In March 1919, Benito Mussolini founded the first
Italian Fasces of Combat (FIC) at the beginning of the so-called
Red Biennium, a two-year long social conflict between the
Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and the liberal and conservative ruling class. Mussolini's Fascists suffered a defeat in
the election of November 1919, winning no seats in the Italian parliament. During the "two red years", there were numerous
strikes, protests against rises in the cost of living, occupations of factories and land by industrial workers or agricultural laborers, and other types of clashes between socialists on one side and landowners and business owners on the other side. The government tried to play the role of neutral mediator, which dissatisfied both sides. Local elites felt themselves vulnerable and established an alliance with the small Fascist movement, which contained many veterans of
World War I and had a reputation for violence, in the hope of using Fascist paramilitary squads to destroy socialist organizations. In September 1919,
Gabriele D'Annunzio and his armed followers took over the Adriatic town of
Fiume, seeking to secure its transfer from the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes to Italy. D'Annunzio and his followers controlled the city until their expulsion in December 1920. The occupation of Fiume served as a partial "precedent and inspiration" for the March on Rome. Since 1919, Fascist militias, known as
squadristi or "
Blackshirts" due to their uniforms, had
frequently attacked socialist politicians and militants. In August 1920, the Blackshirt militia was used to break the
general strike which originated at the
Alfa Romeo factory in
Milan, while in November 1920, after the assassination of Giulio Giordani (a right-wing municipal councillor in
Bologna), the Blackshirts were active in the suppression of the socialist movement, which included a strong
anarcho-syndicalist component, especially in the
Po Valley. Local elections in 1920 were won by the socialists in many towns, cities and villages across Italy, and in response Fascist militias attacked
union organizers and municipal administrators, making it difficult for local governments to function. A local deputy from the town of
Budrio sent a telegram to the prime minister in October 1921 to report that the Fascists had effectively taken over, that "unions and socialist clubs [were] ordered to dissolve themselves within 48 hours or face physical destruction" and that the "life of the town is paralysed, authorities impotent". Similar situations also occurred in other towns across Northern and Central Italy from 1920 to 1922. The police repeatedly failed to intervene against Fascist violence, and in some cases police officers openly supported the Fascists and supplied them with weapons. In the
1921 general election the Fascists ran within the
National Blocs of
Giovanni Giolitti, an
anti-socialist coalition of liberals, conservatives and fascists. The Fascists won 35 seats and Mussolini was elected in the Parliament for the first time. After a few weeks, Mussolini withdrew his support for Giolitti and his
Italian Liberal Party (
Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI) and attempted to work out a temporary truce with the Socialists by signing the so-called "
Pact of Pacification" in the summer of 1921. The Pact led to many protests by the radical members of the Fascist movement, led by local leaders like
Roberto Farinacci, who were known as
Ras. In July 1921, Giolitti attempted to dissolve the Blackshirts, but he failed; while the Pact with the Socialists was nullified during the Third Fascist Congress on 7–10 November 1921, during which Mussolini promoted a
nationalist program and renamed his movement
National Fascist Party (PNF), which enrolled 320,000 members by late 1921. In August 1922, an
anti-fascist general strike was organized throughout the country by the socialists. Mussolini declared that the Fascists would suppress the strike themselves if the government did not immediately intervene to stop it, which enabled him to position the Fascist Party as a defender of law and order. On 2 August, in
Ancona, Fascist squads moved in from the countryside and razed all buildings occupied by socialists. A delegation from the
General Confederation of Italian Industry met with Mussolini two days before the March on Rome. Also a few days before the march, Mussolini consulted with the U.S. Ambassador
Richard Washburn Child about whether the U.S. government would object to Fascist participation in a future Italian government and Child gave him American support. When Mussolini learned that Prime Minister
Luigi Facta had given
Gabriele D'Annunzio the mission to organize a large demonstration on 4 November 1922 to
celebrate the national victory during the war, he decided to immediately implement the March. == The March ==