How Mussolini came to power¶
Core Argument¶
The chapter traces the rise of Mussolini to power as a direct consequence of the betrayal of the Italian revolutionary movement by its reformist leaders, arguing that fascism was the capitalists’ organised counter-revolution against a working class that had come close to overthrowing capitalism. The core narrative thrust is that the Italian workers and peasants, inspired by the Russian Revolution, launched a militant offensive after the First World War—occupying factories, seizing land, and winning substantial concessions—but were sabotaged by the Socialist Party leadership, which refused to push for power. This failure opened the door for the bourgeoisie to regroup, finance Mussolini’s fascist squads, and crush the labour movement.
The chapter draws heavily on Daniel Guerin’s Fascism and Big Business to substantiate its claims. It cites the occupation of the mills by 600,000 metal workers in September 1920, who ran production through elected shop committees and exposed the secret cost prices and profits of the industrialists. It also notes the peasant occupations of land, sanctioned by the Visocchi decree of September 1919, and the strength of the ‘Red Leagues’ among agricultural labourers. The key claim is that the capitalists were powerless to resist this revolutionary upsurge until the labour and trade union leaders ordered the workers out of the factories and urged “constitutional” methods. The Communist Party, though not yet Stalinist, is criticised as too weak, immature, and ultra-leftist—refusing a united front with the Socialists and isolating itself from the masses.
The historical context is the post-war economic crisis in Italy, where France and Britain took the bulk of territorial spoils, leaving Italy with worthless acquisitions, while the burden fell on workers, peasants, and the middle class. By 1921, unemployment reached 600,000. The chapter argues that the middle class, ruined by the crisis and despairing of a lead from the Socialists, turned to Mussolini’s demagogic anti-capitalist programme. The fascists were financed and armed by big industrialists and landowners, who formed the General Federation of Industry in March 1920 and the General Federation of Agriculture in August 1920 to coordinate their offensive. The monarchy, army, and police actively supported the fascist terror while the workers’ leaders preached reliance on the state and constitution.
The polemic is directed squarely at the reformist Socialist leaders, who are accused of cowardice and treachery for curbing the revolutionary movement and thus saving Italian capitalism. The chapter also polemicises against the early Communist Party’s sectarianism. It concludes with a warning that capitalism in decay breeds fascism, and that only a revolutionary socialist party—the Fourth International—can prevent its recurrence.