Describe the main stages by which Fascism developed into an effective political movement between March 1919 and October 1922.

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Describe the main stages by which Fascism developed into an effective political movement between March 1919 and October 1922.

Fascism was the name given to the 100 or so men and a few women who met in a hall in Milan on 23rd March 1919.  They were an odd assortment of ex-soldiers, former socialists, National Syndicalists and Futurists. The programme had no manifesto and was simply a forum to channel the protests of new forces thrown up by the war against rules, organisations and bureaucracies. He did not want to create a party but a movement, which would have the flexibility to attract a wide range of support. Throughout his speeches in the following years prior to the March on Rome Mussolini made it clear that his aim was to seize power. He embarked on a vigorous programme of gaining support. He condemned all political parties and only allowed his to become on in 1921. This shows his contempt for political institutions. He went against socialism for going against intervention and detested their emphasis on class struggle and not national unity. The movement saw itself as a left-wing challenger for the working class support for socialism. Its programme was largely republican, anti-clerical, and democratic, female suffrage, decentralisation and PR, minimum wage, 8 hour day, confiscation of war profits, worker participation in management decisions and nationalisation of the arms industry. The anti-clericalism was toned down as many recruits saw the fascists as a good counter to Marxism but were strongly Catholic. In the November 1919 election most Fascist groups fought locally on their own programme. Mussolini’s decision to stand in the election was unwise: no Fascist was elected and even in their Milan stronghold they got fewer than 5000 votes, the new movement appeared to be dead.

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Mussolini had taken careful note of the reasons for D’Annunzio’s success in Fiume in September 1919: the balcony speeches, Blackshirts and the emphasis on nationalism and militarism. One thing was clear, only a drift to the right would save the fascist movement. He also learnt from D’Annunzio's mistakes, seizing power in out of the way Fiume was not the way forward. He would not make this error. The movement began to become more respectable from 1920 and an emphasis was placed on bringing order to Italy and restoring its power. To develop the economy and abolish harmful state controls. ...

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