Il 28 October 1922 it was the day of March on Rome (''and surroundings'' as Emilio Lussu wanted to title the story of that event). What happened? The paramilitary organization of fascism - under the leadership of the so-called quadrumvirate, established on 16 October, made up of Italo Balbo, Cesare Maria De Vecchi, Emilio De Bono and Michele Bianchi and stationed in Perugia - began to mobilize on 27 with the order of occupy the Prefectures, the post and telegraph offices and the telephone networks. ''The army of the black shirts'' had a botched armament and would not have been able to withstand a clash with the regular troops, staggered on the access road to the capital under the orders of the commander of that square, General Pugliese.
March on Rome: what happened on October 28, 1922
The morning of the 28 October 1922 Luigi Facta (the president of the ''I trust'') brought the decree on the proclamation of the state of siege to the sovereign, but Vittorio Emanuele III did not want to sign it; thus the fascist squads entered Rome undisturbed (however there were clashes in the San Lorenzo district), sacking the union, socialist and communist offices. In the days immediately following there were some attempts at mediation, rejected by Mussolini; the King then decided to summon the Duce to give him the task of forming the government. Which happened on October 30th.
Mussolini he presented himself at the Quirinal in a black shirt, apologizing to the sovereign for not having been able to wear more appropriate attire, as - he said - "reduced from the battle" (actually Benito Mussolini, during the parade of his squads, had retired in Milan, a stone's throw from Switzerland, where he intended to take refuge if the adventure failed). Addressing the King (when he was director of Avanti! Mr. Vittorio Savoia called him) he stated: ''I bring to Your Majesty the Italy of Vittorio Veneto, reconsecrated by victory and I am Your Majesty's faithful servant''. In this writing, however, we intend to denounce the serious responsibilities of the ideological sectarianism of the left-wing parties which made them blind and deaf to what was happening in the country.
The advance of the Fascist Party, the mistakes of the PSI and the Popolari
Based on the latest elections held in the country, the Pop (National Fascist Party) constituted a minority of the country. After the administrative elections of 1920 in which the socialists conquered more than 2 municipalities (1600 popular), in the subsequent political competition, which took place on 15 May 1921, one could already glimpse the beginning of the decline of the PSI which obtained 123 seats ( there had already been at the beginning of 1921, at the Congress of Livorno, the split of the Pc d'I which elected 15 deputies), while the popular gained 8 more elected members. The fascists won 35 seats, the nationalists 10 (joined in the so-called national blocks together with the liberal lists).
But the socialists and the Popular they were unable to present themselves as a real alternative. If the populars had to deal with the Catholic Church interested in the conciliatory line offered by Mussolini and obviously hostile to the "red peril", the socialists did everything by themselves (although it is undeniable that the fascist militias had used a handful of iron against the Party and the CGIL). Starting with the request to join the III International. The program of the maximalist majority consisted in ''doing like Russia'', establishing the socialist republic and the dictatorship of the proletariat, socializing the means of production and exchange and whatever else passed the convent of the ''Bolsevik myth''. Therefore, in the name of the proletarian revolution, any possible understanding with other forces was rejected by that majority. As evidence of the sectarian impotence that the PSI expressed at the time, it would be enough to read the proceedings of the XIX National Congress held in Rome from 1 to 4 October 1922 (that is, a few weeks before the March on Rome) and take note of the agenda with which had been summoned: ''Internal situation of the Party and its political activity in the country and in Parliament. Government support and participation in power in the current regime''.
Divided and fragmented psi, the decline between splits and grievances
By now dancing on the edge of the precipice, the socialists completed that one split which had been in things for some time (which had been avoided in Livorno and Milan). The maximilists decided to expel the reformist and centrist currents in compliance with the diktats of the IIIrd International (''The socialist party, having eliminated the reformist-centrist bloc from its ranks, renews its adhesion to the IIIrd International''). The results of the vote (32 for the maximalists against 29 for the unitarians) split the party in half. It is hallucinating to imagine in those circumstances a separation based on a few thousand votes. The debate was characterized by accusations against the reformists (and their defense interventions). The first criticisms already came in the report of secretary Fioritto, who attributed the responsibility for the failure of the general strike of 30 July (a political strike to ask the authorities to counter the fascist violence) to internal opponents: ''The reformists (the group manager of the CGL, ed) by proclaiming this strike at the beginning of the crisis and suspending it at its conclusion and defining it legalistic, they had made it appear to the proletariat as a montecitorial aftermath, unnerving the most ardent masses''. After the secretary, Giacinto Menotti Serrati intervened: ''Our task is not to help the bourgeoisie resolve its crisis, but to draw revolutionary advantages from the crisis''.
For the reformists Modigliani ihe ronized: ''If the reformists were guilty of having prevented the revolution, one should not have had to wait so long to expel them''. Then, the speaker in polemic with Serrati - as written in the reports - denied the existence of a crisis of the capitalist and bourgeois system, emphasizing the need to distinguish between small plutocratic groups (…) and the democratic bourgeoisie. THE maximalists they criticized, in particular, Philip Turati because (sic!) he had accepted the sovereign's invitation to go to the Quirinal for consultations.
The arguments of Claudius Treves, who supported the opportunity for an alliance, not permanent but only temporary, with other political forces to ''prevent reaction from ending up destroying the conquests and heritage of the proletariat''. After Giacomo Matteotti, Serrati intervened again arguing that ''the logic of collaborationism would have led those who advocated it to collaborate with the fascism towards which the forces of the bourgeoisie were moving at that moment''. The approved motion resumed this concept and resolved that ''all the adherents of the collaborationist faction and those who approve the directives indicated in the manifesto and in the aforesaid motion, are expelled from the PSI''. The farewell speech was delivered by Filippo Turati: ''While we are leaving, communism returns''. Serrati replied to Turati: ''Turati's speech demonstrated how necessary the operation was''.
On the morning of October 4 i reformists they got together and founded the PSU, electing secretary Giacomo Matteotti; meanwhile, the XNUMXth Congress continued under the banner of delirium and complacency for the belated ''surgical operation'', as the ''disease neglected for two years caused incalculable damage to the Party organism''.
March on Rome and Ventennio: very serious responsibility of the king, unfortunate conduct of the left
In the continuation of the debate, Giacinto Menotti Serrati pointed out - it is written in the report - that, regardless of the reactionary pressure (many municipalities governed by the socialists had been attacked and destroyed, ed.) the Party could no longer share the political responsibilities of the Municipalities with the foreign parties ''. As for the union, the socialist union committees were invited to carry out policies ''for which the concept of class and the economic and political expropriation of the dominant classes must be paramount''. A few days after the March on Rome Menotti left to participate in the IV Congress of the Communist International which began in Petersburg on 5 November. Obviously in the company of a delegation of PC of Italy.
Basically, if the responsibility of the monarchy and of the ''strong powers'' (even if they were not called that at the time) who encouraged and financed the violence of the ''black biennium'', of the forces of order and of the high of the army, it is not correct to omit the unfortunate line of conduct of the left and of the PSI which was the main party. Anyone who reads the proceedings of the Congress of Rome today cannot help but be appalled by a fratricidal debate and by the total neglect of the risks that the country was running.
