The Rise of Australasia

Surprisingly, it was not the defeated nations of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire that collapsed after World War I, nor the war-torn Russia and United Kingdom that fell into chaos; rather it was Italy, who seemed to have a lesser presence, that was on the verge of collapse.

Italy’s collapse was not a joke, with the situation so chaotic that even war-torn Russia found it absurd.

Before the war, Italy was a standard mid-to-low level great power. Although its financial revenue and economic situation were slightly higher than that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy lagged behind in terms of industrial and agricultural development, areas that showcased a nation’s strength.

Firstly, Italy’s total steel production in 1913 was about 1.42 million tons, but it was lower than that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the same period.

Meanwhile, Italy’s grain production was only 8.1 million tons, making it an actual grain importing country. Its overall national strength was considered weaker than that of other great powers, which is why some people believed that the United Kingdom surpassed Italy for a period.

Of course, the true strength of Italy was revealed during the war. Both the war against Ethiopia and the performance during World War I made it clear to the world the strength of Italy’s army.

Despite facing various problems, Russia was able to put up a fight against the German and Austro-Hungarian armies. Although the battles were often disadvantageous, Russia could still single-handedly defeat the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Italy’s performance, on the other hand, was somewhat laughable. Throughout the war, Italy faced only the Austro-Hungarian army and hardly saw any Germans.

But Italy’s battlefront remained within its own borders, and its army of 500,000 was stalled for a long time by the 100,000-strong Austro-Hungarian forces. Explore new worlds at empire

If it were not for the rapid collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire elsewhere, Italy would have found it difficult to make progress on the frontlines, let alone gain territory.

In contrast, Italy’s navy was passable compared to its army.

In several blockades where the Italian navy participated, its training level was comparable to those of the great powers. This was the reason Italy’s military strength was still considered at the level of the great powers despite its poor performance.

Due to Italy’s poor performance, it only obtained part of the conditions promised by Britain and France, namely Trieste, South Tyrol, and the Istria Peninsula.

Italy’s coveted Dalmatia and Dodecanese Islands were not assigned to Italy but were co-managed by a multinational alliance.

This denied Italy the opportunity to fully control the Adriatic Sea, and even allowed other great powers to interfere in the Balkans situation, which severely hindered Italy’s expansion in the Balkans.

This caused great dissatisfaction among the Italian people. They selectively ignored the poor performance of the Italian army during World War I and condemned the government for not fighting for Dalmatia and the Dodecanese Islands, causing Italy to suffer significant losses and even restricting its future expansion.

At the time, Italian Prime Minister Orlando faced significant repercussions. He was a war hero, but after the public’s discontent, he soon resigned.

Following that, Italy experienced Francesco Saverio Nitti as Prime Minister, Giovanni Giolitti as Prime Minister, Ivanoe Bonomi as Prime Minister, and Luigi Facta as Prime Minister within just three years, achieving a record of five Prime Ministers in three years.

Of these, the shortest term was Giovanni Giolitti, who only stayed 42 days in office before being ousted by opposition parties and the public.

An average term for each Prime Minister was only about seven months.

This caused significant disruption to Italy’s political environment, with major parties vying for power and entering a protracted battle for the Prime Minister’s office.

At the same time, due to the short terms of the Prime Ministers, some policies and plans were unable to be fully executed before being terminated due to the change in office.

In addition, the preferences of each Prime Minister differed, including the appointment and dismissal of officials, as well as the inclination towards certain policies.

From the end of the war to the present day, Italy’s political situation has remained in an indescribable state of chaos.

In other aspects, it is not well reflected, as a country’s decline cannot be completed in a short period unless it experiences a severely exhausting war.

However, when it comes to national security, one can get a glimpse of the situation.

Due to the chaos in the highest levels of politics, Italy’s economy did not recover well after the war and its economic growth was extremely slow.

Even the impact of the flu led to the closure of several industries in Italy, causing a large number of people to become unemployed, a considerable number of capitalists to go bankrupt, and severely damaging Italy’s economic development. ℝÂΝо₿Êś

Chaos breeds darkness, and the infamous Italian Black Hand gang began to spread rapidly throughout Italy, even reaching every major city in the country.

