peasant ownership of land and
worker management of industry
high taxation on the rich
National Minimum Wage
votes for women
failed in 1919 election
5,000 out of 270,000
votes in Milan
only 4,000 registered
supporters
Mussolini observed that the Liberals couldn't
deal with Socialist threat - very important
Rural Italy
'Socialist Leagues' recruited
poor farm workers
Socialism was a threat to
landowners and richer
farmers
in Tuscany, Emilia and Bologna
squadrisimo (Fascist groups) were
invited to attack Socialist groups
1920-21 - Fascists destroyed 80 Socialist trade
union offices - 200 dead and over 800 wounded
Fascist supporters
farm managers,
landowners,
richer farmers
50% were soldiers
Middle-class students (10%)
25% were below voting age
1921 - over 200,000 supporters
those who despised the
'Mutilated Victory'
Was Fascism a strong
contender in 1922?
had 500,000 members
by 1922 and unofficially
controlled some areas
of Italy
Successive Liberal governments
had allowed Fascism to grow - too
afraid to fight it
July 1922 - looked as though
Socialists, Liberals and Catholics
would join together to form and
anti-Fascist government
Giolitti withdrew his support
Anti-Fascist alliances failed
1920 - Socialists are facing
a decline in power -
damaged by Fascist attacks
and growing unemployment
decreased their popularity
A decline in socialism could
have killed off Fascism -
Fascists had to exaggerate
Socialist threat to survive
August 1922 Socialists try
to strike but it collapses after
2 days - Fascists still took
credit for crushing it
1922 - Still disagreements
regarding how to take power - the
Ras (squadristi) leaders wanted to
seize it by force but Mussolini
wanted to gain power legally