Section Five: Collapse of the Liberal state and the rise of Fascism

Liberal Government appeared weak

liberal government remained neutral during strikes such as those in 1920
incidence in Fiume also strengthened this image when D'Annunzio seized the city and held it for over a year
it took the government this long to take action and when they did they merely turned it into an international city
this showed them to be feeble as they had made such a fuss over not receiving Fiume after the war and when an opporunity arose to obtain it they did little
it had taken one man to do something the government could not

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during the general strike called by the socialists in 1922, the fascists had taken over the workers' jobs and had kept the transport and postal system running
this showed them to be respectable and reliable and impressed many, especially conservatives; the support of whom was vital

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in 1921 the fascists, in the form of squadrismo, launched violent attacks on socialists, destroying 80 trade union offices and leaving 200 dead
in this way, Mussolini was able to gain power by assuring violent RAS that he was still in favour of a violent takeover of Italy, while distancing himself from the most violent of the squadrismo in order to retain the support of the conservatives
his violence against socialists also won him much support from groups like industrialists who feared the growth of socialism
violence was also a successful tool for blackmail when 30 thousand fascist troops were prepared for the march on Rome
Mussolini threatened mass violence if he was not granted power

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managed to gain support from many areas in Italian society by having a very vague set of policies
he advocated action and claimed Italy was tired of the corrupt part system
for example, through his anti-socialist policies he gained the sipport of the petty bourgeoisie and small land owners who feared the economic consequences for them if socialists gained power
this also gave Mussolini the support of the elites and industrialists
Fascists also obtained the sympathies of nationalists by playing on the injustice of the terra irrendenta and by advocating an expansionist state
Mussolini had the support of the church too - friendly with the pope who had allowed fascist banners in churches
this support was highly significant as 90% of the population claimed to be Catholic + the church has a major influence in Italy.

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1919: PSI gained 156 seats and PPI got 101 seats: if they had worked together they could have easily formed a majority but were unable to due to large disagreements
thus the liberal government continued to stumble along
liberal government was weak and corrupt, continuing to use the transformismo and formed 5 brief governments between 1918 and 1922
this weakness and their lack of action meant people became disillusioned with them and were more attracted to the fascists who promised action

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At the time of the 1922 elections, Mussolini had managed to encourage Giolitti to think that that fascist movement was weak and would just blow over
thus Giolitti used the fascist movement to form a coalition and gain a majority
Mussolini skilfully put fascist names on the liberal candidate list and was able to obtain 35 seats in the election
this provided him with a foothold into the government and by the time Giolitti realised what was actually happening, it was too late

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the King was a feeble and unassertive character and doubted the army, especially as some generals sympathised with fascists and 6 generals had been involved in the march on Rome
this weakened the King's confidence
on 28th Ofctober he ordered Martial Law but was too weak to go through with it
the King actually had ultimate power, but was incapable of firm leadership and so gave way to Mussolini

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