Mussolini

The problems caused after the first world war also added to the discontent towards the liberal government of Italy. The terms within the Treaty of Versailles settlement angered the Italian people. Many of the people had expected a large gain of territory when entering the war, as promised by the Treaty of London. However, even though Italy fought and lost around 600000 soldiers, they were not given the land they were promised. Due to this the people became resentful towards the liberal government of Italy at how weak and unsuccessful they were.

In September 1919, in response to the Versailles settlement D’Annunzio and his men decided to force their way into control of Fiume, a port on the coast of Dalmatian, one of the territories Italy was meant to be given. The city was meant to be under international control until D’Annunzio and his men claimed it. The Italian made no attempt to deal with the taking of Fiume, leaving D’Annunzio to rule it for over a year. The city was the first to see the use of fascism by posters, speeches and parades. However the economy of Fiume began to get worse and the fascist ways did not help the people eat and they soon grew tired of the regime put in place. The Italian people did not have long to bask in their glory of taking Fiume as in 1920 the Italian government came to an agreement with the Yugoslavian government that Fiume would become an independent city. D’Annunzio and his followers were soon drove from the city by Italian troops and D’Annunzio fled. The people of Italy were disappointed with the poor effort the Italian government put in to deal with the incidents in Fiume and felt that it seemed too weak to deal with the foreign policies which needed to be put in place.

The economic difficulties of the post war period also added to the discontent towards the liberal government in Italy. Italy had been a poor country prior to the war, only being able to support its effort in the war by gaining foreign loans. This was... [continues]

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