Decennio Rosso

*This article is a work in progress and has not been completed by its author(s). This content is not final.*

* Socialist and communist unions and parties gain in popularity and membership
* Fascist movement temporarily weakened by the failure of the March on Rome
* Nationalists and fascists gain substantial influence over the officer corps of the Royal Italian Army
* Italy economically crippled by the strikes and factory occupations
* Violence and unrest continues on a smaller scale into the 1930's
* Carabinieri

**Support from:**
 Nationalists (after 1922)
 France United Kingdom
* Communist Action Squads

**Support from:**
 Comintern

 Nationalists (until 1922)
* Blueshirts

**Support from:**
Victor Emmanuel III
Luigi Facta
Alcide De Gasperi
Luigi Sturzo †
Pietro Badoglio
Antonio Gramsci
Amadeo Bordiga
Giacinto Menotti Serrati
Giuseppe Di Vittorio
Luigi Longo
Palmiro Togliatti
Ruggero Grieco
Benito Mussolini
Emilio De Bono
Italo Balbo
Michele Bianchi

Gabriele D'Annunzio

The **Decennio Rosso** (English: *Red Decade*) was a roughly ten-year period, between 1919 and 1929, of intense social conflict in Italy, following the Great War.

The Decennio Rosso is considered to have ended with the implementation of martial law and the ascension of the *Governo Militare* in 1929, but unrest continues to this day.

## Background

The Decennio Rosso took place in a context of economic crisis at the end of the war, with high unemployment and political instability. It was characterized by mass strikes, worker manifestations as well as self-management experiments through land and factories occupations. Tension had been rising since the final years of the war. By the end of 1918, Italy was seriously on the brink of revolution.

The population was confronted with rising inflation and a significant increase in the price of basic goods, in a period that extensive unemployment was aggravated by mass demobilization of the Royal Italian Army at the end of the war. Association to the trade unions, the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), and the anarchist movement increased substantially. The PSI increased its membership to 250,000, and the major Socialist trade union, the General Confederation of Labour (*Confederazione Generale del Lavoro*, CGL), reached two million members, while the anarchist Italian Syndicalist Union (*Unione Sindacale Italiana*, USI) reached between 300,000 and 500,000 affiliates. The vigour of the anarchists was boosted by the return from exile of the anarchist leader Errico Malatesta.

## Events

### 1919-1920: Initial unrest

In Turin and Milan, factory councils – which the leading Italian Marxist theoretician Antonio Gramsci considered to be the Italian equivalent of Russia’s soviets – were formed and many factory occupations took place under the leadership of revolutionary socialists and anarcho-syndicalists. The agitations also extended to the agricultural areas of the Padan plain and were accompanied by peasant strikes, rural unrests and armed conflicts between left-wing and right-wing militias.

Industrial action and rural unrest increased significantly: there were 1,663 industrial strikes in 1919, compared to 810 in 1913. More than one million industrial workers were involved in 1919, three times the 1913 figure. The trend continued in 1920, which saw 1,881 industrial strikes. Rural strikes also increased substantially, from 97 in 1913 to 189 by 1920, with over a million peasants taking action. On July 20-21, 1919, a general strike was called in solidarity with the Russian Revolution.

In April 1920, Turin metal-workers, in particular at the Fiat plants, went on strike demanding recognition for their 'factory councils', a demand the PSI and CGL did not support. The 'factory councils' more and more saw themselves as the models for a new democratically controlled economy running industrial plants, instead of as a bargaining tool with employers. Armed metal workers in Milan and Turin occupied their factories in response to a lockout by the employers. Factory occupations swept the "industrial triangle" of north-western Italy. Some 400,000 metal-workers and 100,000 others took part in the summer of 1920. On September 3, 185 metal-working factories in Turin had been occupied.

    On 25-26 June 1920, a socialist riot broke out in the port city of Ancona. The riot was incited by the Bersaglieri, elite elements of the Royal Italian Army. This became known as the Revolt of the Bersaglieri or the Revolt of Ancona. They had refused to embark for Albania to put down the local Albanian nationalist resistance, and had disarmed their superior officers to avoid this. The revolt spread throughout the region to dozens of cities, with various other military units joining in the demonstrations. The revolt even spread south to Rome, and north to Milan and Cremona. While widely supported by the local populaces, these demonstrations did not have the official blessing of the PSI, though some of its members did support it, such as the later prominent communist Antonio Gramsci. A number of violent clashes occurred, and order was only restored among the Bersaglieri after Ancona was bombarded by artillery and navy ships. By 28 June, most of the military unrest had been quelled, through civilian demonstrations continued.

