1. The March on Rome Assessment Criteria
Analyse and evaluate, in relation to the historical context,
how aspects of the past have been interpreted and
represented in different ways.
Learning Objectives
The growth of Fascism:
• ideology
• tactics
• role of Mussolini as leader
• links with other groups, institutions and individuals
• Fascist support – who supported the Fascist Party (PNF), and why?
Discussion: What made Fascism attractive to so many in Italy?
Focus Questions
Mussolini was destined to be a great leader?
Fascism seemed an obvious solution for Italy?

2. Fascist Violence
How did Mussolini manipulate fascist violence to gain support with the Conservatives? DP
Why did the Liberal Government find it difficult to control the Fascists?
P-35

3. The General Strike Why was the General Strike organised?
To what extent was the general strike a success?
Why was the fascist action seen as impressive?

4. The March on Rome
Why were Conservatives impressed by Fascist actions in the general strike?
What were the dual aims of Mussolini’s discussions? (coup d’etat, lib negotiations)
Why did Mussolini organise the march?
How was the march to be organised?
How did Mussolini reassure the monarchy and government?
How did the coup happen, include key dates
How were the police and army prepare and why did they not intervene?
What were the King’s motives for not intervening?
Who did the King try to convince to become PM, why did this fail?
When did Mussolini become PM?

5. Research task
Create a revision booklet that covers the main points of Mussolini’s rise
Ensure it includes:
Timeline of events
The debate as to Mussolini only being successful due to Liberal weakness. (Pages 40 to 41) (We will also discuss this at the end of the lesson)
Summarises Mussolini’s ascent to power (The March on Rome and events proceeding the March)

