The March on Rome

Violence and the Rise of Italian Fascism
1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-1-138-06973-2
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 210 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 487 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right

The aim of this book is to reconstruct the violent nature of the March on Rome and to emphasise its significance in demarcating a real break in the country's history and the beginning of the Fascist dictatorship. This aspect of the March has long been obscured: first by the Fascists' celebratory project, and then by the ironic and reductive interpretation of the event put forward by anti-Fascists.

This volume focuses on the role and purpose of Fascist political violence from its origins. In doing so, it highlights the conflictual nature of the March by illustrating the violent impact it had on Italian institutions as well as the importance of a debate on this political turning point in Italy and beyond. The volume also examines how the event crucially contributed to the construction of a dictatorial political regime in Italy in the weeks following Mussolini's appointment as head of the government.

Originally published in Italian, this book fills a notable gap in current critical discussion surrounding the March in the English language.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Albanese, Giulia

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Besondere Kriege und Kampagnen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements

Preface

Abbreviations



1. The Coup d'État Policy

Seditious plans

The Fiume exploit

From Fiume to Rome?



2. Political violence

The struggle for the local hegemony

The anniversary policy

Strategies for violence and seizing power

The general strike and its aftermath



3. Towards the March

Talk of a coup

Organising the March

Defending the State



4. The March on Rome

"It’s pouring": the Fascist mobilisation

The revoking of the state of siege

The fascists in Bologna

The appointing of Mussolini

Demobilisation



5. The March after the March

Paper battles

A 'typically Italian revolution': Diplomacy and the March on Rome

The 'bivouac speech' and the parliamentary debate

Army reports

The first official representation



6. A Year of Fascist Domination

Violence and public order

The transformation of the State

Time to draw a balance



Conclusion

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Giulia Albanese is Associate Professor at the University of Padua. Her research focuses on the origins of Fascism, political violence and authoritarian cultures in the interwar years. Her previous books include Dittature mediterranee. Sovversioni fasciste e colpi di stato in Italia, Spagna, Portogallo (2016). With Roberta Pergher, she edited In the Society of Fascists: Acclamation, Acquiescence and Agency in Mussolini’s Italy (2012).