On October 2, 1925 at the

Palazzo Vidoni-Caffarelli The Palazzo Vidoni-Caffarelli is a palace at the intersections of Via del Sudario, Piazza Vidoni, and Corso Vittorio Emanuele in the rione Sant’Eustachio in Rome. History The Renaissance palace, whose design, for many years was attributed to Ra ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, the Vidoni Pact was signed between CGII (Confederazione Generale dell'Industria Italiana) and the General Confederation of Fascist Syndical Corporations' representatives (GCFSC).

Fascist control

The pact abolished Catholic, Socialist and all other independent unions and declared Fascist-controlled unions to have a monopoly on labour representation. The industrialists were hugely reluctant to sign as they feared a united labour force would pose a significant threat in the years to come, but were willing to make concessions in order to appease 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 ...

. The pact also prohibited workers' councils, to the dismay of

Edmondo Rossoni Edmondo Rossoni (May 6, 1884 – June 8, 1965) was a revolutionary syndicalist leader and an Italian fascist politician who became involved in the Fascist syndicate movement during Benito Mussolini's regime. Early life Born to a working-class f ...

, head of the GCFSC, who saw worker and employer integration as an essential ingredient in

corporatism Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

. Evidence suggests that the CGII had pointed out to Mussolini that worker councils were dominated by socialists and therefore had to be disbanded.Roland Sarti, Fascism and the Industrial Leadership in Italy, 1919-40: A Study in the Expansion of Private Power Under Fascism, 1968

Arbitrator

The state was given the authority as sole arbitrator over capital-labour negotiations, significantly increasing the power of the state. Overall, it placed Prime Minister

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 ...

in a far greater position of control over that of the workers within industry, and acted to effectively ban free trade unions. The pact was signed during Mussolini's fascist control of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and was one of many steps taken to establish his

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pact Of The Vidoni Palace 1925 in Italy Political history of Italy Italian Fascism 1925 documents