6. Fascist Italy Timeline
1919
Italy
Popular Party Founded
March 23 - 'Fasci Italiani di Combattimento' (paramilitary fascist groups) founded.
American President Woodrow Wilson visits Italy.
1918
November the 4th - armstice with Austria
Influenza epidemics million killed worldwide
Nation-wide strikes all the year around. In August-september the workers unsuccesfully occupy the ironworks.
December - The Fiume Adventure ends.
1920
De Pinedo and Del Prete complete their Sesto Calende-Melbourne-Tokyo-Roma crossing, in a total of 360 hours of flight
The Orient Express is back in service - the Simplon Tunnel is used so that the line won't cross Germany and Austria
November - Socialist and Popular party win the political elections
April 15 - Milan, the offices of the 'Avanti!', an antifascist newspaper, raided by fascist squads
September 12 - 'L'Impresa di Fiume' (The Fiume Adventure) begins - at the orders of poet Gabriele D'annunzio, 2500 volunteers organized into paramilitary units cross the border into Yugoslavia and seize the town of Fiume.
May 17 - new elections. 'Blocco Nazionale' (The National Compact) and the fascist movement are the winners.
The fascist squads continue their violent campaign. The fascist movement (not yet a party) is widely popular in rural areas and in the towns of northern and central Italy.
Italian Communist Party founded
1921
May - Fascist squad activities heats up
24 October - national Fascist Party rally in Napoli; led by Bianchi, Balbo, De Bone and De Vecchi the fascist "squadre" reach Rome. 'Marcia su Roma': the fascist seize the capital and all administration centres. The king refuses to sign a Siege act and hands all powers to Mussolini so he can bring back order.
July - legalitarian protest strikes are violently repressed by the fascist. Nationwide fascist violence wave.
January - Pope Benedetto XV dies; cardinal Achille Ratti elected, assumes the name of Pio XI
1922
November the 4th - Fascism is no longer a movement, and becomes a political party.
The steambot 'Monte San Michele' disappears between Baltimore and Europe.
January - the fascist 'camice nere' (black shirts) officially become "Milizia volontaria per la sicurezza nazionale" (Voluntary militia for national security). The workers day of May the First is abolished. Gran Consiglo del facsismo (Fascist Grand Council) founded.
1923
Luigi Pirandello publishes Enrico IV and Sei Personaggi in Cerca d'Autore
28 October - The Fascist Party is in power.
September 27 - Italian forces leave Corfù
December 12 - Galeno, Bolzano (Northeastern Italy), a dam breaks killing 600
November 13 - Electoral law reformed: the party holding relative majority in elections automatically gets two thirds of the seats in Parliament (Legge Acerbo)
August 31 - after the killing of five Italians in Greece, Italian forces seize Corfù.
June - Mt. Etna erupts
April - Popular Parti politicians are forced to leave the government.School laws reformed (Riforma Gentile)
February - all members of the Freemasons are expelled from the Fascist Movement
May - the British Royals visit Rome
January 27 - Italy seizes and disposes for the anession of Fiume
April the 6th - with a legal trick, the Fascist Party (a.k.a. 'Lista Nazionale') gets the 64% of votes in the elections
1924
In Milan, soubrette Wanda Osiris first appears on stage.
Italo Svevo publishes La Coscienza di Zeno.
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (National Researches Council) founded.
Composer Giacomo Puccini dies in Bruxelles.
1925
Actress Eleonora Duse dies in Pittsburgh.
December - Enrico Fermi begins his work as a teacher in Florence.
A decree establishes the censorship of the press and forbids reunions of members of the opposition.
June the 10th - Giacomo Matteotti (opposition leader) is murdered
By the end of June - "Aventino": the opposition secedes from the parliament. The king confirms his support to Mussolini.
November the 4th - the former-Socialist Zaniboni attempts Mussolini's life. As a result, a repressive turn of the screw ensues.
January the 3rd - In a public speech, Mussolini admits the 'historical responsibility' in the killing of Matteotti. From this point on, Italy is by all means a dictatorship.
Freemasonry suppressed Freedom of association Suppressed Government assumes law making powers Law codes reformed Civil Service is entirely and exclusively Fascist Workers Unions can only be Fascist Italian refugees lose the Italian citizenship First reduced and finally cancelled any form of administrational independence of Townhalls anc City Councils Death penalty introduced
Between January 1925 and december 1926, Press freedom suppressed
Guglielmo Marconi establishes the first radiowave connection London-Sidney
January - Italian Communist Party convention, in Lyon, France.
1926
Eiar (national broadcasting corporation) begins its service.
The first automobile highway of the world is built in Italy: the Milano-Laghi.
Italian submarine sinks off the coast of Sicily during naval wargames; 50 men reported missing.
December 24 - a new law separates the position of Head of Government from the ministerial structure: from this moment on, only the King can take back Mussolini's powers.
Earthquake severely hits the town of Amalfi (near Naples) - the Archbishop of Naples publicly states that the quake was the result of the wrath of God against the new fashion of short skirts.
November 20 - Law for the Defence of the State: non-fascist parties and unions are outlawed, death penalty introduced, Tribunale Speciale (Speciel Court - in 17 years will sentence 42 to death and comminate a total of years of jail) created, laws for the police internment for dissidents created.
November 27 - friendship treaty between Italy and Albania.
October - Opera Nazionale Balilla (the Fascist youth groups - a paramilitary clone of the boy scouts) founded; it will be open to kids from 6 to 18 years old.  
July - the Ministero delle Corporazioni (Corporations Ministry) substitutes for all trade unions.
April the 7th - Giovanni Amendola dies as a consequence of fascist assault
April the 3rd - all workers unions united in the "Confederazione nazionale dei sindacati fascisti dei lavoratori" (National Fascist Confederatio of Workers Unions)
Italian writer Grazia Deledda wins the Nobel prize.
January - in a circular letter to all Prefects, Mussolini 'normalizes' the fascists' extremism.
1927
ISTAT, the central institute for statistics, founded.
Nobile flies over the Artic.
Italian women can no longer teach philosophy, history, Italian language and literature, latin and greek in high schools.
