murdered socialist
leaders & supporters, burned offices, left-wing councils forced to resign
...
!
• Violence weakened Facta; unable or unwilling to stop it
...
!
• Mussolini still favoured his dual policy through Sept & Oct 1922 and promised that if
fascists were accepted within coalition, would pursue moderate conservative policy,
backing monarchy, reduce tax & balance budget
...
!
• Orlando & Nitti called for coalition with fascism- accepted alliance with Mussolini-They
hoped alliance with fascists would help them become PM
...
!
!
The March on Rome and its significance:!
• The Ras were now pushing for a march on Rome and the violent takeover of
government
...
!
Concerned about military - unsure what their response would be, squads not able to
•
stand against armed response from army
...
!
• He continued to hold talks with liberal politicians about potential coalitions, at same time
fascist squads moving on Rome
...
!
• Facts requested king proclaim martial law and use army to crush fascists
...
!
• He agreed with Facta for declaration of a state of emergency and use of army to enforce
martial law
...
!
• Around 9a
...
Crucial to fascist success
...
!
• Encouraged not to sign decree by Salandra & his supporters hoping Facta would resign,
allowing Salandra to be PM in fascist coalition
...
Army chiefs promised king
they would follow his orders, but he could not guarantee soldiers would stay loyal
...
!
• His cousin Duke of Aosta, was fascist supporter, Mussolini hinted if fascists took over he
could be replaced by his taller, stronger, more manly cousin
...
!
• Mussolini helped by disagreements between liberals who hope to take over
...
Mussolini
demand he be made PM
...
!
• Salandra, Orlando & Giolitti believed they should be made PM but hatred for each other
meant they recommended King to appoint Mussolini as opposed to rivals
...
!
• Mussolini believed fascism required much stronger, dynamic ‘myth’ than political horse
trading that took place
...
!
• He arrived in Rome on 30 Oct - sworn in as PM
...
!
• 31 Oct allowed a victory parade saluting King in his palace
...
!
• State-sponsored history books would write about civil war & death of 3,000 fascist
martyrs who died during march
...
He was PM at head of coalition
govt - only minority of his cabinet were fascists
...
!
• Own supporters divided between moderates & radicals- many wanted revolution,
complete seizure of power & reward for helping him
...
!
• His cabinet: 4 liberals, 2 PPI members, 1 ANI (himself) & 2 military
...
!
• Main goal was to please old ruling classes
...
!
• Gained trust of Catholic Church by increasing clerical pay, put crucifixes in schools
...
!
• Appointed PPI member Stefano Cavazzoni minister of work & welfare = Cavazzoni
convinced other Catholic politicians to accept collaboration
...
!
• Mussolini ’s pro-Catholic policies encourages Vatican to support PNF over PPI - without
Sturzo/ Vatican PPI declined in power
...
!
• Warned parliament he had 300,000 men ready to take violent action against deputies
that didn’t support him
...
306 votes-116 against
...
!
!
Controlling the PNF:!
• Dec 1922 he created a rival organisation to cabinet- he appointed key fascists
...
!
• He was leader with sole ability to appoint its members, he consolidated his power over
PNF & parliament & strengthened his control over PNF Jan 1923
...
!
• 300,000 members pledge alliance to Italy & Mussolini
...
!
• Helped bring end to violence which was detrimental to support from liberal elite & middle
classes
...
!
• King, army & liberal elite supported MVSN believing it was better to have blackshirts
under government control than independent under ras
...
!
!
The Acerbo Law and the 1924 election:!
• With power over parliament and ras, Mussolini wanted to hold general election that
would provide PNF with parliamentary mandate
...
!
• Mussolini introduced Acerbo Law - proposed 2/3 of parliamentary seats would go to the
party that won more than 25% of the vote
...
!
• PCI & PSI opposed, the liberal elites (Giolitti, King & Vatican) supported
...
!
• Staged demonstrations in Tuscany & Umbria, threatening violence if bill didn’t pass
...
!
• It passed & called election 6 April 1924
...
!
• Murdered PSI candidate Antonio Piccinini
...
!
• Opposition divided PCI, PSI & PPI & liberals (Giolitti) refused to work with fascists
...
!
• Electoral turnout 64%, Mussolini won 66
...
!
• Fascists deputies increased from 35-275
...
!
!
The Matteotti Crisis:!
• Despite Mussolini ’s overwhelming win Italy was still a democracy
...
!
• The event that would lead to the end of parliamentary democracy was the murder of PCI
leader Giacomo Matteotti
...
!
• He asserted fascists won due to ‘obscene violence’ & were determined to establish a
dictatorship regardless of the results
...
!
• 10 June Matteotti kidnapped
...
!
• Witness saw the number plate of the car he had been dragged into = Mussolini ’s press
secretary’s car Cesare Rossi
...
!
• Although no direct link between Mussolini & kidnapping, implication of fascist party & its
leader with the murder of key political leader threatened to topple PNF govt
...
!
• PSI, PCI called for dismissal of Mussolini & overthrow of fascist govt
...
!
• 11-13 June Mussolini was unsure what to do
...
!
• 13 June 100 antifascist deputies left parliament, claiming govt was unconstitutional
...
On surface appeared strong move, allowed Mussolini to avoid being removed
...
!
• His strong, right-wing conservative anticommunist govt appealed as they had no interest
in another change of leader
...
!
• Knowing this, Mussolini regained confidence, little chance he could be removed
...
!
• King would not dismiss Mussolini as PM, Aventine deputies could not agree on what to
do, offered no threat to Mussolini ’s rule
...
This reassured political elites: Luigi Federzoni became Interior Minister and
Alfredo Rocco became Justice Minister- Federzoni was well respected
...
!
• Brought him under pressure from squads
...
!
• Only 2 days after Salandra declared his opposition to Mussolini & he was worried
Salandra could influence King
...
!
!
The establishment of the dictatorship 1925:!
• 3 Jan 1925 - Mussolini made key speech where he announced the establishment of the
fascist dictatorship
...
!
• 12 Jan Mussolini formed new cabinet, without most of liberals, Mussolini took on roles
of PM and minister to foreign affairs, war, navy & aviation
...
!
Farinacci increased fascist membership from 600,000 to 938,000 diluting power of
•
squadristi, increased numbers of those who saw membership as career booster, less
interest in fascist revolution & violence
...
!
• Mussolini gained support for dictatorship from the Military: Increased officer & generals’
pay, appointed conservative monarchist Pietro Badoglio role of chief of general staff
opposed to radical fascists army feared
...
Took power from socialist & Catholic unions
...
!
!
Repression and constitutional amendments 1925-26:!
• 4 August 1925, socialist deputy Zaniboni arrested for plotting to assassinate Mussolini
...
!
• Introduced new law which meant all journalism supervised & approved by state
...
!
• Dec 1925, title of PM changed to Head of Government & Duce of Fascism: the ability of
parliament to remove PM through vote of no confidence removed
...
