The home front 1941-44 Flashcards
What was the reason that Italian forces kept being defeated by smaller enemy armies in North Africa
The other side had better weapons and equipment
Explain how the regime mismanaged the war
In theory the fascist system should have been well suited to centralised direction of the economy, but this was not the case. . Membership of the PNF increased, but the main motives behind this were the hopes of gaining perks and priviledges as a party member of wangling exemptions from being called up into the army. The bureaucracy was ineffiencient and riddled with internal rivalries and corruption. This problem was made worse by M’s decision to appoint Aldo Vidussoni to the vital post of PNF party secretary in 1941. He was inexperienced and out of his depth. The inefficiencies in the system got worse. One 1941 police report noted the widespread belief that ‘the war is the private business of the fascists’
Describe the limited production at this time
Steel production, vital for almost all aspects of the war effort, was incapable of meeting demands. There were serious shortages of raw materials because the normal flow of imports was cut of by the war and because autarky had failed to make Italy anywhere near self sufficient. In 1942 and 1943 the economy also suffered from the massive loss of skilled workers who were transferred to work in German war factories. Of the leading powers in the war, only Italy failed to increase total production between 1940-2. In 1941 German experts estimated that Italian industrial output was only 25% of its actual capacity
Describe how the domestic economy was also flagging
The war years were a miserable experience for Italians both in the countryside and in the cities. As early as Dec 1940 there were food shortages, with people complaining they could not obtain basic items such as olive oil, dried fish, rice and flour. Coal was also scarce. In Jan 1943, some rural areas faced a crisis in milk production because there was insufficient winter fodder for the cows. Food supplies were erratic and the system of rationing was mismanaged. The shortages got steadily worse through 1942 and 1943 as the tide of the war turned against the axis
Describe the impact of the allied bombing campaigns
Devastating impact. Already low industrial production was cut by 20%. This was partly because of bomb damage to factories but the disruption to the workforce was an even bigger problem. Transport was badly affected. There were mass evacuations from the cities, often improvised and badly organised. Simply getting to and from places of work could take up to half the day. Hiding in bomb shelters all night left workers too tired to work effectively. There was growing resentment against the war, against the Germans and against the regime. Propaganda was put out by the regime to counter these regime and had little effect
What does Philip Morgan say about the failure of fascist propaganda during the war
M had the worst propaganda war of all wartime leaders. Other leaders managed to inspire, reassure and reinvigorate their people with the right words, even in moments of defeat. This was beyond M
Describe this propaganda failure
M became cut off from ordinary people, which allowed rumours to spread. After bombing raids on the Italian cities, M failed to make personal visits to inspect damage and keep up morale. M only made 4 big public speeches between June 1940 and July 1943. Even when he did make a big speech in Dec 1942 (his first for 18 months) it was a disaster. One woman wrote to her mother afterwards: ‘The Duce’s speech had demoralised me completely. I went home so depressed I could not eat anything. Another comment at the time was that M was ‘a dead man talking’
In Dec 1942 M made the disastrous decision to place responsibility for propaganda in the hands of Aldo Vidussoni, the new National Secretary of the PNF. He seemed like a good choice because he was 28 and so in tune with the dynamic younger generation. He also had the right warrior image as he had been involved in both Abyssinia and Spain, where he was badly wounded and awarded a medal for bravery. The trouble with him was that he was an incompetent administrator who made numerous enemies within the regime. Under his direction the propaganda machine failed badly
Describe the limited raw materials at this time
Previously dependent on German coal, and a fall in imports from Germany had a knock on effect on iron production and steel. By 1942 production had fallen nearly 20%. This not only limited armaments production but also ensured that no iron and steel based consumer goods were not available to the general public
Also an acute oil shortage. Of the limited quantity imported from Romania, military needs took precedence and there was little left for public and privately owned transport
In addition to the shortages in raw materials and power, industrial output was adversely affected by the allied bombing of Italian towns and cities that increased during the latter stages of the war. This led to the destruction of factories and workers’ housing
Shortages of artificial fertilisers and machinery together with the fact that so many peasant labourers had been recruited into the armed services meant that there was a signigicant fall in agricultural production. This led to food shortages and introduction of rations. The projected level was 1000 calories per day per person, less than 20% of the average peacetime food consumption. The daily ration of bread was limited to 150-200 grams per person
