Michele Bianchi (22 July 1882 – 3 February 1930) was an Italian revolutionary

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

leader who took a position in the Unione Italiana del Lavoro (UIL) He was among the founding members of the Fascist movement. He was widely seen as the dominant leader of the leftist,

wing of the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

. He took an active role in the "interventionist left" where he "espoused an alliance between nationalism and syndicalism." He was one of the most influential politicians of the regime before his succumbing to

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

in 1930. He was also one of the grand architects behind the " Great List" (''il listone'') which secured the

parliamentary majority A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

in favor of the fascists.

Biography

Socialism

Bianchi was born in

Belmonte Calabro Belmonte Calabro, known simply as Belmonte ( Calabrian: ) prior to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Cosenza, in Calabria (Southern Italy). The town is perched on a hilltop on the coast of th ...

(

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

), in southern Italy. He studied law at the University of Rome, and dedicated himself from early on to journalism. He became a member of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...

(PSI), and editor of the Party newspaper ''

Avanti! ''Avanti!'' is a 1972 American/Italian international co-production comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on Samuel A. Taylor's play, ...

'', presiding over the socialist branch in Rome. A delegate to the

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

Congress in 1904, he backed the syndicalist line enforced by

Arturo Labriola Arturo Labriola (; 21 January 1873 – 23 June 1959) was an Italian revolutionary syndicalist and socialist politician and journalist. Biography Early political activity (until 1897) Labriola was born in Naples on 21 January 1873 to Luigi ...

. In 1905, Bianchi renounced his position at ''Avanti!'' and took over leadership of the ''Gioventù socialista'' (paper of the Federazione dei Giovani Socialisti—youth wing of the PSI). The

antimilitarist Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (especi ...

campaign he led had him imprisoned, then forcibly settled in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. Bianchi adapted to his new residence, and became head of the Ligurian Labor Chamber, as well as editor of the revolutionary paper ''Lotta socialista''.

Syndicalism

In 1906, after backing several workers' riots, Bianchi expressed his

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

in front of the PSI leadership, and was not universally welcomed. Transferred to

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

, he played a crucial part in the events that led the syndicalists out of the PSI—in between the PSI Bologna Congress of 1907 and the first Syndicalist Congress in July 1908 (in

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

). After being arrested several times and travelling throughout Italy, Bianchi became editor of ''La Scintilla'' in 1910; he launched the idea that PSI and syndicalists should reunite on electoral lists for the expected administrative elections. He was outvoted, and resorted to expressing his views solely through the paper—which he turned into a daily, the backer of several local

proletarian The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philoso ...

revolts in 1911. However, Bianchi was forced by the tight budget to shut down ''La Scintilla'', not before he was yet again arrested in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

for attacking

Giovanni Giolitti Giovanni Giolitti (; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the Prime Minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. After Benito Mussolini, he is the second-longest serving Prime Minister in Italian history. A pr ...

as instigator of the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...

. He benefited from an

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

and returned to Ferrara, where he created and headed the paper ''La Battaglia'' (a failed attempt to gain a seat in the elections of 1913). Bianchi moved to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, becoming a major figure of the Milanese Syndical Union and the

Unione Sindacale Italiana Unione Sindacale Italiana (''USI''; ''Italian Syndicalist Union'' or ''Italian Workers' Union'') is an anarcho-syndicalist trade union. It is the Italian section of the International Workers' Association (IWA; ''Associazione Internazionale dei L ...

(USI).

Fascism

Michele Bianchi's attitude during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

mirrored that of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

: he became an active supporter of Italy's entry into the conflict, and advocate of

irredentism Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...

. In 1915, when Italy joined the

Entente Powers The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...

, Bianchi volunteered for service and became a junior officer—first in the Infantry, then in the Artillery. With the end of the war, Bianchi joined Mussolini's ''

Fasci italiani di combattimento The ''Fasci Italiani di Combattimento'' ( en, Italian Fasces of Combat, link=yes, also translatable as ''"Italian Fighting Bands"'' or ''"Italian Fighting Leagues"'') was an Italian Fascism, Italian Fascist organization created by Benito Mussolin ...

'', and then the

(''Partito Nazionale Fascista'', or PNF). In 1921, he became the PNF secretary, and attempted to join the Fascists with other right-wing movements (while authorizing the numerous violent raids carried out by the

Blackshirts The Voluntary Militia for National Security ( it, Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts ( it, Camicie Nere, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the Nation ...

). After stomping out a strike action against Fascist maneuvers, Bianchi was one of the '' Quattuorvirate'' who led the

March on Rome The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, ...

, the pseudo-coup d'état that brought Mussolini as

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

(October 1922). In the newly formed government, he was general secretary of National Fascist Party, and considered as "Mussolini's closest collaborator." In short time, Bianchi was dismissed as PNF leader in 1923, while joining the

Grand Council of Fascism The Grand Council of Fascism (, also translated "Fascist Grand Council") was the main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy, that held and applied great power to control the institutions of government. It was created as a body of th ...

; in 1924, he was elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

, but resigned from his government position on 14 March. In 1925, he was given the position of undersecretary at the Ministry of Public Works, in 1928 the same position at the Internal Affairs one, and on 12 September 1929 he became Minister of Public Works.Zeev Sternhell, with Mario Sznajder and Maia Asheri, ''The Birth of Fascist Ideology: From Cultural Rebellion to Political Revolution'', Princeton University Press, 1994, p. 191 Again elected to the Chamber, and in failing health, he died soon after in Rome.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bianchi, Michele 1883 births 1930 deaths People from the Province of Cosenza Italian Socialist Party politicians Members of the Grand Council of Fascism Government ministers of Italy Mussolini Cabinet Italian syndicalists Deputies of Legislature XXVII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXVIII of the Kingdom of Italy Italian male journalists National syndicalists Italian military personnel of World War I 20th-century Italian journalists 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Italy Infectious disease deaths in Lazio