WW1 to Fascism Flashcards
(26 cards)
Declaration of war
1915 May
- Giolitti reluctant to betray the treaty of London and wasn’t willing to be responsible for the King’s threat to abdicate
-Giolitti resigned and Salandra returned
-Salandra declared war
Military Stalemate
1915-16
-Alpine region = inconclusive as Austrians were based in the mountains
-Italians had many casualties, due to ill equipment, poor leadership and disease
Battle of Vittorio Veneto
Oct 1918
-Orlando decided to attack as Austria was struggling
-Italy could claim victory to negotiate better terms in the peace settlement
-led to Austria surrender (also influenced by them fighting British, French and Russians since 1914)
-Italy took 500K prisoners of war
March 1919 Fasci de Combattimento meeting (Fascist Combat Group)
-1st meeting of Mussolini’s group (attended by 100)
-April 1919 they disrupted a large Socialist demonstration in Milan and destroyed offices of Avanti!
Occupation of Fiume 1919-20
-D’Annuzio led 2K armed men to Fiume
-occupied Fiume for 15 months
-1920 Giolitti agreed with Jugoslavia to make Fiume independent and under international control
Biennio Rosso
1919-20
-trade union membership increased from 250K to 2 million
-strikes, violent riots, and factory occupations, peasants seized land from landlords
responses to Biennio Rosso
Giolitti’s gov introduced reforms to benefit majority of Italians (working class)
-bread subsidies, 8hr working day, fairer tax system, legalising some land occupations
Elites feared Bolshevik style revolution (1917)
-outraged that liberal gov. didn’t protect their interests
-New Fascist Squads were only group offering a solution
PPI established
1919
-led by Don Sturzo
-appealed to conservative Catholics and some socialists (interested in improving peasantry in countryside)
-united via opposition to anti-clerical stance of Liberals and PSI
November 1919 General Election
1st under universal male suffrage + PR
-Liberal system made gov. more representative of Italian interests
1919 Election stats
Largest proportion = socialists
-Liberals did worse than pre WW1
- Socialists = 32.4% vote
- Catholics = 20.5% vote
- 162 of 239 Liberal deputies from rural south
May 1921 General Election
Left wing opposition = 176 seats
Giolitti’s gov. block totalled 184 seats
Nov 1921 PNF’s ‘New Programme’
more right wing
-compulsory military service
-church ‘exercise its spiritual mission’
-tax prop to income
Pope Pius XI becomes Pope
Jan 1922
Nationalist popularisation of entering WW1 with Entente
- Corredeni (Nationalist Leader) campaigned due to irredente lands
-to confirm Great Power status
-Nationalists had close ties with the press
-D’Anuzzio’s poetry + Mussolini’s speeches
lack of morale under General Cadorna (WW1)
-his strategy of mass infantry attacks caused 62K killed and 170K injured in first 2 advancements (1915)
-sacked 100’s of senior officers and executed 100’s of soldiers for cowardice
-troops had only 1/2 lire a day and no entertainment
WW1 stat for failure and stalemate
-lost 200K men in advance of 12 miles
-General Cadorna stated he had 2 machine guns per battle when Austria had 12
1917 defeat at Caporetto (Austria-Hungary + Germany successful tactics)
-bring new soldiers at night
-gas and attack in fog
-took 300K as prisoners
General Cadorna’s reaction to Caporetto
executed 1000’s of soldiers for cowardice
-gov. blamed him and removed him
General Diaz changes (1917 onwards)
-improved rations
-troops had an extra 10 days of leave a yr
-trench newspapers introduced (1918)
pros of economy after war (growth increased by gov. spending)
-had more cannons in field than British
-created aircraft industry producing over 6.5K planes (1918)
-Fiat= leading manufacturer for lorries and trucks in Europe
-production increased from 25K vehicles in 1918, to 4.5K in 1914
consequences of gov. spending in the war on the economy
-national debt increased fivefold (June 1914 to 1919)
-printed money as they couldn’t borrow (inflation)
purchasing power (1915-1918)
-decreased 25% for industrial workers (majority of Italians)
1917 Turin food riots
crushed by army and 50 died
value of real wages by 1918
decreased to 64.6% of 1913 levels