!
• 31 Oct 1926 following another assassination Mussolini had ability to justify & do:!
- All political parties apart from PNF banned
...
!
- Aventine deputies permanently excluded from parliament
...
!
- Most opposition leaders fled into exile in France and overseas
...
!
- Around 10,000 antifascists left Italy
...
!
• Prefects appointed by Mussolini - most powerful position in Italian regions not Ras
...
!
• New PNF secretary Augusto Turati replaced Farinacci in March asserted any conflict
between ras & prefects, prefects take precedence
...
!
• End 1926 Italy was a 1 party, police state with opposition banned & persecuted
...
!
• From the time of Matteotti’s murder it had taken 18 months for Mussolini to establish
personalised form of dictatorship
...
!
!
2
...
!
• 1921 Avanguardia Giovanile Fascista (Fascist Youth Front) formed for boys aged 14-17
...
Balilla for children 8-14
(militarised youth ready to stand up to foreign invaders)
...
!
• By 1924 only 3,000 children involved
...
!
• 3 April 1926 Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) created to provide ‘for the physical and moral
benefit of youth’ through education of boys 8-18
...
!
• Piccole Italiane (Little Italians) 8-13
...
!
• These organisations under control of Party to Ministry of National Education created
1929 to oversea scholarly education & physical training of Italy’s youth to create loyal &
physically strong generation of fascists
...
!
• Fascist govt did not make it compulsory from 11 until 1939
...
!
• Members of ONB provided access to jobs & special scholarships
...
!
• For boys aimed at producing young, fascist soldiers
...
!
• From 14 special gymnastics & sporting programmes to prepare for military
...
!
- marching, wrestling, shooting practice boxing & bomb throwing
...
!
• Girls did gymnastics to ensure they were fit mothers who could bare healthy children &
educate them in love for Mussolini
...
!
• Links made between Italy’s great heroes (Caesar) & Mussolini
...
!
• Antifascist teachers removed in 1920s
...
!
• At university there was less focus on formal fascist education/ military training
...
!
!
Was education policy a success?!
• For many young people motivation not a belief in fascism but due to:!
- Enjoyable social occasions it provided
...
!
- Employment restrictions non-membership brought
...
!
- Nature of agricultural work made participation in youth groups more difficult
...
!
- Difference between enjoyment boys found (physical activities & outdoor games) &
more dull activities for girls focus on learning to be good future mothers
...
!
• Success of fascist youth policy not complete & hampered by considerable regional &
demographic differences
...
!
• But antifascist forces made up of young people who had been brought up in same fascist
educational system
...
!
Provided workers with variety of social & sporting opportunities (bars, billiard halls,
•
cycling groups, football teams, libraries & radios)
...
!
- Plays, concerts & showing of popular films provided for workers
...
!
- Welfare organisation provided relief for workers & provided social insurance
...
!
Popular mass leisure in Italy provided by fascists
...
!
- 80% of all state & private sector salaried workers were members
...
!
!
Important:!
• Fascists made OND ideologically free
...
!
• OND undoubtably most popular & many workers grateful for benefits
...
!
• Clear many joined as services & benefits without real commitment to fascist ideals
...
!
• Mussolini believed as a form of control compared to direct ideological indoctrination
might discourage workers from OND membership
...
!
• Questionable whether Mussolini interested in pursuing goal or content with policies
brought him popular support
...
!
1926 decrees formalised into official laws sanctioned by parliament
...
!
- Could suspend publication, replace editor & shut down offending papers (avanti)
...
This enforced form of self-censorship (positive towards fascism)
...
!
•
• Fascist reports concerning greatness of Mussolini written by workers for PNF press
officer & sent to newspapers
...
Mussolini more interested in controlling press than banning newspapers
...
!
- Fascist newspapers accounted for 10% of entire newspaper sales
...
!
Independent papers allowed to exist under strict guidance from fearful editors
...
!
Difficult for population to view any alternative narrative than what was presented to them
by the fascists
...
!
• Goal was to manufacture a consensus through propaganda to mobilise support for
Mussolini ’s policies & to help make ‘true’ fascists
...
!
!
Symbol of Rome important focus:!
• Cult of Ancient Rome celebrated greatness of ancient Rome, its leaders & fact Italians
were heirs to greatest empire in history so should be proud
...
!
• 1937 large celebration to commemorate 2,000th anniversary of Augustus Caesar, over 1
million people visited exhibition of celebrating greatness of Rome’s history
...
!
• Disseminated through newspapers, radio, cinemas, posters, mass rallies & sport
...
!
• Success heralded as showing re-found greatness of Italian people demonstrating
supremacy through sporting glory
...
!
• 1937 renamed Ministry of Popular Culture
...
!
- Lack of mass media in south made national integration of all Italians into a consensus
for support of fascism difficult
...
!
!
The Cult of il Duce:!
• Most powerful & successful aspect of fascist propaganda focused on Mussolini ’s
leadership & creation of cult of il Duce
...
!
• Represented in fascist slogan ‘Mussolini is always right’
...
!
• Image portrayed Mussolini as modern, dynamic leader, brilliant sportsman &
internationally respected statesman
...
!
His image as a man attractive to opposite sex & a traditional family man
...
!
As he strengthened his dictatorship, his image as lone leader above his party & nation
became more pronounce:!
- He was without friends to distract him from his work
...
!
• Mussolini represented in image hopes & desires of people: supreme patriot, first soldier
& heir to Caesar & Augustus leading nation to greatness
...
!
• Whilst PNF & fascist ideology may not have been popular with majority, Mussolini stood
above party as leader Italians could believe in
...
!
• If true goal of fascism was to transform Italian people into more militaristic culture, cult of
il Duce did not achieve this
...
!
• Mussolini aged - image of youthful, active & dynamic leader hard to sustain
...
!
•
•
•
•
!
The influence of fascist culture:!
• Wanted to create a cultural revolution that perpetuated ideals of fascism
...
!
- National Institute of Fascist Culture created 1926 organised cultural events, free
concerts & publications encourage mass participation in culture propaganda
...
!
PNF funded Italian film industry & built state of art film production complex (Film City)
...
!
• Artists commissioned to produce art, represented achievement
...
!
• Mussolini never tried to control artistic styles & much of fascist art was modern &
experimental; had to correspond to ideal that through art help glorify fascism
...
!
Plays & movies crucial mediums:!
•
- Giuseppe Forzano produced 3 films provided story of 3 great patriotic leaders,
audience encouraged to link to Mussolini
...
!
- 87% of all box-office takings still Hollywood-produced films
...
!
• Organisation of artists & intellectuals was efficient in controlling what was produced
ensuring it it helped boost image of Mussolini & PNF, never focused in coherent manner
with key message to resonate people
...
g poet d’Annunzio to inspire population
...
!
!
Repression and terror:!
