No abstract

This article argues that squadrismo represented a central feature in the ideology and politics of Fascist Italy, influencing the whole period of the dictatorship. In the second half of the twenties, many squadristi became political prisoners, accused of being 'bad Fascists': it looked like the end of squadrismo. Despite punishments and (brief) periods of imprisonment, the squadristi actually continued to play an important part in the fascistisation of Italian society, in particular during the intransigent 1930s. By disciplining the blackshirts while continuing to make use of their particular skills, Fascism hoped to 'tame the revolution'.

The public force of the private state' -strikebreaking and visions of subversion in liberal Italy (1880s to 1914)* ABSTRACT. From the end of the 19th century onwards, Italy witnessed a significant increase in labour conflicts, trade unionism and social protests, all of which shook the foundations of the liberal state.Following the failure of the authorities' attempts to deal with mass protests, efforts were made under the governments of Giovanni Giolitti to adopt new policing policies that embraced state neutrality in social conflicts and the deployment at the same time of substantial police forces to prevent the escalation of conflict and bloodshed. The success of these policies is highly questionable and there were major differences in this respect between northern and southern Italy, and between rural and industrial areas.Nevertheless, these policies contributed to the fear of abandonment and desire for revenge felt by significant sections of the propertied classes, and the issue of strikebreaking was at the centre of the controversy. Focussing on the Po Valley, this article first presents a broad overview of the political situation in Italy with emphasis on policing policies and work replacement, then analyses the various forms of legal and illegal private strikebreaker protection organisations that took on clear subversive aims.Drawing on newspapers and archival records, the article highlights the overlap between private and public law enforcement and the combination of coercion and consensus in the Italian countryside. The longterm consequences of the unresolved issue of strikebreaking and private policing help explain the rise of fascism after the Great War. ***** In May 1893, during his first government, the Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti presented to the Senate the 'basic policy' that was to be adopted by central government for many years to come in cases of agricultural strikes: 'the labourer is perfectly free to work or not, to accept or not the wages that are offered to him, but he does not have the right to prevent other labourers from working. […] Our legislation recognises the right to strike; but the right to work is equally recognised. […] Government authorities have intervened and will intervene to protect the right to work for all labourers'.1 This new policy aimed to enforce the rule of law and to put into practice the new Penal Code -the so-called Codice Zanardelli (1889) -that equally secured the right to strike and the right to work, and at the same time established harsher punishments for those who engaged in violence, threatening behaviour and intimidation during strikes.2 In December 1901, Giolitti, then Minister of the Interior in Giuseppe Zanardelli's cabinet, criticised the policies of previous governments with regards to trade unions and Chambers of Labour, which, according to Giolitti, had led to three fatal errors. Firstly, they fostered injustice, since the state failed to act impartially towards all citizens. Secondly, they were an economic mistake, since the authorities interv...

the purpose of this article is to analyse the role played by organized political violence in pre-1914 Europe, with special regard to labour conflicts, through an analysis of the social composition and the practices of four movements which deliberately resorted to armed organization: the Somatén in Catalonia (Spain), the Jaunes trade union in the French Département du Nord, and the Citizen Patrols and agrarian squads in the Province of Bologna (Italy). Despite their different origins and contexts, these movements pursued similar political strategies based upon the deliberate use of violence and guns, and shared anti-socialist, authoritarian and anti-democratic purposes. Analysis of their practices and political cultures enables us to evaluate the nature of the democratic processes in pre-1914 Europe and also helps to contextualize and understand the political and social violence which came to the fore after the end of the war in 1918.