Mussolini’s road to a dictatorship took much longer than Hitler’s in 1933. Hitler was appointed chancellor on January 30th 1933. By April 1st 1933, his power was such that, after the Enabling Act, Hitler could only be seen as the dictator of Nazi Germany regardless of Hindenburg’s presidency. Mussolini’s public posturing and boasts did not guarantee loyalty in Italy – hence why it was so important for him to establish a relationship with the Roman Catholic Church. He only gained what could be described as dictatorial powers after the Lateran Treaty whereby he could guarantee loyalty from those Catholics who may well have not been supporters of the fascist state in Italy.
Mussolini took years to achieve what could be defined as a dictatorship. He achieved some semblance of power after the March on Rome in 1922 when he was appointed Prime Minister of Italy. But his government contained a mixture of men with different political beliefs – similar to Hitler’s position in January 1933.
But his time in power almost collapsed after the murder of Matteotti when great anger gripped Italy. If he had been a true dictator in 1922, then such an uproar would never have happened as his enemies and the Italian people in general would have been cowed into submission.
Mussolini started his time in power by buying support from both the working class and the industrial bosses.
The workers were promised an eight hour day while an enquiry into the profits made by the industrialists during World War One was dropped. The rich benefited from a reduction in death duties – now, under Mussolini, more of what someone had earned during their lifetime, went to their family and not the government. To get support from the Roman Catholic Church, religious education was made compulsory in all elementary schools.
These policies can be seen as an attempt to ‘buy’ support. As an example, in 1933 Hitler introduced workers holidays into Germany (similar to a bank holiday). This was very popular. He then almost immediately banned trade unions which protected workers rights. Any protests over this were banned as a result of the Enabling Act – Hitler did not bargain with anyone. Mussolini was not in a position whereby he could assert his authority and it is probable that the extent of his dictatorial powers never did equal those acquired by Hitler.
Mussolini had never intended to share power with the liberals who were in the government. He introduced a Fascist Grand Council which would decide policy for Italy without consulting the non-fascists in the government first.
In February 1923, Mussolini and the Fascist Grand Council introduced the Acerbo Law. This law changed election results. Now if one party got just 25% (or more) of the votes cast in an election, they would get66%of the seats in parliament.
When it came for Parliament to vote on the Acerbo Law, many politicians agreed to a law that would almost certainly end their political careers if they were not fascists. Why did they do this?
The gallery in the hall in which the politicians voted was filled with armed fascist thugs who had a good view of anybody who spoke out against the law. The threat was clear and real. If you voted for the law, you would be fine. If you did not, then you were certainly in danger from fascist thugs.
Mussolini did say in the spring of 1924 that “a good beating did not hurt anyone.”
