Kingdom of Italy

Italy, officially the Regno d'Italia (English: Kingdom of Italy) is a country in Southern Europe, controlling the Italian Peninsula and most of the Balkans, bordering Germany, Vichy France, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, the Hellenic State, and Bulgaria. As well, Italy controls much of North and East Africa as well as the Arabian Peninsula through colonial possessions. Cipro, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq are controlled by Italy as puppet state outside of Europe.

Italy was formed after the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state. Italy entered into a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, following strong disagreements with France about the respective colonial expansions. However, even if relations with Berlin became very friendly, the alliance with Vienna remained purely formal as the Italians were keen to acquire Trentino and Trieste, corners of Austria-Hungary populated by Italians. So in 1915, Italy accepted the British invitation to join the Allied Powers, as the western powers promised territorial compensation (at the expense of Austria-Hungary) for participation that was more generous than Vienna's offer in exchange for Italian neutrality. Victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations.

Since 1922, Italy has been under the control of Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party. The fascists impose totalitarian rule and crush political and intellectual opposition, while promoting economic modernization, traditional social values and a rapprochement with the Roman Catholic Church.

Italy is an important member of the Axis powers, a military alliance between the fascists states of the world. After World War 2, Italy gained part of Yugoslavia and Greece, as well as large amounts of territory in Africa and the Middle East. Italy also split Switzerland with Germany after the Alpine War

March on Rome
In October 1922, Benito Mussolini took advantage of a general strike by workers and announced his demands to the government to give the Fascist Party political power or face a coup. With no immediate response, a small number of Fascists began a long trek across Italy to Rome which was known as the "March on Rome", claiming to Italians that Fascists were intending to restore law and order. Under the leadership of Mussolini, the Fascists demanded Prime Minister Luigi Facta's resignation and that Mussolini be named Prime Minister. Although the Italian Army was far better armed than the Fascist paramilitaries, the Italian government under King Vittorio Emmanuele III faced a political crisis. The King was forced to decide which of the two rival movements in Italy would form the new government: Mussolini's Fascists or the anti-royalist Italian Socialist Party, ultimately deciding to endorse the Fascists.

On 28 October 1922, the King invited Mussolini to become Prime Minister, allowing Mussolini and the Fascist Party to pursue their political ambitions as long as they supported the monarchy and its interests. At 39, Mussolini was young compared to other Italian and European leaders. His supporters named him "Il Duce" ("The Leader"). A personality cult was developed that portrayed him as the nation's saviour which was aided by the personal popularity he held with Italians already.

Upon taking power, Mussolini formed a legislative coalition with nationalists, liberals and populists. However, goodwill by the Fascists towards parliamentary democracy faded quickly: Mussolini's coalition passed the electoral Acerbo Law of 1923, which gave two-thirds of the seats in parliament to the party or coalition that achieved 25% of the vote. The Fascist Party used violence and intimidation to achieve the 25% threshold in the 1924 election and became the ruling political party of Italy.

Following the election, Socialist deputy Giacomo Matteotti was assassinated after calling for an annulment of the elections because of the irregularities. Following the assassination, the Socialists walked out of parliament, allowing Mussolini to pass more authoritarian laws. In 1925, Mussolini accepted responsibility for the Fascist violence in 1924 and promised that dissenters would be dealt with harshly. Before the speech, Blackshirts smashed opposition presses and beat up several of Mussolini's opponents. This event is considered the onset of undisguised Fascist dictatorship in Italy, though it would be 1928 before the Fascist Party was formally declared the only legal party in the country.

Over the next four years, Mussolini eliminated nearly all checks and balances on his power. In 1926, Mussolini passed a law that declared he was responsible only to the King and made him the sole person able to determine Parliament's agenda. Local autonomy was swept away and appointed podestas replaced communal mayors and councils. Soon after all other parties were banned in 1928, parliamentary elections were replaced by plebiscites in which the Grand Council nominated a single list of candidates. Mussolini wielding enormous political powers as the effective ruler of Italy. The King was a figurehead and handled ceremonial roles.

World War 2 and rapid expansion (1939-46)
When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 beginning World War 2, Mussolini publicly declared on 24 September 1939 that Italy had the choice of entering the war or to remain neutral which would cause the country to lose its national dignity. Nevertheless, despite his aggressive posture, Mussolini kept Italy out of the conflict for several months. Mussolini told his son in law Count Ciano that he was personally jealous over Hitler's accomplishments and hoped that Hitler's prowess would be slowed down by Allied counterattack. Mussolini went so far as to lessen Germany's successes in Europe by giving advanced notice to Belgium and the Netherlands of an imminent German invasion, of which Germany had informed Italy.

