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Mussolini consolidation of power, image, image, image, image, image, image…
Mussolini consolidation of power
Fascist Violence and Control
Mussolini's consolidation of power as a result of fascist violence
"castor oil and rubber batons"
Mussolini was willing to use violence to consolidate his political power
Mussolini often gained wider support by presenting himself as a restraining hand
Personal dictatorship
He has being Prime Minister, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Matteotti Crisis allowed him to increase his power by introducing press censorship
A new secret police was set up and a special court to try political crimes.
Fascist control of local government was increased with elected mayors being replaced with nominated officials known as podestas
Weakness of the king
The king had shown his weakness over the mach
on rome.
He had been more interested in foreign affairs, and
perhaps saw the facist as a neccesary force to resist
socialism
The electoral law of 1928 removed the King’s right to choose the Prime Minister
His position was further weakened after 1922
Acerbo Law
It was an Italian electoral law, applied for the first time in the Italian general elections of 1924
Mussolini introduced it to ensure the National Fascist Party a solid parliamentary majority.
It gained overwhelming support, including from liberals such as Giolitti and Salandra
It was not vital as Mussolini and his right-wing allies won 66% of the vote in the 1924 election
Relative Importance
Fear of socialism provided a pretext for
many of Mussolini’s greatest successes
Mussolini’s political skills played a significant role in consolidating his position
Fascist violence, often directed at socialists, was
frequently seen as a necessary response that would end once the threat was controlled
The failure of the King to sack Mussolini after the
Aventine Secession’ was based on a fear of civil war
Roles
Role of the king
Fascist leaders had forced him to be bolder in establishing a dictatorship
Army swore loyalty to King not Mussolini
Role of Mussolini
He was quick to claim credit for successes or blame others for mistakes
He thought the public “are stupid, dirty” but many were skeptical.
Elections and parliament
Free elections ended and many working class people were not allowed to vote at all
Parliament was abolished in January 1939 and replaced by a Chamber of Fasces and Corporations
Lateran Agreements
The dispute over the papal lands was solved with £30 compensation and the recognition of the ‘Vatican City’ as an independent state
The Agreements show that Mussolini had decided to accept and use the power of the Church
Fascism
There were no party conferences after 1925
Fascists who disagreed with Mussolini were removed in a series of ‘purges’
Potential rivals were removed e.g. Italo Balbo sent to Libya
