The Emergence of Fascism 1919-1920 Flashcards
Why did ex-soldiers hate the liberal government?
(4)
- failure of gov. during the war
- failure of gov. at Versailles
–> felt betrayed and humiliated - wanted new Italy to achieve greatness they had fought for in the war
- felt Italy’s victory had been squandered; mutilated victory
why was there tension throughout Italy?
-
North; divide between ex-soldiers and workers who were exempt from military service
–> workers seen as cowards who got rich while soldiers risked their lives for their country -
South; returning peasant conscripts wanted land reform they had been promised
–> demobilised soldiers forcibly occupied thousands of hectares of farming land
What state was the Italian economy in at the end of the war?
Debt + inflaiton
–> campaign against Austria-Hungary sustained through foreign loans and printing more money
What land has Italy been promised in the Treaty of London?
- South Tyrol
- Trentino
- Istria
- Trieste
- northern Dalmatia
Who represented Italy at the Treaty of Versailles?
new PM, Vittorio Orlando
How did Italy fare at the Paris Peace Conferences?
- Allies rejected Italy’s claim on Fiume, Dodecanese Islands, and parts of the Balkans
–> Orlando pleaded & claimed he faced assassination, but was ignored
–> April 1919, Orlando walked out of the Paris Peace Conference
–> June 1919, Nitti replaced Orlando
–> 28th June 1919, ToV signed; Italy gained Trent, Trieste, Istria, and northern Dalmatia, BUT NOT Fiume or any of Germany’s African territories
–> Italian economy was weak = needed coal + money from Allied so Nitti decided not to push for territorial claims
Why did Italy want Fiume? Wht was this not valid?
Fiume had a large community of Italians, but the majority of Fiume was NOT Italian
What is a ‘fasci’?
- derived from latin ‘fasces’; ancient Roman emblem of a bundle of wood bound with an axe = strength in unity
- late 19th century used to refer to a group associated with a political party
When was the Fasci di Combattimento founded?
March 1919
what kind of people made up Mussolini’s Fasci di Combattimento?
- ex-soldiers
- ‘arditi’; crack troop commanders formed after disaster at Caporetto
–> wore black uniforms + used black flag with a white skill gripping a dagger in its teeth
What was ‘trincerocrazia’?
the rule of the trenches; men linked by war consciousness & social divisions disappear, only division = those who stayed at home VS those who fought in the war
–> Mussolini hoped the Fasci di Combattimento would create trincerocrazia
What did the Fasci di Combattimento’s political programme include in early 1919?
(6)
- anticlerical (confiscation of church property)
- end monarchy and form a republic
- suffrage extended to women
- 8hr working day established
- abolish senate
- nationalise armaments
–> not distinguishable from other left-wing parties like PSI
What did Nitti do and what was the response?
- signed the ToV
- reduced military spending
- issued amnesty to Italian soldiers who had deserted
–> labelled ‘cagoia’ = abject coward
–> anger + disgust from military, nationsalists, fascists
What happened to the land that Italy claimed but did not recieve in the ToV?
- Fiume declared a neutral city under the protection of the League of Nations
- Dalmatia given to Yugoslavia
What happened to the land that Italy claimed but did not recieve in the ToV?
- Fiume declared a neutral city under the protection of the League of Nations
- Dalmatia given to Yugoslavia