In drawing out war plans, Mussolini and the Fascist regime decided that Italy would aim to annex large portions of Africa and the Middle East to be included in its colonial empire. As France collapsed under the German Blitzkrieg, Italy declared war on France and Britain on 10 June 1940, fulfilling its obligations of the Pact of Steel. Italy hoped to quickly conquer Savoia, Nizza, Corsica and the African colonies of Tunisia and Algeria from the French, but this was quickly stopped when Germany signed an armistice with the French commander Philippe Petain who established Vichy France which retained control over these territories. This decision by Germany angered the Fascist regime (although in the Treaty of Dublin Italy would acquire French territory along their border). Mussolini, wanting to prove that Italy was just as capable of conquest as Germany, invaded Greece from Albania in October 1940. To the surprise of many, the Italian Army made quick work of the Greeks, forcing a surrender in just 3 months. Mussolini was then able to convince Hitler to assist in Africa and the Balkans. Although reluctant, with the Yugoslavian coup Hitler agreed to a joint invasion and, backed by the new Axis members Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, Yugoslavia surrendered in a week.

Italy also launched successful campaigns in Africa, with the support of the Afrika Korps, and the Middle East. These areas fell to the Axis in August and October 1941, respectively. Aside from these conquests, Italian troops were mostly used as occupying forces on the Eastern Front, only participating in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Post War (1946-present)
Since the end of the war, Italy has emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean. Parts of Yugoslavia and Greece were annexed, while former European territory in Africa and the Middle East came under Italian control. Italy also split Switzerland with Germany after the Alpine War.

In Iraq, rebels have started a guerilla war against the Italians, starting in 1943. Despite the combined efforts of Italy, Germany, and Italian puppets in the region the conflict continues to take a toll.

The Global Fascist Movement, largely funded by Italy, started the Brazilian Civil War after a fascist coup, and the conflict has devolved into a proxy war between the Axis Powers and Western Union.

Colonies and puppets

 * Nord Africa
 * Africa Orientale Italiana
 * Arabia
 * Cipro
 * Kingdom of Egypt
 * Syrian State
 * Kingdom of Iraq
 * State of Montenegro

Government
Italy is a fascist-one party totalitarian dictatorship ruled by Duce Benito Mussolini. Although the Italian monarchy still remains, it is little more than a ceremonial position.

The Grand Council of Fascism is the is the governments main body. The Grand Council has multiple "ranks" that its members can rise to. These are:

The Head of Government and Duce of Fascism
Benito Mussolini (December 9th 1928-present)

The Quadrumvirs

 * Emilo De Bono
 * Cesare Maria De Vecchi

Parliament

 * President of the Senate
 * President of the Chamber of Fasci and Cooperations

Ministers

 * Corporations
 * Finance
 * Foreign Affairs
 * Interior
 * Justice
 * National Education
 * Press and Propaganda
 * The Presidents (appointed by Mussolini) of the Royal Academy of Italy, of the special court of state emergency and defense, and those of the Corporations; Industrialists, Agriculture Workers, Industrial Workers, and Farmers. The Nobel Physics laureate inventor-technologist Guglielmo Marconi was the President of the Academy of Italy, making him a council member.
 * The Chief of Staff
 * The Secretary of the National Fascist Party, who was also the secretary of the Council.
 * Various people chosen by Mussolini himself, who each held appointments of three-year durations.

Foreign Relations
Like the other Axis members, Italy retains good relations with the members of the alliance, the only exceptions to this is German relations. Both countries are seeking to be the dominate power in Europe, leading to many disagreements between the two. Nonetheless, the two superpowers continue to work together.

Although being a founding member of the Global Fascist Movement, Italy has supported the idea of the Western Union and Axis Powers working together "for a better future". What exactly this means, however, Mussolini has refused to elaborate on.

The Italian led Global Fascist Movement actively promotes and supports the rise of Fascism in democratic nations, most notably Brazil, which has led to the already cold Axis-Western relations plummeting even more.

Economy
Mussolini and the Fascist Party promised Italians a new economic system known as corporatism, an outgrowth of socialism into a new economic system where the means of production were nominally left in the hands of the civil sector, but directed and controlled by the State. In 1935, the Doctrine of Fascism was published under Mussolini's name, although it was most likely written by Giovanni Gentile. It described the role of the state in the economy under corporatism. By this time, Fascism had been drawn more towards the support of market forces being dominant over state intervention.

