1. Italy Under Mussolini

3. Problems After World War 1
Did not get the territories promised by the Allies
Unfamiliar with democracy. The franchise was extended only in 1913
Proportional Representation caused unstable governments

4. Economic Problems
Rural Italy was very poor, and the farmers wanted land reform
Urban workers called for better wages and working conditions
All of this frightened big business and landowners-they were afraid of communism, which threatened their fortunes and positions

5. Rise of the Fascists
Benito Mussolini-former socialist and newspaper editor
When his socialist approach did not bring political power, he switched his political philosophy

6. Fascism
Fascism: anti-labour, anti-liberal, anti-Communist, and anti-democratic
It appealed to people because they saw liberal democracies unable to solve Italy’s problems
Mussolini’s beliefs attracted many followers among the lower classes and from the very highest classes (distrusted communism)
Mussolini made up the philosophy as he went along

7. March on Rome 1921 election: the Fascists won only 35 of 535 seats
Even though he couldn’t win an election, Mussolini’s Blackshirts used violence to intimidate the government.
Mussolini (hiding out in Milan in case things did not go well), threatened to March on the government on Rome. The government asked King Victor Emmanuel III to declare a state of emergency. He refused fearing that it would lead to a civil war.

8. Victory
Mussolini hopped on a train and arrived in time to lead the Blackshirts into Rome (Oct. 1922)

9. Establishing Order
Quickly passed the Acerbo Act-any party with the most votes in an election automatically got two-thirds of the seats in the government.
When Socialist Giacomo Matteotti complained, he was murdered. Mussolini survived the political fallout, and actually increased his power.

10. Timeline/Establishing a Dictatorship
1925-freedom of the press ended
1926-anti-Fascist parties were suppressed
1927-OVRA-Secret Police force formed
1928-Parliament no longer elected, but members appointed by the Fascists
1929-Mussolini signed the Lateran Treaty with the Catholic Church-The Church ended its complaints about the Fascists, and in return got ownership of Vatican City

11. Economic Policies
Autarky-Italy wanted to be self-sufficient but its policies did not lead to this
Italians were forced to grow more wheat (but at the expense of other crops)
unions were outlawed-replaced by “Corporations” (organizations representing each major industry). The Corporations always favoured business over labour.
Mussolini arbitrarily raised the value of the lira-this hurt exports
Did some good work (as the British always said of Italy, “The trains run on time”), but Italy remained a poor country