Red Week was the name given to a week of unrest which occurred from 7 to 14 June 1914. Over these seven days, Italy saw widespread

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

ing and large-scale strikes throughout the Italian provinces of

Romagna Romagna () is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. Etymology The name ''Romagna'' originates from the Latin name ''Romania'', which originally ...

and the

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

Origins

The rioters were protesting in response to a series of reforms introduced in 1914 initiated by the previous Prime Minister

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. He is the longest-serving democratically elected prime minister in Italian history, and the sec ...

(Salandra was PM by June 1914) which aimed to 'consume' the working class into Italy's liberal system. The final spark that caused the outbreak of the mass strikes was the death of three anti-militarist men in June. Despite a widening of suffrage and a change in the government's policies concerning industrial disputes (in favour of workers), a general strike was called in support of large demonstrations in many major industrialised towns, which in turn had been caused by the shooting of three socialist protesters. However, due to the nature of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

(PSI), the strike was uncoordinated and rioters were headed off by government troops. The situation was regarded so grave that the government deployed “100,000 soldiers,” including many reservists, resulting in the death of 17 rioters and a thousand injured. The widespread riots paralyzed almost every major city for two days. The would-be revolutionaries briefly seized control of “entire towns in central Italy; railways were cut, bridges destroyed,” while the insurgents displayed red flags on public buildings.

Effects

The riots during Red Week frightened the lower middle classes, and proved that Italy's problems of unification were more than just the growing pains of a young nation. Italy's Wars of Unification (

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

) and following trade measures had failed to iron out inequalities between its industrialised North and agricultural South - the needs of both could not simultaneously be satisfied by Giolitti's liberal politics.

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

was the only prominent Marxist to defend the popular street uprising that was referred to in Italy as ''Settimana Rossa'' (Red Week). Mussolini considered Red Week as his “greatest achievement and disappointment” during his leadership of the Italian Socialist Party, regarding the strike as the pinnacle of radical class struggle but also as an abysmal failure. Although Mussolini hailed Red Week as the beginning of the end of capitalism in Italy, it became evident to many within the labor and socialist movement that rebellion, general strikes and revolutionary “myths” did not constitute revolution. The strikes resulted in making reactionary elements of the nation stronger as the middle class and conservatives rallied behind their government to put down the rebellion, while the socialists were left with disappointment and recrimination for engaging in an unsuccessful uprising. The failure of Red Week provided evidence of the severe limitations of current class socialism. Mussolini argued that Italy’s industrial sector was not mature enough and had neither a fully developed modern bourgeoisie nor a modern proletarian movement. Following the events of June 1914, editorials in Benito Mussolini's political journal '' Avanti!'' urged that more drastic measures be taken against the Italian government, and Italy's joining of the First World War subsequent to the Red Week gave huge credence to Mussolini's rhetoric against the sycophantic government, which had presented itself as an easy target for its entry into the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After Mussolini’s Fascist regime was overthrown in 1943-45 it was not difficult for a certain number of “ex-Blackshirts to swing to left-wing political extremism”, sometimes joining

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

organizations. Sharing a common hostility toward democratic parliamentary government, adherents of fascism and communism often found themselves appealing to the “same kinds of alienated people.” Charles F. Delzell, edit., “Introduction”, ''Mediterranean Fascism 1919-1945'', New York, NY, Walker and Company, 1971, p. xiii

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 1914 in Italy 1914 crimes in Italy Riots and civil disorder in Italy 1914 labor disputes and strikes Conflicts in Italy

Origins

Effects

References

Further reading