Another difficulty the liberals faced in opposing the rise of the Fascists was the economic situation in Italy after the war and the promises of the Fascists to solve the problems. The war years saw a surge in industrialisation in the Milan-Turin-Genoa triangle to meet the Liberal Governments demands for ammunition which together with food supplies, pension payments, and soldiers’ wages became very expensive. The liberals paid for it by borrowing money but by the end of the war Italy was 85 billion lire in debt, 4 times the 1914 figure. Also, the liberals paid for it by simply printing more money and in 1918 inflation rates rose 25% faster than wage rate. By 1919 the lire lost half its value. Also the reduction in the need for munitions after the way severely affected the war industries. This, together with the rapid demobilisation of troops caused unemployment to rise from 2 million to 5 million after the war. This economic dislocation gave the impression of a society on the verge of a breakdown which the Italians blamed the liberals for so it was difficult to oppose the rise of Fascism as people turned to the Fascists to solve the economic problems.
A major reason why the liberals could not oppose the Fascists was the Biennio Rosso, the two red years. It was in these years that the socialist party made major gains in elections and trade unions saw an increase in membership from 200,000 members in 1918 to 2 million members in 1920. Many areas of the countryside of the south were controlled by the socialists and peasants upon returning from war wanted the land promised to them and seized land from landowners. This created a widespread fear of socialism among Italians, especially the agricultural and industrial elite who feared a socialist revolution similar to the one in Russia. The Fascists, being anti-socialist gained a lot of support this way as the liberals were too weak to crush socialist uprisings and found it difficult to discourage the growth of Fascism as people turned to the Fascists to crush the socialists.
One of the main reasons in the weaknesses of the liberal government itself. The liberal government saw the collapse of transformisimo, or coalitions, in the post-war years. This was partly due to the emergence of mass political parties like the PPI who opposed the government. Parties opposed each other and the coalition system was not working because parties argued over how to act and so nothing got done. This was followed by the introduction of proportional representation in 1919 and universal male suffrage in 1918. In addition, the liberals did not do much to curb opposition. This is highlighted by the fact that when D’Annunzio seized Fiume with 2000 loyal nationalists the government did nothing until December 1920 and that too because of Giolliti’s new government. The liberals themselves were weak and found it hard to oppose the rise of Fascism as the Fascists promised a stronger government.
To conclude, the liberals and democrats found it difficult to stop the rise of Fascism because of the discontent over the war, the economic dislocation brought by it, the fear of socialism, and the weaknesses of the liberal government itself. The Fascists simple promised to solve the problems and offered a stronger government. The main reason why the liberals found it therefore is the fact that the liberals themselves were too weak to solve anything so the Italians chose the stronger Fascists.
