September Movement: Factory Occupations in Italy

• Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Regime (1922-1945) is the focus
• Essential questions include the importance of identity groups in organizing for change and identification of inalienable rights

Left-Wing Ascendancy in Northern Italy

• Antonio Gramsci argued that industrial production should be controlled directly by workers through trade unions in 1920
• Gramsci advocated for agricultural companies and farms to be controlled by councils of poor peasants
• Gramsci believed the northern proletariat would liberate the southern peasant masses from capitalist exploitation
• Gramsci called for workers to turn industry to producing agricultural machinery, clothing, shoes, and electric light for peasants
• Christine Thomas reflected on the history of her movement in 2010
• Leon Trotsky stated in 1922 that in September 1920, the Italian working class had gained control of the state and society
• Armed workers occupied factories, and peasants seized land
• The Italian Socialist Party (PSI) had 200,000 members
• The September movement originated as an economic struggle over wages in the engineering/metal working sector
• Engineering bosses refused a 40% wage increase, leading to factory lockouts
• The metalworkers responded by occupying 300 factories in Milan
• Factory occupations spread to other industries and cities, involving half a million workers
• Red (socialist) and black (anarchist) flags were flown over occupied factories
• Armed 'Red Guards' controlled access to the factories
• Workers maintained order, banned alcohol, and punished those who broke discipline
• Workers in Turin organized factory councils and worker committees to manage production, credit, and trade
• Capitalists and the government were formally in command, but in reality were paralyzed
• The national newspaper Corriere della Sera stated the workers had complete control of the factories, but did not last
• Elections for 'workshop commissars' took place in Turin, and the council movement involved 150,000 workers
• Capitalists rejected the dual power in factories; the Turin Industrial League called for the crushing of workers' councils
• Italian Socialist Party leaders had no clear strategy and capitulated
• The agreement ending the occupations was initially viewed as a success because of economic gains
• Fascist gangs mobilized against the workers, revealing the defeat of the movement

The Rise of Fascism

• Benito Mussolini's December 1917 article in Il Popolo d'Italia introduced the concept of "trenchocracy"
• Trenchocracy is defined as the aristocracy of the trenches and of action
• Mussolini saw a new aristocracy emerging from veterans of World War I who would shake society's equilibrium
• Mussolini believed the old political order would be cast aside and that words like republic, democracy, radicalism, and socialism would be redefined
• Mussolini suggested an anti-Marxist national socialism

Mussolini's Afternoon Speech in Milan, March 23, 1919

• Mussolini declared war against socialism because it opposed nationalism
• He aimed to attract the working class away from the official Socialist party
• Mussolini expressed a need to meet the workers halfway and support their demands to manage businesses successfully
• Mussolini believed the current regime in Italy had failed and that those who pushed the country into the war and led it to victory should succeed it
• Mussolini’s program was based on war and victory, enabling him to face everything boldly

Italian Socialism

• Mussolini wanted to see the Socialists assume power temporarily, but believed they would establish a ferocious dictatorship
• Mussolini strongly opposed all forms of dictatorship, acknowledging only that of the will and intelligence

Italian Socialist Antonio Gramsci, The Two Fascisms August 25 1921

• Fascists emerged after the war as rural landowners sought to create a White Guard against growing workers' organizations
• Gangs armed by landowners adopted the Fasci label and became a White Guard of capitalism against the proletariat
• Rural groups, anti-union and reactionary, favored direct armed action over state authority
• Fascists, supported by capitalists and civil/military authorities, smashed socialist unions

Diary Excerpt from Italo Balbo, Squadrismo, 1922

• Italo Balbo created the National Fascist Party in 1921 and organized squads that broke strikes and attacked Socialists/Communists
• In 1922, Balbo became one of the four Fascist leaders of the March on Rome
• Balbo threatened to burn down socialists' houses and organized a "column of fire" throughout the province
• Balbo and his men destroyed and burned Red buildings in the provinces of Forlì and Ravenna

Fascist Ideology

• Program of the Fascist Armed Squads
• Drafted in the wake of the creation of the fighting squads.
• Published in Benito Mussolini's newspaper II Popolo d'Italia.
• Lowering minimum voting age to eighteen and the minimum age for parliamentary deputies to twenty-five
• Opening all government positions to election
• An Italian foreign policy dedicated committed to opposing all foreign imperialisms.
• Immediate enactment of a state law establishing an eight hour workday
• A minimum wage law and the participation of representatives workers in the technical affairs of industry
• Schools to shape national character schools by disciplining the mind and body to defend the fatherland
• Create a nation at arms designed to defend the nation's rights and interests

Fascist Party Platform, 1921

• The Nation is the supreme synthesis of all the material and immaterial values of a race.
• The National Fascist Party maintains that the predominant form of social organization in today's world is the nation.
• Holds that unification of various societies into a single society is not the destiny for global life.
• Will to advocate for blue-collar and white-collar workers.
• Official standard workday of eight hours for employees.
• Welfare legislation be adapted to the domains of accident, disability, and old-age protections for workers.

Cornerstones of Foreign Policy

• Italy must reaffirm its right to complete its historical and geographical unity, even in cases where unity has not yet been fully achieved.
• Fulfill its duty as a bulwark of Latin civilization in the Mediterranean basin.
• Fascism finds the founding principles of the so-called League of Nations wanting.
• League of Nations has unequal footings between its members.
• The State must make the most of Italian colonies in the Mediterranean.

Economic Policy

• Crafting of a public works plan in harmony with the Nation's new economic, technical and military needs.
• Completion of the Italian railway system.
• Return to the private sector of industries that the State has managed poorly, in particular, the telephone system and the railroads.

Cornerstones of Social Policy

• Fascism recognizes the social function of private property.
• Increase national wealth.
• National Fascist Party will argue for the following:
  • That disorderly clashes between divergent class and socio-economic interests be disciplined.

School Policy

• The schools' overall objective ought to be the shaping of individuals who can increase the Nation's economic and historical progress.
• That compulsory schooling extend through the sixth grade in municipalities where schools are available.
• The institution of rigorous national elementary schools.
• Free middle schools and universities are regulated by the state.
• Improve the salary and status of teachers, professors and army officers

National Defense

• Every citizen is obliged to serve in the military. creates one for the army that watches over new lines.

The March on Rome

• Myth states : Mussolini conquered Rome by force but it was propaganda.
• 1922 squadristi escalated violence occupying cities throughout Italy.
• The Italian government was ill-equipped.
• Socialist minority felt that reforms betrayal.
• Socialist supported a centrist and removed Mussolini. Facta's emergency measures blocked the Fascist march in October. King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign. King offered the prime minister immediately to rescue him. The myth "march on Rome" was a gigantic bluff.
• National leaders decided that Fascism was the better option.
• The fascist offerred a new take with no power shift.

Explore the September Movement in Italy, focusing on factory occupations by metalworkers. Learn about the initial catalysts, union responses, the role of Red Guards, and the concept of dual power. Discover how workers organized production in Turin and the PSI's role.