Carlo Scorza (15 June 1897 – 23 December 1988) was a prominent member 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. Th ...

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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He built his reputation in the Italian Fascist paramilitary group known as the Blackshirts, and later rose to the position of party secretary, second only to Benito Mussolini in authority over Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. His brief and rocky tenure began in the spring of Timeline of World War II (1943), 1943 and ended with the party's collapse and abolition at the end of July.

Life

Born in the town of Paola, Calabria, Paola, Scorza participated in Military history of Italy during World War I, World War I in the Bersaglieri corps where he reached the rank of ''Tenente'' (lieutenant). After the war he joined Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party and participated in acts of violence against communists and socialists in the area around Lucca. After participating in the March on Rome, he worked for a brief time as a journalist, then he was named ''Federale'' (chief provincial party officer) of the Province of Lucca. In 1930, Scorza was appointed to direct the key Party youth organization, Gruppo Universitario Fascista. The following year he was named as a member of the ''Direttorio'' (a high national body) of the National Fascist Party. He strongly opposed the Azione Cattolica and his behavior forced Mussolini to dismiss him from the Direttorio. He participated in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and the Spanish Civil War. In 1940 he came back to national political activities.

Secretary of PNF

In April 1943, Scorza was named Secretary of the National Fascist Party, replacing the ineffectual Aldo Vidussoni. He remained fully dedicated to Mussolini and he assumed his office with an uncompromising demand – "Everybody and everything for the war." Despite his enthusiasm, Scorza failed in his efforts to revitalize the party. 25 Luglio, On 25 July 1943, the President of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations, Italian wartime Parliament, Dino Grandi, put forth to the Fascist Grand Council a motion to remove Mussolini from office. Scorza, who also held the position of Secretary of the Grand Council, voted against it, but the motion carried and Mussolini was arrested by the ''Carabinieri''. After the Armistice with Italy, Italian armistice, Scorza was arrested in the Nazi-controlled Italian Social Republic. He was charged with treason for failing to counter the anti-Fascist ''coup d'état'', but he was acquitted by a special tribunal in April 1944.

Later life

At the end of World War II, Scorza fled to Argentina. He was tried in absentia by the Allies in World War II, Allies and sentenced to thirty years imprisonment. He was later granted amnesty and he returned to Italy in 1955. Scorza died in Firenze, Florence on 23 December 1988.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scorza, Carlo 1897 births 1988 deaths People from Paola, Calabria Italian fascists World War II political leaders

Life

Secretary of PNF

Later life

References

Further reading

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