• Mussolini undoubtably tried to sustain fascist power through popular organisations
(OND) but repression of political opposition played key part
...
!
• Death penalty reintroduced for anyone who tried to assassinate King or Mussolini or
threatened states security
...
!
• Process called Confino
...
!
• May not seem huge punishment, but financially devastating - their families faced
discrimination from fascists
...
!
Political police and Rosselli brothers:!
• Political police formed 1926 under Arturo Bocchini
...
!
• Had network of spies in & out of Italy
...
!
OVRA:!
• Italian secret police formed 1927 by Bocchini to spy on Italians & stamp on antifascist
sentiment
...
!
• Spies infiltrated universities, businesses, fascist unions
...
!
• Mail examined & phone calls listened by Special Reserve Service
...
!
• Estimated Bocchini had files on 130,000 Italians
...
Imposed 27,742 years of jail time
...
!
• Prominent socialist & communist leaders fled country to Paris
...
!
- Not seen as lack of repression but success of Bocchini & Mussolini in ensuring little
serious opposition to regime
...
!
- Restricted in their culture & speaking of national language, faced oppression
...
!
•
• Antifascist activities & organisations suppressed successfully but low numbers sent to
jail or Confino makes difficult to judge extent of antifascist feeling
...
!
• Economic issues, concern with relationship with Germany & his inability to fulfil promises
- growing disillusionment with dictatorship
...
!
• Little/ no anti-Semitism from Italian fascism before, Italian fascism no focus on race
...
!
• Many Jews joined fascists, Mussolini had Jewish mistress for year, appointed Jewish
finance minister 1932
...
Foreign Jews deported
...
Jewish businesses closed down, Jewish students expelled
from schools & Jewish lectures at university unemployed
...
!
- Anti-Jewish policy of right-wing dictatorship in Germany, Austria, Hungary & Romania
influenced his ideas
...
!
- Mirrored totalitarian (new type citizens controlled by state) state of Germany
...
!
- To be harsher, racially focused prepared for war soon to come
...
!
Reform of Customs:!
- Ideological campaign forced civil servants to wear uniforms
...
!
- Forbidden to shake hands seen foreign & bourgeoisie - greet each other with straight
arm solute (Roman salute)
...
!
• Ridiculed by people as pointless copied Germans, no relevance
...
Evaluation:!
• Anti-Semitic policies resented by Italians with little to no history of anti-Semitism
...
!
• Policies viewed as worrying sign Italy’s weakness & subordination to Germany
...
!
- Italians question direction of fascist policy as PNF pursued more radical policy
pushing Italy in dangerous & concerning direction
...
!
• Mussolini could not completely ignore the political wishes of the king in order to maintain
power- it was a dictatorship in which Mussolini was a powerful ruler and shared power
with the monarchy
...
!
• As the dictatorship grew stronger he slowly eroded some of the powers held by the king:!
- In december 1928 the Fascist Grand Council has been granted the constitutional right
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
!
to limit the king’s power to nominate future PM 's of of Italy- a considerable
humiliation for the King
...
!
- June 1950 when Italy entered WW2 and Mussolini deprived the king of his role as
supreme military commander and took complete control of the military
...
!
For the most part, however, the relationship between the king and Mussolini was a
political balancing act that suited both of them in respect to the positions they held
throughout the fascist dictatorship
...
!
- Particularly important was the army, judiciary and the civil service
...
!
Traditional conservative elites were able to retain political influence through the newly
created position of the podesta- positions mostly held by elderly conservatives
...
!
For M, this was a crucial relationship that enabled greater acceptance of his dictatorship
and strengthened his position, albeit at the expense of full fascist control of government
...
!
• Head of govt (now M) could decide what parliament could discuss and only Mussolini
could initiate legislation
...
and party policy were to be
discussed and approved by the council
...
!
• In 1932, 148 senators were not a member of the PNF- another example of Mussolini
accommodating the existing political elite to cement his dictatorship
...
!
!
PNF and nationalists:!
PNF:!
• One of the most crucial aspects of Mussolini's dictatorship was the way in which he was
able to minimise the power of his own political party
...
(oct 25 squads killed 8 liberals in Florence)!
- Mussolini dismissed Farinacci and appointed Augusto Turati who threw out
50,000-60,000 members of the party by 1929 and another 110,000 leaving voluntarily,
unhappy with Mussolini's political direction
...
!
• 1933, PNF membership became compulsory for these workers, ensuring that the party
was dominated by MC members who were prepared to fulfil their roles in the political
structure and had no interest in challenging M
...
!
Nationalists:!
• Nationalist Federzoni was appointed minister of the interior on 17 June 1924- an
important move that helped placate the old conservative elites during the Matteotti crisis
...
!
• Ciano, an ex-nationalist, played an influential role as minister of communications from
1924-34, making him the longest serving minister in the fascist regime, aside from
Mussolini himself
...
!
• Ultimately, Mussolini's aggressive foreign policy, particularly from the mid 1930s could
be said to owe as much to nationalist thought on italian expansion and imperialism, as it
did fascist ideology
...
!
• However, it was italian businesses that benefitted most from the PNF’s economic
policies- trade union police had constantly been adapted to take the interests of
industrialists and fascist syndicates who were in favour of policies that gained the
support of the working classes
...
!
- However, strikes, go-slows and lockouts were banned and the syndicates would have
no say in govt
...
!
During the international economic slump of the 1930s, the govt
...
!
• Mussolini also pursued policies to please medium-sized landowners- its clear the richer
industrial/agricultural groups were the main benefactors of fascist economic policies
...
!
!
How successfully did Mussolini ’s economic plans achieve their aims?!
!
Early policies and the shift towards fascist economies:!
• Mussolini's first goal in the economic policy had been to win over the powerful,
established industrial elite
...
!
• De’Stefani had some success as from 1921-24 Italy’s manufacturing production
improved and they achieved a budget surplus, however agricultural groups were
unhappy about the reduction in tariffs
...
!
- The first example of this was the Battle for Lira in Aug 1926
...
!
- He viewed the strength of the lira as representing the strength of the fascist state
itself- Aug 1926 he told Volpi that ‘the fate of the regime is tied to the fate of the lira’!
- Dec 1927 the lira was artificially fixed at 19 to the American dollar and 92
...
This was meant to demonstrate the will of the il Duce and his
power to uphold Italian economic pride
...
!
!
The Corporate State:!
• One of Mussolini's prominent policies was the Corporate State- this grew out of the
Rocco Law of 1926 that failed to balance the interests of the syndicates and the industry
...
!
• Under Giuseppe Bottai, the Charter of Labour was drawn up in 1927 which promised
that these mixed corporations would organise Italy’s economy and guarantee workers’
rights
...
!
• In 1930 the National Council of Corporations was founded, which was meant to be a
consultative body made of employer and worker organisations representing 7 large
sectors of the Italian economy
...
!
