The Sammarinese Fascist Party ( it, Partito Fascista Sammarinese) or PFS was a fascist political party that ruled

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

from 1923 to 1943.

History

The party was founded on 10 August 1922 and led by Giuliano Gozi, a Sammarinese

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 ...

veteran who volunteered in the Royal Italian Army. The Sammarinese party was modelled directly on 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 ...

of the surrounding

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

. Gozi came from a distinguished family and held the posts of Secretary for Foreign Affairs (in San Marino, the foreign secretary leads the cabinet) and Secretary for the Interior; these two offices gave him control of the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

. From the beginning, the party used violence and intimidation against opponents such as the

Socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

. Its party newspaper was the ''Il Popolo Sammarinese'', modelled after the ''

Il Popolo d'Italia ''Il Popolo d'Italia'' ("The People of Italy") was an Italian newspaper published from 15 November 1914 until 24 July 1943. It was founded by Benito Mussolini as a pro-war newspaper during World War I, and it later became the main newspaper of ...

''. In terms of policy and ideology, the party was not innovative and stuck closely to Italian Fascism. They pursued industrialization which turned a country of mostly farmers into one of factory workers. In April 1923, Gozi was elected as the first Fascist

Captain Regent The Captains Regent (Italian: ''Capitani reggenti'') are the two heads of state of the Republic of San Marino. They are elected every six months by the Grand and General Council, the country's legislative body. Normally the Regents are chosen ...

. After the October elections, both Captains-Regent were Fascists and remained so in subsequent elections for the next two decades as all other political parties were banned in 1926 effectively making San Marino a

one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

. However, independent politicians continued to form a majority in the

Grand and General Council The Grand and General Council ( it, Consiglio Grande e Generale) is the parliament of San Marino. The council has 60 members elected for a five-year term. History From the fifth century San Marino was ruled by an assembly composed by all t ...

until 1932. In addition, the party was split between Gozi's faction and Ezio Balducci's faction, forcing them to look to the Italian party for guidance and mediation. In 1932, Balducci's faction started a rival newspaper, ''La Voce del Titano''. The next year he was accused of plotting a coup and arrested by Italian authorities after fleeing to

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 ...

. Balducci and other alleged conspirators were

purge In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another organization, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertak ...

d from the party and tried and sentenced to hard labour in 1934 by a special court but the punishment was never carried out. In 1942, four years after Italy had enacted the Italian racial laws, Gozi issued Sammarinese racial law n.33, which prohibited interracial marriage, including between Jews and non-Jewish Sammarinese. The regime did not participate in the deportation of Italian Jews to Nazi held territories, and hosted approximately 100,000 Italian refugees, of whom approximately 1,000 were Jewish, 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 ...

Electoral history

Grand and General Council elections

References

External links

{{Authority control Political parties established in 1922 Fascist parties Defunct political parties in San Marino Parties of one-party systems Banned far-right parties Anti-communist parties 1922 establishments in San Marino San Marino in World War II Sammarinese nationalism