CCEA A-Level History 4010
England 1509–58AS Unit 1
England 1603–49AS Unit 1
Britain in the Age of Reform 1830–80AS Unit 1
Italy and Germany 1815–71AS Unit 1
Germany 1919–45AS Unit 1
Spain and Europe 1556–98AS Unit 2
The Ascendancy of France in Europe 1660–1714AS Unit 2
Ireland 1823–67AS Unit 2
France 1815–70AS Unit 2
Russia 1914–41AS Unit 2
Italy's Quest for Great Power Status 1871–1943AS Unit 2
Crown and Parliament in England 1625–1714A2 Unit 1
Ireland Under the Union 1800–1900A2 Unit 1
The Causes and Consequences of Great Power Conflict 1848–1945A2 Unit 1
The American Presidency 1901–2000A2 Unit 1
Clash of Ideologies in Europe 1900–2000A2 Unit 1
England 1558–1603A2 Unit 2
Ireland 1685–1714A2 Unit 2
Ireland 1778–1803A2 Unit 2
Partition of Ireland 1900–25A2 Unit 2
Italy's Quest for Great Power Status 1871–1943
The rise of the Fascist movement 1919–22
- 3 things to know
- AS Unit 2
Overview
The Biennio Rosso and the fear of socialism, the squads and rural fascism, and the March on Rome.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
How did Mussolini change the movement's direction after 1920?
Which groups supported Fascism, and why?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
When and where was the Fascist movement founded?
Model answer
Mussolini founded the Fasci di Combattimento in Milan on 23 March 1919 before an audience of about a hundred people, most of them ex-soldiers and syndicalists.
- 2
What did the Fascist programme of 1919 demand?
Model answer
The 1919 programme was radical and left-wing, demanding a republic, votes for women, an eight-hour day, worker participation in industry, the confiscation of war profits, land for the peasants and the abolition of the Senate.
- 3
How did Mussolini change the movement's direction after 1920?
Model answer
The Fascists had won no seats and only a few thousand votes in the election of November 1919, so Mussolini turned the movement to the right, dropping republicanism and anticlericalism and presenting Fascism as the defender of property, order and the nation against socialism, which brought money from landowners and industrialists.
- 4
Who were the ras?
Model answer
The ras were the provincial Fascist bosses who commanded the local squads, among them Italo Balbo in Ferrara, Roberto Farinacci in Cremona and Dino Grandi in Bologna, and their independent power was a constant check on Mussolini.
- 5
How quickly did Fascist membership grow?
Model answer
Membership rose from around twenty thousand at the end of 1920 to some two hundred thousand a year later and about three hundred thousand by late 1922, the growth coming overwhelmingly after the movement turned against socialism.
- 6
Which groups supported Fascism, and why?
Model answer
Landowners and industrialists paid for protection against strikes and land seizures, the lower middle classes feared both organised labour and inflation, ex-officers and veterans found purpose and status in the squads, and students were drawn by the promise of national renewal.
Other ways to work this
The same content, four other ways.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Every question in Italy's Quest for Great Power Status 1871–1943, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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