Mussolini's establishment of dictatorship

  • Building the Fascist State

    Building the Fascist State
  • The Fascist Syndicates

  • The Fascist Party (1)

    => January 1923 - Regional Fascist squads were formed into a national Fascist militia known as the MVSN, funded by government money and was solely loyal to Mussolini which reduced the power of the Ras.
  • Suppression of Opposition (1)

    => January 3rd 1925 - He accepted the responsibility for Matteotti's murder, but only because of his position as PM and leader of the PNF
  • Suppression of Opposition (2)

    => February - Appoints Roberto Farinacci as party secretary as he falls ill - the new party member launches a new campaign promoting violence against members of Socialist and Communist parties. He also supervised the purge of PNF members and local leader who were believed to be unloyal to Mussolini.
  • Suppression of Opposition (3)

    => July 1925 - First steps taken towards establishing a Fascist dicattorship: anti-fascist newspapers closed down
  • Controlling the State (3)

    => August 1925 - Mussolini replaced elected mayors and councils with Fascist officials who were known as the podesta. They were mainly conservative and were drawn from landowners and the military.
  • Suppression of Opposition (4)

    => December 1925 - Journalists required to register to the Fascist party = press control.
  • Controlling the State (1)

    => December 1925 - The Legge Fascistissme law made Mussolini the head of the government, thus increasing his power by controlling the central and local governments.
  • Controlling the State (2)

    => January 1926 - He assumes his new powers allowing him to issue decrees without consulting the parliament, which allowed him to hold 8 ministerial posts by 1929.
  • The Fascist Party (2)

    => October 1926 - The party was purged of the more militant fascists, these purges increased in the 1930's.
  • Suppression of Opposition (5)

    => May - Mussolini changed the electoral system so that only men over 21 who belonged to the Fascist syndicates could vote. Voters could either vote for or against the list submitted by the Fascist Grand Council.
  • The Fascist Party (3)

    => By 1943, the PNF was a mass party, with almost 5 million (mainly inactive) members, which acted as a loyal basis of support for Mussolini.