Did Fascism come to power more through its own strengths or through the weakness of its opponents?

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Did Fascism come to power more through its own strengths or through the weakness of its opponents?

On the 23 March 1919 after a series of Communist demonstrations, the almost forgotten Mussolini decided to attempt to revive his Fascist movement. A meeting was held in a hall in a Milan and was attended by some fifty malcontents. From this seemingly small and insignificant event the Fascio di Combattimento' (Combat Group) was born. Initially, it would seem that the Fasci were destined for failure with none of their candidates including Mussolini winning a single seat in the 1919 elections. By the end of 1919, Mussolini possessed just over 2% of the vote in Milan. It seemed as though the fascist party was dead; the Socialists were so confident of their success that they staged a mock funeral in Milan stopping outside Mussolini's house to invite him to attend the burial of his party. Incredibly, by 1921 the membership of this previously tiny group was to rival the size of the Socialists. How was this achieved? It was certainly by no easy means; Mussolini's skill and luck played a vital role, but he was also helped by the weakness of many of his opponents.

Many forms of opposition hindered Mussolini's path towards the top of Italian Government. However, most of his opposition came from the Government and the rival Socialist (PSI) party. Soon after the summer of 1920 the Fascists and their opposition clashed. A huge worker sit-in showed that the country wasn't stable, and the threat of a socialist revolution in Italy sent fear throughout the Italian middle and upper classes. For Mussolini and his fascist party this was a great opportunity to gain support. However Mussolini did not use this opportunity, as he was still recovering from his party's humiliating election defeat. Eventually the union leaders, evidently surprised by this sudden, spontaneous revolutionary outburst persuaded the workers to return for higher wages. Although initially it would seem that the workers had won, the strikes had sown the seeds of fear amongst Italy's Socialist opposition. The overall effect of this was that many of the opponents of Socialism joined Mussolini's Fascist' party. The Socialist party by causing the strike had unwittingly played into Mussolini's hands; although this was due to their own incompetence and not the skill of Mussolini.

In the winter of 1920-21, Mussolini organized his men into squadre d'azione' headed by local leaders like Balbo in Ferrara and Grandi in Bologna. Primarily, Mussolini's clever planning was demonstrated by his success: His initial campaign of violence against the Socialists led to 200 dead and 800 wounded in the period between December 1920 and May 1921. The government, in accordance with its alliance with the Fascists, did little to prevent the violence, and instead saw it as a cheap way of curbing the rise of socialism. Even when in the spring of 1921 the clashes had reached riot proportions, the government nonetheless decided that they had succeeded in their aim of disrupting the progress of socialism. The attitude of the government throughout this period was vital to the success of fascism in Italy, as it show to the Italian people that the government wasn't strong or organised enough to deal with the problems of socialism. This lead to a growing number of disillusioned Italians supporting Mussolini and his fascist squads. With Socialist support diminishing rapidly, the Fascists gained a vital foothold in Parliament. Primarily, this was achieved through the election of 15 May 1921. During the election the government used Fascist support to unseat Socialist and Catholic deputies. Allied with the government, the Fascists did well in the elections, and gained a lot of power in the parliament. The Fascists were invited by Prime Minister Gioletti to form a part of his right-wing electoral alliance, thereby promising them, for the first time, some influence in the government as well as in the streets. This gave the fascists a chance to be accepted as a political force. Primarily, Prime Minister Gioletti must be held responsible as one of the main reasons for Mussolini gaining another chance to fight for power.
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As Mussolini's Fascist Party grew, so seemingly did the incompetence of Gioletti. He became increasingly dependent upon the Fascists to take direct and often brutal action against the unions and peasant leagues. The knowledge that the Fascists had become a powerful force in government took Mussolini by surprise. His immediate reaction to this situation was to become a respectable participant in government. The economic conditions of the 1920's did much to encourage support for extremist parties; both the Fascists and the Socialists benefited greatly. This was mainly due to Italy's war debts and problems of reconstruction, as well ...

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