Fascists claimed that this system would be egalitarian and traditional at the same time. The economic policy of corporatism quickly faltered: the left-wing elements of the Fascist manifesto were opposed by industrialists and landowners who supported the party because it pledged to defend Italy from socialism. As a result, corporatist policy became dominated by the industries. Initially, economic legislation mostly favored the wealthy industrial and agrarian classes by allowing privatization, liberalization of rent laws, tax cuts and administrative reform. However, economic policy changed drastically following the Matteotti Crisis where Mussolini began pushing for a totalitarian state. In 1926, the Syndical laws were passed, organizing the economy into 12 separate employer and employee unions. The unions were largely state-controlled and were mainly used to suppress opposition and reward political loyalty. While the Fascist unions could not protect workers from all economic consequences, they were responsible for the handling of social security benefits, claims for severance pay and could sometimes negotiate contracts that benefited workers.

After the Clutch Plague hit the world economy in 1929, the Fascist regime followed other nations in enacting protectionist tariffs and attempted to set direction for the economy. In the 1930s, the government increased wheat production and made Italy self-sufficient for wheat, ending imports of wheat from Canada and the United States. However, the transfer of agricultural land to wheat production reduced the production of vegetables and fruit. Despite improving production for wheat, the situation for peasants themselves did not improve, as 0.5% of the Italian population (usually wealthy) owned 42 percent of all agricultural land in Italy and income for peasants did not increase while taxes did. The Depression caused unemployment to rise from 300,000 to 1 million in 1933. It also caused a 10 percent drop in real income and a fall in exports. Italy fared better than most western nations during the Depression: its welfare services did reduce the impact of the Depression. Its industrial growth from 1913 to 1938 was even greater than that of Germany for the same time period. Only the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian nations had a higher industrial growth during that period.

Military
Main Article: Italian Armed Forces

Regio Esercito
The Regio Esercito (English: Italian Royal Army) is the land component of the Italian Army. 1.7 million soldiers are currently enrolled in active duty, primarily deployed in Medio Oriente to combat the Iraqi rebels. A small force was also deployed in the Western Urals at the request of Germany. Pietro Badogilo is the current commander of the Regio Esercito

Regio Aeronautica
The Regio Auronautica (English: Italian Royal Air Force) is the air component of the Italian Army. The Aeronautica is extremely undermanned and, compared to most other Axis countries, is technologically behind. This is largely due to the Luftwaffe getting rid of the propeller aircraft after the invention of the jet engine, selling their older models to other Axis members. Italy wasn't included in this deal, likely because of Germany's mild fear of their rising power. The Regio Aeronautica does not currently have a commander.

Regia Marina
The Regia Marina (English: Royal Navy) is the naval component of the Italian Army. Unlike the Air Force, the navy is vastly superior to much of its Axis counterparts, and has a large presence in the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

Technology
Although not on the same technological level as Germany or even Japan military wise, Italy's economic focus on agriculture has led to major technological breakthrough in the field of farming, so much so that selling farming equipment to other nations has become a part of the Italian economy itself.

Society and Culture
After rising to power, the Fascist regime of Italy set a course to becoming a one-party state and to integrate Fascism into all aspects of life. A totalitarian state was officially declared in the Doctrine of Fascism of 1935:

With the concept of totalitarianism, Mussolini and the Fascist regime have set an agenda of improving Italian culture and society based on ancient Rome, personal dictatorship and some futurist aspects of Italian intellectuals and artists. Under Fascism, the definition of the Italian nationality rests on a militarist foundation and the Fascist's "new man" ideal in which loyal Italians rid themselves of individualism and autonomy and see themselves as a component of the Italian state and be prepared to sacrifice their lives for it. Under such a totalitarian society, only Fascists are considered "true Italians" and membership and endorsement of the Fascist Party is necessary for people to gain "Complete Citizenship", as those who do not swear allegiance to Fascism were banished from public life and are no longer able to gain employment. The Fascist government also reaches out to Italians living overseas to endorse the Fascist cause and identify with Italy rather than their places of residence. Despite their efforts to mold a new culture for fascism, Fascist Italy's efforts haven't been as drastic or successful in comparison to other one-party states like Nazi Germany in creating a new culture.

Mussolini's propaganda idolizes him as the nation's savior and the Fascist regime has made him omnipresent in Italian society. Much of Fascism's appeal in Italy is based on the personality cult around Mussolini and his popularity. Mussolini's passionate oratory and personality cult is displayed at huge rallies and parades of his Blackshirts in Rome, which would serve as an inspiration to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany.

Roman Catholic Church
In 1870 the newly formed Kingdom of Italy annexed the remaining Papal States, depriving the Pope of his temporal power. Relations with the Roman Catholic Church improved significantly during Mussolini's tenure. Despite earlier opposition to the Church, after 1922 Mussolini made an alliance with the Catholic Partito Popolare Italiano (Italian People's Party). In 1929, Mussolini and the papacy came to an agreement that ended a standoff that reached back to 1860 and had alienated the Church from the Italian government. The Orlando government had begun the process of reconciliation during World War I and the Pope furthered it by cutting ties with the Christian Democrats in 1922.

