Cavour then brought Napoleon III to his side with the cities of Nice and Savoy. Italian nationalism is linked back to 1797 when Napoleon took control of the Italian peninsula and created the puppet Kingdom of Italy. He joined smaller Italian city-states into larger units to make his rule more effective. He thought Austria was weakening as he created a united and powerful Italy. Giuseppe Garibaldi was able to harness the power of the mass, most especially the peasants.
He may not have had huge popular support, but by 1922 significant numbers of the most influential Italians were prepared to tolerate him as the only acceptable alternative to the status quo. There was a very significant rise in support for the fascists from 1919-22 and this certainly helped Mussolini’s cause. From around 1000 members in 1919, the party could claim half a million members and 250,000 blackshirts by 1922. This mass support was significant because it enabled the fascists to gain a foothold in parliament, which was the first step towards Mussolini being offered the post of prime minster. Indeed, without the knowledge that this growing movement would win him votes, Giolitti would not have included fascists on the government list for the 1921 elections in the first place.
Mazzini created the Young Italy society after the 1831 revolutions. Young Italy helped spread opposition to the autocratic nature of the Italian rulers. It was established to create a republican nation-state. Although ‘Young Italy’ was still a small-scale, secret nationalist society, its effect on Italian attitudes was large, speaking in the long-term. Similar to the Carbonari groups, it was planned as a youth movement for the whole peninsula so had the potential to gain widespread and active support.
How far do you agree that the use of repression was the main reason the Fascist regime was able to control Italy in the years 1925 – 43? State repression was clearly an important factor In the fascist regime’s ability to control Italy from the mid-1920s. As Mussolini’s dictatorship was established in 1925-26, various instruments of repression, such as the OVRA and the special Tribunal, were introduced to target political opponents and keep the Italian population in line. However, Fascist rule was not simply based on coercion and intimidation. Fascist propaganda had some success in persuading many Italians to view the regime in a positive light.
This system would control the privileges and benefits of citizenships of citizenship of Rome. The Censors who conducted the system could re-rank citizens into different classes. Which is a good idea because a citizen can grow over time and not stay in their original class. In Document D, it states that Athens had a system called ostracism which putting a powerful man who could destroy Athens in exile for ten years. In Rome, they had the classes which equalize the citizens because the
However this “liberal” Italy was actually more conservative at heart, the country was a monarchy and not a republic. Not only this but the new monarchy was that of the house of Savoy which was the family which had ruled Piedmont. In a typical liberal government a leader would have been elected, not in this case however and it seemed to many that the new Italy was simply Piedmont taking over the whole of the Italian peninsula. Although the new Italy was labeled as liberal, it still had a sense of authoritarianism about it. The new king had real power and was in control of the army and he would also personally select the prime minister and all the individual ministers meaning the people had no real vote; they could vote in a person as a minister only to have the king turn him away.
The economic policies he had implemented had served their purpose in helping to garner further support for Mussolini and the fascists. Tannenbaum concludes correctly that Mussolini’s early liberal approach to the economy was nothing more than an ‘expedient to gain support where he could get it when he was consolidating his dictatorship.’ The years of 1926 and 1927 saw a marked shift away from the early liberal policies employed by de Stefani and a move towards much greater State intervention and the corporative State of which Mussolini was so proud, the so-called third way. Fascist Corporativism rejected both
This allowed men from all classes to vote rather than the richer classes having the majority of voters meaning that Germany was starting to become well represented in parliament. Voting also included a secret ballot which meant that German citizens could vote without the fear of persecution, so the votes would be the honest opinions of German citizens. This links in with the idea that citizens were starting to take advantage of Rechtsstaact, the turn out for Reichstag elections increased substantially from 50% in 1871 to 85% in 1912. The growth of the Social Democratic party was also a clear indication for the growing parliamentary democracy and the nations want for change. In the 1912 election the SPD polled 4,250,000 votes and became the largest party in the Reichstag with 110 deputies.
To what extent did Mussolini’s economic policies improve the standard of living of ordinary Italians in the years 1922-43? Since Mussolini’s rise to power, one of his main goals for future Italy was to rebuild its economy so it was able to compete with other European nations. To accomplish this, Mussolini felt he would have to eliminate or weaken Trade Unions so that the state had more control over the working economy and people. Through his attempts to improve the Italian economy through various ‘battles’, Mussolini effected the living standards of many ordinary Italian people, sometimes for the worse. In his campaign for a greater Economy, Mussolini’s actions sometimes benefitted the Italian people by improving their living conditions.
Fascism did not rise from one single event; it grew from actions of people and groups over many years. The Unification of Italy through to the post war years of 1919 – 1922 brought constant problems within the economic, social and political levels of society which led to the Fascist regime destroying a political system that had lasted 50 years. Economic, Social and Political problems post WW1 The new state of Italy was to be dominated for the next 50 years by the Liberals. They believed that under the rule of educated, progressive men, such as themselves, Italy would become a “citizenry proud of its nationality and loyal to state. (Robson, 1992)” However, reviewing the economical, social and political issues this was not to be.