### 1921: Foundation of the PCd'I and elections

*Main articles: Communist Party of Italy and 1921 Italian general election*

    The PSI and CGL initially failed to see the revolutionary potential of the movement; had it been maximized and expanded to the rest of Italy immediately, a revolutionary transformation might have been possible. Most Socialist leaders were pleased with the struggles in the North, but did little to capitalize on the impact of the occupations and uprisings. This changed in January 1921 when the PSI expelled its reformist elements and renamed itself to the Communist Party of Italy (PCd'I). Although it received less votes and seats in the 1921 election than the PSI did in the previous 1919 election, it emerged as the largest party in parliament, though liberal and right-wing parties formed the government. Its support increased following the election as the PSI support base gradually transitioned to the new party. The PCd'I quickly spread its influence to socialist trade unions, political organizations and militant groups. However, internal disagreements between its various factions limited its potential to wage a revolution.

### 1922-1923: March on Rome and banning of the PNF

*Main article: March on Rome*

The fascist movement under the National Fascist Party (PNF) emerged as a major extra-governmental opposition force to the socialist revolutionary movement after its foundation in 1921. It had benefited from its electoral participation in a coalition of right-wing parties known as the National Blocs. Fascists under the preceding Italian Fasci of Combat (FIC) and other nationalist organizations had previously engaged in open combat with leftist agitators throughout late-1919, 1920 and early-1921. The fascists were backed by many Great War veterans, though a number of veterans also sympathized with the left-wing movements and joined the militant group Arditi del Popolo.

    By 1922, the Blackshirts (Italian: *Camicie Nere*), the paramilitary of the PNF, had grown to as much as 200,000 members, though only around a 1/4th of them were active. Throughout early and mid-1922, fascist militants attempted to occupy various key cities across Italy. Initially, they portrayed these efforts as an attempt to quell leftist militant unrest in the absence of the government. However, this was, in reality, part of preparations for a coup attempt that would take place in late-October 1922, which became known as the March on Rome.

    While these efforts succeeded in many locations, leftist militias put up significant resistance in a number of locations, with the most infamous instance being in Parma in August 1922. In what would become known as the Defense of Parma, outnumbered anti-fascists led by the Arditi del Popolo drove the Blackshirts out of the city, dealing significant casualties to the formations at little loss of their own. The city was later besieged that month by the military along with dozens of other cities, including Rome, the capital of Italy

On 28 October 1922, Blackshirt formations marched into Rome and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Luigi Facta, who had previously been warned of fascist activities aimed against him. Facta drafted a military order declaring Rome to be under a state of siege. Facta consulted King Victor Emmanuel III who, to his surprise, initially refused to sign the order. The King feared the potential of a civil war due to the fascist consolidation of power in various cities earlier in the year. However, amidst the rising popularity of the PCd'I, the King also had to consider the socialist past of fascist leader Benito Mussolini, the lingering anti-monarchy sentiment within the PNF, and the failure of the fascists to quell anti-fascist militants in Ancona. The King received pressure to approve the order from members of his officer corps, including prominent general and personal friend Pietro Badoglio. After deliberating privately for some time, during which the King was reportedly informed of the reluctance of certain fascist leaders such as Cesare Maria De Vecchi, the King ultimately signed the order.

The King had overestimated the influence and power of the fascists, as the military was able to suppress them with ease. Most formations surrendered without a fight after the first shots were fired, and all major fascist leaders were arrested. Within an hour after the execution of the siege order the fascists in Rome had been defeated. Fascist formations elsewhere in the country followed suit and stood down after learning of the failure in Rome. Due to his decades of military service, fascist activist and general Emilio De Bono was the only fascist to be released immediately. Mussolini was not personally present in Rome during the events, having remained in Milan so that he could flee the country if necessary. However, the authorities were tipped off to Mussolini's location and he was captured on 29 October. The PNF and the Blackshirts were subsequently banned by royal decree on 1 November 1922. Mussolini was unexpectedly sentenced in 1923 to fifteen years in prison on the charge of treason, a move that was labelled by some as turning him into a scapegoat in wake of the government's prior inaction towards fascist violence. Under the penal code revisions made by the Badoglio government in 1929, Mussolini could have been executed. Despite the successful suppression of the fascists, Prime Minister Facta would submit his resignation on 3 November, due to his political weariness after the event and personal fears of the impact it could have on his reputation. The interior minister, Paolino Taddei, was sworn in as the new Prime Minister.

### 1924: Elections and the rise of the communists

*Main article: 1924 Italian general election*

The 1924 elections were held under very fragile circumstances. There was significant violence in the weeks preceding the election, especially between leftists and nationalists. While the banning of the PNF, in theory, removed fascist influence in the elections, this was not the reality. Fascists who were not arrested or that were released instead ran under lists for other parties which they had allied with in the previous election as part of the National Blocs. Even so, fascist influence was noticeably reduced, at least within the bounds of the electorate. The PCd'I made significant gains in the election at the expense of many anti-communist parties. However, they still lacked a majority needed to form a government. Alcide De Gasperi, the leader of the right-wing of the PPI, became Prime Minister with the backing of the majority of parliament.