Mussolini Economic policies

• Was an attempt to promote Fascist power & national self-sufficiency
• Offered farmers grants for tractors, fertilisers ect.
• Encouraged the farmers by promising high prices for the grain produced

Successes:

• Harvest rose from 5.5 million tonnes in the early 1920's to over 7 millions tonnes 10 years later
• Grain imports also declined 75% during 1925-35, meaning Italy was less dependant on other countries

Weaknesses:

• Land in the Southern & Central Italian regions were more suited to the production of citrus fruits, olive oil & wine. Most of the land damaged.
• The Battle for Grain resulted in exports from the South declining.
• Would further anger the people in the South

• Introduced because in 1926 the exchange rate of the Lira was falling against other currencies (150 Lira to the pound)
• Mussolini tried to set up a nex excahnge of 90 Lira to the pound in December 1927

Successes:

• Benefitted armament, steel & ship building businesses

Weaknesses:

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• Could have helped the consumer but the govt. placed high tariffs on foreign imports.
• This was at a time when Italian goods were twice as expensive & Italian export industries went into a depression.

• Designed to turn marshland into usable land
• Pontine marshes in the South cleared & built on. Other land used to build roads on.
• 50,000 hectares cleared

Strengths:

• Helped to reduce unemployment
• Improved public health as it reduced malaria as the marshlands were mosquito infested

Weaknesses:

• Caused deforestation
• Only 10,000 peasants relocated
• Southern landowners blocked plans
• Abandoned in 1940

• Within each sector Fascist trade unions & employers would represent the workers
• Would be in charge of pay,working conditions & production in its own industry
• Aimed to get workers & employers working together

Strengths:

• Workers allowed to alter working hours & nightshifts without real consultation-more power
• Allowed to have annual paid holidays

Weaknesses:

• Workers couldn't choose representatives & conflicts were never fully resolved