Italy Under Mussolini

The domestic policies of Mussolini can be divided into three parts, political, economic and social.

His political policies aimed to help him consolidate his power. Mussolini, as a prime minister of a coalition government, did not have full control as there were only 35 fascists. He had to exercise moderation and seek cooperation to entrench power. Mussolini formed a government that would please most people with only 4 out of 14 people were fascist. He kept all important posts for himself like home affairs. In his first speech, he threatened to disband parliament if members did not cooperate and even went on to ask for full power for a year. Parliament consented to his request. Thus, this became a basis for his power.

The Fascist Grand Council was formed in 1923, a ruling body of the fascist party controlled by Mussolini. The members were appointed by Mussolini and the council and the council became more important, making all decisions, rendering the government inactive. The police was totally replaced by the Fascist, and came under Mussolini’s direct control. They arrested political opponents and did not take action against acts of violence by MSVN, a new militia created from the quadri, Mussolini’s private army.

There was effective suppression of opposition as political opponents were.... arrested, jailed and beaten up or even murdered. The November 1923 Acerbo Law gave 2/3 of seat in parliament to any party that got 25% of the votes. The 1923 elections saw the fascists taking up 2/3 of the seat, majority through rigging.

The Mateotti Affair which saw the murder of opposition leader who had openly Mussolini and the fascist of fraud caused a public outcry as well as an internal crisis within the party. Mussolini accepted the responsibility for the murder, but announced that he was assuming full dictatorial powers in January 1925, which meant the end of free speech, press. He also gave himself the title of Duce, which had the power to make laws without consulting the parliament.

The local government democratically elected town councils, mayors, abolished and replaced by government officials. The fascist party was rigidly centralized into a strict hierarchy headed by Mussolini. Recalcitrant members were dismissed and replaced. All members and military men had to swear an oath of allegiance to the Duce. Mussolini also turned Italy into a one party state, with all political parties except the Fascist party banned. Opposition members were expelled from the parliament in 192, and members of parliament could not be appointed by the King without Mussolini’s consent as the head of the government.

Mussolini created the OVRA, a secret police to hunt down his political enemies and imprison them in concentration camps on islands of Italian coast. He also mad changes to the voting system. By 192, only men over 21 belonging to the fascist organization could vote for a list of 400 candidates selected by the Fascist Grand Council. Electorate reduced from 10 million to 3 million, and those who voted against the Fascists were identified and punished.

Mussolini’s economic policies were generally aimed to gain support from the people. The battle over the Southern Problem in 1924 was aimed to eradicate the terrible poverty of Southern Italy and Sicily. It was a failure. Despite propaganda, nothing was done, and plans to develop new villages were never implemented as the money was embezzled by corrupted officials. Southern Italy remained impoverish, Mussolinia was never heard again.

The battle of wheat in 1925 aimed to get farmers to grow more wheat in a drive to self-sufficiency. It was a limited success. By 1935, wheat imports had been cut by 75%, but this was achieved at the expense of the more lucrative dairy and arable farming whose outputs fell. Agriculture remained inefficient, farm labourers became the poorest class in the country, with wages falling between 20% and 40% during the 1930s. Production of export crops like fruits, olive fell, causing a loss in lucrative profits.

The 1926 battle for land was part of the drive to improve and increase agricultural yield. Other than the drainage of the mosquito infected Pontine Marshes, a swamp, it was a failure. The drainage of the Pontine Marshes was actually reclaimed to impress tourist, other than creating extra farm land.

The 1926 battle for lira was an attempt to show that Italy had a strong currency. As a result of Mussolini revaluing the lira far too high, it made Italian exports more expansive on the market, leading to reduced orders. Factories were on a 3 day work week, and the workers suffered wage cuts of 10% to 20% even before the Wall Street Crash. Mussolini also turned Italy into a corporate state, with an institutionalized system of labour relations between state, employers and workers. It consolidated the power for the fascists, denying workers of their rights to strike. However, the system was corrupt, with nepotism and embezzlement.

Mussolini public works program was quite a success. He aimed to develop and improve living standards of people. The transport networks were improved, with the build up of motorways and bridges. Trains ran on time. Schools and sports stadium were built. Major projects were done to help generate employment and strengthen the infrastructure.

Mussolini’s social policies were also aimed to increase his popularity. The battle for births was an attempt to increase the number of Italians from 40 to 60 million by 1950. More people also meant more soldiers. His effort gave a short term boost to the birth rate but despite propaganda. Tax incentives, number of births each year fell steadily during the 1950s.

His overall efforts in the social services were aimed to improve welfare services. There were cheap holidays, tours, after work clubs, Dopolavoro controlled theatres, libraries and other organizations. But it failed as there was no official government health insurance until 1943and only an inadequate unemployment insurance scheme.

The laterean treaty was aimed to get support from the church, ending a long standing conflict. Dropping his atheism and anti-clericalism and replacing it with a policy of state support of the church, the church supported him. Under the terms of the treaty, the state recognized the sovereignty of the pope within Vatican City and the papacy recognized the kingdom of Italy. He also made Catholicism the state religion, church marriage and divorce laws became those of the state and religions teaching in the schools were expanded. The church also received a substantial sum of money.

Education was aimed to be a social indoctrination, which is to glorify Mussolini, the Duce, and to have total obedience to authority. They controlled young minds by instilling some desired values that the regime deemed necessary.