1929 Italian general election

Last updated

1929 Italian general election
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg
  1924 24 March 1929 1934  

All 400 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
201 seats needed for a majority
 Majority party
  Benito Mussolini portrait as dictator (retouched).jpg
Leader Benito Mussolini
Party National Fascist Party
Seats won400
Seat changeIncrease2.svg26
Popular vote8,517,838
Percentage98.43%
SwingIncrease2.svg38.34pp

Prime Minister before election

Benito Mussolini
National Fascist Party

Elected Prime Minister

Benito Mussolini
National Fascist Party

General elections were held in Italy on 24 March 1929 to elect the members of the Chamber of Deputies. By this time, the country was a single-party state with the National Fascist Party (PNF) as the only legally permitted party.

Contents

Following a parliamentary reform enacted in 1928 by the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, the elections were held in the form of a referendum, with the Grand Council of the PNF, now an official state organ, allowed to compose a single party list to be either approved or rejected by the voters. The list put forward was ultimately approved by 98.43% of voters. [1]

Electoral system

The universal male suffrage, which was legal since 1912, was restricted to men who were members of a trade union or an association, as well as soldiers and members of the clergy. Consequently, only 9.5 million people were able to vote.

The election took place in a plebiscite form: voters could vote "Yes" or "No" to approve the list of deputies appointed by the Grand Council of Fascism. The voter was equipped with two equal-sized sheets, white outside, inside bearing the words "Do you approve the list of members appointed by the Grand National Council of Fascism?" The electoral paper with the "Yes" was also accompanied by the Italian tricolour and a fasces, the "No" one was only a white paper without any symbol.

The voter had to vote at the time of collecting both cards. Inside the voting booth was a first ballot box where the voter left the discarded card and then delivered their chosen paper to the scrutineers, so that they would ensure that it was "carefully sealed"; this process did not assure that the vote was really secret.

Moreover, if the "No" vote had won, the election would have been repeated with other electoral lists. [2]

Historical background

The previous election was shocked by the assassination of socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti, who had requested that the elections be annulled because of gross irregularities and violence against voters, [3] provoked a momentary crisis in the Mussolini government; while Mussolini ordered a cover-up, witnesses saw the car that transported Matteotti's body parked outside Matteotti's residence, which linked Amerigo Dumini to the murder.

Mussolini later confessed that a few resolute men could have altered public opinion, and started a coup that would have swept fascism away. Dumini was imprisoned for two years, but on his release Dumini allegedly told other people that Mussolini had ordered the murder, for which he served further prison time.

Despite this, opposition parties were generally unresponsive as many of the socialists, liberals, and moderates boycotted Parliament in the Aventine Secession, demanding Mussolini's resignation or for Victor Emmanuel to ouster Mussolini.

On 31 December 1924, MVSN consuls met with Mussolini and gave him an ultimatum: crush the opposition or they would do so without him. Fearing a revolt by his own militants, Mussolini decided to drop all trappings of democracy. [4]

On 3 January 1925, Mussolini made a truculent speech before the Chamber in which he took responsibility for squadristi violence (though he did not mention the assassination of Matteotti). [5]

Between 1925 and 1927, Mussolini progressively dismantled virtually all constitutional and conventional restraints on his power, thereby building a police state. A law passed on Christmas Eve 1925 changed Mussolini's formal title from "president of the Council of Ministers" to "head of the government" (though he was still called "Prime Minister" by most non-Italian outlets). He was no longer responsible to Parliament, and could only be removed by the king.

While the Italian constitution stated that ministers were only responsible to the sovereign, in practice it had become all but impossible to govern against the express will of the Parliament. The Christmas Eve law ended this practice, and also made Mussolini the only person competent to determine the body's agenda.

This law transformed Mussolini's government into a de facto legal dictatorship as local autonomy was abolished, and podestàs appointed by the Italian Senate replaced elected mayors and councils.

In 1926, 15-year-old Anteo Zamboni tried to shoot Mussolini in Bologna. [6] This led Mussolini to formally declare the PNF was the only legally permitted party, though Italy had effectively been a one-party state for over a year.

Results

Italian Parliament Fascism.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
National Fascist Party 8,517,83898.43400+26
Against135,7731.57
Total8,653,611100.00400−135
Valid votes8,653,61199.91
Invalid/blank votes8,2090.09
Total votes8,661,820100.00
Registered voters/turnout9,638,85989.86
Source: Direct Democracy

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giacomo Matteotti</span> Early 20th-century Italian socialist politician

Giacomo Matteotti was an Italian socialist politician. On 30 May 1924, he openly spoke in the Italian Parliament alleging the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections, and denounced the violence they used to gain votes. Eleven days later he was kidnapped and killed by Fascists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlo Alberto Biggini</span> Italian politician

Carlo Alberto Biggini was an Italian fascist politician who served as minister of education before and after proclamation of the Italian Social Republic under Benito Mussolini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March on Rome</span> 1922 mass demonstration and coup détat by the National Fascist Party in Rome, Italy

The March on Rome was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, Fascist Party leaders planned an insurrection to take place by marching on the capital. On 28 October, the fascist demonstrators and Blackshirt paramilitaries approached Rome; Prime Minister Luigi Facta wished to declare a state of siege, but this was overruled by King Victor Emmanuel III, who, fearing bloodshed, persuaded Facta to resign by threatening to abdicate. On 30 October 1922, the King appointed Mussolini as Prime Minister, thereby transferring political power to the fascists without armed conflict. On 31 October the fascist blackshirts paraded in Rome, while Mussolini formed his coalition government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michele Bianchi</span> Italian revolutionary syndicalist leader (1883–1930)

Michele Bianchi was an Italian revolutionary syndicalist leader who took a position in the Unione Italiana del Lavoro (UIL) He was among the founding members of the Fascist movement. He was widely seen as the dominant leader of the leftist, syndicalist wing of the National Fascist Party. He took an active role in the "interventionist left" where he "espoused an alliance between nationalism and syndicalism." He was one of the most influential politicians of the regime before his succumbing to tuberculosis in 1930. He was also one of the grand architects behind the "Great List" which secured the parliamentary majority in favor of the fascists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giacomo Acerbo</span> Italian economist and politician

Giacomo Acerbo, Baron of Aterno was an Italian economist and politician who drafted the Acerbo Law.

