Grand Council of Fascism
Encyclopedia
The Grand Council of Fascism was the main body of Mussolini
's Fascist
government in Italy
. A body which held and applied great power to control the institutions of government, it was created as a party body in 1923 and became a state body on 9 December 1928.
, were as follows:
The Grand Council meetings were convened by the Prime Minister himself and all decree and laws could only be legalized by the approval of the Prime Minister himself. In contrast to the Führerprinzip
government model in Nazi Germany
, the Grand Council at least theoretically had the power to recommend that the King of Italy
remove the Prime Minister from office. Therefore, it was nominally the only check on Mussolini's power.
's Order of the Day that, enforcing its formal powers, deposed Mussolini, bloodlessly, following the Allied invasion of Sicily
.
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's Fascist
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
government in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. A body which held and applied great power to control the institutions of government, it was created as a party body in 1923 and became a state body on 9 December 1928.
Members of the Council
Its members, selected among the party's gerarchiGerarca
Gerarca was a term used during the Fascist rule in Italy to refer to a member of the National Fascist Party ....
, were as follows:
- The Prime MinisterPrime minister of ItalyThe Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic...
:
- Benito MussoliniBenito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
(9 December 1928 - 25 July 1943)- The QuadrumvirsQuadrumvirsThe quadrumvirs were a group of four leaders that led Benito Mussolini's March on Rome in October 1922. They were all actively involved in the Fascist party under Mussolini and had been actively been involved in politics and/or war for many years leading up to the Fascist dictatorship.- Members...
, the people who led the March on RomeMarch on RomeThe March on Rome was a march by which Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party came to power in the Kingdom of Italy...
– Michele BianchiMichele BianchiMichele Bianchi was an Italian revolutionary syndicalist leader. 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, and one of the most influential politicians of the regime before his...
(died in 1930), Emilio De BonoEmilio De BonoEmilio De Bono was an Italian General, fascist activist, Marshal, and member of the Fascist Grand Council . De Bono fought in the Italo-Turkish War, World War I, and the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.-Early life:De Bono was born in Cassano d'Adda...
, Cesare Maria De VecchiCesare Maria De VecchiCesare Maria De Vecchi, 1st Conte di Val Cismon was an Italian soldier, colonial administrator and Fascist politician.-Biography:...
and Italo BalboItalo BalboItalo Balbo was an Italian Blackshirt leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force , Governor-General of Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa , and the "heir apparent" to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.After serving in...
(died in 1940). - The President of the SenateItalian SenateThe Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...
and the President of the Chamber of DeputiesItalian Chamber of DeputiesThe Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
, from 1939 the Chamber of Fasci and CorporationsChamber of Fasci and CorporationsChamber of Fasci and Corporations was the official name of the Italian Chamber of Deputies established on January 19, 1939, to replace the Chamber of Deputies during the 30th legislature of Italy. The Chamber was vested with legislative power from March 23, 1939 to August 2, 1943, during the... - The Ministers of JusticeItalian Minister of JusticeThis is a list of Italian Ministers of Justice since 1946.-External links:* *...
, Foreign AffairsItalian Minister of Foreign AffairsAs in most countries, in Italy the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is one of the most important ministerial positions...
, Agriculture and Forestry, Education, Corporations, and Popular Culture - The Presidents of the Royal Academy of ItalyRoyal Academy of ItalyThe Royal Academy of Italy was an organization of Italian academians, intellectuals, and cultural figures created on 7 January 1926 by the Fascist government of the Kingdom of Italy by a royal decree, and effectively dissolved in 1943....
, of the special court of state emergency and defense, and those of the Corporations; Industrialists, Agriculture workers, Industrial workers and Farmers. The inventor Guglielmo MarconiGuglielmo MarconiGuglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor, known as the father of long distance radio transmission and for his development of Marconi's law and a radio telegraph system. Marconi is often credited as the inventor of radio, and indeed he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand...
was the President of the Academy of Italy, making him a council member. - The Chief of Staff i.e. commander of the MVSNBlackshirtsThe Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...
- The Secretary of the National Fascist PartyNational Fascist PartyThe National Fascist Party was an Italian political party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of fascism...
(who is also the secretary of the Council) - Various people chosen by Mussolini himself, who held a 3-years position
- The Quadrumvirs
Powers of the Council
Essentially, the council held these powers:- The power to elect the Fascist Party deputies, the nomination for the Party Secretary and other party leaders, the approval of the party statutes and the power regarding the party's policy.
- The power to elect the CrownKing of ItalyKing of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...
's line of succession including the choice of the heir to the throneLord of PiedmontThe lordship, later principality of Piedmont was originally an appanage of the Savoyard county and as such its lords were members of the Savoy-Achaea branch of that illustrious house. The title was inherited by the elder branch of the dynasty in 1418, at about which time Savoy was elevated to...
, the right of the crown, the power to choose possible successors to the Prime Minister, the power to choose the function and membership of the Grand Council, the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies (later the Chamber of Fasci and CorporationsChamber of Fasci and CorporationsChamber of Fasci and Corporations was the official name of the Italian Chamber of Deputies established on January 19, 1939, to replace the Chamber of Deputies during the 30th legislature of Italy. The Chamber was vested with legislative power from March 23, 1939 to August 2, 1943, during the...
), the power to decide the rights and powers of the Prime Minister, international Treaties, and foreign affairs.
The Grand Council meetings were convened by the Prime Minister himself and all decree and laws could only be legalized by the approval of the Prime Minister himself. In contrast to the Führerprinzip
Führerprinzip
The Führerprinzip , German for "leader principle", prescribes the fundamental basis of political authority in the governmental structures of the Third Reich...
government model in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, the Grand Council at least theoretically had the power to recommend that the King of Italy
King of Italy
King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...
remove the Prime Minister from office. Therefore, it was nominally the only check on Mussolini's power.
Deposition of Mussolini
The majority of the Grand Council ultimately voted on 25 July 1943, Dino GrandiDino Grandi
Dino Grandi , Conte di Mordano, was an Italian Fascist politician, minister of justice, minister of foreign affairs and president of parliament.- Early life :...
's Order of the Day that, enforcing its formal powers, deposed Mussolini, bloodlessly, following the Allied invasion of Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
.
See also
- Italian FascismItalian FascismItalian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...