• Real power over the economy was held by Mussolini and major economic decisions
were generally made through private discussion with major economic interest groups
outside the corporate bureaucracy
...
This was all lies
...
cut workers’ wages by 12% in Nov 1930 and
encouraged price fixing and cartelisation
...
This ensured that
employment levels stayed fairly stable as the large mergers meant that fewer businesses
were forced to close
...
!
• Govt
...
!
• Welfare was increased to ease the difficulties of those workers who could find
employment
...
ensured that major banks that had loaned millions of lire to Italian
businesses were protected from possible collapse through the IRI scheme
...
owned a majority of companies in the steelworks, shipbuilding,
electricity, machine tool construction and telephone industries
...
intervention guaranteed financial support for both the
banks and key employment industries and thus was quite successful in maintaining
public confidence in the economy that helped sustain Italy through the Great Depression
...
This was driven principally by 3 factors:!
- The general decline in Italian overseas trade due to the overvalued lira and the Great
Depression!
- The sanctions placed on Italy in 1936 in a response to the militaristic actions in Africa!
- The preparation for war, which became more prominent in the late 1930s
...
!
• Mussolini strengthened the country’s control of foreign currency and its import licensing
system and boosted Italy’s exports industry by devaluing the lira in Oct 1936
...
!
• Through the IRI scheme the govt
...
!
• Agricultural products such as cereals and wool, along with raw materials, were
stockpiled to boost Italian stocks and guarantee a consistent supply at regular prices
...
spending on autarkic measures and heavy industry doubled from 30 billion lire in
1934 to 60 billion by 1938- despite this the govt’s success in achieving its goals in
relation to autarky by 1940 is debatable
...
!
• Mussolini believed that having a pop of 40 million and its low birth rare was clearly
detrimental to the country’s goal of becoming a world power
...
Economically, it was believed
that a larger population would create more competition for employment and thus wages
and labour costs low and would also increase the number of consumers
...
The ideal Italian woman focused on the family with the sole aim of
raising as many kids as possible- fitted close with Catholic values
...
Tax reductions/loans given to families with many kids and prizes given
...
!
• The bachelor’s tax ensured that single men took more of a financial burden
...
jobs
...
!
!
The Battle for Gain:!
• This was an agricultural policy that was linked to autarky and aimed at making Italy selfsufficient in grain
...
Wheat tariffs were brought in and increased in 1928 and 29
...
!
• Annual wheat growing competitions were held and farmers were subsidised by govt
...
!
• The fascists made a considerable effort educating growers on new farming techniques
and fertilisers, farm machinery and more resistant seeds to boost wheat production
...
!
• However, despite the fact that Italy was largely self-sufficient in wheat production by
1930s, the policy would have serious consequences on Italian agriculture in other areas
...
The policy of ruralism was announced in 1927 (same time
as battle for births)- they were somewhat connected
...
!
• In 1928, Mussolini launched the ‘empty the cities’ campaign that prevented internal
migration from rural areas to the cities
...
!
• Marsh draining projects, irrigation, road and house building, and adequate construction
were all carried out to provide more arable land for the peasants- the govt
...
!
• These peasants who gained this land were to be carefully selected for their working and
childbearing qualities, and thus the Italian countryside would be repopulated and
agriculture made more productive
...
!
- Battle for Lira caused serious deflation and hampered Italys export industries
...
!
- Industrial employers and Mussolini were never serious about developing a
representative system where workers and employers would share responsibility for
the economy, all major decisions were made by Mussolini alone
...
!
The public work schemes in roads and hydro-electricity provided jobs and benefits to
•
many
...
in 1922
...
!
• The policy of cartelisation and the IRI maintained jobs but restricted innovation and
rationalisation of the economy and kept prices high
...
!
• Italy’s economy was being distorted with the focus on autarky and war materials at the
expense of consumer goods
...
!
• Italy was undoubtedly successful in producing more wheat in the Battle for Grain, with
production rising to 7
...
!
• Ruralisation was also a failure
...
!
• However, in areas mainly in the south where more intense irrigation and complex work
was required, it was barely attempted
...
!
• But, the draining of marshes reduced malaria by 50% and the huge public work project
provided considerable employment during the Depression
...
!
• The Battle for Births was also questionable: by 1930s fascist Italy had the highest
proportion of married females in employment than any other country in Europe, despite
their efforts to force women into the home
...
tried to discourage women from working in 1927 by lowering their wages, but
this only encouraged employers to hire them
...
!
!
How far did Mussolini ’s relationship with the catholic church impact on his fascist
dictatorship?!
!
The move away from anticlerical views:!
• As the early fascist movement developed it was clear to Mussolini that anticlericalism
was not conductive to taking power in a strongly Catholic country like Italy
...
!
• At the fascist congress of May 1920 when the new programme was set out, Mussolini
declared that Catholicism could be used as a political force to drive unity and
nationalism
...
!
• This pope was predominantly concerned with the communist threat and believed that a
govt
...
!
• When Mussolini became PM he responded to the Pope’s positive view of fascism
through reintroducing religious education, restoring crucifixes to public buildings, and
increasing the pay of priests
...
!
• He got his 3 children baptised into the Catholic Church and re-married his wife Donna un
a church ceremony
...
!
• 1923 the pope ordered PPI leader Sturzo to resign and called on the party to support the
PNF
...
!
• This strong relationship led to the beginning of negotiations between the Church and the
fascist state on a final resolution to the Roman Question which had troubled Italy since
full unification in 1870
...
!
• The key aspects of the treaty were:!
- a solution to the territorial problems concerning the pope and Rome by providing a
sovereign state of 44 hectares of land, with full diplomatic rights, designated in Rome
as the state of the Vatican City to be controlled by the pope
...
!
- catholicism recognised as the sole religion of Italy and granted significant privileges to
the Church with religious education in primary and secondary state schools and
church marriages given legal validity
...
Catholic Action was the only non-fascist organisation
allowed to continue, operating within the fascist state and its various branches
together had over 1 mill members, most in the north
...
!
• He gained not only admiration of the Italian people but also prestige overseas
...
!
• Overall the Lateran Pacts represented an unsaid power-sharing agreement between the
PNF and Church that suited both institutions’ goals at the time
...
!
• 1928 Mussolini had introduced a new electoral law which established that a plebiscite
would be held no later than April 1929 as a means for Mussolini to claim a broad
consensus for his rule as Italians would simply approve or reject a list of candidates from
the PNF
...
!
• Catholic Action officially appealed to voters to vote yes in the plebiscite held on 12 March
1929
...
63 million voters participated and about 90% of the electorate, and the
fascist list of candidates was approved by 98% of the vote
...
!
• The main area of tension focused on Catholic Action’s youth organisations
...
!
• In 1931 the conflict between fascism and Catholic Action became a serious political
issue- this was driven by changes in leadership to the PNF with Giurati becoming Party
Secretary and Scorza given responsibility for fascist youth organisations in Oct 1930
...
