Why did Mussolini Become Prime Minister in 1922?
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Introduction
Why did Mussolini become Prime Minister in 1922? In 1922 Mussolini was appointed by King Victor Emmanuel III to become Italy's Prime Minister. The Kings role was only the tip of the iceberg of reasons for why Mussolini gained power. Though fascism was very popular, it did not have enough seats in parliament to gain power, so other factors were mainly responsible for Mussolini Prime Ministerial appointment. The weaknesses of the Italian states and its long-term political frailties. He was also helped immensely by the impact the First World War had on Italian politics, and between the period of the end of the war and Mussolini's inauguration there was a lot of confusion which was mainly the trasformismo systems fault. One major reason for his appointment was the weakness of the opposition to the Fascist Party; the main rivals of fascism were the Socialist and Liberals. Parties were very unstable because since the Risorgimento Italy had been under the rule of Parliamentary Liberals, and Prime Minister only lasted for short terms. ...read more.
Middle
He then began to negotiate with Liberals in the government. He then made sure that he kept his followers in check by offering vague compromises from the traditional political leader, yet at the same time managed to keep them divided from each other. Once Mussolini saw that his opponents were becoming weaker, and more nervous he unleashed the threat of a Fascist March on Rome to take control there, he claimed that the march would save Italy from anarchy and also Communism. This threat made Facta, head of the current government, so nervous that he ordered for more troops to be sent to Rome, in the face of the Fascist threat. At 5am on the 28th October Facta established, that as the King Victor Emmanuel III, was the ruler of the country and therefore the armed forces, that he would issue a decree establishing martial law. However, at 9am when Facta approached the king, Victor Emmanuel being unsure of the loyalty of the army to the monarchy, had changed his mind. ...read more.
Conclusion
They failed to see how the fascist violence was mainly responsible for this crisis; instead they focused on the possible threat of the tame socialists. The fascist came to power because the middle classes and many other supporters of fascism were convinced that socialism was a major threat to their living standards and they believed that many concessive governments hadn't done enough to stop the socialist. The socialists themselves were also responsible for the new fascist government as their Alliance of Labour general strike had failed in August 1922, which led people to think that Mussolini was the man who saved Italy from a possible socialist coup, but Mussolini's own efforts can not be discredited as he played a mind-game with the King and the Liberal State, by bluffing his way into power. "He had promised everyone everything" Historian Roberto Velencio says. People failed to see through the veil of false promises and Mussolini knew that by manipulating people he would gain success, then once in power he could pose his real ideology and malice dictatorship on Italy. ...read more.
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