After World War I from 1919 to 1922, Italy descended into political turmoil, with the formation of major political alignments including Socialists, Communists, and Fascists who were led by Benito Mussolini. The disappointments of the war, including dissatisfaction by Italians and their leaders by the sharing of the spoils of war by the Allies, led to an abhorring of the liberal government that was in place during and after the war. As a result, these other political movements emerged as strong proponents of leadership in post war Italy. However, there was major turmoil in the country as the three main political classes that emerged post war fought for control of power in the country. It is from this push and pull, that fascism decimated the left (Socialists and Communists), and set itself up as the main political force in Italy, a position fascists held until the defeat of the Axis powers (of which Italy was a part of). This essay will discuss the degree to which the fear of the left may have led to the rise of fascism in Italy.
First, the left, especially Socialists, were considered not to be as nationalistic as a part of the nation wanted. The central theme in fascism as presented by Mussolini and his supported was nationalism. Fascists believed in a nation that was not based on democracy or liberalism, but rather on strong militaristic dictatorship and nationalism. During this period of 1919-22, they carried out major violent acts against socialists, first with the aim of destabilizing them politically, but also as a form of revenge. Socialists had not supported the participation of Italy in the First World War. The resounding defeat of Italy at the 1917 Battle of Caporetto led many veterans to believe their defeat at the hands of Germans and Austro-Hungarians was as a result of the lack of national support by socialists. The liberal government of Italy that was in power during the war was not considered strong enough due to its failure to acquire all that Italy had been promised by the Allies for them to join their side of the war. For this reason, Italy faced an existential crisis after WWI due to a growing distrust in the liberal government, and an emergence of other political alignments in the country offered Italian citizens alternatives to the government of the day. Therefore, after the war, many Italians began supporting the socialist movement, and it grew with such ferocity that it became a threat to other political alignments.
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Additionally, the left leaning Socialists also became a political force to reckon with, and threatened the ruling classes of Italy. During the period known as biennio rosso , or red two years, the Socialists were able to cement their political power, and established workers unions. The interrelationship between the Socialist party and workers unions in Italy led to numerous strikes by workers in an attempt to provide the workers with better pay and working conditions. The Socialists also oversaw the massive transfer of land from rich bourgeois to peasants. They also formed cultural circles, cooperatives, sporting clubs and taverns as a way of winning over the populace, and to a large extent they were successful. The Socialist party exercised its powers through legal means such as elections, strikes, boycotts and demonstrations. They became a major threat to the elite ruling system of the country.
In conclusion, the Italian left after the end of WWI became a force to reckon with, leading a movement based on equality and liberal democracy. Their style of politics created a lot of fear to the country’s ruling elites and led them to support Fascists, who were not concerned with changing the status quo of elite leadership. For this reason, even when Fascists used violent means to quell demonstrations and other political tools employed by Socialists, still the fear of the left led many to continue supporting Fascists. It was not until the resounding defeat at WWII that Italians were able to free themselves from the violent, military dictatorship of the Fascists.
References
Ebner, M. R. (2011). Ordinary violence in Mussolini's Italy . New York: Cambridge University
Press.