They accused CA of organising sport, of being led by former
leaders of the PPI, of acting as a sanctuary for antifascist politics and of attempting to
form trade unions
...
!
• Despite the seriousness of the crisis between fascism and the Church, for both Mussolini
and the pope good relations were beneficial and by the summer of 1931, they had come
to a deal- CA youth groups could be reinstated but they were not allowed to organise
sporting activities and had to confine themselves to recreational and educational aspects
that were strictly religious in character
...
!
• There were fairly minor disagreements over aspects such as girls’ involvement in the
physical activities of the fascist youth organisations, which the Church worried was
contrary to public decency and did not properly prepare girls for maternity
...
!
• The pope was also concerned about Mussolini's growing nationalism and commissioned
a letter agasint racism, however, the letter was unable to be published before the popes
death on 10 Feb 1939
...
4 Challenges to, and the fall of, the Fascist state 1935-46!
!
How successful was Mussolini in achieving his foreign policy aims before 1935?!
!
Mussolini's foreign policy aims:!
• The key goal was to assert Italy’s position as a world power: this meant standing up for
Italy’s territorial claims, and where possible revising the TOV settlement that Italy had
disagreed with in 1919, to overcome the shame of the ‘mutilated victory’
...
!
• Another key aim was to asset greater power in the Mediterranean, which he believed
was unfairly dominated by Britain and thus made Italy a ‘prisoner of the sea’
...
!
• In many ways it was a more aggressive form of irredentism that was as much influenced
by the ANI and nationalist thought as it was fascism
...
He was also at first
quite concerned with Hitler’s rise to power
...
!
• Italy’s aims at revising it’s borders, assuring its power in the Mediterranean and generally
transforming itself and its population into a greater militarised power playing a dominant
part in EU affairs, would be pursued in the 1930s in a more aggressive manner and
ultimately contributed to the onset of WW2
...
!
• At this stage, he aimed at demonstrating to Europe’s great powers, mainly GB and FR,
that while Italy may hope for a greater presence in world affairs it was able to work
peacefully to achieve its aims
...
!
• The key issue was the Dodecanese Islands which Italy has claimed in 1912, leading to
long international discussions on the disputed territory
...
- Mussolini used this to
attack the Greek govt
...
!
• He demanded that the Greek govt, attend a funeral service at a Catholic Church in
Athens, where they would publicly honour the Italian flag, and that they would pay a
penalty of 50 mil lire to Italy, otherwise the Italian army would invade Corfu
...
!
• The LoN, with GB backing, demanded that Mussolini end the occupation
...
!
• His confrontation with Greece led to opposition from the LoN
...
!
Yugoslavia!
• Mussolini's next great success came through negotiation rather than military action
when in Jan 1924, Yugoslavia recognised Fiume as part of Italy
...
!
• This once again showed him as a leader who could achieve what the liberal govt
...
However, Fiume’s significant was largely symbolic: Yugoslavia no longer needed it as
they had constructed a greater port at Split
...
!
Locarno Treaty!
• 1925 Mussolini's participation in negotiations leading to the Locarno Treaty- mainly
domestic gains for M
...
!
• The fact that he had been invited to an important European commission indicated to the
Italian people hat he was accepted as equal to the Great Powers- contributing to his
popularity in Italy
...
!
• 1934, Croatian terrorists, who were financed by the Italian fascists and provided with a
training base in Italy, assassinated the Yugoslavian king, Alexander
...
!
• The Italian garrisons has been driven back towards the coast in the aftermath of the war,
but the liberal govt
...
!
• Mussolini continued the so-called ‘Pacification of Libya’ through brutal means, such as
the use of poison gas and around a third of Libya’s population were killed or starved to
death- Italy finally put down the rebellion in 1932
...
!
• In respect to their aims in the Mediterranean, Mussolini was much more cautious at this
stage in directly challenging Britain, France and the LoN
...
!
!
Relations with Britain, France and Germany:!
Britain!
• Mussolini's relationship with Britain, France and Germany was highly complex and
driven by the contrast between the realities of Italy’s military and diplomatic position and
the aims of its foreign policy under M
...
!
• However, these cordial relations clashed with Mussolini's territorial claims in the
Mediterranean that was dominated by the British
...
!
• Mussolini tried to undermine British power by supporting pro-italian groups in Malta
...
!
• The revaluation of the lira in 1927 could only be achieved through finding from Britain
and financial institutions and Italy was still intrinsically linked into a world financial system
dominated by the USA and GB
...
!
France!
• Italy’s relationship with France was affected by the fact that the majority of anti-fascist
exiles from Italy had been settled there
...
!
• Mussolini viewed France as a rival both to Italian power in the Mediterranean and its
imperialist aims in Africa
...
The French govt
...
!
• Mussolini's foreign policy towards France was ambivalent- Mussolini understood French
power and influence in Europe and was prepared to work with them in aspects like the
Locarno Treaty
...
!
Germany!
• Mussolini's foreign policy differed considerably before and after Hitler’s rise to power
...
!
• However, conversely, he was also greatly concerned that any nationalist German govt
...
!
• The Nazis had some contact with the fascists through the 1920s and Hitler was open
about his praise of M, whom he proclaimed was a ‘brilliant statesman’ and an inspiration
...
!
• Despite growing links to Hitler, his appointment in 1933 was a concern for Mussolini as
Hitler was a nationalist and Austrian- it was felt he would pursue the issue of Anschluss
...
He hoped to
undermine the LoN by having key decisions made by the pact
...
!
• Countries like Czechoslovakia and Poland, who feared German expansion protested the
pact- their key alliance with the French helped draw them away from the pact
...
!
• Despite the failure of the Pact, the dangers of growing German nationalism that
Mussolini had been trying to control were clearly shown a year later when in July 1934,
Austrian Nazis attempted a takeover to pursue Anschluss
...
!
• Mussolini's actions were seen in Italy/internationally as key to halting Hitler’s attempt at
unifying Germany and Austria
...
!
• However, the concern that Hitler and the nationalist goals of the Nazi party may not be
easy to control as Mussolini first believed, led to a change in direction for Italian foreign
policy
...
This was a direct threat to the TOV and added to
Mussolini's concern of the direction of Hitler’s policies
...
!
• A more crucial impact the Stresa had was on Italy’s growing colonial ambitions in AfricaM had already discussed with the French foreign minister, the idea of reaching an antiGerman agreement with the French govt
...
!
• M firmly believed that the French and British would not break the Stresa Front to prevent
Italy from pursuing imperialist goals in Africa that they themselves had already pursued
for centuries
...
!
!
How significant were the consequences of M’s more aggressive foreign policy in 1935-40?!
!
Invasion of Abyssinia and its consequences:!
• M’s most significant action in relation to foreign policy took place in 1935, with the
invasion of Abyssinia- the last African country free of colonial rule, had been the focus for
a planned fascist war of conquest as early as 1932
...
