Introduction Geographical Setting Early Humans The Etruscans The Romans Middle Ages Renaissance
Foreign domination (1559 to 1814) Unification (1814 to 1861) World War I
Mussolini and WWII Italian African Colonies Italian Republic (after 1945)
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Post War years of chaos and Mussolini's rise to power
Mussolini and his black shirts march on Rome in 1922 and seize power through a coup d'état
video on Mussolini's rise to power
Mussolini becomes head of the Government
film of Mussolini giving speech to
Post war Italy was chaotic . There was conflict between Communists ,Socialists , Populists and Fascists. The Socialists won many votes for having been against the war from the beginning. In 1919, the Socialists won 34% of the seats. In 1919 the Socialists withdrew from parliament and declared a general strike and disorder became widespread in 1919 and 1920.Prime Minister Nitti resigned and was succeeded by Giovanni Giolitti. . Fear of a communist takeover and Italy becoming a Communist State like Russia led the political establishment to tolerate the rise of the fascists. Giolitti enjoyed the support of the Fascists and did not try to stop their forceful takeovers of city and regional government or their violence against their political opponents. Giolitti resigned and was replaced by Ivanoe Bonomi (PM 1921-2) coalition government. Early in 1922, his government collapsed, and he was replaced as Prime Minister by Luigi Facta ( PM Feb-Oct 1922). The disorder of the earlier period was beginning wane, but Mussolini needed disorder to rise to power. In October he said ' ..either the Government will be given to us or we shall seize it by marching on Rome.' The Fascists then organized a much publicized 'march on Rome'. Prime Minister Facta wanted to suppress Mussolini and asked the king to declare martial law, which he refused to do.Facta resigned and Mussolini was appointed to head the government at the age of 39 and was recognized as Duce or Leader.
The Corporate State
Italians were weary of the strikes and disorder and felt the Fascists could bring peace. Industrialists and landlords also supported the Fascists. After he appointed Prime Minister, Mussolini proceeded to consolidate his power was given dictatorial powers for a year and began a 'facistization' of government .A law was passed to dismiss civil servants on political grounds. The Acerbo Law was passed, which provided the party obtaining the largest vote in a parliamentary election would receive 2/3 of all seats. In the 1924 election, the fascists won 65% of the seats, many charged this was achieved through violence and intimidation .During 1925-6 popular control of local government was gradually abolished and representatives were appointed. Mussolini was given permanent control over the country's armed forces.Newspapers were censored and suppressed.. A secret police force, OVRA was established to deal with anti-Fascists. In 1924, the Socialist deputy Giacomo Matteotti was abducted and murdered and many groups withdrew from Parliament in protest and formed an opposition group, the Aventine Opposition and tried to mobilize public opinion against the Fascists. They failed to gain much support and in 1926 were excluded from parliament and the Fascists gained more power . Fascists trade unions were organized to counter the Socialist trade unions and by 1925 Fascist unions were recognized as the sole representatives of their employees by the Italian Industrial Employer's Federation .In 1928 the Fascist Party was placed in the Italian Constitution with the Fascist Grand Council being part of the government and a political party. With the Electoral Reform Act of 1928 the confederation of national syndics, under Fascist control was given sole power to nominate deputies . Mussolini was bringing about what fascist theorists called 'the corporate state' in which all businesses and industry were under government control. In 1933, when Hitler was made Chancellor, he modeled the German state on Fascist Italy. The youth programs, putting industry under state control and even the Fascist salute were adopted by Hitler.Hitler and Mussolini meet on June 14, 1934. Mussolini looked down somewhat on the new upstart and was the two argued over the fate of Austria, which Italy wanted as a buffer between Italy and Germany and Germany wanted to expand its Reich into.
Hitler with Mussolini reviewing Italian fleet
Mussolini inherited a state on the brink of bankruptcy. The Fascists initiated economic reforms and taxes were increased to become one of the highest in the world. The economy recovered and the Lira, which was 31 to the dollar in 1927 was 19 to the dollar by 1928 and stabilized on a gold basis in 1928. Mussolini also launched massive public works projects such as the draining of the Pontine Marshes. The Depression had a disastrous effect on Italy. The Depression combined with the expensive Ethiopian War wrecked the economy .
