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Benito Mussolini forms the Fasci di Combattimento
The Fascist Party, composed largely of war veterans, was vehemently anti-communist, and advocated the glorification of war, which they claimed displayed the nobility of the Italian soul. The Fascists thought Italy was destined to recapture the glory of Rome. -
Italian Elections 1919
The Fasci Party won very little support. Instead, the Socialist Party of Italy gained widespread support, striking fear in the government and business elites, who worried a socialist victory would damage the weak post war economy. -
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Mussolini established a prosperous economy
The Fasci created a single-party state that abolished independent political parties and trade unions. They curbed the power of the press and silenced opposition. Mussolini then established a state-controlled economy in which the interests of of the state, corporations, and workers were harmonized. To a certain degree, the many state-initiated construction projects were successful in keeping the Italian economy strong, and Italy avoided much of the economic turmoil from the Great Depression. -
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Mussolini begins referring to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
Mationalist feelings had grown which led to Mussolini orchestrating the capture of several Greek islands and encouraged irredentism among those living on the islands of Malta and Corsica. He then began referring to the Mediterranean Sea as Mare Nostrum ( Our Sea). -
Mussolini forms Government
Mussolini and his armed squadrons known as the Blackshirts marched on Rome. Mussolini demanded to be made Prime Minister and threatened to take over the government by force if his orders were not followed. The acting Prime Minister attempted to bring Italian troops to resist the fascist militia, but the king refused to sign the order, and, on the following day, asked Mussolini to form his own cabinet. -
Lateran Treaty
The Lateral Treaty was a political treaty recognising the full soveriegnty of the Holy See in the state of Vatican city, which was thereby established, a document accompanied by the annexes:
-A plan of the territory of the Vatican City State.
-A list and plans of the buildings with extraterritorial privilege and exemption from expropriation and taxes.
-A list and plans of the buildings with exemption from expropriation and taxes
etc. -
The Wal-Wal incident
A force of 1000 Ethiopian militia with three Ethiopian military-political commanders arrived near Walwal and formally asked the Dubats garrison stationed there to withdraw from the area.The Somali NCO leading the garrison refused to withdraw and alerted Captain Cimmaruta, commander of the garrison of Uarder, 20 km away, to what had happened. The next day, in the course of surveying the border between British Somililand land and , an Anglo–Ethiopian boundary commission arrived at Walwal. -
Abyssinia Crisis
The Abyssinia Crisis was a crisis during the interwar period originating in the "Walwal incident." This incident resulted from the ongoing conflict between the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Ethiopia Its effects were to undermine the credibility of the League of Nations and to encourage Fascist Italy to ally itself with Nazi Germany. The crisis brought an end to peace in Europe and it was clear by 1937 there were two defining sides in Europe. -
Italy and Germany Become Allies
In May 1939, the Germans and Italians cemented their friendship with the Pact of Steel. This pact committed both countries to support the other if one of them became involved in a war. The Italian Foreign Minister, Galleazo Ciano, Mussolini’s son-in-law, realised that this pact was potentially very damaging for Italy but Mussolini was more concerned with the prestige of allying with Europe’s most potent power rather than the politics of it.
