The economic recession experienced by many countries at the end of the 1920s and at the beginning of the 1930s—the Great Depression—also affected Italy. Although the fall in aggregate production was smaller, the contraction in industrial production was as severe as in more industrialized countries.

Shocked by the elections of the Spanish Second Republic (1931-1939) that produced a Popular Front government of republicans, socialists, syndicalists, and communists, General Franco joined an army revolt against the republic in 1936 and rapidly emerged as the leader of the revolt (or Caudillo, an approximate equivalent …

Italian Fascism was rooted in Italian nationalism, national syndicalism, revolutionary nationalism and the desire to restore and expand Italian territories, which Italian Fascists deemed necessary for a nation to assert its superiority and strength and to avoid succumbing to decay.

Abstract. Industrial production and employment in Italy were hard hit by the Great Depression, and remained below trend until at least 1936. Few quantitative studies have been conducted on the causes of Italy’s recession and slow recovery.

The Italian government spent more on the war than it had in the previous 50 years. The war debt, food shortages, bad harvests and significant inflationary increases effectively bankrupted the country, with an estimated half a million civilians dying.

Fascism arose in Europe after World War I when many people yearned for national unity and strong leadership. In Italy, Benito Mussolini used his charisma to establish a powerful fascist state. Benito Mussolini coined the term “fascism” in 1919 to describe his political movement.

1915