The main weapon the Fascist movement used was violence. It was used as a political tool and helped them to create an aura of fear about them, useful in when negotiating with politicians. Ex-army officers also ran Fascist Para-military organisations or “Squadristi” which were comprised largely of ex-soldiers; proud of the military victory they had won in WWI. Many young people and students embittered from missing out no fighting in the war joined these squads as a way to feel as though they were fighting for their country. Fascist violence also helped to gain support from scared Italians as it was used to smash Socialist and Catholic unions. Fascist violence was so successful because many saw it as a necessary solution to the threat of Socialism. One of the most important reasons that the violence was so successful was down to the elite and the agents of the government, including law enforcement groups such as the police, whom were so disgusted with the weakness of the government, were actually prepared to cooperate with the Fascists. Incidents of the authorities standing up to the Fascists bullyboy tactics were rare, 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 wary of the danger of uncontrolled squad violence, he realised the importance of it and how the success of Fascism depended upon it. Fascism also seemed to need to resort to violence in order to get its ideas across, Mussolini himself stated:“ in order to make our ideas understood [we] must beat refractory {obstinate} skulls with resounding blows.” In the sane speech, Mussolini went on to say that Fascism did not glorify violence; it was violent due to necessity.
In general, Fascism was more popular among rural communities rather than in the large cities such as Turin and Milan. There was a large fear of Socialism within the countryside that won the Fascists much support. Farmers and peasants believed that Socialists threatened their gains. There was considerable resentment over the power of Socialist Land Leagues and many farmers were prepared to take action against the Socialist threat. Many small landowners harmed by Socialist local government and worried about a Socialist revolution joined the movement. Labourers, tenants, farm managers and some better-off peasants were recruited to the squadristi and enabled the Fascist’s to challenge the Socialist hold over the countryside. Many landowners and large farmers supported the Fascist movement due to its violent opposition towards the Socialists.
By 1921 the Fascist leader Mussolini had changed the movement’s policies in order to gain more support. Mussolini had made Fascism mean anti-Communism and patriotism and strikebreaking against the Socialists. Mussolini began to drop more radical policies and presented a more reasonable movement: a movement and a party pledged to restore Italian power and prestige; to develop the economy by increasing productivity; to re-establish strong leadership and law and order by curbing left-wing subversives and the abandonment of republicanism, anti-clericalism, dropping the demand for votes for women. Fascism appealed to conservatives by calming the fears of the Catholic Church and making the movements clear commitment to family and morals. The movement gained responsibility and acceptance from these groups they had once been strongly opposed by. The 1921 Italian elections gave Mussolini the perfect opportunity to place his candidates in the government. The candidates were made sure to be respectable and moderate by Fascist standards. The fact that Mussolini had key Fascist representatives in the government allowed the Fascist movement to develop. However, Mussolini did realise that the results he had obtained were a result of violent threats from the squadristi.
In 1921, a Pact of Pacification was created. It was part of Mussolini’s attempt to make the Fascist’s seem more respectable and committed to a legal path to power. It also challenged many leaders of the squadristi who saw Fascism as a revolutionary movement and who used violence to destroy their enemies. This pact was however rejected by many of the leading Ras and many felt so strongly about it as to ret and replace Mussolini with D’Annunzio. Only when Mussolini abandoned the pact was a split of the movement avoided. The episode went to show that Mussolini had a deteriorating relationship with the movement he had created and had far less control over them than he thought.
Surprisingly, the Socialists did little to stop the Fascists from entering parliament. The Socialists won support from those living in fear of a Fascist takeover. The Fascists however posed as the saviours of the country by crushing Socialist strikes on many occasions.
By the summer of 1922, the Liberal government realised that they had two choices; either take military action against the Fascists, or negotiate a deal with Mussolini. It had taken 3 years for any Italian government to address the internal problems Italy was facing.
Throughout this period, Mussolini negotiated with the government and parliamentary leaders. He asked for four government posts in which to put a handful of his parliamentary followers in. Mussolini created the impression that he would be quite happy to follow normal political processes. However, he then demanded he be made Prime Minister.
The decisive moment of Fascism becoming an effective political movement can be seen by the march on Rome in October 1922. The Fascist movement was geared to seize control of towns and entire provinces. Italian King Victor Emmanuel II’s decision to compromise with Mussolini and the Fascists led to Mussolini being appointed as Prime Minister, Foreign and Interior minister. The party had finalised its development from a gathering of a hundred or so people in 1919 to gaining governmental control of Italy.