Italian Empire: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox country
| name = Kingdom of Italy
|
| flagalt =
{{tabber
| Game Start
| [[File:Flag_of_Italy_(1861–1946).svg|250px]] <br/> ''Flag of Italy''
| Scorza's ISR
| [[File:War_flag_of_the_Italian_Social_Republic.svg|250px]] <br/> ''Flag of the Italian Social Republic''
}}
| tag = ITA
| capital = [[Rome]]
| ideologyiconfile = Fascism ideology.webp
| rulingparty = [[National Fascist Party|Partito Nazionale Fascista]] <small> (Tr: National Fascist Party) </small>
| electiondate =
| hos = [[Umberto II|King Umberto II]]
| hog = [[Gian Galeazzo Ciano|Duce Galeazzo Ciano]]
| defactoleader =
| sphere = Italian
| alignment = Triumvirate Founder ITA
| gdp = 104.27
| credit = Good
| creditstyle =
| econtype = Corporatism
}}'''Italy''' (Italian: ''Italia''), officially the '''Kingdom of Italy''' (Italian: ''Regno d'Italia''), and informally known as the '''Italian Empire''' (Italian: ''Impero Italiano''), is a country in southern Europe, with colonial territory in Africa and the Near East, and a founding member of the [[Triumvirate]]. Italy's heartland is located on the Italian peninsula in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, and the country is bordered by [[France]] to its west, [[Burgundy]] to its northwest, [[Switzerland]] and [[Germany]] to its north, and [[Croatia]], [[Montenegro]], and [[Albania]] to its east.
Italy is considered by many to be the fourth most powerful country in the post-[[World War II|WW2]] world. In many ways a "lesser among equals" during the war, having a terrible start, the Italian Empire came out of the war a force to be reckoned with. Italy became a country only on March 18, 1861, after the Second War of Independence, where the armies of the Kingdom of Sardinia, along with France, conquered Lombardy from the Austrians, and the subsequent dissolution of all kingdoms allied to Austria in central Italy. And thus the Kingdom of Italy was born, with Sardinian king Victor Emmanuel II becoming King. The young nation however, was troubled from the start, and after the infamous "''Vittoria Mutilata''" in WWI, Benito Mussolini and his National Fascist Party seized power in the March on Rome in October 1922. After seizing complete power, Mussolini would embark on a radical development of the nation, promising the people to bring back the past glory of Rome. After the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1936, "Il Duce" declared the Italian Empire. After a difficult start in WW2, the Italians, with help from the Germans, would modernize their Army and it's tactics. Now, in the aftermath of the war, the Italian Empire is at the helm of the [[Triumvirate]], an alliance led by the three Mediterranean Axis members to combat against German aggression, Italy, [[Republic of Turkey|Turkey]] and the [[Iberian Union]] (plus their various colonies, client states and independent allies). The first fascist state, Italy is led by Mussolini's successor, his son in-law, [[Gian Galeazzo Ciano]].
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== Geography ==
Italy controls a large empire with vast territory, however its heartland is located on the Italian peninsula in Southern Europe, in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea. Italy borders many other countries in Europe, as well as via its colonial possessions. In Europe, Italy is bordered by [[France]] to its west, [[Burgundy]] to its northwest [[Switzerland]] and [[Germany]] to its north, and [[Croatia]], [[Montenegro]], and [[Albania]] to its east. Through the islands it owns in the Aegean Sea, it has a maritime border with [[Turkey]]. In Africa, it has colonial borders with German Africa and French Africa, as well as [[Egypt]]. Its colonies in the Near East border [[Turkey]], [[Syria]], [[Iraq]], [[Saudi Arabia]], and [[Oman]].
=== The Italian Empire ===
Though often used to refer to the entire country and its territories, the title of Kingdom of Italy refers only to the core lands of Italy. So, the term Italian Empire has been used to refer to all the territories controlled by the King and Duce in Rome. Alongside the Kingdom of Italy itself, the Italian Empire includes:
* the Kingdom of Albania
* the [[Kingdom of Croatia]]
* the [[Kingdom of Montenegro]]
* Italian Libya
* the Ethipian Empire (as part of [[Italian East Africa]])
* the Kingdom of Tunisia
* the [[Kingdom of Egypt]]
* the [[Governatorato del Levante|Italian Levant territories]]
* the [[Governatorato del Golfo|Italian Gulf territories]]
== History ==
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To the resignation of some moderate liberal elements from Mussolini's government, the latter responded with a rapid 'round of chairs', bringing into the ministries personalities fundamental to fascism such as the jurist Rocco and Giovanni Giuriati. These men - directed by Mussolini - would within a year build the legal and functional framework of the Fascist dictatorial state.
