The Origins
of Fascism
The inaugural meeting of the Fascio Italiano di Combattimento (Italian Combat Group)
took place in Milan on 23 March 1919. In attendance were 100 ex-servicemen and
revolutionaries who had responded to an advertisement in Popolo d’Italia the
newspaper founded and edited by Benito Mussolini, a journalist whose political
affiliation had moved from pacifist socialist to interventionist following the outbreak of
World War One.
The meeting did not adopt a
manifesto or rigid programme,
however early ideas were essentially
left wing and included:
• Establishment of a Republic
• Confiscation of Church lands
• Land for the peasants
• Tax reforms
•Abolition of conscription
• Votes for women
Rather than creating a party Mussolini
wished to create a movement with the
flexibility to attract mass support.
The first fascists represented a wide range of political views, they had little in common
except a hatred of the Liberal State and a contempt for socialism. Early supporters of
Fascism also included the Arditi – former members of Italy’s elite units who did not adapt
easily to life in post-war Italy. Within days of the first meeting the ex – Arditi had
destroyed the offices of the socialist newspaper Avanti!
Support for fascism spread from Milan to other towns in Northern and Central Italy,
notably Bologna and Trieste, however in the election of 1919 not one fascist was elected.
Even in Milan they received only 4657 votes of a possible 270,000. It seemed as though
the movement were doomed...
The fascist breakthrough
• Mussolini used Popolo d’Italia as a mouthpiece for the fascists.
• The ideas of the fascists appeared to offer solutions to the problems of
post-war Italy.
• Fascism’s focus on national identity appealed to those who had fought in
the war and to those who felt betrayed by the ‘Mutilated Victory’.
• In 1919 the fascists presented a left-wing political programme which
offered an alternative to disillusioned socialists.
• Following the failure in the elections of 1919 the fascist programme
moved to the right, which helped to win more conservative support.
• In 1920 Mussolini began to use his ‘black-shirts’ to break strikes and won
the support of conservative businessmen.
• Violence brought notoriety to the Fascist movement and, provided it was
directed against the left, went virtually unpunished.
• By the end of 1921 fascism meant nationalism, anti-communism, strike
breaking and patriotism. It became attractive to those who felt the liberal
state no longer protected their interests.
Rural Fascism
• Rural fascism developed in response to the biennio
rosso and the gains made by socialists.
• Squadristi came from the towns and violently attacked
socialist Labour Leagues.
• Many liberals welcomed the violent action of the
fascists, viewing them as defenders of the country
against the threat of a left-wing revolution.
• In areas where socialism was weak, fascism made no
impact – rural fascism was a reaction to the strength of
socialism.
• By mid-1921 the rural socialists had been beaten and
the fascist squadristi held control of the countryside.
Partito Nazionale Fascista
Giolitti viewed fascism as another political force that could be absorbed into the
Liberal system. In May 1921 Giolitti offered Mussolini an electoral alliance in the
hope of producing an anti-socialist governing coalition. The fascists secured 7% of
the votes and won 35 seats. Mussolini was now a deputy with authority and
respectability.
In October 1921 a formal political party – the National Fascist Party – was
established. Local branches were founded and new ‘respectable’ recruits were
welcomed. This centralised body, firmly under the control of Mussolini, provided a
counterweight to the local squads and their leaders.
The Party had 200,000 members by the end of 1921 and gave Mussolini a real
political power base. The PNF rapidly became the party of the middle classes,
filling the vacuum left by the collapse of liberalism.
•
•
•
The main elements of fascism’s appeal were now:
Anti-socialism
An emphasis on patriotism
The beginning of the cult of Mussolini (il Duce)