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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
ƒÞ 1861: 1st Italian Parliament: Italy is a parliamentary monarchy
ƒÞ 1870: Rome
ƒÞ 1871: Non Expedit: the Roman question
ƒÞ 1870 -1900: mainly a rural economy; industrialization process in the North
ƒÞ 1900 - 1907: important social, cultural and economic growth (Giolitti)
ƒÞ 1915 - 1918: WWI: the mutilated victory
ƒÞ 1919 -1920: red biennium: period of strong social tensions and violence; workers and peasants, organized within the socialist party occupy lands and factories demanding better conditions of life, better salaries and to participate to the production process.
ƒÞ 1919 - victory of the socialist party at the elections; worries of the middle-class; birth of fascism
ƒÞ 1921 Elections
ƒÞ Fascism obtains 35 sits: Mussolini declares to be:
- Against the parliament
- Against democracy
- Against the Socialists
- Against Giolitti
FASCISM
ƒÞ 1922 (march on Rome: Vittorio Emanuele III gives power to Mussolini despite the opposition of the Parliament)
ƒÞ Revolution (Violence of certain groups)
ƒÞ Anticapitalism, anticlericalism and antisocialism
ƒÞ Nationalism
ƒÞ Republicanism
1924 the last elections
ƒÞ Violence, cheats: Fascist Party wins
ƒÞ Matteotti contested the results
ƒÞ Jen 1925: begins the Aventinian
The Dictatorship, most important aspects:
ƒÞ Glorification of the Duce
ƒÞ No social and political rights for political opponents
ƒÞ Huge growth of bureaucracy
ƒÞ Fascism was the political party of the middle class (public employment; landowners; storekeepers)
ƒÞ Censorship on mass media (used for propaganda)
ƒÞ Nationalism (glorification of Roman Empire)
ƒÞ Workers unions abolished
ƒÞ No right of strike (support of the big industrials)
ƒÞ 1929: Lateran Accords: Fascism gains prestige among other European countries: end of the Roman question
ƒÞ 1936 - Ethiopia
ƒÞ 1936 - the Rome - Berlin Axis
ƒÞ 1938 - Racial Laws
ƒÞ 1939 - the Iron Pact
WWII
ƒÞ 1939: war begins (Italy remains neutral)
ƒÞ June 1940: war on France (stab in the back)
ƒÞ 3 fronts: 1) France
2) Greece and Africa
ƒÞ 1941: RUSSIA AND USA joined the War
ƒÞ 1942: 3) Russian campaign
ƒÞ Allies land in Sicily first, and then in Calabria and Salerno, and liberate the South of Italy from dictatorship.
ƒÞ This, and the previous disaster in Russia lead to the
ƒÞ FALL OF FASCISM: Fascist hierarchs and the King conspiration against the Duce
ƒÞ Mussolini arrested, Badoglio¡¦s government
ƒÞ The king and Badoglio wanted to get rid of Fascism, but they were scared of:
ƒÞ German troops
ƒÞ The growth of the antifascist parties (PSI, PCI) asking for a republic
Resistance and Liberation
ƒÞ Allies land in Sicily + secret negotiation between the King and Badoglio with the Americans:
ƒÞ September (3) 8th- Armistice
ƒÞ German troops occupy the north of Italy: Badoglio and the King escape from Rome to the South (Salerno); the army falls into pieces
ƒÞ Soldiers and ex-officials prisoners are sent to Germany. Other join antifascist groups in the mountains and begin the Resistance
ƒÞ Mussolini is free by the Germans and founds the RSI
ƒÞ The Badoglio legal government declares war on Germany (Oct 43)
ƒÞ CLN begins to fight against the Germans and the fascists (the Civil War)
ƒÞ Cruel Nazi reprisals (Fosse Ardeatine, Marzabotto-1830 civilians are massacred)
ƒÞ April 25th 1945 Mussolini is made prisoner by the partisans and killed with other fascist leaders
It was during the Resistance that antifascism was embraced by the masses: members of the Resistance were mainly workers of the middle North. Strikes became common (>1944) in the factories:
- to obtain better salaries
- politically: against Fascists and Nazis
THE REPUBLIC
ƒÞ CLN ¡V PCI, PSI, Partito d¡¦Azione, DCI.
ƒÞ 1946: REFERENDUM
ƒÞ 1948: First political elections in the climate of the Cold War.
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