Fascist Italy – Thread 1/3

Heroic Capitalism (1922-1932)

“The factory is the typical expression of industrial capitalism; it is the period of large profits, and therefore the law of free competition and the struggle of all against all can have full play.”

Several threads have been made regarding the origins of Fascism, so, to avoid stretching this thread, I shall attach the following tweet containing information that compliments what I will showcase: https://twitter.com/Timotero2/status/1422960545045614599?s=20

Year is 1922; Mussolini’s Blackshirts march upon Rome. The King has the chance of putting opposition or give into the demands of this youthful movement. Many industrialists would suggest the King to put Mussolini against a wall and crack down on this new movement, nevertheless…

the final decision would be to deliver the government to this enigmatic figure, without really giving away the control of the State. Despite the claim made by members of the Left Wing political sector, this newborn movement was largely consistent of former soldiers and peasants.

The Fascist movement had launched a campaign against protests and strikes across Italy, as well as engaging in constant conflict with right wing sectors of society during its struggle for power. One of the main reasons Fascism would oppose workers protests would be due…

to the fact, they didn’t owe allegiance to Italy, but to the Socialist Movement that during the 20s, enabled sudden protests and strikes against the already crashing youthful Capitalism in Italy.

Thus, Fascism would enable itself to be financed to a certain extent by Big Business and Landowners. The supposed relevance of this support lacks sourcing, since most of the records and principal biographers/historians of both Mussolini and Fascism showcase that…

the support Fascism got from both sources of income was limited, having most of its support come from the large mass movement it had gathered. And Even then, Fascism would carry worker protests of its own, and would have the presence of radical syndicalist figures…

that would organize and endorse these activities such as; Aurelio Padovani, Edmondo Rossoni, The De Ambris Brothers (Alceste and Amilcare), Roberto Farinacci, Michele Bianchi, among others. These figures along the policies taken by the Fascist movement…

to make landowners (give large areas of land to peasants to work on them) return the help offered by the Fascios can make us see that the opposition to workers strikes from Fascism was merely an ideological reason due to the inherently Left Wing tone of said movements.

The Government of Mussolini, although presented as the total Fascist Revolution, didn’t hold much power up until 1925. Nevertheless, it would hold up until the Italian Social Republic, that they had indeed achieved a complete change of the system.

Reality of the matter is that Mussolini was sharing existence with another entity on the State, that is the King; this would cause some of the biggest concessions to Capitalist Forces that the Regime would eventually engage in.

Mussolini would get “in charge” of a barely industrialized Italy with a youthful Capitalism, the effects of the war had been crushing on the stability of the country and the necessity of a State taking control was an emergency. Although it took its time, Mussolini would…

Slowly take a stronger grip of the country as months went by. The philosophy of Fascism had to be put to practice, and an intellectual consolidation was needed, thus, figures such as Giovanni Gentile, Sergio P’anunzio, Alfredo Rocco, Ugo Spirito, and other revolutionary…

syndicalists would start theorizing what the future and doctrine of Fascism would be. Given the fact that it was born out of a national necessity of Unity against interests cracking down on the Nation, the doctrine would adapt itself to the situation, which, for the main…

premises of the early Fascist revolution to happen, Industrialization was a must. This is where the period of Heroic Capitalism begins. Mussolini understood Heroic Capitalism as a form of Capitalist economics that could benefit the Nation in terms of modernization and…

advancement in the development of the means of production. Thus, it is in his first few years, through Alberto de Stefani as the Finance Minister, that Fascist Italy would embark itself into a laissez-faire approach at economics. Having marketed himself as a defender…

of Private property and trying to appeal to Liberals, Mussolini would gather considerable support from right wing forces across Italy, due to the fact he would crack down on Communist protests or strikes. Nevertheless, this approach at the economy was momentary…

and even justified by Mussolini as merely a way to move towards the next step, which was The Corporate State. It is precisely because of this reasoning that Fascist Italy would launch itself into a privatization campaign and a more deregulated economy during the very…

beginning of the regime. This approach as studied by different economists, had been with the full purpose of stabilizing the situation in Italy, both in an economic and social manner. Which, in the latter, people tend to believe that the regime was a very violent entity…

that simply tortured and killed with no reasoning whatsoever, regardless of this misconception, data from the OVRA (Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo), directives by the leadership, comments by enemies (Bordiga) and...

sources from the time indicate that reality of the matter is that the regime toned down the application of violence as years went by, and not only that, by the beginning of 1930, the characteristic “Squadrismo” of the Blackshirts was basically gone.

Stefani would be removed as a Finance Minster by 1925, ending up being replaced by Giuseppe Volpi, figure that although followed a similar line of policies, changed up the rhythm of the regime and wasn’t as disliked as Stefani.

The period, regardless of the concessions and overall liberal undertone, would undergo in a way that enabled the regime to slowly push reforms that would benefit not only the industrialization of Italy, but also the wellbeing of the workers. One of the most characteristic…

campaigns during the 20s would be the Battle for the Grain, that wanted to make Italy not depend on foreign imports of food, since the importation of foreign agrarian products constituted 15% of purchases. Hence, Italy would undergo a campaign of agrarian production…

That would result in an overall net benefit for not only the industrialization of Italy in the long run, but it would actually achieve its main goal, which was the increase in agrarian productivity.