=== '''The New Fascist Governement''' ===
'''The Initial Fascist Reforms and Projects'''
As Mussolini ascended to power, now widely known as “Il Duce” a title originating from the Latin “dux” which means leader or commander. Mussolini swiftly began new reforms to shape his new Italy.
New hygiene regulations for businesses were enshrined in Law No. 473 of April 17, 1925, with the obligation to provide sanitary service in the company, not to burden women and minors with excessive loads, and to report as such and guard harmful substances. National labor contracts assumed the force of law, and "bosses" ("employers") could only enter into individual contracts that differed from the collective labor agreements if better conditions were provided for workers. Compliance with the act was supervised by the newly established Corporate Inspectorate. By Royal Decree No. 582 of May 1, 1925, the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro ("OND") was established for the purpose of "promoting the healthy and profitable use of the free hours of intellectual and manual workers with institutions directed toward developing their physical, intellectual and moral capacities."
[[File:Battwheat1.jpg|thumb|Poster for the "National Competition for Grain" one of the core elements of the "Battle for Grain" ]]
On June 14, 1925, the Prime Minister announced the start of the Battle of the Grain. The campaign aimed to have Italy achieve self-sufficiency from abroad in the production of wheat (the importation of which was the direct cause of 50 percent of the balance of payments deficit) and, more generally, of all agricultural products. Although the goal of complete self-sufficiency was not achieved, in terms of increased production success was conspicuous. Agriculture, however, lost profitability, and there was a loss of export markets for the most valuable agricultural products, due to the fact that many areas intended for other crops were cultivated with cereals.
[[File:Imm-cop-Masullo-Piana-Pontina-740x446.jpg|left|thumb|Photo of the work on the bonification of the Agro Pontino]]
More successful was the project of reclaiming the marshy territories still present in the Italian peninsula (including the Agro Pontino) carried out between 1928 and 1932. New municipalities were often born in connection with a particular predetermined economic destination (Carbonia in Sardinia, for example, was founded for the exploitation of neighboring coal deposits). Land reclamation also enabled the implementation of an effective health program that made it possible to eradicate malaria, with significant results also against tuberculosis, smallpox, pellagra and rabies.
On June 21, 1925, the fourth and final PNF congress was held, at which Mussolini called on the blackshirts to abandon violence for good. Many squadristi elements were rendered impotent by the end of the year thanks to the reform of the police system (and this allowed for the strengthening of the power of the executive). But the squadracce were still active such as the case of Giovanni Amendola, who would be beaten to a bloody pulp by Blackshirts in Cannes by 15 Blackshirts on the 7th of April, 1926 or Piero Gobetti, who was beaten on many occasions by Blackshirts, and would die of bronchitis at a hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France, on the February 15, 1926, attended by, among many other important anti-fascists, also Nitti.
On July 18 Italy and Yugoslavia signed the Treaty of Nettuno for the definition of their respective borders in the Dalmatian area; at the same time, following the decision to "Italianize" South Tyrol, often implemented in a brutal manner (Mussolini himself spoke of mass deportation of linguistic minorities), the Italian government undermined diplomatic relations with Austria for some time. After a series of high contrasts between the Fascist trade union and industrialists, Mussolini arrived at the Palazzo Vidoni Pact on October 2, 1925, which made the National Confederation of Trade Union Corporations the only body recognized by Confindustria.
[[File:Cesare Mori portrait.jpg|thumb|Prefect Cesare Mori]]
On October 20, Mussolini appointed Cesare Mori prefect of Palermo, with extraordinary powers and with jurisdiction extended to all of Sicily, in order to curb the Mafia phenomenon on the island. The "iron prefect," even through extralegal methods (including torture, hostage-taking among civilians and blackmail), with Mussolini's explicit support, achieved significant results, continuing his action throughout the two-year period 1926-27. The "excellent victims" also began to include the likes of Army Corps General Antonio di Giorgio, who managed to obtain confidential talks with Mussolini, which prevented neither the trial nor the high officer's early retirement. Soon, however, political-business circles in the fascist area colluded with the Mafia, managing to direct, through dossier activities, the investigations of Mori and Attorney General Luigi Giampietro on the radical wing of Sicilian fascism, also involving the federal Alfredo Cucco, one of the top fascist figures on the island. Cucco in 1927 was expelled from the PNF "for moral unworthiness" and put on trial on charges of having received money and favors from the Mafia, being acquitted on appeal four years later, but in the meantime the Sicilian fascio had been beheaded of its radical elements. Cucco's elimination from the political life of the island favored the installation in the Sicilian PNF of the island's landowners, themselves affiliated, colluding or at least contiguous with the Mafia.
