after being appointed prime minister, Mussolini sought to reassure parliament, giving a speech saying that he "could have shut up parliament" but "did not wish to do so"
he also formed a coalition government where, out of 14 senior ministers, only four were fascists
this persuaded concerned liberals and conservatives that fascism would soon dissolve and could just be used as a tool against socialism in the meantime
however, Mussolini was just manipulating parliament and made himself minister of the interior and of foreign affairs, thus holding all the real power
additionally, he played on people's fear of socialism and their belief that law and order had totally broken down
though there was little threat from socialists and it was actually the fascists who had caused all the disorder, Mussolini persuaded parliament to grant him emergency powers for a year
hence he could pass any law he wanted without having to consult parliment first
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Assert his position in his own party
Mussolini also needed to assert his position in his own party as some fascists were very radical and he needed to control them
he set up the Grand Council of Fascism so he could make all appointments to the council and control fascist policy, thus increasing authority over the party
however, Farinacci was still a troublesome ras and so Mussolini cleverly used him by making him party secretary
he was given the job of centralising the party which meant decreasing the powers of the ras, and once he had done this, Mussolini dismissed him
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Elections
Mussolini further consolidated his power through elections
he implemented the Acerbo Law which meant that the party winning the most votes would gain two thirds of the seats in parliament
Mussolini defended this by saying the law would create a firm and stable government which could deal decisively with issues unlike the previous weak liberal coalitions
the law was put into practise during the 1924 elections
black shirt violence and ballot rigging ensured that fascists obtained a majority and so, with two thirds of parliamentary seats, Mussolini had made it near impossible to vote the fascists out of power
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The Matteotti Crisis 1924
The Matteotti crisis in 1924 proved to be a turning point for the establishent of Mussolini's dictatorship
after the murder of the prominent socialist figure, Mussolini's position was look tenuos but this incident actually resulted in Mussolini gaining more power
opposition MPs were so appalled by the incident that they walked out of Parliament in the Aventine Secession
they hoped that the King would take this as a sign that things were out of control and so dismiss Musoslini, but the King did no such thing
this effectively got rid of any opposition Mussolini faced in parliament
the crisis also sparked demands from radicals within the fascist party for Mussolini to establish a proper dictatorship or else they would withdraw their support
at the beginning of 1925 Mussolini accepted these demands and created his dictatorship
he passed the Leggi Fascistissime which banned opposition parties and free trade unions
indeed, in January 1926 alone, 2000 repressive decrees were passed
press censorship was tightened, the secret police OVRA was set up and local mayors were replaced with fascist podestas
all this increased Mussolini's control over Italy
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Support from the Elite
Support from the elite was key to Mussolini's consolidation of power
he managed to get industrialists, like thr group of Confindustria, on side by deciding not to attack widespread tax evasion so industrialists saw Mussolini was not a dangerous radical
he also gained support of the church by confirming his intentions to implement compulsory religious education in state schools and to bad contraception
in return the Pope began to withdraw this support from Popolari and even instructed its leader Don Sturzo to leave Italy, effectively ruling out another opposition group.
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