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Formation of an Independent Italy
The Risorgimento Movement, which called for Italy to become one united group of people, caused the unification if Italy. This process was led by Mazzini and Garibaldi Giuseppe. They used an army named the Thousands to conquer cities and bring them under a single Italian rule. This led to a liberal Italy that was ruled by King Emmanuel II. This map shows all of the land that Italy had gained through the process of the unification of Italy. -
Papal States taken over by new nation of Italy
Italy, seeking empirical expansion, invaded the Papal States, later annexing them along with Rome to the Italian Kingdom. This map shows the Papal States and Rome before and after the Italian annexation which illustrated the significant amount of land that Italy gained. -
Failure of First Italo-Ethiopian War with the Battle of Adowa (Adwa)
Italy took parts of Ethiopia as a way of showing that it was a powerful European country. The First War began after a dispute over the Treaty of Wuchale because there had been a translation error. This caused fighting that ended when Italy was defeated by Ethiopia who was backed by Russia and France. This painting shows the extend of Italy's inexperience when it came to fighting and ultimately a point conveyed by Mussolini during his rise to power, making Italy more powerful as he gained power. -
Italy invades and takes over Libya
Italy invaded Libya, a Turkish colony, in order to expand the Italian Empire and to prevent French influence in North Africa. In 1912, Turkey accepted loss to Italy. Italy pursued the goal of empirical gain and increased imperial policy as a result of their defeat at Abyssinia (1896). This map shows Italy's land gained in Libya which came from the Ottoman Empire, Britain, and France. -
Mussolini begins work as editor for the Socialist Party newspaper Avanti
Mussolini was awarded the position at the newspaper after being imprisoned. He managed to increase the span of the newspaper's influence which allowed him to spread his fascist ideas throughout Italy. This image of the Avanit is significant because it shows Mussolini's influence in Italy through his name at the top. -
Mussolini kicked out of Socialist Party for pro-nationalistic sentiments regarding WWI
Mussolini started to favor the extreme nationalist position and later created "Il Popolo d'Italia" in order to campaign for Italy to join WWI. He continued to advocate for this as he was supported by wealthy Italian companies, Britain, Tsarist Russia, and the French government. This led to his expulsion from the socialist party. This image of the "Il Popolo d'Italia" is significant because Mussolini's new newspaper embodied his change from socialism to nationalism. -
Treaty of London
The members of the fascist group believed that Italy should enter WWI as a way of creating an internal revolution. Liberal politicians agreed to join the war and thus signed the Treaty of London and fought along side Russia, Britain, and France in the Triple Entente alliance. This map shows the land that the Triple Entente and the Treaty of London promised to Italy if they won WWI. This was Italy's reason for fighting. -
Beginning of Biennio Rosso
The Biennio Rosso occurs when strikes and factory and land occupations by trade unions and peasant leagues moved across Italy. This was caused by the frustration of large unemployment (1919), socialists then took control of the local government and almost started a communist revolution. The government did not do much to control the chaos. This photo is significant because it shows many of the people involved which shows widespread frustration. -
Fascio di Combattimento formed in Milan
Mussolini and multiple different groups of people met in Milan to create a bigger group of support for his ideas. They created the Fascist program, a combination of left and right-wing demands against the liberal government. The group gave Mussolini a foundation to grow his party and it demonstrates a willingness to work together that would ultimately strengthen him. This photo shows several different groups that participated. -
D'Annuzio Takes Fiume
Gabriele D'Annunzio led a force and took control of Fiume. This was admired by Italian nationalists and served as inspiration for Mussolini. He later adopted D'Annunzio's ideas of theatrical trappings, the Ancient Roman salute, balcony speeches, parades, and the black shirts of Arditi. This photo depicts D'Annunzio leading his soldiers after they had taken Fiume. -
Mussolini forms alliance with Giolitti