Added to this action was that of the "anonymous letters" which stormed the desks of Mussolini and Justice Minister Alfredo Rocco, warning of the exasperation of the Palermo people and threatening riots if Giampietro's excessively moralistic actions did not moderate. Contextually, Cucco's trial turned out to be a scandal, in which Mori was portrayed by Cucco's lawyers as a political persecutor, and in 1929 Mussolini decided to lay prefect Mori to rest by having him co-opted by the Senate of the Kingdom. Fascist propaganda proudly declared that the Mafia had been defeated: however, the activities of Mori and Giampietro had had drastic effects only on second-ranking figures, leaving the so-called "dome" (composed of notables, landowners and politicians) partly intact, which was able to fight back through the elimination of Cucco, and so even installed itself within the Sicilian fascist federations. Some authors claim that Mussolini removed Mori because he would have gone too far in his investigations, going after interests and collusions between the state and the Mafia. This thesis is flatly rejected by others, such as Alfio Caruso.
==== The "Fascistissime" Laws ====
Between 1925 and 1926 the “fascistissime laws”, inspired by the jurist Alfredo Rocco, were passed. Law No. 2029 of Nov. 26, 1925, stipulated that collective bodies operating in Italy (associations, institutes and corporations) were required, at the request of the public security authority, to declare statutes, deeds of incorporation, internal regulations and lists of members and executives, under penalty, in case of omitted or unfaithful declaration, of dissolution of the body itself, indeterminate prison sentences and fines from a minimum of 2,000 to a maximum of 30,000 liras. In this way, the government came to have a clear map of the type and number of nongovernmental associations present. Law No. 2300 of December 24, 1925, stipulated that all public officials who refused to swear allegiance to the Italian state should be dismissed. Law No. 2263 of December 24, 1925, provided that the term "president of the council" be changed to "head of the government prime minister secretary of state"; the "head of the government" was appointed and dismissed only by the king and was responsible only to him. Ministers became responsible to both the monarch and Mussolini. The Press Law of December 31, 1925, recognized as illegal all newspapers without a person in charge recognized by the prefect (and, therefore, indirectly by Mussolini). Law 100 of January 31, 1926, gave Mussolini, as head of the government, the power to issue legal regulations. By Law No. 237 of February 4, 1926, the municipal council and the mayor were eliminated from the municipal system, the latter being replaced by the figure of the podestà, who exercised the functions of the mayor, the council and the city council and was appointed by royal decree by the executive power. On April 3, 1926, the right to strike was abolished and it was stipulated that collective agreements could only be entered into by trade unions legally recognized by the state; in this context, the Ministry of Corporations was established on July 8, 1926, of which Mussolini assumed the leadership.
==== The later reforms ====
Meanwhile, Mussolini imposed an unofficial form of protectorate on Ahmet Zogu's Albania. In addition, Italy adhered to the Locarno Pact for the guarantee of borders and general security. In April 1926, in a speech in Tripoli, Mussolini advanced the idea of the mare nostrum (i.e., an Italian thalassocracy on the Mediterranean Sea) and pitted fascism and democracy against each other for the first time. Also in 1926, the borders of Libya were redefined in favor of Italy, which acquired, among other things, Fezzan.
Also on April 3, the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) was founded, with the task of "reorganizing youth from a moral and physical point of view," that is, to the spiritual and cultural education and pre-military, gymnastic-sporting, professional and technical instruction of young Italians between the ages of 8 and 18. In 1927 all other youth organizations were disbanded by law, with the exception of Gioventù Italiana Cattolica. In 1937 the ONB would be replaced by the Gioventù Italiana del littorio (GIL).
