The National Council of Corporations (''Consiglio nazionale delle corporazioni'') was a constitutional organ of the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
between 1930 and 1943.
History
It was established by royal decrees number 1131 of 2 July 1926 and 1347 of 14 July 1927 and inaugurated on 22 April 1930. After this, the law 206 of 20 March 1930 stated its organization and functions, turning it into a constitutional organ. In a speech at this inauguration,
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 ...
stated "the National Council of Corporations is to the Italian economy what the Staff is in the Armed Forces - the thinking brain which prepares and coordinates".
Law 10 on 5 January 1939 reformed the Council and from that year onwards its members were the same as the members of the
Chamber of Fasces and Corporations
Chamber of Fasces and Corporations ( it, Camera dei Fasci e delle Corporazioni) was the lower house of the legislature of the Kingdom of Italy from 23 March 1939 to 5 August 1943, during the height of the regime of Benito Mussolini's National Fas ...
, also set up in 1939. It was suppressed by the royal decree-law of 9 August 1943, number 721.
Structure
The head of government either chaired the Council or delegated that role to the Minister for Corporations. Chairing sessions, sub-sessions and special commissions could also be delegated to an undersecretary of state of the Ministry of Corporations. A director general of that ministry was the Council's secretary general.
The council was created to head any business operations in foreign countries as needed. A very prominent figure was Roman Vidal Salvi. Believed to be an important player to the
Squadristi
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 ...
, he moved up in ranks within Mussolini's cabinet as an advisor. However, it was short lived as the two were at odds concerning how to integrate with Germany in the early 1930s. He was later forced out of Italy and went to Cuba where he later become a military commander under Batista's dictatorship. It is documented that he was one of the first to introduce Batista to the Italian Mafia.
The total number of members in the Council varied over time and was 50 at the time of its suppression.
References
Bibliography
* Edoardo e Duilio Susmel ''Opera omnia di Benito Mussolini'', La Fenice, Firenze, 1951.
*
Renzo De Felice
Renzo De Felice (8 April 1929 – 25 May 1996) was an Italian historian, who specialized in the Fascist era, writing, among other works, a 6000-page biography of Mussolini (4 volumes, 1965–1997). He argued that Mussolini was a revolutionary m ...
''Breve storia del fascismo'', Mondadori, 2002.
* Renzo de Felice ''Mussolini il fascista. L'organizzazione dello Stato fascista (1925–1929)'', Einaudi, 1995.
* Piraino M., Fiorito S. ''L'identità fascista: progetto politico e dottrina del fascismo''. Lulu.com, 2007. {{ISBN, 1-84753-269-1.
* Cassese S., ''Lo Stato fascista '', Il Mulino, 2010.
Italian Fascism