ÿþ<html> <head> <title> WHKMLA : Historical Dictionaries : Italy in the Interbellum </title> <!-- copyright Alexander Ganse, 2005-2006 --> </head> <body bgcolor="lightblue" text="black" link="blue" vlink="red" alink="brown"> <style> <!-- A{ font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-face: arial; } --> </style> <DIV align ="center"> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../index.html"> <img src = "../../whkmla2.jpg" border = "0"></a></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "150" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Timeline </b></font></TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/nhb/tlibit.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowleft.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/nhb.html"> <img src = "../banhistdic.jpg" border = "0"> </TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <img src = "../../region/arrowright.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD width = "100" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> </b></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <font size = "3" face = "arial"><B><i>First posted on May 2nd 2005, last revised on March 11th 2006 </i></b></font><BR><BR><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center" width = "900"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "5"><B> Historical Dictionaries : Fascist Italy </B></font> <BR> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"><i> http://www.zum.de/whkmla/histdic/nhb/hdibit.html </i></font> <BR><BR> For more detailed Historical Dictionaries, click <A HREF = "../italy/hditalyper.html#19221945">Italy 1922-1945, English-English</A>, <A HREF = "../italy/hditalyalphve.html">Italy, Italian-English</A> </B></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "acerbo"><B>Acerbo Law</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> A law passed in Italy in 1923. It awarded two thirds of the seats in parliament to the party with the largest number of votes. The <A HREF = "hdibit.html#pfi">PNF</A> were the beneficiaries. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Albania</B> (It.) </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Gained independence in 1912. Declared an Italian protectorate in 1926; annexed by Italy in March 1939. Following the <A HREF = "hdibit.html#armistice">Armistice</A> in 1943 occupied by German troops; when the Germans withdrew in late 1944, Communist Partisans were in control. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Allied Military Government</B> (It.) </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Allied forces took Sicily in July 1943, landed in southern Italy in August. An Allied Military Government was established; Following the <A HREF = "hdibit.html#armistice">Armistice</A>, the liberated parts of Italy were administrated by a combination of AMG and Italian administration. In 1945 the AMG handed over adinistration to civilian authorities, except for Venezia Giulia and Trieste. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Ardeatine Caves</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> At the Ardeatine Caves, on March 24th 1944, in retaliation for the killing of 33 SS officers, 335 Italian civilians (who had nothing to do with the aforementioned killing of SS officers) were summarily executed by SS troops commanded by Erich Priebke. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "armistice"><B>Armistice</B></A> (It.) </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Following the Allied seizure of Sicily (July 1943), the Fascist party leadership toppled Benito Mussolini; King Umberto II. dismissed him; Mussolini was arrested. Italy secretly negotiated an <A HREF = "hdibit.html#armistice">Armistice</A>, secretly signed September 3rd 1943, published on September 8th. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Austria</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> The Republic of Austria had been established in 1918 as a product of the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary. Dictator Engelbert Dollfuss in 1934 was assassinated in a plot of the Austrian Nazis, scheming for annexation of Austria into Germany. Mussolini had Italian forces deploy at the Brenner Pass (the border to Austria). Hitler ordered the planned annexation of Austria to be postponed. When the <A HREF = "hdibit.html#lonations">League of Nations</A> declared an <A HREF = "hdibit.html#embargo">Embargo</A> against Italy, Germany supplied Italy; Italy, increasingly dependent on Germany, gave up her protection of Austria; Germany annexed Austria in March 1938 (see under <A HREF = "hdibger.html#anschluss">Anschluss</A>). </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "autarchy"><B>Autarchy</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> the utopian concept of a national economy which produces all she needs and is thus independent of imports. In order to achieve this goal, Fascist Italy fought the <A HREF = "hdibit.html#bgrain">Battle for Grain</A>. Also spelled <i>autarky</i>. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Axis Pact</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Pact of Alliance, concluded in 1937 by Germany and Japan. In 1939 Germany and Italy concluded the <A HREF = "hdibit.html#pactofsteel">Pact of Steel</A>; in propaganda terminology, all three powers, as well as their allies, were referred to as Axis Powers. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Battle for Births</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Fascist propaganda campaign encouraging Italian women to have more children; Mussolini wanted Italy's population to grow. Launched in 1927; families with many children were given incentives (tax benefits, subsidized housing etc.); the policy did not result in a marked increase of births. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "bgrain"><B>Battle for Grain</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Fascist propaganda campaign aiming at taking a step toward <A HREF = "hdibit.html#autarchy">Autarchy</A>. In part, national grain (wheat) production could be increased by land reclamation (Pontine Marshes) and the use of fertilizer; in part it was increased by turning vineyards into wheat fields. The aim - self-sufficiency in grain production - was not achieved. Launched in 1925. In Italian : La Battaglia del Grano. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "blackshirts"><B>Blackshirts</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> In Italian : Camicie Nere. Fascist militia formed in 1919, fought socialists, communists etc., organized the <A HREF = "hdibit.html#marchonrome">March on Rome</A>. Under the Mussolini administration turned into a semi-national militia; discredited with the fall of Mussolini in 1943. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "bugtti"><B>Bugatti</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Leading race car producer in the Interbellum. Italian. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Central Committee of National Liberation</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Resistance organization established by the non-Fascist parties of Italy in 1943; operated in German-occupied Italy </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Concentration Camps</B> (It.) </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Established by the fascists in the early 1920es as makeshift camps at remote locations, where political opposition was dealt with, in disregard of the law. Except for the political opposition, the list of inmates included Slovenes and, in the <A HREF = "hditaly.html#rsalo">Republic of Salo</A>, Jews. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Concordat </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> see under <A HREF = "hditaly.html#concordat">Italy</A> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Corfu</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Following the assasination of an Italian general in Greece, Italy occupied the Greek island of Korkyra (in Italian : Corfu) in 1923. The <A HREF = "hdibit.html#lonations">League of Nations</A> condemned the act; Italian forces withdrew after Greece agreed to pay compensation. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "corpstate"><B>Corporate State</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> A state in which the employers and the labour unions were organized in <A HREF = "hdibit.html#syndicates">syndicates</A>; where there were no labour disputes, where the state was an employer of scale, where prices were regulated. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "ducecult"><B>Duce Cult</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Fascist propaganda portrayed an idolized image of Benito Mussolini. "The Duce" (leader) was shown as a pilot, as a race car driver etc </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "embargo"><B>Embargo</B></A> (It.) </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> In 1935 Italy invaded <A HREF = "hdibit.html#ethiopia">Ethiopia</A>, a member of the <A HREF = "hdibit.html#lonations">League of Nations</A>; the League of Nations condemned Italian aggression and declared an Embargo against Italy. France, Italy's leading trading partner, joined in the Embargo; Germany offered to supply Italy with what she needed and Germany could supply. In 1936, Britain declared no longer to participate in the embargo. While the embargo failed to cause Italy to withdraw from Ethiopia, it had a significant effect on the country. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "ethiopia"><B>Ethiopia</B></A> (It.) </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> A first Italian attempt to conquer Ethiopia was foiled by the Ethiopian victory in the <A HREF = "../../military/imperialism/adowa.html">Battle of Adowa</A> 1896. In 1923 Ethiopia joined the <A HREF = "hdibit.html#lonations">League of Nations</A>. In 1935 Italy began a campaign of conquest, completed in 1936. Liberated by British forces in 1941. Click <A HREF = "../../region/eastafrica/xethiopia.html">here</A> for more information </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Fasces</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> In Roman times, a bundle of sticks surrounding an axe (often a double axe). The consul, when judging over life or death, was given a stick. If he broke the stick, it meant death penalty, to be executed immediately. The fasces were regarded a symbol of justice, by the French Revolution as well as by the Fascists. