9781422277713

hour workday. Provisions such as these, in addition to a call for a high tax on wealth, didn’t endear Mussolini to Italy’s politi- cal conservatives, its business elite, or its rich landowners. Mussolini ran for Italy’s parliament in late 1919, but he lost. After that, the Fascist movement became much more clearly identified with conservative elements of Italian society. Alliances were formed with the business community and with landowners. And Blackshirts undertook a fearsome campaign of violence and intimidation. They attacked socialists. They terrorized leaders of trade unions. They battled the paramili- tary fighters of Italy’s Communist Party. The threat of commu- nism would be one of Mussolini’s constant themes. Ineffectual Governments In parliamentary elections in 1921, Mussolini and some of his followers won seats. Mussolini officially created the Partito Nazionale Fascista (National Fascist Party). The Fascists were invited to participate in a governing coalition headed by Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti of the Liberal Party. Mussolini accepted. The Fascists were still a minor party, however. They held just 35 of the 535 seats in Italy’s parliament. Mussolini soon helped

bring Giolitti’s government down by pulling out of the gov- erning coalition. Another gov- ernment was formed—this time without the participation of the Fascists—but it quickly fell. In February 1922, the

Effective Violence

Mussolini’s Blackshirts served as the inspiration for the Sturmabteilung Brownshirts of the German Nazi Party.

Destroying Democracy

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