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Italy - The Rise of Fascism

Italy - The Rise of Fascism. Weaknesses of the Liberal State. Categories to structure your thinking. Long Term pre conditions (e.g. Italian political system) Medium Term accelerators (e.g. WWI) Short term deciders (e.g. The March on Rome). Key Questions- Liberal Italy.

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Italy - The Rise of Fascism

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  1. Italy - The Rise of Fascism Weaknesses of the Liberal State

  2. Categories to structure your thinking • Long Term pre conditions (e.g. Italian political system) • Medium Term accelerators (e.g. WWI) • Short term deciders (e.g. The March on Rome)

  3. Key Questions- Liberal Italy • Where does Fascism come from? • What was Italy like in the 19th Century? • What were the main weaknesses of unified Italy? (Political/ Economic/ Religious / Social) • Who opposed Liberal Italy?

  4. Where does Fascism come from? • Must have an understanding of the nature of Italy in the previous century. • The divide between ‘real’ and ‘legal’ Italy (ruled versus rulers) • Weaknesses of the Liberal state • Impact of WWI • Fascism was not inevitable but impossible without the above factors

  5. Five Key Ideas- Long Term preconditions • Risorgimento • The Real / Legal Italy • Narrow Franchise • ‘Transformismo / Clientelism’ politics- corruption in public life • North- South divide

  6. Italy in the 19th Century • Had moved from a collection of states or Kingdoms with absolute rulers to a constitutional monarchy- a king with parliament • Unification process- the ‘risorgimento’ was dominated by the educated and the wealthy - elites who saw ‘Liberalism’ as a way of securing their own power- a large majority of Italians (the real Italy) do not identify with the new state. • Rural population nearing 60% • Price of unification was high taxation • Papal (Pope) hostility towards the new Liberal State (90% Catholic) • North/ South Divide- South overwhelmingly agricultural- soil worn out, badly run inefficient estates • Social unrest frequent- particularly in the South • Foreign Policy- Inferiority Complex (Battle of Adowa 1896)

  7. Main Weaknesses of Liberal Italy • Gulf between ‘Real’ and ‘Legal’ Italy not bridged- failure by the government to tackle the deep rooted cause of social unrest in the South. • South feels it has been conquered rather than united to the rest of Italy - the use of the military against the ‘Great Brigandage’ contributes to this. • Constitution based on Piedmont- accusations of a ‘Piedmontization’ of the new Italy • Politically unrepresentative- the new constitution is based on a very narrow franchise- 2% of Italians have the vote • Tiny political class ruled Italy which prevents the development of a party system- different shades of Liberalism

  8. Main Weaknesses of Liberal Italy (2) • Weakness of the political system- coalition governments formed politicians resort to ‘transformismo’ the bribing of opponents to get majorities. This was happening at a local level with ‘clientelism’- the winning of votes through the distribution of favours. • 30 different Prime Ministers between 1869-1922 • Parliament had little prestige • Highly centralised system of government - old prefectures -provincial governments were retained in order to maintain control- actually would be tailor made for the fascists to take control.

  9. Social and Economic Problems • Italy economically underdeveloped • 1880 Figures- • Under 10,000 km of railways • Emigration 1 million (mainly to USA) • Low yields in agriculture • 90% of South has no roads • Average of 70% illiteracy rate • Few navigable rivers

  10. Religion- The Roman Question • Pope extremely hostile to the new Liberal Italy- the papal states of central Italy had been incorporated into the unified nation. The Pope therefore lost all his ‘temporal’(political) power • Pope refused to recognise the new state of Italy- this continued until 1929 • Also issued a decree (Non Expedit) saying that Catholics should take no part in the political life of Italy • This further reduced the already narrow franchise (number of people voting) • Clergy and laity were naturally suspicious of the new state and and its treatment of the Church- were more likely to be attracted to a more authoritarian settlement.

  11. Opposition to Liberal Italy • The End of the Century Crisis • Development of an active, vocal working class • A) Italian Socialist Party (PSI) • B) Revolutionary Syndicalists • C) Social Catholicism • D) Nationalists • E) Futurists • Growth of a number of groups who are antagonistic towards Liberalism

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