| Chapter 1: | Italy from the American Immigration Quota Act of 1921 to Mussolini’s Policy of Grossraum, 1921–1924 |
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Governmental Crises and Economic Unrest
No solution would have been effective without a drastic governmental change. The Italian Liberal Party drew its support from industrialists, the intellectual middle class, and landholders interested in keeping the status quo without radical socioeconomic change. Moreover, such a program would have required the support of the new political forces that emerged with the election of May 15, 1921, which had heavily shifted the political axis. In that election the Liberals, fearing the election of the Socialists and Populars who advocated radical changes, sought support from Fascists and Nationalists on the right, through the so-called National Blocs. In spite of armed opposition, punitive expeditions, destruction, plunder, and murder on the part of the Fascist Squads, the Socialists and Populars together maintained their positions.
At the same time, having gained some respectability from the election, Benito Mussolini, founder and leader of the Fascist Party, and 35 Fascists elected to the Chamber of Deputies set to work achieving parliamentary independence from this temporary alliance with the Liberals. The Fascists adopted a position of intransigence and obstructionism in the Chamber and flaunted an unwillingness to support a government headed by Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti. The prime minister’s unrealistic calculations to seek Fascist and Nationalist support through the National Blocs proved a failure. Fascists and Nationalists continued to assert that the liberal- democratic parliamentary system was incapable of solving Italy’s problems. Mussolini’s demagoguery boasted that the nation’s political vacuum and the parliamentary impasse, which failed to provide a viable and stable government, required a Fascist solution: seizure of power through revolutionary or violent means if necessary. Mussolini never hesitated to assert his unique leadership ability; he presented himself as a leader who could not consider anyone higher than himself.
Therefore, after a serious evaluation of the political significance of the May election, Giolitti realized that no government could be formed without Fascist and Nationalist support. Moreover, the Fascist and Nationalist propaganda of national regeneration and of law and order had touched a deep nerve in the Italian populace. Therefore, on June 27, 1921, Giolitti submitted his resignation.