Mussolini and Italian Fascism
- The founder of Fascism
- Used blackshirts as a paramilitary force
- Comes to power in 1923 after the March on Rome
- King Emmanuel III refused to sign an emergency legislation to prevent it - he refused allowing Mussolini to come to power
Fascism
- Fascist traits:
- Private ownership encouraged and aided by the gov’t
- Censorship of the media
- Imperialistic
- Nationalistic
- Militaristic
- Non-democratic
- Often totalitarian dictatorship “Anti-liberal, anti-mass democracy, anti-socialist
Il Duce (The Leader)
- Acerbo Law - forced through parliament guaranteed that the party with the most votes would get 2/3 of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies
- Socialist leader, Giacomo Matteotti murdered for speaking out against the Fascists
- By 1926 all anti-fascist parties had been eliminated
- Freedom of press, assembly and speech were eliminated
The Lateran Accords, 1929
- The Catholic Church was the most powerful remaining body in Italy
- Fearing Mussolini’s wrath Pope Pius XI signed a deal
- Gave the Church:
- Control over religious education in schools
- Recognition as the state religion •The right for the Pope to rule his own state known as the Vatican
- Mussolini got recognition by the Church as the legitimate leader
Mussolini was the creator of Fascism, he also had his own secret police called the Black Shirts.