 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Aventine Secession" 20th century – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
TheAventine Secession was the withdrawal of the parliament opposition, mainly comprising theItalian Socialist Party,Italian Liberal Party,Italian People's Party andCommunist Party of Italy, from theChamber of Deputies in 1924–25, following the assassination of the deputyGiacomo Matteotti by fascists on 10 June 1924.
The secession was named after theAventine Secession in ancient Rome. This act of protest heralded the assumption of total power byBenito Mussolini and hisNational Fascist Party and the establishment of aone-partydictatorship in Italy. It was unsuccessful in opposing the National Fascist Party, and after two years the Chamber of Deputies ruled that the 123 Aventine deputies had forfeited their positions. In the following years, many of the "Aventinian" deputies were forced into exile or imprisoned.
In 1923, theAcerbo Law replacedproportional representation. It meant that the largest party, providing it had at least 25% of the vote, gained 2/3 of theparliamentary seats. Following the elections in April 1924, Mussolini obtained 64.9% of the vote, giving him a clear majority under either system.
After his outspoken accusation of the Fascist Party's underhand methods ofpolitical corruption andvoter intimidation, the Socialist leaderGiacomo Matteotti was abducted and murdered byAmerigo Dumini and various other thugs whose names were linked to the Fascist Party. There is considerable dispute among historians as to the level (if any) of Mussolini's knowledge and involvement.[citation needed]
The resulting uproar after the Matteotti murder left Mussolini vulnerable, having been forced to dismiss numerous members of his entourage, including GeneralDe Bono, Chief of Police and Head of theMVSN. In late July 1924, the Socialists, Christian democrats and some Liberals began a boycott of Parliament, with the aim of forcing the King to dismiss Mussolini.
Before the assassination of Matteotti in 1924,Hanns-Erich Kaminski [it] (who had been living in Italy for two years) published his book about fascism, based on articles appeared inDie Weltbühne and including Matteotti's writings.[1] Kamisnki incorrectly predicted the fall of fascism in 1925.[1] The erroneous prediction of Mussolini's early downfall was not discussed again inDie Weltbühne.[1]
On 23 June, 13 days after Matteotti's assassination,Carl von Ossietzky presented Italy as a counterexample in his article comparing the murder of Matteotti to that ofWalther Rathenau in 1922, stating that Italy was experiencing a change of political course, which ultimately did not materialise.[1]
On 26 June 1924 around 130 of the Italian oppositiondeputies (including members of theItalian People's Party,Unitary Socialist Party,Italian Socialist Party,Communist Party of Italy,Social Democratic Party,Italian Republican Party,Democratic Liberal Party, andSardinian Action Party) met in theSala della Lupa (transl. Room of the She-wolf) of thePalazzo Montecitorio. There, they decided to abandon their parliamentary work since the government had not clarified its position on the disappearance ofGiacomo Matteotti.
Giovanni Amendola of the Democratic Liberal Party published the reasoning behind the secession inIl Mondo:
"To the opposition parties, it is clear that under such conditions, there is nothing to do in a Parliament that lacks fundamental reasons for its life. [...] When a Parliament has surrounded itself with militias and illegality, it is just a joke."[2]
The non-violent opposition to the government was also promoted by socialist deputyFilippo Turati. On 27 June 1924, he commemorated Matteotti at the Palazzo Montecitorio in front of the other secessionists.
"We speak of this parliamentary hall, while there is not a Parliament. The only elect are in the Aventine of our consciences. No one can remove them as long as the sun of freedom does not dawn, the power of law is restored, and the representation of the people ceases to be the atrocious mockery to which they have reduced it."[3]
Other than Mussolini'sNational Fascist Party, the parties that did not participate in the secession included theItalian Liberal Party, thePeasants' Party of Italy, and theLists of Slavs and Germans.
