NAME _______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________
Analyzing Primary Sources
Activity
netw rks
A World in Flames, 1931–1941
The Rise of Fascism
Background
On October 31, 1922, Benito Mussolini, the leader of Italy’s Fascist Party,
became the youngest prime minister in Italian history. After he and his
followers, known as Blackshirts, ended a national strike, Mussolini
declared, “Either the government will be given to us, or we will seize it by
marching on Rome.” Mussolini made good on his threat. The ruling
government collapsed and King Victor Emmanuel III asked Mussolini to
form a new government.
Italians, especially those of the middle class, supported Mussolini. They
had grown weary of living in a dysfunctional country, and they welcomed a
strong authority figure whom they believed would set things right. They
got more than they bargained for—a ruthless dictator. This excerpt is an
account of the day Mussolini told the Italian Parliament that they were
barely incidental to his plans. Mussolini would rule alone.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
Directions: Read the following account of Mussolini’s appearance before
parliament. Then answer the questions that follow.
The cheering was renewed when he rose to speak. He delivered his speech
standing in a characteristic attitude, with his chin thrust out and his head thrown
back, leaning on his clenched fists placed on the table in front of him, seeming to
fix intently with his compelling dark eyes in turn each man in the hall.
Every one who went to listen to Signor Mussolini was ready to hear some pretty
plain talking, but a gasp of surprise went up at his very first words:
“I am today performing in this hall,” he said, “what is an act of purely formal
deference toward you and for which I do not seek your thanks. Italy has given
herself a government outside, above and against any designation by
Parliament. Now I affirm that revolution has its rights and I add that I am here
in order to defend and make most of the Black Shirts’ revolution by inserting it
intimately as a force tending toward development, progress, and equilibrium in
the history of the nation. . . .”
A few sentences further on Signor Mussolini again gave Parliament a warning by
saying:
“With 300,000 youths perfectly armed and ready for anything, I might have
punished the enemies of the Fascismo. I might have bivouacked my troops in
this very hall. I might have closed Parliament and ruled with a purely Fascisti
government. I say I might have done these things, but—at least for the
present—I have not wished to do them. . . .”
United States History and Geography: Modern Times
NAME _______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________
Analyzing Primary Sources
Activity Cont.
netw rks
A World in Flames, 1931–1941
“Whoever stands against the Government will be punished. We must not forget
that above the minorities which go in for militant politics, there are forty
millions of Italians who work, who sweat, who reproduce themselves, who ask
and have the right not to be thrown into chronic disorder, which is the certain
prelude to general disaster. But as sermons are not sufficient, the State will
select and perfect the armed forces of the State to act as our supreme reserve,
both internally and externally.”
Signor Mussolini ended with words of warning to the Chamber.
“I do not want, for as long as it is possible for me, to rule against the wishes of
Parliament,” he said, “but Parliament must not forget the peculiar position it is
in. I can dissolve Parliament the day after tomorrow just as easily as next year.
“Let no one delude himself with the thought that my Government will only
last a short time, because my Government has formidable roots in the
conscience of the whole nation. The country is waiting. We will not give it
words but deeds. . . .”
—the New York Times, November 16, 1922
1.
How would you describe Mussolini as depicted by the reporter from
The New York Times?
2.
What is significant about Mussolini’s first warning to the parliament?
3.
Explain the “peculiar position” the parliament is in.
United States History and Geography: Modern Times
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
Critical Thinking