On August 18, the Duce gave a speech in Pesaro in which he proclaimed that, in order to combat devaluation, the lira-sterling exchange rate would be set at the fateful "90 share": in the period following his declaration, the lira continued to fall, touching 150 liras to a pound, but he insisted that the 90 exchange rate had to be won at any cost, for the personal and political prestige he, Fascism and Italy would gain from it; the economic consequences for citizens did not matter to him. Finance Minister Giuseppe Volpi was aware that we had gone too far (and indeed stock market stocks fell while production and living costs rose) but Mussolini held firm and would not admit he had been wrong. A few years later, he was forced to accept a massive devaluation, but no one was allowed to say in public that "quota 90" was a mistake. Meanwhile, Mussolini renounced any form of public remuneration for the government post he held. International newspapers competed for his signature and were prepared to pay handsomely for his articles, which, particularly in the United States of America, were considered of supreme interest. After the war, Mussolini's widow tried to apply for a survivor's pension for her husband's work as head of the government; the postwar social security agencies replied to Rachele Mussolini that she was not entitled to any survivor's pension: not because of any moral judgment on her husband's dictatorial action, but because of the simple technical issue that Mussolini had never accepted any public salary.
On October 8, the Grand Council passed the new statutes of the PNF, by which internal elections of party members were abolished. In addition, on October 12 Mussolini assumed command of the MVSN. On November 5, all parties outside the PNF were dissolved and it was established that the press was subject to censorship. Police confinement and the death penalty were introduced for attacks perpetrated or organized against the highest figures of the state, and the Special Tribunal for the Defense of the State was established. On December 30, the “fascio littorio” was declared the symbol of the state.
On January 15, 1927 Winston Churchill, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, was welcomed in Rome by Mussolini, who in the meantime launched the campaign to support population growth: bachelors were required to pay a special tax, on the occasion of weddings the state bestowed a cash prize to the bride and groom, and loans, economic benefits (including in the field of children's schooling) and tax exemptions for large families (birth premiums) were provided.
By Law No. 2693 of December 9, 1928, the Grand Council of Fascism, or the highest body of the PNF (chaired by the Duce himself), was institutionalized and recognized as the supreme constitutional body of the state. On January 15, 1928, the Ente Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche (EIAR) was founded, a state-owned entity that was exclusively responsible for the management of public radio service throughout the country. In 1944 it would be renamed RAI (Radio Audizioni Italiane).
On March 14 Mussolini presented a reform bill (later approved) to the Chamber of Deputies, by which he proposed reducing the total number of deputies to 400, who would be elected in a single national constituency; the National Confederation of Fascist Trade Unions and the qualified cultural associations would be in charge of submitting nominations.
On February 11, 1929, Mussolini ended the decades-long Roman Question by signing with Cardinal Pietro Gasparri the Lateran Pacts, which were ratified in the House in May.
The elections of March 24, 1929, for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies resulted in a plebiscite in favor of Mussolini. Voters were asked to vote "yes" or "no" to approve a "slate" of deputies decided by the Grand Council of Fascism. The consultation was held in an intimidating atmosphere; the "yes" ballot was tricolor, and the "no" ballot simply white, thus making the vote cast recognizable. Participation in the vote was 90 percent, and the votes in favor of the "slate" amounted to 98.4 percent.
On April 2 the Duce met with British Foreign Minister Neville Chamberlain, and toward the end of the year the seat of government was moved from Palazzo Chigi to Palazzo Venezia. In 1930 Italy signed a treaty of friendship with Austria. In January 1931 Mussolini, in an interview with the Daily Mail, stated the need for a review of the Great War peace treaties. On July 9 he received U.S. Secretary of State Henry Lewis Stimson, while in December he welcomed Mahatma Gandhi to Palazzo Venezia.
Between March 23 and April 4, 1932, the Duce met several times with Emil Ludwig, who would write about it in Colloqui con Mussolini. After thirteen hours of face-to-face time (one hour each evening) Ludwig, who had interviewed Stalin the previous year, called Mussolini "a great man, much greater than Stalin."
At this time his love affair with Margherita Sarfatti, to whom he nevertheless continued to be linked, began to loosen. On the other hand, in early 1932, he had met Claretta Petacci for the first time.
On April 12, the new FIAT Balilla, which in Mussolini's intentions should have been the car of all Italians, was presented at the International Automobile Salon in Milan; from that year on, in fact, its diffusion was encouraged, which, however, never reached the hoped-for results (a similar initiative was later adopted by Adolf Hitler with Volkswagen).