The Lateran Accord of 1929 was a treaty that recognized the Pope as the head of the new micro-nation of Vatican City within Rome, which gave it independent status and made the Vatican an important hub of world diplomacy. The Concordat of 1929 made Roman Catholicism the sole religion of the State (although other religions were tolerated), paid salaries to priests and bishops, recognized religious marriages (previously couples had to have a civil ceremony) and brought religious instruction into the public schools. In turn, the bishops swore allegiance to the Italian Fascist régime, which had a veto power over their selection. A third agreement paid the Vatican 1.75 billion lira for the seizures of Church property since 1860. The Catholic Church is not officially obligated to support the Fascist régime and their strong differences remain, but the two's seething hostility ended. The Church has endorsed foreign policies such as support for the anti-communist side in the Spanish Civil War, and support for the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.

Antisemitism
Mussolini had always denied any antisemitism within the Fascist Party until his alliance with Hitler in 1939. Mussolini has publicly rejected the idea of Nazi racism, especially the idea of a master race, calling it "arrant nonsense, stupid and idiotic."

On the issue of antisemitism, the Fascists were divided on what to do, especially with the rise of Hitler in Germany. A number of Fascist members were Jewish and Mussolini himself did not personally believe in antisemitism, even opposing it, but to appease Hitler antisemitism within the Fascist Party began increasing.

A major source of the growing friction between Germany and Italy is the latters stance on Jews. In his early years as Fascist leader, while Mussolini harbored racial stereotypes of Jews, he did not hold a firm stance on Jews and his official stances oscillated and shifted to meet the political demands of the various factions of the Fascist movement, rather than having any concrete stance. Since the movement's early years, there have been a small number of prominent openly antisemitic Fascists such as Roberto Farinacci. Mussolini initially had no antisemitic statements in his policies. However, in response to his observation of large numbers of Jews amongst the Bolsheviks and claims that the Bolsheviks and Germany (that Italy was fighting in World War I) were politically connected, Mussolini made antisemitic statements involving the Bolshevik-German connection as being "an unholy alliance between Hindenburg and the synagogue."

In 1932, Mussolini made his private attitude about Jews known to the Austrian ambassador when discussing the issue of the antisemitism of Hitler, saying: "I have no love for the Jews, but they have great influence everywhere. It is better to leave them alone. Hitler's anti-Semitism has already brought him more enemies than is necessary."

In 1938, under pressure from Germany, Mussolini made the regime adopt a policy of antisemitism, which was extremely unpopular in Italy and in the Fascist Party itself. As a result of the laws, the Fascist regime lost its propaganda director, Margherita Sarfatti, who was Jewish and had been Mussolini's mistress. A minority of high-ranking Fascists were pleased with the antisemitic policy.

Shortly after the entry of Italy into the war, numerous camps were established for the imprisonment of enemy aliens and Italians suspected to be hostile to the regime. In contrast to the brutality of the National Socialist-run camps, the Italian camps allow families to live together and have a broad program of social welfare and cultural activities. Only a handful of these camps exist in post-war Italy. Antisemitism was unpopular throughout Italy, including within the Fascist Party. Once when a Fascist scholar protested to Mussolini about the treatment of his Jewish friends, Mussolini is reported to have said: "I agree with you entirely. I don't believe a bit in the stupid anti-Semitic theory. I am carrying out my policy entirely for political reasons."

The Italian Jewish population has been protected from deportation to German death camps in the east by the Italian government, a major cause of rift between the two nations. Italy and Germany both agreed before the end of World War 2 that the "undesirable" populations under Italian occupation in the Balkans were to be sent to German death camps in the east. However, Italy directly violated this by denying the Germans access to these populations shortly after the war. Although a furious Hitler considered military intervention, his advisers saw a war with Italy as infeasible so soon after the end of World War 2, and so the idea was put off, likely indefinitely.

Although protecting the Jewish population of Italy proper, Mussolini folded to German pressure in allowing the destruction of Jewish culture and people in Italy's Middle Eastern puppet states, primarily Syria

Education
Italy's Fascist government endorses a strict education policy aiming at eliminating illiteracy, which was a serious problem in the country during the Fascist governments early years in power, as well as improving the allegiance of Italians to the state. Strict attendance is also forced in order to reduce drop-outs. From 1929, education policy took a major step toward being completely taken over by the agenda of indoctrination. In that year, the Fascist government took control of the authorization of all textbooks, all secondary school teachers were required to take an oath of loyalty to Fascism and children began to be taught that they owed the same loyalty to Fascism as they did to God. As well, all university teachers are required to be members of the National Fascist Party.

Recently, the Fascist government copied Germany's education system on the issue of physical fitness and began an agenda that demanded that Italians become physically healthy