Republican Fascist Party Partito Fascista Repubblicano | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | PFR |
| Duce | Benito Mussolini |
| Secretary | Alessandro Pavolini |
| Founded | 13 September 1943 |
| Dissolved | 2 May 1945[a] |
| Preceded by | National Fascist Party |
| Succeeded by | Italian Social Movement (de facto) |
| Headquarters | Palazzo Castani,Milan |
| Newspaper | Il Lavoro Fascista |
| Paramilitary wing | Black Brigades (from 1944) |
| Membership | 900,000 (1943est.) |
| Ideology | Fascism (Italian) Republicanism Sansepolcrismo Anti-monarchism Pro-Nazism[6] |
| Political position | Far-right[9] |
| Colours | Black[10] |
| Anthem | "Giovinezza"[11] |
TheRepublican Fascist Party (Italian:Partito Fascista Repubblicano,PFR) was apolitical party in Italy led byBenito Mussolini and the sole representative party of theItalian Social Republic during theGerman occupation ofItaly. The PFR was the successor to theNational Fascist Party but was more influenced by pre-1922 early radical fascism andanti-monarchism, as its members consideredKingVictor Emmanuel III to be a traitor after his agreement of the signing of thesurrender to theAllies.
After the Nazi-engineeredGran Sasso raid liberated Mussolini, theNational Fascist Party (PNF) was revived on 13 September 1943 as the Republican Fascist Party (PFR) and as thesingle party of the Northern and Nazi-protectedItalian Social Republic, informally known as theSalò Republic. Its secretary wasAlessandro Pavolini.
Due to the strong control of the Germans, the party's power in the context of the Republic of Salò was always very limited. To obviate this inherent weakness, the party tried to obtain the support of the few population strata who still sympathised with fascism.[12] In the provinces under the control of the Germans it was organised into three entities called Administrative, Assistance, and Political.[13] The Assistance, also called the National Fascist Assistance Body, was formed in early October 1943. In the minds of the party leaders, the Assistance was to be a continuation of the powerful cadres of militants and volunteers of the former National Fascist Party.[13]
The PFR did not outlastMussolini's execution and thedisappearance of the Salò state in April 1945. However, it inspired the creation of theItalian Social Movement (MSI)[14] and the MSI has been seen as the successor to the PFR and the PNF.[15] The MSI was formed by former Fascist leaders and veterans of theNational Republican Army of the Salò Republic.[16] The party tried to modernise and revisefascist doctrine into a more moderate and sophisticated direction.[17]
Giuseppe Pizzirani [it] led the PFR organisation inRome until April 1944, when he was named Deputy Secretary of the national party organisation.[18]
The PFR sought to reconnect the new party withpre-1922 radical fascism. This move attracted parts of the fascist 'Old Guard', who had been sidelined after Mussolini had come to power in 1922. The new party was, however, internally divided, with different internal tendencies vying for Mussolini's support, and whilst the PFR revived some of the early revolutionary fascist discourse, it did not return to theanti-clerical positions of the early fascist movement.[19]
In addition, the party promoted arevolutionary[20][21] form ofItalian nationalism,[22][23][24][25]antisemitism,[26][27]anti-liberalism,[28][29]anti-communism,[30]anti-capitalism,[31]anti-monarchism, andrepublicanism. The RSI program, set out in the "Verona Manifesto" and approved by the congress of the Republican Fascist Party (Verona 15-16 November 1943), revived the revolutionary formulas of early fascism and included, among other things, the abandonment ofcorporatism and the creation of a National Confederation of Labour, a broad program of social welfare and worker participation in company profits.[32] The program, opposed by the Germans and by Italian industrialists, was not implemented while, starting with the strikes of March 1944, a growing workers' opposition to the RSI developed.
