Why did the King appoint Mussolini as Prime Minister in 1922?
In October 1922, the Marcia Su Roma, the March on Rome took place, lead by Benito Mussolini and members of the National Fascist Party. The march was against Italy’s weak liberal Government after they failed to consider doing anything about Italy’s Mutilated Victory in 1919; this gave Mussolini the opportunity to start his rise to power, thus, the March on Rome. Post World War I had already seen that Italy had a weak Government and was in a desperate need of strength especially after D’Annunzio had stepped in to deal with the crisis of Fiume after the Government failed to.
By 1922 it could already be seen clearly that Italy was under the power of the “Populari”, also known as the popular movements, such as, the Fascists. The people of Italy were devoted to Democratic and thus discredited the King and his Liberal Government. A new fear had developed amongst the King and his Government over this, a fear of a Civil War. To protect himself the King had thus used Fascists to protect him and his government. There is already a picture here to suggest that there was a significant amount of discontent amongst Italy, that of which, injected a strong level of fear into King Victor Emmanuel and his Liberal Government, whilst there was a strong level of support for the Populari such as the Fascists. This produced enough evidence for the King to show that Mussolini was able to control a country in order, to make him the Prime Minister of Italy.
The Kings decision seemed to be similar to somewhat the one made by Lloyd George when he gave into the terms and conditions of one, Adolf Hitler. Known as Appeasement, the King of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel, was one who gave into the terms and conditions of the people of Italy, due to factors which got to him, such as fear of a civil war, and socialism, and his sense of insecurity. The Marcia Su Roma, the March on Rome, was however a strong impact on King V. Emmanuel’s decision to make Benito Mussolini Prime Minister of Italy.
The march itself composed of just under 30,000 men, led by the leader of the National Fascist Party, Benito Mussolini himself, despite not being a part of the majority of the March. Mussolini was able to inject a significant amount of fear into the people and the King just so he could gain his position in power as Prime Minister. The events of 1922 suggested that fear and insecurity interplayed with the March on Rome, to inject enough fear into the King to appoint Mussolini as Prime Minister. The March on Rome was merely a conquest of Fascism but was more of a transfer of power
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