Fascist Italy

• 1. Rise To Totalitarianism

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  On the 24th of March 1929, a nationwide plebiscite confirmed the Fascist single-party list with 98.43% of voters approving the measure. This vote marked the transition from parliamentary democracy to a one-party dictatorship under Benito Mussolini. The National Fascist Party crushed all political opposition during this period between 1922 and 1925. A legally-organized executive dictatorship emerged as the first phase of Fascist rule. In 1926, laws were passed to require that propaganda newsreels be shown prior to all feature films in cinemas. Universal male suffrage was restricted to men who were members of a trade union or an association, to soldiers and to members of the clergy. Only 9.5 million people were able to vote out of the registered electorate. The Fascist government took control of the authorization of all textbooks by 1929. All secondary school teachers were required to take an oath of loyalty to Fascism. Children began to be taught that they owed the same loyalty to Fascism as they did to God.

• 2. Imperial Ambitions And Wars

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  In October 1935, Mussolini believed that the time was right for Italy to invade Ethiopia. Italian forces invaded Ethiopia from the colonies of Eritrea and Somaliland. During the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, aircraft dropped poison gas on defending Ethiopian soldiers. The last regular Ethiopian forces were defeated in 1937. King Victor Emmanuel III was proclaimed Emperor of Ethiopia after the conquest. The League of Nations formally condemned Italy's actions on the 11th of December 1937. A Grand Council of Fascism voted to withdraw from the League shortly thereafter. In 1936, the budget of the colony of Italian East Africa requested 19.136 billion lire to create infrastructure. Italy's entire revenue that year was only 18.581 billion lire. Marshal Rodolfo Graziani led a punitive pacification campaign against Arab nationalists in Libya. More than 100,000 people were forcibly migrated to concentration camps in Suluq and El Agheila where tens of thousands died. At least 80,000 Libyans died through combat or starvation during this period. On the 7th of April 1939, Italy invaded Albania and crowned Victor Emmanuel III as its king.

• 3. The Lateran Accords

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  In 1929, Mussolini and the papacy came to an agreement that ended the standoff between Church and state going back to 1860. The Lateran Accord recognized the Pope as head of Vatican City within Rome. This treaty gave independent status to the new city-state. The Concordat made Catholicism the sole religion of the State while tolerating other religions. Salaries were paid to priests and bishops under these terms. Religious marriages gained recognition after previously requiring civil ceremonies. Religious instruction entered public schools following the agreement. A third agreement paid the Vatican 1.75 billion lire for seized property since 1860. Nearly 9 million Italians voted in a plebiscite on the Treaty with only 136,000 voting no. Bishops swore allegiance to the Italian Fascist régime which held veto power over their selection. Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical We do not need in 1931 denouncing regime persecution of the Church.

• 4. Racial Laws And Antisemitism

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  In 1938, Fascist Italy passed the Manifesto of Race stripping Jews of citizenship. The Racial Laws prohibited professional positions for Jewish citizens. These laws forbade sexual relations and marriages between Italians and Jews or Africans. The final decision occurred during a meeting of the Gran Consiglio del Fascismo on the night between 6 and the 7th of October 1938 in Rome's Palazzo Venezia. Italo Balbo strongly opposed the antisemitic laws despite being a prominent Fascist. Margherita Sarfatti lost her position as propaganda director when she was identified as Jewish. Six thousand Jews, Slovenians, and Italian Resistance were murdered at San Sabba Rice Mill in Trieste. Thousands died in Nazi concentration camps after the armistice with Allies in September 1943. Before this date, the Italian Jewish community remained protected from deportation to German death camps. Mussolini stated he carried out his policy entirely for political reasons regarding antisemitism.

• 5. Propaganda And Social Control

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  The OND National Afterwork Club became state's largest recreational organization for adults in 1925. By 1930 every town in Italy had an OND clubhouse. The club maintained 11,000 sports grounds over 6,400 libraries and 800 movie houses. Over 1,200 theaters and more than 2,000 orchestras operated under its direction. By 1936 the OND organized 80% of salaried workers. Nearly 40% of industrial workforce joined by 1939. In 1933 all university teachers were required to be members of the National Fascist Party. The government changed minimum school leaving age from twelve to fourteen years old. Children began learning they owed loyalty to Fascism as they did to God. A secret police force called OVRA was created in 1927 led by Arturo Bocchini. Opponents faced torture involving castor oil causing severe diarrhea and dehydration. Cesare Mori prosecuted Mafia with special powers granted in 1925 before being fired in 1929.

• 6. World War II And Collapse

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  Italy joined World War II as one of Axis powers in 1940 after France appeared likely to lose. Italian forces invaded Egypt and occupied British Somaliland with initial success. The Italian military machine showed weakness during the 1940 Greco-Italian War. German intervention bailed Italians out during Battle of Greece. Italy signed armistice to Allies on the 3rd of September 1943. On the 29th of September Italy signed longer version at Malta. Northern half of country fell under German occupation forming Italian Social Republic. Mussolini recruited more than 500,000 soldiers for Axis cause. Badoglio dismantled all Fascist organizations throughout Italy after becoming prime minister. King Victor Emmanuel III arrested Mussolini following Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. Hostilities ended the day after Mussolini's execution on the 28th of April 1945.

• 7. Resistance And Aftermath

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  The Italian resistance movement continued guerrilla war against German and RSI forces from 1943 onward. Around 350,000 partisans operated across Italy with disparate political ideologies. Giustizia e Libertà was active anti-fascist resistance movement from 1929 to 1945. Carlo Rosselli cofounded this movement alongside Ferruccio Parri and Sandro Pertini. Shortly after war civil discontent led to 1946 institutional referendum on monarchy versus republic. Italians decided to abandon monarchy and form Italian Republic. The present-day Italian state emerged from this decision. Arditi del Popolo militant group fought Blackshirts during 1920s. The Communist Party ordered members to leave organization while organizing minor actions. Benedetto Croce wrote Manifesto of Anti-Fascist Intellectuals published in 1925. The CAI existed as coalition from 1927 to 1934 founded in Nérac France by expatriate Italians.