1922 Turin massacre

After the March on Rome and the appointment of Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister on 29 October 1922 the Turin labour movement kept on offering resistance to Fascism. The residual working class opposition was shown by the ongoing clandestine production and distribution of the Turin-based Communist newspaper ''L'Ordine Nuovo'', headed by Antonio Gramsci, as well as political, factory, and paramilitary organization, including popular uprisings against Fascist encroachment on working-class neighbourhoods and an important factory election victory. Another important factor was the rivalry between the paramilitary and political leadership of the local Turin fascio. Once in government Mussolini sought to contain the violent excesses of local '''' led by Cesare Maria De Vecchi. The Turin's Fascists became increasingly angered by Mussolini's tendency to collude with local economic and political elites and police chiefs in marginalizing the leader of Turinese and Piedmontese , De Vecchi and his right-hand man Piero Brandimarte. Fascism's increasingly prominent political position at the national level required stricter discipline from Fascists to prevent disaffection of its more liberal and squeamish backers. ==The massacre==

The initial pretext for the large-scale offensive against the labour movement in Turin was the killing of two fascists, Giuseppe Dresda and Lucio Bazzani, in the Barriera di Nizza, by the communist militant and tram worker Francesco Prato, on the night of 17–18 December 1922. This was followed by the destruction of the Turin-based Communist newspaper ''L'Ordine Nuovo''. A number of the editors were taken to the central park in Turin and were threatened with execution by Fascist squads. ==Aftermath==

Brandimarte was arrested in May 1945 after the fall of the Fascist regime. He was indicted for the murders in Turin but the case was transferred to Florence. Five years later he was sentenced to 26 years and three months in jail, although he denied having organized the massacre. In April 1952, the Bologna Court of Appeals absolved him because of insufficient evidence. ==See also==