Mussolini, hoping to make Italy a new Roman Empire,began a series of foreign ventures .In 1923. Italy obtained legal recognition of the Dodecannese and bombed and occupied Corfu in a dispute with Greece.In 1927, Italy obtained a virtual protectorate over Albania. In 1928, Italy was given a larger share in the administration of Tangier and Morocco. In 1934, Mussolini declared Italy had a duty to civilize backward nations.In 1935, Italy attacked Ethiopia and sanctions were declared against Italy by the League of Nations .On June 1, 1935 Ethiopia,Eritrea and Italian Somaliland were reorganized into a single territorial unit known as Italian East Africa.
Italian African Colonies Italian North Africa
Italian army in Triploi during the Italio-Turkish War What today is Libya was Italian colony from 1912, after taking the territory from the Ottomans in the Italio-Turkish War of 1911-12 in which the Ottoman empire the lost provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, Cyrenaica. (Libya), Rhodes and the Dodecanese archipelago near Anatolia. This war saw one of the first uses of the airplane in warfare and held till the Allies took control in 1943.Omar Mukhtar (1861-1931) started and revolt against the Italians in 1911 and fought the Italians for 20 years with Guerrilla warfare tactics . Mussolini sent General Rodolfo Graziani to Libya in 1929 who moved the population in the area of guerrilla control to concentration camps.to crush the rebellion. Omar was captured in 1931 and executed by hanging in 1931.
Omar Mukhtar captured in 1931
1981 movie Lion of the Desert about Omar's revolt wikipedia eBay
trailer for Lion of the Desert
Italian East Africa
stamps of Italian East Africa In 1889 the Benadir coast was granted to Italy by the sultan of Zanzibar and between 1893 to 1905 was leased to a private company and in 1906 the Italian government took control. Over the following decades Italian settlement was encouragedThe Italians were attacked by the Mad Mullah, Mohammed ibn-Abdullah until the his final defeat in 1920.
video on the Italo–Ethiopian War The First Italo–Ethiopian War was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. At the Battle of Adowa in 1896 the Italians were defeated and lost an estimated 9,000-12,000 men. The defeat caused a collapse of the Italian government and Italy was forced to recognize the independence of Ethiopia. In the Second Italo-Ethiopian War Italy conquered Ethiopia and united it with Italian Somaliland into Italian East Africa. At the outbreak of WWII, Initially, the Italians attacked British and Commonwealth forces in the Sudan, Kenya, and British Somaliland. In August, the Italians even overran all of British Somaliland and forced the British and Commonwealth forces there to flee. But, by the end of 1941, during the East African Campaign, Ethiopia was liberated from Italian control by a combination of British, Commonwealth, Free French, Free Belgian, and Ethiopian forces.
Italy in WWII videos
In 1936, Italy and Germany signed an anti Communist pact and in the same year both intervened in the Spanish Civil War. In 1937, Italy withdrew from the League of Nations and in 1938, Albania was taken over .On June 10, 1940, Italy went to war against France and Great Britain . and began an invasion of Greece.The invasion of Greece turned into a debacle and the Germans entered Greece in 1941.In April 1941, the Italians with the Germans under Rommel entered Egypt.In Jan 1943, the Allies entered Tripoli and the Italian empire in Africa was lost.In July 1943, the Allied invasion of Sicily began and was mostly in Allied hands by Aug 17. On July 24, the Fascist Grand Council demanded Mussolini's resignation and was dismissed by the king and arrested.
And you...what are you doing ? Italian propaganda poster Six weeks later he was rescued by German paratroopers. However, the 'unconditional surrender' agreement stood in the way of bringing Italy into the Allied camp and while the Allies hesitated, the Wehrmacht sped 13 divisions into Italy under Field Marshal Kesselring, who was able to use Italy's mountainous terrain to his advantage . Marshal Pietro Badoglio was appointed to succeed Musolini.He decreed the dissolution of the Fascist Party and announced that Italy would stay in the war. The Allies, who had suspended air attacks on Italy hoping for a government favorable to the Allies, resumed bombardments and bombings.On Sept 3, the Badoglio government agreed to an armistice. On Sept 8, British and American troops landed at Salerno, south of Naples .Rome was occupied by German troops. On Oct 13, 1943, Badoglio government declared war on Germany. On Jan 21, the Allies landed at Anzio to take Rome, but was nearly thrown back into the sea by Kesselring.On June 4,1944 Allied troops entered Rome. On April 28, German resistance in Italy collapsed, Mussolini was captured near Como and executed . Italian pilots in front of their MC200 Thunderbolts The Machi MC202 Lightning, considered superior to the P-40 and the Hurricane.
After the war, on June 2, 1946, a referendum on the monarchy resulted in the establishment of the Italian Republic, which led to the adoption of a new constitution
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Mussolini by Mack Smith
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