The "Aventinians" were mostly against a popular insurrection to depose Mussolini's government. At the same time, the protesting deputies did not coordinate with the other opponents of fascism that did not join the secession and remained in the Italian parliament. The secessionists believed that, before the fascists' link to Matteotti's kidnapping and presumed death became clear, the Italian king would dismiss Mussolini and dissolve the Chamber to call for new elections. None of that happened.[4]
Officer Dumini was arrested on 12 July 1924, at theRoma Termini railway station, as he was preparing to leave for the north of Italy and was brought to theRegina Coeli prison. On 16 August the body of the Matteotti was found in the forest of Quartarella, which agitated the already tense political crisis.
Between August and October 1924, some Aventinian leaders, includingGiovanni Amendola, seemed to share the militant insurrectional line proposed byantifascist groupItalia Libera.Italia libera secretly brought to Rome an armed group of several thousand men dubbed the "Amici del Popolo" (transl. Friends of the People).[5] In an executive report by theCommunist International,Palmiro Togliatti estimated there were 7,000 men in this Roman group, and he believed that around 4,000 could be controlled by Communist infiltrators.[6]
On 12 September 1924 the militant communistGiovanni Corvi killed the fascist deputyArmando Casalini to avenge the murder of Matteotti, which increased the rigidity of the Fascist position. On 20 October the communist leaderAntonio Gramsci proposed that the Aventinian opposition should form an "anti-parliament" to signal the great distance between the secessionists and a Parliament composed only of fascists. The proposal was not executed, however.
In the last months of 1924, Amendola decided to abandon the previous insurrectionary position as too unrealistic. He returned to his initial choice to rely on the support of the king to undermine Mussolini. Through the grand master of theGrand Orient of Italy,Domizio Torrigiani [it], Amendola came into possession of two letters that accused Mussolini as ordering the killing of Matteotti. The first was fromFilippo Filippelli [it], who provided the kidnappers theirLancia Lambda escape vehicle they used to carry away and kill Matteotti.[7] Filipelli accused policemanAmerigo Dumini, politicianCesare Rossi, generalEmilio De Bono, andBenito Mussolini himself for being involved in the killing. He claimed the kidnapping had been organized by the internal political police of the National Fascist Party, theCeka, which was directed by Rossi.[8] The second letter was written by Rossi himself.
After a meeting together, Torrigiani andIvanoe Bonomi (both Masons) decided that Bonomi, who had free access to theQuirinal Palace, should bring the letters to be seen byVictor Emmanuel III of Italy and convince him to dismiss Mussolini and form a transitional military government. The meeting went ahead at the beginning of November 1924, but had no result. The king, in fact, realizing the terrible accusations contained in the letters, handed them back to Bonomi.[9]
On 8 November, on Amendola's suggestion, a group of the Aventinians created a new, antifascist political party to represent the principles of liberty and democracy—theUnione Nazionale [it]. The party comprised 11 deputies, 16 ex-deputies, and 11 senators.[10][11]
Fearing that Vittorio Emanuele III would consider his dismissal, Mussolini pronounced hisJanuary 3rd, 1925, speech [it].[12] Through it, he assumed further political, moral, and historical responsibilities. Recalling Article 47 of the statues of the Chamber that foresaw the possibility of a king's minister being accused by deputies, Mussolini formally asked Parliament to make an indictment against him. However, this could not happen without the Aventinian deputies re-entering the Chamber and at least some votes from the majority of fascists deputies. Still, there was heated discussion of the proposal among the National Fascist Party members.