In June, the entry Fascism, signed by Mussolini and written with the collaboration of Giovanni Gentile, was published in the Treccani Encyclopedia; it explained the doctrine proper to the fascist party. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Fascist revolution, the Via dell'Impero was inaugurated Oct. 28, and membership in the PNF, which had been closed since 1928, was reopened. On Dec. 18 Mussolini inaugurated Littoria, the first of the "new cities" built in the Agro Pontino, reclaimed in previous years.
On March 29, 1933 Mussolini met with German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels in Rome. At Mussolini's initiative, on June 7, a four-party pact was signed in Rome between Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, by which these states assumed responsibility for the maintenance of peace and the reorganization of Europe in accordance with the principles and procedures laid down in the statute of the SdN. The speech delivered by Mussolini to the Senate immediately after reaching an agreement on the signing of the pact (which would be sealed at Palazzo Venezia immediately after the speech to the Senate) was described by historian Francesco Salata and a number of influential diplomats present in the room as the best speech ever delivered by an Italian head of state or minister. Salata also called it the best interpretation of "the feeling and the reasons for the life of others and universality" by a statesman; conscious as Mussolini was of the "ideal and practical feeling and reasons for the life of his own country."
Also in 1933, the Istituto Nazionale Fascista della Previdenza Sociale (INFPS) was created, which assumed the name INPS from 1943, a public law body with legal personality and autonomous management with the purpose of guaranteeing social security for workers. By Royal Decree Dec. 30, 1923, no. 3184, pension insurance against old age had been made compulsory, extended from only public employees (for whom it had the name of pension) to private employees. The various existing Accident Insurance Funds, to which the protection of workers against accidents at work (compulsory since 1898, albeit limited to certain sectors) was deputed, were unified in the National Fascist Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work ("INFAIL"), renamed INAIL in 1943. The purpose of the state agency was to "carry out insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases (part of which were legally equated with accidents at work), reinsurance of other authorized agencies and assume particular functions and services on their behalf."
Giuseppe Graziosi, Model for the Equestrian Monument to Benito Mussolini, 1929
On February 5, 1934, the 22 corporations were established. The first lictorials of culture and art were also held in 1934, and the Coppa Mussolini, a forerunner prize of the Golden Lion, was established as part of the third edition of the Venice International Film Festival.
On March 14 Mussolini met in Rome with Austrian Chancellor Dollfuß and Hungarian Head of Government Gyula Gömbös to discuss a review of territorial arrangements in the Balkans. On March 17, a "three-way pact" was concluded with Hungary and Austria in an anti-German and anti-French function (Protocols of Rome).
The elections of March 25, 1934, for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies - held with the same single "listone" scheme already adopted in 1924, with tricolor ballot for "yes" and white for "no" - resulted in a new plebiscite: the number of participants increased and the votes against turned out to be 15,201 (0.15%).
Law No. 654 of March 22, 1934 for the Protection of Maternity of Female Workers and Law No. 653 of April 26, 1934 for the Protection of the Work of Women and Children established the right of pregnant workers to keep their jobs, a period of leave before and after childbirth, and mandatory leave for breastfeeding (for companies with more than 50 female workers there was an obligation to provide a room for this purpose).
Law No. 2316 of December 24, 1934, established the creation of the ONMI (Opera Nazionale per la Protezione della Maternità e dell'Infanzia); the body could also finance private institutions working in the same fields. 1935 saw the establishment of the Fascist Sabbath.
On June 14 and 15, Mussolini and Hitler met in Stra and Venice; the talks focused mainly on the Austrian question (the German chancellor was aiming at the annexation of Austria). However, relations between the two remained strained, partly as a result of the failed coup d'état in Austria (by which National Socialist Germany intended to proceed with the annexation of the country), which led to Dollfuß's death. The situation was resolved after Hitler desisted from his intention. On August 21, Mussolini met with Kurt Alois von Schuschnigg, Dollfuß's successor. On Sept. 6, in Bari, he took a stand against National Socialist foreign policy and Hitler's racist doctrines, proclaiming that "thirty centuries of history enable us to look with sovereign pity upon certain doctrines from beyond the Alps, sustained by progeny of people who ignored writing, with which to hand down the records of their lives, in the time when Rome had Caesar, Virgil and Augustus."
== Parties and Factions ==
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|Italian Social Movement
|National Conservatism
Neofascism (Giorgio fascist route)
|Giorgio Almirante
|}
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