Troubles at the Scala Theatre in Milan: Arturo Toscanini refuses to play 'Giovinezza' (the Fascis hymn) at the opening of Turandot, faces the audience and asks them to choose, 'It's either Mussolini or me'.
June - a solar eclipse is visible across western Europe
Italian expedition to Karakorum
The first Mille Miglia race is run.
April-may - the 'Carta del Lavoro' (Work act) regulates corporate structure; deomographic policy starts: celibacy is taxed, large families are enttled to prizes.
The 'Italia' blimp crashlands on the Arctic ice. Only part of the crew will survive and be saved.
1929
November - Mt. Etna erupts
Land reclamation begins in earnest.
March 16 - single list elections established.
First acts in the Demographic policy: taxes are heavier for celibates.
December: 'Quota 90!' - the economic manipulations are effective, and the Italian Lira reaces again the 90:1 change ratio with the British Pound.
1928
Mondadori publishes its firts mistery novel, with a yellow cover. The Gialli Mondadori are born.
1930
The Electric Power Plant of Cardano is operative, and is the most powerful in Europe.
March 24 - first single party elections. The fascists win (being the only lawful party in the country) with 99% of the votes.
February 11 - Patti Lateranensi: the Vatican City State is born, Christian teaching is compulsory in Italian schools, as Italy is a Christian Catholic state.
The Pope denounces mixed schools as 'Un-Christian'
The first effects of the Crash of '29 are felt in Italy. The government starts a series of emergency actions, to increase the number of public utility jobs. Taking advantage of the crisys, the Party orders a police crackdown on anti-fascist organizations and simpathizers.
The first Italian talkie is "La Canzone dell'Amore", by Righelli.
Earthquake devastates Irpinia (Southern Italy)
November 30 - Primo Carnera knocks out Paulino Uzducum. Carnera (202 cms, 120 kgs, 24 years old) has already disputed 30 boxing matches in the USA, winning 29 for ko. A star is born.
April 13 - Tazio Nuvolari, former racing bike ace, wins the Mille Miglia driving his Alfa Romeo at over 100kmh
February 6 - Italy signs a friendship treaty with Austria, granting its help in case of Germany invasion. New Civil and Penal Codes published.
Fiat 514 presented.
May 14 - Toscanini once again refuses to play "Giovinezza" before the beginning of the show in Bologna; senator Leo Longanesi slaps him in the face in front of the audience.
April 12 - Transatlantic Rex takes off for its inaugural cruise.
Disagreements between Vatican and Italy are caused by the Azione Cattolica, an organization that is "too independent from the State" according to the Fascists. The organization is not suppressed, but strongly limited inits activities.
1931
Italian Learco Guerra is the World Champion of Cyclism.
February 11 - Mussolini visits the Pope
1932
Guglielmo Marconi experiments with ultrashort waves, creating the premises for the development of Radar and microwaves.
New station in Milan opened.
The 13 are: Ernesto Bonaiuti, Giuseppe Antonio Borgese, Mario Carrara, Gaetano De Sanctis, Antonio De Viti De Marco, Giorgio Errera, Giorgio Levi della Vida, Pietro Martinetti, Bartolo Negrisoli, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, Francesco Ruffini, Edoardo Ruffini-Avondo, Lionello Venturi October the 8th - a new decree forces all University teachers to swear fealty to the Fascist Regime. On a populatio of 1200 teachers, only 13 refuse and lose their position.
October the 3rd - Lauro de Bosis, esiliated in France, drops hundreds of anti-fascist pamphlets from an airplane in the skies of Rome
November 31 - IMI (Istituto Immobiliare Italiano, Italian Realty Institute) is founded.
Somebody's humor is failing: DUCE must be written in all capitals from now on.
December 18 - Mussolini visits brand-new Littoria, the first of a series of Italian cities created from nothing in the former swamps of the Agro Pontino; Sabaudia, Pontia, Pomezia, Aprilia and Guidonia will follow.
By the end of july, Mussolini is also in charge of the Ministry of Exterior.
June - Albania tries to reject the Italian control over a joint customs police force; Italian ships seize the port town of Durazzo and Albania has to relent.
April 24 - Mussolini first meets Claretta Petacci, that will become his lover and share his final detiny.
April the 8th - for the first time, Etiopia is an issue in the fascist Gran Consiglio
Architectural redesign is started in many Italian cities, including Rome, Milan and Brescia.
1933
"Orbace" a rough "autharchic" fabric created by sheperds in Sardinia is the new rage.  
Mickey Mouse and Yo-yos land in Italy.
Movie director Mario Camerini shots "Gli Uomini che Mascalzoni" and inaugurates the "Telefoni bianchi" movement (light-hearted entertainment without the slightest hint of social commentary).
First Venice Film Festival.
Josephine Baker tours Italy.
April - First Fashion fair in Turin
January 30 - Mussolini sends his congratulations to Hitler ('That funny man with Chaplin brush mustache'), freshly elected as Cancelor of the Reich.
January the 3rd - Mussolini illustrates the first plans for the invasion of Etiopia
January- IRI (Istituto per la Ricostruzione Indusriale) founded; it allows the Regime to control economy on the field.
Rex crosses the Atlantic in 4 days, 23 hours and 28 minutes, and conquers the Blue Ribbon.
Enrico Fermi develops the Beta radiation Theory, appying the quantum field principle.
The flying fleet loses two planes over the ocean, and two pilots die.
December 12 - "Giornata della Madre e Del fanciullo" (Mother and Son Day) created and celebrated. A prize is given. The 93 most prolific mothers (no less than 14 sons) meet Mussolini and the Pope; a woman from Naples (18 sons) sets the record. 
November 30 - as part of the budding demographic campaign, 2600 couples are brought to Rome and married in a single, huge ceremony. Having sex is fine as long as you reproduce.
November 14 - Mussolini attacks the League of Nations during a public speech.
August Mussolini meets Dollfuss and promises Italian military help to Austria.
25 italian sea-planes cross the Altantic and back, as a single flying formation.
July 25 - Nazis kill Dollfuss; nazi coup in Austria fails; Mussolini speaks against Germany and deploys Italian troops on the Austrian border.
September 24 - born in Naples princess Maria Pia, daughter of the Princes of Piedmont.
June first Mussolini-Hitler meeting in Venice.
1934
Toscanini goes into self-imposed exile in the USA.