In 1921, Giovanni Giolitti was the head of the Italian government and he had made actions against the socialist rebellion outbreaks to prevent a repeat of the Bolsheviks. Giolitti made an alliance with Mussolini for the national elections held that month as a way of trying to destroy the socialists and the risk of a communist takeover. This photo highlights Giolitti as being a rich and powerful man. -
Mussolini forms the PNF (Fascist Party) and is elected its leader
Mussolini convinced the Fascio de Combattimento to re-form into a political party which led to the creation of the Partito Nazionale Fascista. Later he convinced the Fascist National Congress to make him the party's leader. This causes Mussolini to terminate the truce with the socialists and ordered branches for action squads. This made Mussolini the leader of a united party. This is an image of the PNF logo which has a resemblance to the Fasci, hence showing its unity. -
March on Rome and Mussolini becomes Prime Minister
In October of 1922, the king gave Mussolini a chance to become prime minister as a response to a political march on Rome along with the mutual opposition of the socialist party. After Mussolini accepted, he began to create influence and allies in the government in order to gain more power and control. This photo shows Mussolini presenting himself to the public as prime minister with his followers behind him. -
Acerbo Law passed
This electoral law made it that as long as their voting percentage was greater than or equal to 25%, the party with the most votes would take 2/3 of the seats in parliament. As a way of ensuring that the law would pass, Mussolini overcame the opposition by threatening to abolish parliament and placing armed fascist guards to intimidate deputies, This diagram shows his success which is significant because the Fascist Party gained legal power from then on. -
Corfu Incident
Italy and Greece were involved in a diplomatic and military crisis from August to September of 1923. Italians were murdered in Greece which led Mussolini to ack againce Greece to show Italy's power. This was his attempt to increase his support from the Italians through nationalism. This map shows the location of the Italian deaths and how far Mussolini had to go to display Italian power. -
Aventine Secession
After the murder of Matteotti and all trust was lost in Mussolini, politicians boycotted parliament and lest the fascist party in attempts of removing all of Mussolini's power. The politicians thought that Mussolini was not fascist enough or devoted enough to lead the party. This photo depicts those who disapproved of Mussolini which shows the extent of the disapproval as a whole. -
Matteotti Crisis
Giacomo Matteotti was an active socialist that claimed corruption in the April 1924 election and condemned fascist violence. He was abducted in Rome and was later assumed to be murdered. This resulted in people distancing themselves from Mussolini's regime. Mussolini later arrested Amerigo Dumini to regain support, but newspapers still printed his involvement. This cartoon illustrates the perspective against Mussolini as the crisis was used to discredit him. -
Battle for Grain
Mussolini attempted to reach autarchy by encouraging landowners to grow more grain in 1925. This is seen in the picture where Mussolini is helping to harvest grain. This helped to convince landowners to follow his example. This ultimately ended in too many farmers growing grain instead of other necessities, thus decreasing the necessary resources in Italy. -
Locarno Treaty signed
The Locarno Pacts were signed which dismantled a few of the negative outcomes of the Treaty of Versailles. This made it appear to be a significant international achievement for Italians. This cartoon illustrates the agreement. France having a hidden boxing glove symbolizes the eventual Italian resentment of France. -
Battle for Land and Battle for the Lira
In 1926, the battle for land and Lira started in order to make more land available for farmers and to revalue the Lira currency since their monetary value had decreased over time. The battles caused export prices to increase, the health of the economy to decrease, and only a few swamps were cleared for farmers. This photo shows one of the forms of propaganda that Mussolini used to encourage citizens to participate. -
Battle for Births
The battle tried to increase the Italian population for a future army to expand the Italian empire. It gave maternity benefits, exhorted women not to work, encouraged early marriage, and many others. This resulted in downgrading the social status of women in Italy and barely increased the population as many women remained in the workforce and the number of births declined. This photo depicts the children being trained. This is significant as it shows Mussolini's purpose in the "battle." -
