Fascist and anti-Fascist violence in Italy (1919–1926)

Civil unrest in Italy (1919–1926)
Part of the Revolutions of 1917–23
Benito Mussolini and fascists during the March on Rome in 1922
Date 15 April 1919 – 31 October 1926 (7 years, 6 months, 2 weeks and 2 days) Location Kingdom of Italy Result Ascension of Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 after the March on Rome and fascist takeover of the Italian government in 1924 following the assassination of Giacomo Matteotti. Eventual repression of anti-fascists and arrest of anti-fascist leaders.
Belligerents
Far-left and anti-fascists	Government	Fascists
Commanders and leaders
Amadeo Bordiga (communist) Antonio Gramsci (communist) Errico Malatesta (anarcho-communist) Guido Picelli (Arditi del Popolo, an anti-fascist coalition)	1919–1922 Victor Emmanuel III Giovanni Giolitti Ivanoe Bonomi Luigi Facta 1922–1926 Victor Emmanuel III Benito Mussolini	Benito Mussolini (allied with the government after 1922)

The Kingdom of Italy witnessed significant widespread civil unrest and political strife in the aftermath of World War I and the rise of Italian fascism, the far-right movement led by Benito Mussolini, which opposed the rise at the international level of the political left, especially the far-left along with others who opposed fascism.

History

Fascists and leftists fought on the streets during this period as the two factions competed to gain power in Italy. The already tense political environment in Italy escalated into major civil unrest when fascists began attacking their rivals, beginning on 15 April 1919 with fascists attacking the offices of the Italian Socialist Party's newspaper Avanti![1]

Violence grew in 1921 with Royal Italian Army officers beginning to assist the fascists with their violence against communists and socialists.[2] With the fascist movement growing, anti-fascist of various political allegiances but generally of the international left combined into the Arditi del Popolo (People's Militia) in 1921.[3] In 1922, with the threat of a general strike being initiated by anarchists, communists, and socialists, the fascists launched a coup against the second Facta government with the March on Rome, which pressured Prime Minister Luigi Facta to resign and allowed Mussolini to be appointed prime minister of Italy by King Victor Emmanuel III. Two months after Mussolini took over as prime minister, fascists attacked and killed members of the local labour movement in Turin in what became known as the 1922 Turin massacre.[4]

The next act of violence was the assassination of socialist deputy Giacomo Matteotti by the fascist militant Amerigo Dumini in 1924. Armando Casalini, a National Fascist Party deputy, was killed on a tramway in retaliation for Matteotti's murder by the anti-fascist Giovanni Corvi. This was followed by a fascist takeover of the Italian government and multiple assassination attempts were made against Mussolini in 1926, with the last attempt on 31 October 1926. On 9 November 1926, the fascist government initiated emergency powers, which resulted in the arrest of multiple anti-fascists including communist Antonio Gramsci. Afterwards, serious opposition to the Fascist Italy regime collapsed.

Leaders of the factions

• Anarchist: Errico Malatesta was a major leader of anarchists in Italy during this period.[5]
• Communist: Amadeo Bordiga and Gramsci were leaders of the Communist Party of Italy, whose members engaged in civil violence against fascists.
• Fascist: Mussolini led the fascists who opposed and engaged in violence with international leftists who were gaining prominence in the late 1910s and early 1920s.
• Arditi del Popolo: Guido Picelli was the deputy of a coalition formed in 1921 between various anti-fascist groups including Malatesta's anarchists and Gramsci's communists, among others, such as socialists, futurists, republicans, and syndicalists.[3]

Notes

1. Smith, Denis Mack (1997). Modern Italy: A Political History. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-472-10895-4.
2. Smith, Denis Mack (1997). Modern Italy: A Political History. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. p. 312. ISBN 978-0-472-10895-4.
3. Berghaus, Günter (1996). Futurism and Politics: Between Anarchist Rebellion and Fascist Reaction, 1909-1944. Oxford: Berghahn Books. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-57181-867-6.
4. Sonnessa, Antonio (2 November 2005). "The 1922 Turin Massacre (Strage di Torino): Working Class Resistance and Conflicts within Fascism". Modern Italy. 10 (2). London: Goldsmiths College, University of London: 187–205. doi:10.1080/13532940500284242. ISSN 1353-2944.
5. Kantowicz, Edward R. (1999). The Rage of Nations. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-8028-4455-2.