March on Rome

The March on Rome was the name given to the coup d'état by which Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy in late October 1922.

The King

To meet the threat posed by the bands of fascist troops now gathering outside Rome, the government of Prime Minister Luigi Facta (which had resigned but continued to hold power) ordered a state of siege for Rome. King Victor Emmanuel III, however, refused to sign the order. This meant that the army, which might have stopped Mussolini, was not called on to oppose the fascists. (The reasons for the monarch's refusal have been debated; it has been suggested that he feared he would lose his throne if he refused to cooperate with the fascists, that he wanted to avoid civil war, and that he hoped to neutralize the fascists by associating them with the national government.)

Related Topics:
Prime Minister - Luigi Facta - King Victor Emmanuel III - Civil war

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