Kellogg-Briand Treaty signed
This treaty promoted peach among France, Italy, and Britain. Mussolini wanted to improve these relations as a way of reversing the Treaty of Versailles. This cartoon illustrated this attempt as peace dragged the "wicked world" and the treaty with it into forever. -
Lateran Treaty with Pope
Mussolini made a deal with the Pope in order to gain his support for the fascist party. Mussolini gave Vatican City to rule as a papal state, gave him a large sum of money, and enforced Christian schooling to gain the Pope's support. Despite all of this, they still had opposing views on Fascist beliefs and the future of Italy. This map depicts the land that the Pope gained as a papal state. -
Abyssinian Crisis
Italy invaded Abyssinia in October of 1935 which resulted in the League of Nations enforcing a trade ban (not oil). Then, the Hoare-Laval pact was made secretly with Mussolini diving Abyssinia. It was leaked to the press and resulted in damaged reputations of France and Britain. This cartoon depicts Italy believing they were invincible since they throught Britain and Francewould ignore them as they conquered Abyssinia without consequence. -
Stresa Front
This was an agreement between Italy, France, and Britain in order to justify the strength of the Locarno Treaties and the resistance to the German goal of changing the punishment given to them by the Treaty of Versailles. This photo depicts German troops being led by Hitler. This highlights how Germany was upset with the other European powers. -
Italian involvement with Spanish Civil War
Despite facing significant losses, Italy's involvement in this war improved Mussolini's prestige along with factoring into the rise of Franco and increased Fascism in Europe. Hitler and Mussolini became closer as trhey both supported Franco with equiptment and troops. This contributed to the creation of the Rome-Berlin Axis. This cartoon depicts the friendship between the two as they dance with Franco. -
Rome-Berlin Axis Treaty signed
Mussolini created an alliance with Hitler and Nazi Germany which caused anti-semitism in Italy where it had never been before. Mussolini attempted to create laws that outlawed Jews in specific areas but most podestas never carried out said laws. This photo depicts Mussolini and Hitler united together ad Mussolini adopted Hitler's mantra. -
Munich Confrence
At the conference, an agreement was met that allowed Germany to annex additional Germanic areas in Czechoslovakia. Additionally, Hitler was able to make French and British representatives agree since they feared another world war. Britain and France thought this agreement would help to keep the peace, similar to the hopes of the Kellogg-Briand Treaty. This photo depicts Mussolini, Hitler, and the British and French representatives at the conference. -
Italy invades Albania
Mussolini created imperial policies to invade Albania in an attempt to not be overshadowed by Hitler. Albania was defeated quickly and it became part of the Italian Empire as a protectorate. This cartoon illustrates how easy it was for Italy to conquer Albania similar to the way that a snake would eat a bunny. -
Italy enters WWII on side of Germany
Mussolini listened to Hitler and declared war on Britain and France in June of 1940 as a way of keeping the Italian-German alliance strong This caused opposition groups and strikes to erupt in Italy. Many politicians opposed Mussolini's choices and the strikes became common by 1943. This newspaper shows the rapid decision made my Italy along with the rate at which the war escalated. -
Mussolini brought down by coup during WWII
A coup goes against Mussolini, leading to the Fascist Grand Council to vote 19 to 7 to remove Mussolini from power. This resulted in the King ordering Mussolini's resignation on July 25th. Since he was arrested, imprisoned, and easily overthrown, this displayed that he never imposed a totalitarian regime. This newspaper confirmed the power the King had over Mussolini as all of his power was taken away after he was simply "fired." -
Mussolini killed
The day after he was arrested for the second time, Mussolini was taken by a communist-led group. On April 28th, he was hung upside down and shot along with 16 other men outside of a garage in Milan. This ended the German hold over Italy since Mussolini, who acted at Hilter's puppet, was now dead. This map illustrates Mussolini's execution and the Italian citizens' support of it.