!
- The invasion linked to the idea of autarky- the belief that Abyssinia would provide raw
materials for agricultural expansion that would advance M’s goal of economic selfsufficiency for Italy- also give greater export markets for Italian goods
...
who would provided them the better life they were seeking through emigration
...
!
- Within the fascist party, there was some concern that M needed to pursue a more
‘fascist’ direction and demonstrate that his rule was more than just a dictatorship
maintaining power through compromise with the elites
...
!
- M also believed that such a victory would add to the prestige of his dictatorship- the
shameful defeat at Adwa in 1896 was still remembered by Italians and M believed that
revenging this historical loss would boost the cult of il Duce and the belief that he was
an italian leader who was righting Italy’s past
...
!
The invasion!
• In Oct 1935, M launched the invasion of Abyssinia with 400,000 men, hoping for a quick
and decisive victory- they quickly seized Adwa and other border towns!
• But their progress slowed and in November M chose to replace the head of the invading
army- the replacement (Badoglio) engaged in a brutal war against the Abyssinian army
in a similar manner to Libya: including mass aerial bombings, the murder of prisoners of
war and the illegal use of poisonous chemicals
...
The immediate consequences were overwhelmingly positive for M
...
!
• 18 Dec 1935 the royal family launched the ‘Gold for the Patria’ campaign against the
sanctions- the dream of an Italian nation rallying behind the ideology had come true
...
Blessed by the Church, thousands of women followed the Queen in giving their wedding
rings to the fascist cause
...
The idea of
italian people wedded to the nation represented one of the key aspects of fascism and
appeared to show that the true transformation of the Italian people was now taking place
...
!
• The royal family and the Church all proclaimed M’s greatness
...
!
• However, the overwhelming success of Abyssinia in terms of M’s dictatorship was
distinctly short term and, overall the consequences would be mostly negative
...
!
• Only around 130,000 Italians ever settled in Abyssinia and the hope that the colony
would provide oil and other raw materials to fuel autarky was never materialised- the
export markets never developed, with only 2% of Italian trade ever going to Abyssinia
...
!
• Before this M was generally seen as a dictator who had been beneficial to Italy; now
instead the regime was seen as a danger to European peace- his actions demonstrated
the weakness of the LoN, disrupting the balance of power in Europe
...
!
• Abyssinia appeared to him to have shown the weakness of Britain and France and this
encouraged M’s belief that Italy’s aggressive actions would not only enhance his
domestic power but challenge the old balance of power in Europe
...
!
• M believed that a move by Italy towards Germany may draw concessions on Africa and
the Mediterranean from the British and French governments to draw him back
...
!
• This, M believed, put pressure on GB and FR to make the foreign policy concessions he
sought- if Franco was victorious Italy would gain a strategic ally in the Mediterranean,
France would be undermined- could also help gain naval bases in the Balearic Islands
...
!
• M sent 50,000 soldiers, artillery and tanks, 1400 pilots, 400 planes and 200 bombers
...
!
• The war length had not been anticipated and 3266 italian soldiers killed,11000 wounded
...
!
• Financial problems pushed Italy further to economic dependence on Nazi Germany
...
!
• The intervention in Spain was not popular with the Italian people - there was growing
concern among the population at Italy’s gradual more towards Nazi Germany
...
!
!
Diplomatic breakdown of Stresa Front and the move towards Germany:!
• The fact that Italian fascism and German Nazism shared ideological traits was not the
defining feature in their relationship
...
!
• The turning point had been the Abyssinian war- during Italy’s invasion GB and FR had
come to a secret agreement known as the Hoare-Laval Pact that agreed to allocate
2/3rds of Abyssinia to Mussolini in return for the maintenance of the Stresa Front
...
Hoare (British foreign minister) was forced to resign
and was replaced by Eden- had a neg opinion of M- British opinion turned against M
...
!
• Despite this the British govt was still trying to come to an arrangement with M- Jan 1937
the British and Italian govt’s signed the ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’, which confirmed the
status quo in the Mediterranean and limited Italy’s intervention in the Spanish Civil War
...
!
• M ignored ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ and Britain failed to stop Italy’s move to Germany
...
!
• Economically, Germany was also happy to take advantage of Italy’s economic problems
and from 1936 onwards, Italian exports became more and more reliant on German
markets
...
!
• Nov 1937, Italy became part of the Anti-Comintern Pact with Germany and Japan, which
claimed to establish mutual support in case of aggression from the USSR- in reality the
pact was just as much aimed at Britain as it was the USSR
...
!
• This along with the anti-comintern pact confirmed Italy’s place alongside Germany as a
revisionist power that sought to rewrite the Versailles settlement- thus confirming the end
of the Stresa front
...
!
• The danger of that policy and the weakness of Italy’s diplomatic position in Europe was
clearly demonstrated in March 1938 when Hitler moved against Austria and crossed the
border to begin Anschluss- Hitler did not attempt to stop them
...
!
• The Anschluss demonstrated that Hitler was clearly the more powerful leader- it could be
argued that from March 1938 Italy began to lose its independence and become more
and more a German satellite state
...
!
• In reality he had been subservient to Hitler during the negotiations- on his return to Italy
he was greeted as the hero of peace- an acclaim that angered him given his goal of
turning the Italians into people who desired war and militancy
...
!
• Between 1935-39 military spending accounted for 80%of the massive increase in state
deficit and the squeeze on middle class incomes and savings to pay for the govt
...
!
• The quest for autarky meant many consumer products became more expensive as
domestic Italian industry produced goods that would have been cheaper to purchase
from international markets
...
!
• Italy’s economy was becoming worryingly reliant on Germany, heightened by the fact
that in Feb 1939 a new commercial treaty was signed between 2 countries
...
!
• The policy appeared to contradict M’s frequent speeches in which he asserted that
Italian workers should remain in Italy and that he would always ensure they were treated
with respect and dignity
...
!
• 1938 anti-semetic policy and the ‘reform of customs’ were unpopular with many Italians
and the sight of the Italian military trying to copy the German goose stop appeared
ridiculous
...
!
• There is no evidence that antifascist politics was undergoing an upsurge in Italy and the
police were still functioning efficiently-M himself was still popular even if the party itself
was not
...
!
!
Pact of Steel:!
• By 1939, M was in a difficult situation with regard to Italy’s international position- April
1939 he had launched the invasion of Albania, which was already an Italian protectorate
...
!
• Ciano also believed that with Italian settlement, Albania could assist the Italian economy
...
!
• However, the invasion clearly showed the weakness of the Italian army- many Italian
troops were unorganised and using weapons with which they had never trained and
there was poor coordination between the army, navy and airforce
...
However the invasion had little impact on European
affairs or the Italian economy
...
!
• May 1939 the growing strength of the relationship between Italy and Germany was fully
confirmed by the signing of the ‘Pact of Steel’ with the Nazi’s- M accepted the German
proposal for a full alliance in early 1939
...