Another well known policy around that time was the Battle of the Lira, which was meant at addressing inflation and a political move by Mussolini to represent the defense of the value and dignity of the Nation since he didn’t differentiate between…

internal and foreign policy. Although the policy had certain negative effects such as the slight increase of unemployment, the government invested in the construction of infrastructure, and the reduction of tariffs in public services in order to battle them.

In the same regard, while the government revaluated the Lira, it would also lower the wages by 10% and then by 20%, BUT, in the same way wages went down, so did the cost of living and with that came the increase of public services and social welfare that enabled…

the rapid action of government organizations such as Dopolavoro, that were meant to give workers access to cultural and national activities in order to enjoy their time *after work* (direct translation of the organization’s name). The organization would jump from 250k…

members to 4 million from 1925 up to 1939. This government organization would be the main influence of the German interpretation of this approach at worker welfare, which was the program Strength through Joy led by Dr. Robert Ley.

Communication lines, rail lines, and the creation of cities would be also one of the main policies of the regime, aimed at an increase of birth rates, since for Fascism, this was an important part of developing not only the regime, but the future of the nation, hence…

The constant allusion to youth (Giovinezza was the anthem of the Party and later on the anthem of the Italian Social Republic), since Italy, at the interpretation of Fascism was a youthful nation that needed constant development and a new generation to build it off from.

Just from 1928 up to 1938, 32,400 km of roads, 5,400 km of aqueducts and 15 cities were established. Another important part of the agrarian policies of the Italian Regime was that of land distribution, from 1922 to 1940, the amount of laborers without land were…

reduced from 2 million to 700k. As a general trend, the economy on the 20s had an average increase of the GDP of 4.17% per year and was characterized by the reduction of public spending; such was the seriousness of this policy that over 5 million troops would be demobilized…

and the military budget would be decreased. As a whole this period was merely about the consolidation of the regime, and the establishment of the *material* conditions for the coming implementation of Fascist Economics, that is, the Corporate State and later on…

the socialization of the Italian Social Republic. The first step torwards this would be La Carta del Lavoro, the first political push against the initial Liberal and Capitalist support. Conservatives and Liberals had already left the Fascist bandwagon with the murder of…

Matteoti, they had realized way too late that this new regime, was far away from its propaganda claiming to support the conservation of old values and the protection of property, and it intended to install a revolution of its own.

Along this came the full destruction of the Italian Mafia, which caused an Italian exodus to America, and overall vanished Mafia Activity in Italy up until the 1943 invasion of Sicily.

Mussolini felt comfortable enough to separate himself from the Liberal approach at economics, and made himself open about what was to come, which, he would constantly explain that Fascist Economics were far from the end.

http://bibliotecafascista.blogspot.com/2012/03/charter-of-labor-1927.html

It is by the late 1920s that the regime started getting close to the beginning of a new Era that was, the Coming Corporate State. The ideals implanted in La Carta del Lavoro where incompatible with the previous approach at economics, thus change was coming...

The development of heavy machinery and the battle for the grain, demographics and the Lira had been the main campaigns/policies by the regime, along the deflationary approach at the economy and the consolidation of the Nation among different factions.

Even during the Great Depression would the Fascist Regime make an example of how to handle itself by swiftly reducing its effects, embarking itself in a large program of public works that on the long run would benefit not only the support for the regime but the economy.

“One reason why in Italy the drop in GDP during the depression has been smaller than in other countries is the presence of a large and traditional agricultural sector that was not much affected by business cycles.”

Since the regime did not depend on international markets along its main focus on internal production made it so the effects barely affected the regime’s prestige, if anything it would enable the regime to later on establish a main actor in its economy.

This actor was the IRI (Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale) which shall become important in the later on large direct/indirect management the regime would have on private property, to the point of being next…

to the Soviet Union when it came to its control of the economy. The 1920s had been finished, and the regime felt comfortable and stable enough to begin one of its biggest adventures, that was, the Corporate State.

This period can be called the Heroic Capitalist era of Fascist Italy, which as Mussolini would recall, Capitalism could hold a noble virtue if it were to be used for its modernization and overall industrial aspect in order to modernize such a Nation like the youthful Italy.

Mussolini held no regard for the abstract meaning of material economic systems, thus for him, the usage of liberal policies were not the end goal, but the means to an end. An economic system, no matter the type, was useless without a Fascist Framework behind.

The regime had accomplished a progressive improvement on the conditions of the working class, to the point Albert Thomas (Director of the International Labor Office) and many initially opponents of the regime would recognize. This came along the installment…

of the new Fascist Philosophy on a National Scale, which would oppose any type of infighting. Taking 1920s Italy at Face Value is usually appealing for critics of Fascist Italy, insofar as they ignore the context and several factors that contradict their claims.

Link with sources and relevant books to the matter:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qTDJq8CJ7wnwsmObJyB7rOIGRxJv1GqC?usp=sharing

Thanks to the following people for adding stuff to the thread with information/resources of their own:

@artist_tyrant
@ZoranNasadee
@1922Roman

The next thread will touch on the Corporate Period (1932-1943), I know this one was long but it kinda had to be.

The End.