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "fdc"><B>Fasci di Combattimento</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Formal name of the <A HREF = "hdibit.html#blackshirts">Blackshirts</A>, local organizations of an irregular, nationalist militia. See under Blackshirts </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "fascism"><B>Fascism</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> A political ideology based on nationalism, rejection of democracy, regarding the use of violence against opponents justified, promoting military readiness, glorifying war, expansionist. Planned economy. State (socially) responsible for the masses. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Fiume </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> see under <A HREF = "hditaly.html#fiume">Italy</A> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Gran Sasso</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Community in a remote corner of the Abruzzi Mountains. Here, Mussolini was held captive in September 1943 when liberated by German commando forces lead by Otto Skorzeny. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "lonations"><B>League of Nations</B></A> (It.) </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Founded in 1920, with Italy a founding member. When Italy invaded <A HREF = "hdibit.html#ethiopia">Ethiopia</A> in 1935, the League condemned Italy's action and called on her member nations to join in an <A HREF = "hdibit.html#embargo">Embargo</A> against the aggressor. In 1937, Italy withdrew from the League </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "marchonrome"><B>March on Rome</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Local Fascist organizations, in October 1922, organized a March on Rome, demanding the government to resign. The armed forces refused to stop the marchers, and the government did resign. Then King Vittorio Emmanuele. asked Benito Mussolini, head of the <A HREF = "hdibit.html#pfi">PNF</A> (Fascist Party) to form a coalition government. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Monte Cassino, Battle of</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Referring to a phase in World War II, on the Italian Front. The monastery of Monte Cassino held a commanding position; here the Germans blocked the advance of Allied troops for months, January to June 1944. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "pactofsteel"><B>Pact of Steel</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Military alliance concluded by Germany, Italy in 1939, before WW II broke out. Since, Italy was regarded one of the Axis Powers </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Partisans </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> see under <A HREF = "hditaly.html#partisans">Italy</A> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "pfi"><B>PNF</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Fascist Party, established in 1921, in government 1922-1945. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>PPI</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Partito Popolare Italiano (Popular Party), Catholic party, lead by priest Don Sturzo. Established in 1919; became Italy's second largest party. Dissolved, by order of the pope, in 1923. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Race Laws</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Passed in 1938, defined Jews, forbade marriage between Italians and Jews. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "redbiennium"><B>Red Biennium</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> 1919-1920. Two years in which Italian socialists and communists held a number of factories, communities occupied (Italian Revolution) until they were ousted by Fascists. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Salo, Republic of </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> see under <A HREF = "hditaly.html#rsalo">Italy</A> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Sports</B> (It.) </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Italian fascism promoted sports for two reasons : it was believed to get/keep Italian men in shape for war, and it distracted the population in a time of lack of political freedom and of social distress. Italy won the soccer world cups 1934 and 1938, <A HREF = "hdibit.html#bugatti">Bugatti</A> built the best race cars etc. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "syndicates"><B>Syndicates</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Syndicates were organizations including both the employers and the trade unions. Intended to prevent labour conflicts, the organizations limited the options of the trade unions. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "700"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> PRINTED REFERENCE : <BR> M.F. Gilbert, K.R. Nilsson, <B>Historical Dictionary of Modern Italy</B>, Methuen : Scarecrow 1999, 500 pp., KMLA Lib.Sign. <B>R 945.08 G464h</B> <BR> Frank J. Coppa, Dictionary of Modern Italian History, Westport CT : Greenwood 1985 [G] <BR> </font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> </DIV> </DIV> <DIV align="center"> <A href="mailto:aganse@hotmail.com"> <IMG src="../../email.gif" border="0"></a><BR> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <!-- Start of CH Counter --> <script type="text/javascript"> //<!-- // chCounter v2.0.0 // settings: cstatus = "active"; visible = "0"; path_to_counterfile = "http://www.zum.de/whkmla/counter/counter.php"; urlhp = "http://www.zum.de"; //////////////// url = unescape(location.href); file = url.substring(url.lastIndexOf(urlhp) + urlhp.length, url.length); file = (file.charAt(0) != "/") ? 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