Television experiments publicly shown at the Fifth International Radio Show in Milan.
First 'Lotteria di Tripoli' - 1 ticket sold for 12 lire can get 6 millions.
1935
The demographic policy continues: Romilda Nigiotti (Rome) has 24 children and is expecting the 25th.
By bombarding uranium with neutrons, Fermi poduces the first fission.
First signs of an openly anti-British attitude in the Fascist line.
October 14 - First issue of the magazine "L'Avventuroso" published; it will make Flash Gordon, Mandrake, Jungle Jim, Secter Agent X-9 and Radio Patrol popular in Italy.
December the 5th - Ual-Ual massacre on the Somalia-Etiopia border
October the 9th - the League of Nation starts a punitive action against Italy.
Autharchia Carcadé replaces tea, lignite replaces coal, lanital replaces wool. Cofee is not good for your health, and you can cut it, or replace it with cicory. Rubber and cork replace leather for shoes, cotton is produced from broom fibre. Rabbits are grown for meat and furs. Gates and fences are stripped for iron.
October the 3rd - Italy invades Abissinia (Africa); DeBono and Graziani are in charge of the troops. The Pope blesses the venture as "necessary".
July 28 - Tazio Nuvolari triumphs at Nurburgring, beating with his old Alfa Romeo P3 the technically suprior Germans.
January the 7th - arrangment between Italy and France; Italy has total freedom of action in Etiopia
April - france, England and Italy condemn the German arms rush.
1936
January the 6th - the German ambassador informs the Furher that Italy will not oppose the transformation of Austria into a German satellite
Enrico Fermi formulates the slowed down neutrons law ("Fermi law")
1000 are killed by the fall of a dam near Turin.
Italy starts production of Lanital, a wool substitute produced from milk proteines.
December 18 - "Buy Italian", 'Autarchia' begins: the Italians will have to do without foreign imports. The nation needs gold: all the women give their golden wedding ring to the Party ( rings in Rome, in Milan) and get a steel replica from the Party; playwright Luigi Pirandello donates his Nobel medal to the campaign, Bologna's cardinal Nassalli Rocca gives his episcopal chain. On the whole kgs of gold are collected.
September - despite the treaty signed stating otherwise, both Italy and Germany start putting resources and forces Italian volunteers, 2000 cannons and 800 war planes - on Franco's side during the Spanish Civil War. 
October 24 - the Rome-Berlin Axis is born. Former problems over Austria are archived.
July 14 - first number of "Il Bertoldo", a satirical magazine, hits the stands at 40 centesimi; in the following 7 years it will try and make people laugh, avoiding the Regime censorship.
July - Italy and Germany support the Franchist faction in Spain.
March the 6th - openly pro-German policy started
May the 6th - Italy conquers Etiopia, Italian troops commanded by Pietro Badoglio enter Addis Abeba. King Vittorio Emanuele III is also Emperor of Etiopia. The League of Nations can only withdraw its sanctions as the fact has been accomplished anyway. Mussolini announces that Fascist Italy is now the true heir of the Roman Empire.
January 2 - Italian treaty with England for the joint interests regulation in the Mediterraean basis.
Mussolini is in Lybia, and declares himself a protector of Islam.
March the Italian troops sent to support Franco are blocked in Guadalajara
1937
Actor Ettore Petrolini dies in Rome.
November 18 - Italy and Germany recognize Franco's rule as legitimate in Spain.
Due to war expenditures, the Italian Lira drops its value of a 41%.
May - the 'Pinguino' (Penguin) sweetens the summer of the kids: it's a vanilla ice cream, shaped like a icycle, and covered in chocolate.
Before cachet camion chaffeur chaperon chignon cocktail flirt ferry-boat pied-de-poule pullover sandwich standard tight trousse yogurt
April 28 - Cinecittà founded in Rome: 14 sound stages, 3 water pools, square meters of urban complex, of gardens; Turin loses the film industry.
After cialdino autocarro autista capperone cignone coccotello amoretto treno-battello millezampe farsetto tramezzino tipicato velada scarabattola mezzorado
June the First - MINCULPOP (Ministero della Cultura Popolare, Ministry of Popular Culture) is born: foreign words are forbidden, and Italian surrogates, often unwillingly hilarious, are created and officially imposed. On the radio, jazzman Louis Armstrong becomes 'the italian musician Luigi Fortebraccio' in a plain translation of his name. Benny Goodman suffers the same fate and becomes 'Beniamino Buonoumo'; soon MINCULPOP will forbid jazz altogether.
The first Italian glossy magazine, Omnibus, published by Longanesi with a starting run of copies at 1 lira - it will be closed down by the censors two years later. Luckier is "Signorina Grandi Firme", that will jump from to copies per week in a few months
The Demographic Campaign reaches its maximum; a cheque for 700 lire (a month's salary for a professional) is awarded to all young men that decide to marry; administration position are opened preferentially to prolific fathers. Prolific mothers with at least 7 sons will be awarded a cheque for 5000 lire plus a life insurance.
1938
Phisicists Carlo Perrier and Emilio Segré sinthesize the element 43.
December 11 - Italy deserts the League of Nations
June - the Rosselli brothers are killed in France upon fascist orders
November - Italy is part of the Anti- Comintern Pact. Italian and German ships enforce a block around Spain against USSR-provided supplies.
September international crisys. Czech mobilitation. Mussolini offers his services as a mediator between Hitler and the Western Powers.
September Munich Conference and Pact.
during the summer, Italian troops are sent to Spain in the Ebro offensive.
July 14 - 'Manifesto della Razza': the racist laws are passed in Italy.
A fine from 500 to 5000 lire awaits all manufacturers producing goods with foreign markings or words on them.
January the 3rd - in remembrance of Jan. 3rd '25, the day is made into a national holliday; the formal 'fascist' "voi" ('thou', more or less) substitutes the supposedly 'effeminate' "lei" ('you') as a polite form of address - the women's magazine 'Lei? has to change its name into 'Annabella?. The Roman Step (a.k.a. Goose Step) is imposed to the troops.
Death of writer, poet and overall maverick Gabriele Dannunzio
November 30 - Italy claims possession of Tunisi, Gibuti and Corsica. Relations with France become tense.
Enric Fermi awarded the Nobel Prize for phisics.