Govt intoduced legislation to control the price of foodstuffs and essential consumer goods. Proved difficult to enforce. As luxury goods disappeared from the shops and there were shortages of things like coffee, shoe leather and clothing, so a black market developed where profiteers thrived and amassed fortunes by overcharging for these scarce goods
The financial demands of war led to increased taxation which offended the middle classes who had previously been among M’s most prominent supporters. Also made the lives of rural peasants even more difficult
Although previously unheard of in fascist Italy, in 1943 100,000 workers went on strike in northern towns and cities. During 1944 unrest increased increased and in Mar 1944 119,000 took strike action and this eventually grew to 350,000. The Nazis threatened to short or deport strikers and this led M to intervene. He asked those involved to return to work and appealed to their patriotism. Claimed that the strikes were communist inspired and schemed by Palmiro Togliatti who had recently returned to Italy. It worked and the industrial unrest temporarily subsided
As the war progressed, the PNF became increasingly remote from the people and appeared to show insensitivity to their suffering. M seldom appeared in public and his sloganeering came to an end. The people who had previously been unaware or turned a blind eye to the corruption and ineffiency in the party now became less tolerant. Anti fascist leaflets and graffiti appeared in the streets and M became the butt of crude humour
Bluff and propaganda no longer worked. As casualties rates soared, grieving families joined those demanding peace, bread and an end to fascism. The truth of what was happening in the war became increasingly apparent since many Italians now listened to overseas radio broadcasters
Describe the anti fascist resistance that began to appear
The final stage of the war saw the creation of effective anti fascist resistance in the German occupied north. The slowness of the allied advance from the south encouraged the emergence of groups of partisans prepared to fight behind the German lines. With Italy divided between those who supported Badoglio’s govt in the south and those who still backed the remnants of M’s fascist movement, the Salo Republic in the north, the situation risked turning into a civil war. At first the partisans consisted of mainly ex soldiers and escaped prisoners of war but the movement grew to include civilians drawn from varied backgrounds. Politically they came from all the non fascist parties that had now reappeared. With some 50,000 men at their disposal, the communist formed the largest group and the Action Party, Christian Democrats. Socialists and Liberals were also well represented
In 1944, Palmiro Togliatti, the exiled Communist Party leader returned from the USSR and agreed to collab with the King and Badoglio. With the support of the local peasantry, the partisans survived in the mountains from where they carried out acts of sabotage by blowing up bridges and harassing German troop movements. As they grew in number they became more daring and were prepared to engage German units in pitched battles. They also turned on M’s National Republican Army and atrocities and acts of retaliation were committed. Among their victims was Giovani Gentile, the fascist academic and theorist who had been Ms first minister of education. Some used the opportunity to settle old scores and long standing feuds. When the opportunities occurred, the partisans ambushed and killed German soldiers and this brought retaliation. It was made known that for every German soldier killed, 50 local inhabitants would be shot. In one instant alone in disused quarries outside Rome, the Ardentine caves, 335 Italians were executed. One of the victims, Aldo Finz, had served on M’s first govt in 1922
Eventually a Central Committee of Liberation was set up which called upon the Italian people’to struggle and fight for the reconquest of Italy’s place among the assembly of free nations. The Central Committee was recognised as the main coordinating body of the Italian resistance movement. The various committees acted independently of govt and, in 1943 the elderly Ivanoe Bonomi was appointed the movement’s president. As the end of the war approached the army of partisans grew to over 250,000 and was strong enough to liberate cities such as Milan, Turin and Genoa ahead of the arrival of the allies
Report by a police superintendent in Forli, Dec 1940…
The successful beginning of warlike activities by our troops induced the majority of the townspeople to judge the prosecution of military operations with excessive frivolity. Therefore the recent painful episodes In Greece and the Egyptian front have surprised the public front all the more forcefully, in the view of the strength of their illusions of an easy war
Report by a police superintendent in Venice on the situation of unskilled workers in the industrial complex at Porto Marghera in 1943…
The labour force can barely make ends meet, working in absolutely miserable conditions, roudning out their family budgets with the pathetic proceeds of work by the women, or by various expedients including the not so concealed prostitution of young girls. Without such expedients, conditions became absolutely unbearable
