1924 Italian general election

show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Italian. (October 2019) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Italian article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 2,229 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at [[:it:Elezioni politiche italiane del 1924]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|it|Elezioni politiche italiane del 1924}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

1924 Italian general election

← 1921 6 April 1924 1929 →
All 535 seats to the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Benito Mussolini Alcide De Gasperi Giacomo Matteotti Party National List People's Party Unitary Socialist Party Seats won 374 39 24 Seat change new party 69 new party Popular vote 4,653,488 645,789 422,957 Percentage 64.9% 9.0% 5.9% Swing new party 11.4% new party
Prime Minister before election Benito Mussolini National Fascist Party Elected Prime Minister Benito Mussolini National Fascist Party

General elections were held in Italy on 6 April 1924.^[1] 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.^[2] The National List of Benito Mussolini (an alliance with Catholics, liberals and conservatives) used intimidation tactics,^[2] resulting in a landslide victory and a subsequent two-thirds majority. This was the last multi-party election in Italy until 1946.

Electoral system[]

In November 1923, the Parliament approved the Acerbo Law, which stated that the party gaining the largest share of the votes—provided they had gained at least 25 percent of the votes—gained two-thirds of the seats in parliament. The remaining third was shared amongst the other parties proportionally.^[3]

Historical background[]

On 22 October 1922, the leader of the National Fascist Party Benito Mussolini attempted a coup d'état which was titled by the Fascist propaganda the March on Rome in which took part almost 30,000 Fascists. The quadrumvirs leading the Fascist Party, General Emilio De Bono, Italo Balbo (one of the most famous ras), Michele Bianchi and Cesare Maria de Vecchi, organized the March while the Duce stayed behind for most of the march, though he allowed pictures to be taken of him marching along with the Fascist marchers. Generals Gustavo Fara and Sante Ceccherini assisted to the preparations of the March of 18 October. Other organizers of the march included the Marquis Dino Perrone Compagni and Ulisse Igliori.

Benito Mussolini and Fascist Blackshirts during the March on Rome in October 1922

On 24 October, Mussolini declared before 60,000 people at the Fascist Congress in Naples: "Our program is simple: we want to rule Italy".^[4] Blackshirts occupied some strategic points of the country and began to move on the capital. On 26 October, former Prime Minister Antonio Salandra warned current Prime Minister Luigi Facta that Mussolini was demanding his resignation and that he was preparing to march on Rome. However, Facta did not believe Salandra and thought that Mussolini would govern quietly at his side. To meet the threat posed by the bands of Fascist troops now gathering outside Rome, Facta (who had resigned, but continued to hold power) ordered a state of siege for Rome. Having had previous conversations with the King about the repression of Fascist violence, he was sure the King would agree.^[5] However, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign the military order.^[6] On 28 October, the King handed power to Mussolini, who was supported by the military, the business class and the right-wing.

The march itself was composed of fewer than 30,000 men, but the King feared a civil war as he did not consider strong enough previous government while Fascism was no longer seen as a threat to the establishment. Mussolini was asked to form his cabinet on 29 October while some 25,000 Blackshirts were parading in Rome. Mussolini thus legally reached power in accordance with the Statuto Albertino, the Italian constitution. The March on Rome was not the conquest of power which Fascism later celebrated, but rather the precipitating force behind a transfer of power within the framework of the constitution. This transition was made possible by the surrender of public authorities in the face of Fascist intimidation. Many business and financial leaders believed it would be possible to manipulate Mussolini, whose early speeches and policies emphasized free market and laissez-faire economics.^[7]

Postcard promoted by the Fascist propaganda

This proved overly optimistic as Mussolini's corporatist view stressed total state power over businesses as much as over individuals via governing industry bodies ("corporations") controlled by the Fascist Party, a model in which businesses retained the responsibilities of property, but few if any of the freedoms. Even though the coup failed in giving power directly to the Fascist Party, it nonetheless resulted in a parallel agreement between Mussolini and King Victor Emmanuel III that made Mussolini the head of the Italian government. A few weeks after the election, the leader of the Unitary Socialist Party Giacomo Matteotti requested, during his speech in front of the Parliament that the elections be annulled because of the irregularities.^[8] On June 10, Matteotti was assassinated by Fascist Blackshirts and his murder provoked a momentary crisis in the Mussolini government.

The opposition parties responded weakly or were generally unresponsive. Many of the socialists, liberals and moderates boycotted Parliament in the Aventine Secession, hoping to force King Victor Emmanuel III to dismiss Mussolini^{[citation needed]}.

On 31 December 1924, Blackshirt leaders 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, he decided to drop all trappings of democracy.^[9]

On 3 January 1925, Mussolini made a truculent speech before the Chamber of Deputies in which he took responsibility for squadristi violence (though he did not mention the assassination of Matteotti).^[10] This speech usually is taken as the beginning of the Fascist dictatorship because it was followed by several laws restricting or canceling common democratic liberties, voted by the Parliament filled by two thirds of Fascists because of the Acerbo Law.

Parties and leaders[]

Coalitions[]

Results[]

Ballot paper used in the election

← Summary of the 6 April 1924 Chamber of Deputies election results →

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/−
	National List	4,305,936	60.09	355	+250
	Italian People's Party	645,789	9.01	39	−69
	Unitary Socialist Party	422,957	5.90	24	New
	Italian Socialist Party	360,694	5.03	22	−101
	National List bis	347,552	4.85	19	New
	Communist Party of Italy	268,191	3.74	19	+4
	Italian Liberal Party	233,521	3.27	15	−28
	Democratic Liberal Party	157,932	2.20	14	−54
	Italian Republican Party	133,714	1.87	7	+1
	Italian Social Democratic Party	111,035	1.55	10	−19
	Peasants' Party of Italy	73,569	1.03	4	New
	Lists of Slavs and Germans	62,491	0.87	4	−5
	Sardinian Action Party	24,059	0.34	2	New
	National Fasces	18,062	0.25	1	New
Invalid/blank votes		448,949	–	–	–
Total		7,614,451	100	535	±0
Registered voters/turnout		11,939,452	63.8	–	–

Results by region[]

References[]