7. Timeline
Source analysis
Political spectrum

8. Securing and exercising power and control 1922-43
The consolidation of power
• Increasing control
• securing consent – propaganda, education and censorship
• securing control – terror and repression especially the special police (OVRA)
Discussion: To what extent was propaganda more effective than repression in the
Fascist Party’s securing of control after 1922?

9. Securing and consolidating power
Why was a completely fascist government not yet possible?
Why were conservatives reassured by Mussolini’s first cabinet?
On what grounds did Mussolini claim to need dictatorial powers?
Was there any need for these powers to be granted?
Why did other politicians trust Mussolini?
How did Mussolini’s speech convince politicians, and what kind of support did he receive in Parliament?
Why did Mussolini set up the grand council of fascists and how did it operate?
Which powerful employers organisation supported fascism?
How did Mussolini gain Catholic support?
Acerbo Law
The largest group in Parliament should get 2/3rds of the seats (as long as had ¼ of votes)
Would mean the end of weak coalition governments
What was the danger of the Acerbo law?
Why was it easy for Mussolini to fix elections?
Why did many politicians vote for the Acerbo Law?
Why were so many politicians prepared to support Mussolini?

10. Acerbo Law
The largest group in Parliament should get 2/3rds of the seats (as long as had ¼ of votes)
Would mean the end of weak coalition governments
What was the danger of the Acerbo law?
Why was it easy for Mussolini to fix elections?
Why did many politicians vote for the Acerbo Law?
Why were so many politicians prepared to support Mussolini?

11. 1924 Election Acerbo Law passed April 1924
Fascists achieved 66% of vote, Fascist MPs 35> 374.
Name at least three reasons for Mussolini’s increasing popularity.
How resilient was support for other parties?
How did Mussolini’s ‘dual’ policies help him to become a dictator?

12. Week
Lesson 1
Lesson 2 1
Securing the dictatorship
Propaganda, education and censorship 2
Securing control – terror and repression especially the special police (OVRA)
Economic policies including the Corporative State and the ‘battles’ for grain & births 3
Relations with centres of influence in Italy including: the king, the army,
industrial and agricultural elites, other political parties e.g. the nationalists
Relationship with the Church 4
Extent of success – were economic & political aims achieved? Essay
Mussolini’s foreign policy aims 5
Impact of foreign relations on domestic (internal political) politics
Extent of success of policies towards Abyssinia, Spain & Germany in the 1930s 6
War essay
Essay technique and Revision Tips

14. Creation of a Fascist Dictatorship