Without the socialists, the vote of no 'confidence' in Mussolini was a failure. The Aventinian opposition failed to react, both due to the immediate repressions ordered by Mussolini and for its internal divisions.[13] It preferred to pursue changing the public opinion on fascism, rather than re-entering Parliament and fighting as a minority party.[14]
KingVictor Emmanuel III was disinclined to invoke further violence from theFascist squads, and thus allowed Mussolini to keep his position as Prime Minister. The Secession actually aided Mussolini in his consolidation of power by eliminating all meaningful parliamentary opposition and depriving the King of any excuse to dismiss him. With the opposition thus reduced to inaction, Mussolini set about building his fascist state.[15]
In January 1925, Mussolini declared a de facto dictatorship and started a series of repressive measures designed to destroy opposition. The groups ofItalia libera were suppressed between 3 and 6 January that year. Acting as a high court, the Italian Senate gave a ruling on Emilio De Bono, solicited byLuigi Albertini and other Catholics.[16] The ruling was archived after six months after Filippelli retracted his testimony from 24 March. Cesare Rossi was acquitted and released from prison in December 1925. On 20 July Giovanni Amendola was attacked by fascist squads in The Tuscan town ofPieve a Nievole. He never recovered from the attack and died inCannes in April 1926.
On 16 January 1926 some of the populist and democratic-socialist Members of Parliament entered thePalazzo Montecitorio to assist with the mourning ceremonies forMargherita of Savoy. Shortly after, fascist parliamentarians violently expelled them from the hall.[17] The day after, Mussolini accused the parliamentarians who had been expelled, accusing them of indecency against the queen.[18]
Between 16 and 24 March the trial against Dumini and other people implicated in Matteotti's death was held. The judgment closed with three absolutions and three condemnations for pre-meditated homicide (among them Dumini), with sentences of 5 years, 11 months, and 20 days.
In the following days, after theattempted assassination of Mussolini on 31 October, the constitution was suspended and the laws of exceptional, theleggi fascistissime [it], were approved. With the king's decree of 5 November, aTesto unico delle leggi di pubblica sicurezza [it], the government approved the reintroduction of the death penalty, as well as the suppression of all antifascist newspapers and periodicals, the institution of police confinement of suspects without evidence, and the creation of a special administrative body, theTribunale speciale per la difesa dello Stato With the regal decree of 6 November, all Italian political parties, except for the National Fascist Party, were suppressed to quash any public dissent and create the conditions for a dictatorship.
On 9 November 1926, the Chamber reopened to ratify the exceptional laws and also to deliberate on the secession of the 123 Aventinian parliamentarians, as well as the dissident journalistMassimo Rocca [it].[19][circular reference]
In the first motion, presented byRoberto Farinacci, debated the Aventinians and their parliamentary secession, excluding the communists who had returned to the hall.Augusto Turati then amended the motion to include the communists as well. Due to the previous regal orders, the only opposition members present were the 6 members belonging to the Giolittiana faction: already, the night before, Antonio Gramsci had been arrested, in violation of the parliamentary immunity still in force.[20] Through the motions, it was declared that the Aventinian secessionists had forfeited their seats in the Chamber.
SocialistFilippo Turati successfully fled toCorsica in December 1926 on a motorboat led by Italian antifascistItalo Oxilia, with the help of Carlo Rosselli,Ferruccio Parri,Sandro Pertini.[21] In 1932, he died in exile in Paris. After Gramsci's arrest, he spent 8 years in a Turin prison.
Among the other Aventinian deputies forced into exile wereBruno Buozzi, Arturo Labriolo,Claudio Treves,Guido Picelli,Ruggero Grieco,Emilio Lussu,Cipriano Facchinetti,Eugenio Chiesa, andMario Bergmano [it]. The socialistGiuseppe Romita, the communistLuigi Repossi [it], and the republicanCino Macrelli [it] each spent years in jail. Whoever was not imprisoned had to abandon their political life until the fall of fascism.
After the fascist regime fell, theConstituent Assembly of Italy of the newItalian Republic created theConstitution of Italy on 1 January 1948. One article specified the criteria for the "Senators by right" of the first legislature. Other than those elected in theSenate of the Kingdom of Italy, the article added those who were "declared forfeited in the session of the Chamber of 9 November 1926." As a result, 106 senators were nominated, in addition to the 237 selected in the1948 Italian general election.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)