!
• The pact set out military and economic cooperation between the 2 countries and the
permanent political consultation between the fascists and the Nazis
...
!
• Ciano had concerns about signing such an agreement but was reassured by Ribbentrop,
the German foreign minister- Ciano made it clear that Italy would not be ready for war
until at least 1943 and was told that Germany had no intention of waging war before
then
...
dangerous situation
...
!
• This was followed by the conclusion of the Nazi-Soviet Pact on 23 Aug about which
Hitler had neither consulted M nor informed him that negotiations were taking place
...
!
• For Italy, the Pact contravened the anti-comintern pact M had signed with Hitler- M had
grave concerns about Italy’s military position and was urged by Ciano to avoid entangling
Italy into a costly war when Germany invaded Poland
...
!
• The ideology would look somewhat hollow if Italy chose to stay neutral in the European
war that now appeared inevitable
...
had done in
1914 also troubled him greatly, given his anger then at the liberal non-intervention
...
!
• It would have required around 17,000 trains to transport the goods from Germany to
Italy- Hitler clearly understood that M’s demands amounted to Italy’s resignation to
neutrality and on 27 Aug Hitler released M from his obligations of the Pact of Steel
...
!
• It was a painful choice for M who had looked to his alliance with Germany as a means to
put pressure on Britain- M watched anxiously as the German army swept across Europe
in a seemingly unstoppable offensive
...
!
• This was unlikely, M told Ciano and the king as switching sides would bring a German
attack on Italy- however the German advance of May 1940 that conquered Holland and
Belgium and then moved onto France made his decision making more limited
...
The decision had to be made
soon, as Germany was sweeping through the country onwards victory
...
!
• Despite Badoglio’s grave concern at the state of the Italian army and the problems that
would arise if Italy had to do any serious fighting, M had made up his mind
...
The adventure
begins
...
’!
!
What was the impact of Italy’s decision to enter the second world war on the side of Nazi
Germany in 1940?!
!
Failures in France, North Africa and the Mediterranean:!
• Italy would concentrate on the Mediterranean basin and hinterland and northern Africa,
while the Germans would concentrate on norther, central and eastern Europe
...
!
• 20 June, Italian troops suddenly advanced into the French Alps- however it revealed
major problems with the Italian army: troops lacked proper clothing for an alpine war,
they lacked bombs and M insisted on using tanks that were inadequate for the terrain
...
!
• 22 June the French govt
...
!
• M had hoped for a short war to provide Italy with the spoils of war for very little cost
...
!
• When Britain counter-attacked in Dec, the italian forces fell into a mass retreat: 250,000
were defeated by 30,000 much better equipped British troops
...
!
• The British advance into Libya was only haltered by German troops under the command
of General Rommel who had been sent to reinforce the Italian forces in Feb- signalling
the end of the parallel war concept
...
!
• In the Mediterranean, which had been a dominant focus for M all the way through his
dictatorship, Italian strategy proved confusing and inadequate- despite his propaganda
M had no consistent strategy for attacking British positions in the Mediterranean
...
!
• Italy lacked aircraft carriers without which they could not hope to mount a serious attack
on British positions in the Mediterranean
...
!
• By 1943 Italy had failed to achieve any of the aims set out in M’s ‘parallel war’
...
!
• Italy had launched its attack on Greece o 28 Oct 1940 from its base in Albania
...
!
• Moving into Greece would increase Italy’s strategic position in the Balkans- it was also
part of a power game between M and Hitler, with the Italian leader deciding not to tell the
Nazi leader about the invasion of Greece
...
!
• Not only did the Greek forces hold up the Italian invasion, but they soon counterattacked, taking over a quarter of Albania and inflicting painful defeats on the Italian army
and navy
...
!
• Italy was given administration over Greece but the campaign dealt a serious blow to
fascism- M’s dictatorship had been shown to be weaker than Greece, which was not
considered a great European power
...
!
• Germans viewed Italians with contempt and M was now intrinsically tied to Hitler’s war
...
!
• M held the positions of Minister of war, of navy, of airforce and supreme separate
ministries- this concentration of power hampered Italy’s military effectiveness
...
shut down as other fascist ministers were unable to make decisions
without him
...
g
...
!
• The military was also in a very poor state at the start of the war and this was never
improved upon:!
- Italy had 75 divisions but only enough equipment to adequately arm 35 of themlacked tanks and vehicles required for the mechanised fighting in Africa
...
!
- Many rifles and canons supplied to the army dated from WW1- Italy had very few
aircraft carriers and its naval ships had no radar equipment and very little oil- the air
force was outdated compared to the British Spitfires and they had no long-range
bombers to attack British positions in Egypt or Gibraltar
...
!
- There were language problems, like in WW1, between the officer class and the
peasant conscripts and many of them did not understand why they were fighting so
far from home- morale was low (mass numbers of Italian prisoners taken by British)
...
!
• Hampering the Italian army further was the fact that the Italian economy was completely
inadequate for the requirements of WW2- by 1942 the industry in the USA produced
more aircraft in a week than Italy did in a year
...
5 mil tonnes of oil from Romania, but this was half of what was required
during peacetime- Italy depended on German coal, but was able to receive only around
one million tonnes a month
...
7 million tonnes in 1943,
compared to Britain which was producing 14 mil a year
...
!
• Germany estimated that the Italian economy was only operating at around 25% of its
potential and Italy was the only country engaged in WW2 that did not increase its GDP
between 1940-42
...
!
• The coordination of food supplies or Italian people was poor- food rationed at v
...
!
• Coffee became a luxury and many poorer Italians found it hard to get bread or pastaheating, shoes and soap were all in short supply
...
!
!
Political tensions in 1943:!
• By 1943 the combined effects of economic turmoil, rationing, food and clothing shortages
and Allied bombings led to growing unrest among the Italian people, culminating in Italy’s
first strikes for over 18 years
...
!
• The strikes ended when the govt
...
!
• Anti-fascist groups began to resurface in Italy- the still illegal communist newspaper
L’Unita reappeared in 1942 and a new group called ‘Party of Action’ was secretly formed
...
!
• M’s secret police remained active and 1400 political arrests took place between March
and June of 1943 alone- however they did represent the re-emergence of political
antifascism after 18 years
...
This was the
first time in Italian politics that the communists, socialists and catholics hard agreed to
collaborate
...
!
• M at this stage was a weakened figure, beset by illness and stress and without any plans
for how Italy should progress in the war
...
!
• After 6 months of general discussions, there was still no course of action- this was to
change on 3 Sept 1943 when the Allies began their invasion of Italy and the question of
M’s removal thus took on a much greater urgency
...
!
• 9 July, British, American and Commonwealth troops landed on Sicily- they faced little
opposition from Italian forces and conquered the western half of Sicily after only a week
...
!