Kidnapping, extortion, revenge killings, gang fights, and drugs were played out in every dark corner of Italy, even affecting many well-known Italian capitalists.

But at this moment, the focus of Italian politics was on the struggle for the Prime Minister position, and the conditions of the lower-class people were unknown.

Or, in other words, the Italian upper class did not care about the situation of the lower-class people. Compared with caring for the lower-class people, the struggle for the position of Italian Prime Minister was the most important thing at present.

It was also because of this that the Italian Mafia became even more rampant and even began to collude with local government officials, forming a massive force of power.

In the midst of this extreme chaos, an ordinary journalist entered the Italian political arena and quickly gained a considerable number of supporters due to his unique ideas.

This ordinary journalist’s name was Mussolini, full name Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, born in 1883 in Ferrara, Italy.

Mussolini, who was only 37 years old, had an extraordinary life experience.

Mussolini’s father, Alessandro Mussolini, was an anarchist, an active member of the socialist movement, and an atheist.

Influenced by his father, Mussolini had a unique political thought that laid the foundation for his later governance of Italy.

Before World War I, Mussolini became a leading member of the Italian Socialist Party and a journalist of the party newspaper Avanti!, but was expelled from the Socialist Party for advocating Italian participation in the war.

But Mussolini was not discouraged and founded Il Popolo d’Italia before Italy’s participation in the war, taking the opportunity to promote his political ideas.

During the chaotic political situation in Italy, Mussolini founded the Fascist Organization in the fight and quickly attracted a considerable number of loyal members, establishing his political foundation.

With adequate strength, Mussolini renamed the organization to the National Fascist Party of Italy and legitimately became the leader of the party.

After the official renaming, the National Fascist Party had become one of the few major parties in Italy, with a certain influence in major Italian cities.

A large number of Italians who were disappointed in the government joined Mussolini’s party and fanatically regarded Mussolini as their leader, believing he was the chosen one to save Italy and all Italians.

Under various coincidences, Mussolini’s party solved a strike crisis for the government, which also won him and his party high praise in Italy.

But at the same time, Mussolini’s Blackshirts assault force which resolved the strike crisis also caused dissatisfaction among some members of the government.

Advisors to Italian King Victor Emmanuel III suggested the arrest of Mussolini on grounds that Mussolini’s Blackshirts were a highly dangerous private armed force and that Mussolini had excessively persecuted the interests of the people in resolving the workers’ strike.

But King Victor Emmanuel III, concerned about the impact of the workers’ party on Italy and its opposition to the monarchy, rejected the advisors’ suggestion to arrest Mussolini.

At this time, Mussolini, whose power and status had greatly inflated, was naturally not satisfied with just being the leader of a political party and set his sights on the highest throne of the Italian government.

Thanks to years of experience in suppressing workers’ demonstrations, Mussolini’s Blackshirts gained a lot of combat experience, and the total number of personnel was effectively expanded.

Mussolini was very satisfied with the fanatic eyes of these young men looking at him, and with just one command from the leader, these young men would charge like a sharp sword to any place the leader pointed.

Finally, Mussolini felt he was ready.

With the release of Mussolini’s Revolutionary Declaration, tens of thousands of Blackshirts advanced toward Rome, which was the famous March on Rome in history.

Since they understood that their goal was not to start a civil war, the Blackshirts and the government forces, as well as the police, basically did not have any conflicts while marching on Rome.

A small number of political parties and followers tried to block the Blackshirts but were quickly suppressed by the larger number of Blackshirts.

Italy’s national territory was not large, and this group of black mountain troops marched from Naples, and in just a few days, they were already approaching Rome.

Along the way, various political parties opposing Mussolini surrendered, and even the distinguished Italian members of Parliament had no choice but to condescend to go to Milan in person to consult Mussolini’s opinions.

Of course, these political parties and the MPs’ pleas were not important to Mussolini. In the current Italian situation, what Mussolini urgently needed was the most official recognition, which was from King Victor Emmanuel III, representing Italy’s monarchy and the entire kingdom.

The good news was that King Victor Emmanuel III trusted Mussolini’s party more than the anti-monarchical political parties.

Mussolini soon received an invitation from the king’s royal guards and formally conveyed the message that the king had appointed Mussolini as prime minister and requested Mussolini to form a new cabinet.

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