Biennio nero

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The years 1921 and 1922 of the predominantly fascist reaction to the “ Biennio rosso ” (1919 and 1920) are referred to as biennio nero (“the two black years”, literally “black biennium ”) . During the “Biennio rosso”, workers in northern Italy in particular tried to make the transition to a socialist social order. The center of this movement was the industrial city of Turin , where workers' councils were formed and numerous factories were occupied. However, some historians, including Giovanni Gentile , regard the period from 1919 to 1922 as a unity in the sense of a preparation and consolidation of fascism .

prehistory

After the First World War, Italy was one of the victorious powers, but economically and socially it faced problems similar to those of the defeated Central Powers. The finances were shattered by the cost of the war; With Germany and Austria-Hungary the most important export markets had collapsed, industry was faced with the problem of converting to peacetime production and the returning soldiers could hardly find work. The result was widespread dissatisfaction among the workers as well as in the agricultural sector, while the bourgeoisie refused to accept the "vittoria mutilata" (mutilated victory). The first elections after the war brought the previously dominant liberals a defeat, but they were able to hold on to the government under Giovanni Giolitti as part of a coalition. The electoral success of the (still united) Socialist Party of Italy (PSI) awakened above all in the revolution-oriented socialists who had dominated since the party congress in 1918, who in 1921 under Amadeo Bordiga , Antonio Gramsci and Palmiro Togliatti as the Communist Party of Italy ( Partito Comunista Italiano - PCI) of the PSI split off, the hope of realizing a socialist social order in the foreseeable future. Therefore one began to promote and support the revolutionary activities in town and country. The center of the implementation of these ideas was Turin , from where the strikes and factory occupations extended to the state railways and finally also to the surrounding area, with the regions of Emilia and Romagna being particularly affected.

course

The “Biennio nero” was marked by the fascist backlash and the march on Rome . This backlash began in the Po Valley with the formation of regional combat groups. They mostly consisted of former combatants, adventurers and the unemployed. On their own initiative or financed by industrialists and large farmers, they opposed the syndicalists and land occupiers. These groups called Fasci or Squadristi were loosely summarized by Benito Mussolini in March 1919 as Fasci di combattimento . In the early 1920s there were 88 fasci with a total of 20,000 members, which eventually grew to 834 fasci with 250,000 members.

The post-war governments saw in these groups a partner in the fight against the Bolshevikization of Italy and tolerated them. Since the executive was largely on their side, the Fasci were able to gain permanent strength. In the beginning one was content to ambush individuals, to beat them up and / or to beat them with the diarrhea-promoting castor oil and also to kill them, later on one also attacked groups of people as well as clubs and editorial offices of the left, until one finally attacked whole cities and the (socialist ) Imposed the will on city administrations. The "Biennio nero" ended in 1922 with Mussolini's appointment as head of government.

Reasons for the success of the fascists

  • Despite its commitment to the revolutionary struggle and the dictatorship of the proletariat, the Socialist Party (PSI) continued to be internally divided between “Massimalisti” and “Reformisti” and therefore did not act uniformly and decisively.
  • According to Gaetano Salvemini, the “massimalisti”, the anarchists and also many socialists, with their devaluation of national feelings, the heroization of deserters and the degradation of the soldiers at the front, have turned a broad layer of veterans and patriotic youths against them, which fascism with pompous heroic honors and memorials (e.g. Redipuglia ) knew how to instrumentalize.
  • The fascist militias could count on the government's tolerance, executive sympathy and neutrality and had a broader financial base (industry, landowners).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Giovanni Gentile: Squadrism . In: Foundations of Fascism . Petraca House Cologne 1936, p. 29.
  2. Gaetano Salvemini: Il Biennio Rosso e la nascita del fascismo ( Memento of October 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) , in: www.storico.org

literature

  • Giorgio Galli: Storia del socialismo italiano . Chapter 7: Biennio rosso e biennio nero . Baldini Castoldi Dalai, Milan 2005. ISBN 978-88-6073-082-4 .
  • Giovanni Gentile: Foundations of Fascism . Authorized translation by Dr. Eugen Haas of the work "Origini e dottrina del Fascismo". Petrarca House Cologne 1936.

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