• M displayed clear inadequacies of his leadership which he asked one of his generals if
there was any plan in place to defend Sicily, despite supposedly being in charge of Italy’s
entire military campaign
...
By 17 Aug, the allies had
control of the island but German and Italian forces had conducted a successful retreat
that allowed them to reinforce strategic positions on the Italian mainland
...
!
!
Mussolini deposed:!
• The plan to depose M had begin in late 1942 as leading fascists Drandi and Ciano raised
the idea of Italy seeking peace with the Allies
...
!
• Through the early part of 1943 he discussed with the king his plan for the monarchy to
take constitutional and military powers and replace M with a new govt
...
!
• 29 May President Roosevelt’s negotiator let it be known that the USA would negotiate a
peace deal with an italian military govt
...
!
• The allied invasion of Sicily forced the fascists to act- 16 July a deputation of fascists met
M and convinced him to call a Grand Council meeting for 24 July
...
to be placed in the hands of the king and canvased support among the other fascist
leaders to ensure that the vote for resolution would be passed
...
!
• M also had the power to order the arrest of any fascists that opposed him- Grandi was
extremely nervous about M’s reaction and brought 2 hidden grenades into the meeting
...
!
• At 5 o'clock the next day he met the king for his normal meeting- it is thought that M
believed he could get royal agreement to shuffle his ministries and perhaps give up his
military command to the king, but remain head of govt
...
!
• To ’s surprise, the king interpreted him and explained that he had decided to dismiss M
and replace him with Badoglio- M attempted to leave the meeting but was met by
Admiral Maugeru who put M in the back of an ambulance that subsequently took him to
prison
...
!
!
To what extent did the italian nation change between 1943-46?!
!
The Allied invasion:!
• After taking Sicily, the Allied command originally lacked any concrete plans to invade
Italy- it was acknowledged that invading Italy from the south would be hard and would
divert forces from the main focus on northern France, where a mass invasion was being
planned
...
!
• The Americans were not as enthusiastic but were eventually convinced that they should
approve the invasion of Italy after Britain guaranteed that the main focus for the Allied
would remain in northern France
...
!
• One key problem for the Allies was what had taken place in the month following M’s
removal- the king had placed control of Italy and its armed forced under Badoglio: he
along with the King had begun negotiating Italy’s surrender to the allied forces
...
!
• However when the surrender was made public it was clear none of these plans had
actually been put in place
...
!
• In the Greek islands, fighting took place between the German and Italian forces with
around 1200 Italian soldiers killed and a further 4800 captured Italian soldiers shot as
punishment for resisting the German army
...
!
• Only on 13 Sept (when the king and Badoglio were safely with the allies) was Italy
officially declared to be at war with Germany- By then it was clear that the 60,000 Italian
troops promised to the allies would not materialise and that the allies soldiers would
have to do most of the fighting
...
!
• The location combined with the weather that was mostly wet and freezing meant that the
Allies and Germans engaged in a brutal war of attrition
...
!
• 4 June 1944 Rome finally fell to the allied forces, however the battle for the north would
drag on until 2 May 1945- the allies fighting in the north had taken place parallel to a
brutal civil war waged at the same time between antifascists and fascist italians
...
!
!
The Republic of Salo and the govt
...
isolated region where the Italian govt
...
!
• 13 Sept M met with Hitler in east Prussia- here Hitler demanded M return to Italy at the
head of a new fascist govt
...
!
• 25 Sept M returned to Italy and established his capital in the small town of Gargano
...
!
• Salo controlled the richest and most populated areas of Italy: radical fascists, mainly
those who had been part of the militia purged in the 1920s, and had been waiting since
then to take fascism back to its violent origins
...
!
• From 12 Feb 1944 all private companies with more than 100 employees or 1 million lire
in capital would be managed equally by both workers and employees as would all state
owned industry
...
!
• The Salo Republic was quite brutal: Jan 5 fascias who were arrested (including Ciano)
were sentenced to death for treason due to involvement in the Grand Council motion that
removed M
...
!
• The Salo Republic organised around 7500 Jews taken from italian camps and sent to
Nazi death camps in eastern Europe where nearly 7000 were killed
...
By the start of 1944 the RSI had an army of
20,000 men, an airforce of 28,000 and an anti-aircraft service of around 50,000
...
!
• German policy set out that for every Germany soldier that died, 10 italians would be
killed- Partisan attacks in March 1944 killed 33 German soldiers=335 italians dead
...
of the kingdom of the South- this
was effectively a client state and under control of the allied occupation that expanded as
the allies pushed north
...
!
• Following the declaration of war on Germany in Sept 1943, the king and Badoglio had
also made little attempt to organise an Italian contribution to the fighting- after the allied
occupation of Rome in June 1944, the king was encouraged by the Allies to broaden his
govt
...
!
• Badoglio was removed as head of govt
...
!
• Although around 50,000 men from the Kingdom of the South did fight alongside the
Allies, this resistance to conscription formed a clear separation between the north and
south of italy that would affect the country after war
...
!
!
German surrender and Mussolini’s death:!
• Despite the fact that the Salo Republic was able to organise quite a large military force,
overall the popularity of the RSI was never very high, particularly as the war progressed
...
!
• M himself was very ill, but he was still able to fulfil some of his functions as dictator- 16
Dec 1944 he gave his last important speech in Milan where he told a packed theatre that
it was the king and the conservative elites who had betrayed the country and led it to
defeat
...
!
• 25 April M met the partisan leaders to try to negotiate surrender- M offered surrender if
he was allowed to retreat further north with 3000 loyal blackshirts
...
!
• Their bodies were driven to Milan and displayed where huge crowds attacked M’s body
before hanging it upside down on the girders of the petrol station that was alongside the
square
...
!
!
The outcomes of the referendum and elections in 1946:!
• Italy ended WW2 in a worse situation that in 1918- the country’s economy and
infrastructure has been wrecked by the war and many italians lacked food and clean
water
...
!
• The experience of the war left Italy severely divided- a major problem for the foundation
of a new state to replace the fascist dictatorship
...
!
• This clear division was demonstrated on 2 June 1946 when on a referendum to decide
on whether Italy should be a republic
...
!
• He abdicated but despite this move, the people still voted for an end to the monarchy
and the establishment of an Italian republic by 12
...
7 million- the vote
was divided on geographical terms with nearly every area in the north voting for a
republic and every providence in the south voting to retain the monarchy
...
!
• The new constitution established a liberal democracy with civil and political freedom
guaranteed- the monarchy was replaced by a president as head of state and the rule of
law under an independent judiciary system enshrined in the constitution
...
!
• The unity of Italy’s govt
...
!
• Ridding Italy completely of fascism proved difficult- as late as 1960 most of the country’s
prefects, police chiefs and deputies were still the same people who worked for the fascist
govt
Title: A Level history Italy Revision notes 1911-46
Description: these notes got me an A in history A Level. (edexcel)
Description: these notes got me an A in history A Level. (edexcel)