The Aventine Secession was the withdrawal of the parliament opposition, mainly comprising the Italian Socialist Party, Italian Liberal Party, Italian People's Party and Italian Communist Party, from the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1924–25, following the murder of the deputy Giacomo Matteotti by fascists on June 10, 1924.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Council of Fascism</span> Central body of the government of Fascist Italy from 1928 to 1943

The Grand Council of Fascism was the main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy, that held and applied great power to control the institutions of government. It was created as a body of the National Fascist Party in 1922, and became a state body on 9 December 1928. The council usually met at the Palazzo Venezia, Rome, which was also the seat of the head of the Italian government. The Council became extinct following a series of events in 1943, in which Benito Mussolini was voted out of the Prime Ministry of Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amerigo Dumini</span> Italian-American assassin

Amerigo Dumini was an American-born Italian fascist hitman who led the group responsible for the 1924 assassination of Unitary Socialist Party leader Giacomo Matteotti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanni Marinelli</span>

Giovanni Marinelli was an Italian Fascist political leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian fascism</span> Fascist ideology as developed in Italy

Italian fascism, also known as classical fascism or simply fascism, is the original fascist ideology as developed in Italy by Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini. The ideology is associated with a series of two political parties led by Benito Mussolini: the National Fascist Party (PNF), which ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, and the Republican Fascist Party (PFR) that ruled the Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945. Italian fascism is also associated with the post-war Italian Social Movement (MSI) and subsequent Italian neo-fascist movements.

General elections were held in Italy on 6 April 1924 to elect the members of the Chamber of Deputies. They were held under the Acerbo Law, which stated that the party with the largest share of the votes would automatically receive two-thirds of the seats in Parliament as long as they received over 25% of the vote. The National List of Benito Mussolini used intimidation tactics against voters, resulting in a landslide victory and a subsequent two-thirds majority. This was the last multi-party election in Italy until 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Fascist Party</span> Italian fascist political party founded by Benito Mussolini

The National Fascist Party was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 when Fascists took power with the March on Rome until the fall of the Fascist regime in 1943, when Mussolini was deposed by the Grand Council of Fascism. It was succeeded, in the territories under the control of the Italian Social Republic, by the Republican Fascist Party, ultimately dissolved at the end of World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chamber of Fasces and Corporations</span> Legislature of the Kingdom of Italy, 1939 to 1943

Chamber of Fasces and Corporations was the lower house of the legislature of the Kingdom of Italy from 23 March 1939 to 5 August 1943, during the height of the regime of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benito Mussolini</span> Dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 1943, and "Duce" of Italian Fascism from the establishment of the Italian Fasces of Combat in 1919 until his execution in 1945 by Italian partisans. As dictator of Italy and principal founder of fascism, Mussolini inspired and supported the international spread of fascist movements during the inter-war period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fascist and anti-Fascist violence in Italy (1919–1926)</span>

The Kingdom of Italy witnessed significant widespread civil unrest and political strife in the aftermath of World War I and the rise of the Far-right Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini which opposed the rise of the international left, especially the far-left along with others who opposed Fascism.

General elections were held in Italy on 26 March 1934. At the time, the country was a single-party state with the National Fascist Party (PNF) as the only legally permitted party.

Cesare Rossi was an Italian fascist leader who later became estranged from the regime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acerbo Law</span>

The Acerbo Law was an Italian electoral law proposed by Baron Giacomo Acerbo and passed by the Italian Parliament in November 1923. The purpose of it was to give Mussolini's fascist party a majority of deputies. The law was used only in the 1924 general election, which was the last competitive election held in Italy until 1946.

<i>The Assassination of Matteotti</i> 1973 Italian film

The Assassination of Matteotti is a 1973 Italian historical drama film directed by Florestano Vancini. The film tells the events that led to the tragic end of Giacomo Matteotti and to the establishment of the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini in Italy. It was awarded with the Special Jury Prize at the 8th Moscow International Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian Parliament (1928–1939)</span>

The Italian Parliament (1928–1939) was the parliament of Italy as it existed following the constitutional reforms enacted after the Italian general election, 1924. It was, in turn, substantially restructured in 1939. This early Fascist-era legislature was a continuation of the bicameral parliament that had existed prior to 1928, though the character, structure and responsibilities of each house were altered to various degrees.

References

  1. Italy, 24 May 1929: Fascist single list Direct Democracy (in German)
  2. Testo Unico 2 settembre 1928, n. 1993, art. 57 and 88
  3. Speech of 30 May 1924 the last speech of Matteotti, from it.wikisource
  4. Paxton, Robert (2004). The Anatomy of Fascism . New York City: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN   1-4000-4094-9. - Read online (registration required)
  5. Mussolini, Benito. "discorso sul delitto Matteotti". wikisource.it. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  6. Bell, J. Bowyer (2017). Assassin: Theory and Practice of Political Violence. Taylor & Francis. p. 158. ISBN   978-1-351-31542-5.