Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Assess the reasons why so many Italians came to support fascism during the years 1919-22

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Assess the reasons why so many Italians came to support fascism during the years 1919-22 Mussolini's rise to power was a rapid one. At the begging of 1919 there was no fascist party but by 1922 Mussolini was the prime minister of Italy. There are a number of reasons to explain Mussolini's swift rise to power. The effects of World War 1 were socially meant that Italy lost half a million men with 1,000,000 seriously wounded. The war also lead to unemployment and by 1919 over 2,000,000 Italians were jobless. The economic effects meant that Italy was bankrupted causing Inflation as Italy spent so much money on the war. This affected every section of society; workers suffered as prices quad tripled, with wages increasing very slowly. Industrialists did well during the war, as the government bought lots of equipment for the army but when the war ended spending cut back and profits declined. Inflation destroyed savings, hitting the middle class in particular. Italy was unable to continuing export trade, which lead to more problems. Lots of strikes went forward after the war as wages were low and prices of goods had increased rapidly. After the war the Liberals were blamed for all the after effects and lost support from many Italians. On the other hand Mussolini gained a few votes. ...read more.

Middle

Italy felt cheated, humiliated, they wanted more, they had won a Mutilated victory and the Liberals were the culprits. In September 1919, a poet D'Annunzio lead an expeditionary force to conquer and seize the city of Fiume on the Dalmatian coast. Many of them wore black shirts of the Arditi. He organized frequent parades, made speeches from balconies and bullied opponents. Nationalists and ex-soldiers hailed him as the embodiment of the Italy they wanted to create. He managed to hold the city for a year, surviving by acts of piracy. By the Treaty of Rapallo, Italy and Yugoslavia agreed to establish Fiume as a free state. Eventually the Italians had enough of this nonsense and shelled his palace and Italian troops occupied Fiume, forcing D'Annunzio to abdicate. He had a strong influence on Mussolini, specifically on his oratorical style and became a national hero. The Treaty of Rome eased tensions by leaving Fiume in Italian hands but awarding its eastern suburb, Susak to Yugoslavia. Mussolini learns a lot from D'Annunzio including that he should have a disciplined organization and to keep them busy. He also learned the importance of propaganda and Mussolini was very influenced by D'Annunzio speeches. D'Annunzio showed him the way to achieve results was not to indulge in months of negotiations, but rather to act decisively and not to be afraid to use force. ...read more.

Conclusion

King Victor Emmanuel III, however, refused to sign the order. This meant that the army, which would have stopped Mussolini, was not called on to oppose the fascists. Mussolini, now confident of his control over events, was determined to accept nothing less than control of the government, and on October 29 the king asked him to become prime minister and form a cabinet. Traveling from Milan, Mussolini arrived in Rome where he formed a government on October 30. Some 25,000 Blackshirts were transported to the city, where they marched in a ceremonial triumphant parade on 31 October. The March on Rome was not the conquest of power that Mussolini later called it but rather a transfer of power within the framework of the constitution, a transfer made possible by the surrender of public authorities in the face of fascist intimidation. The king could have ordered his army to crush fascism but instead he let them carry on. He may have done this as he despised the socailsts and also thought he could Manipulate Mussoloni. Even though Mussolini gained power of italy, it was not by the elections but by force. In the May 1921 general elections, the Fascists only got 7% of the peoples votes, gaining 35 seats. The Italians didn't really have a reaction from March on Rome. This gives you the image that they didn't really care and thought Mussolini couldn't be worse than the Liberals. The Italians didn't vote for Mussolini but they were not aginst him. ?? ?? ?? ?? Kieran Cooling ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level Modern European History, 1789-1945 section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related AS and A Level Modern European History, 1789-1945 essays

  1. Compare and contrast the situation in Italy 1919-22 with that in Germany 1919-29.

    a way to unite the people of Italy as in the 1921 elections the PSI and the PPI got a combined 257 seats, so if the parties had worked together socialism would have spread into German soil. One thing was clear, Giolitti was not the solution he was two- faced and was not a 'peoples' man.

  2. Why did Fascism gain such widespread support 1919- 1922?

    While in 1919 and early 1920 Mussolini he was following a socialist line, by late 1920 and certainly by 1921 he was demonstrating very strong right wing views because he felt this would provide him with the most support. It is fair to say that Mussolini was in many ways

  1. Features of Fascism

    Mussolini realised he had to start making compromises abandon the extremity of some of the earlier, left-wing ideas, e.g. Syndicalism. When Mussolini came to office in 1922 he prided private ownership of property, a private enterprise economy and a laissez-faire attitude to economics, right-wing ideas.

  2. Describe the main stages by which Fascism developed into an effective political movement between ...

    which is one of the reasons that the Fascist movement was able to develop so rapidly from 1919 to 1922. It was the threat of violence with the march on Rome in 1922, which finally brought the Fascists to power, which shows how effective it was and although Mussolini was

  1. Everything for the state, nothing outside the state, nothing above the state." So Benito ...

    Where Mosse is most interesting is on Fascist irrationalism and on fascism and revolution. In a fascinating chapter, originally published nearly four decades ago, Mosse explores the roots of National Socialism in nineteenth-century mysticism. Recreating the feverish world of such forgotten late-nineteenth century writers as Julias Langbehn, Alfred Schuler, and Paul de Lagarde, Mosse paints a disquieting portrait.

  2. Describe the main stages by which Fascism developed into an effective political movement between ...

    To develop the economy and abolish harmful state controls. Re-establish law and strong leadership. In May 1920 anti-capitalist slogans were dropped and class collaboration called for. Anti- Catholic rhetoric was also dropped. Conservative businessmen began to fund him. The state was neutral in industrial relations and eventually the strikes were

  1. How far was growth in support for fascism in the years 1919-22 responsible for ...

    Obviously the 5 million troops would have supported Mussolini and therefore caused a growth in his support. Another reason for Mussolinis success was the weakness of the political system. The current political system, let fascism rise, this was made possible by parliaments system to accommodate new parties.

  2. Explain the reasons for the rise of Fascism in Italy between 1919 and 1922 ...

    He urged the need for peaceful settlement. Finally, the March on Rome was the ultimate display of Fascist power. The Fascist squads were organised into militia and plans were drawn up to seize the main towns and cities of northern and central Italy. Around 30,000 Fascists would then converge on the capital and install themselves in power.

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work