What if Mussolini kept statist/leftist Augusto Turati as Secretary of the Fascist Party after 1930? Would Italy have still allied with the far-right Nazi Germany?
Fascist Italy turns to the left
- Thread starter FernandoPerla
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Now, you're probably confusing Augusto with his far more known homologous Filippo Turati, founder of the PSI.
But I think the question is still interesting, I just don't have the knowledge to answer. The successor as secretary of the PNF (after a brief interregnum) was the more hardliner Starace, who together with known filonazi Farinacci orchestrated his demise.
But I think the question is still interesting, I just don't have the knowledge to answer. The successor as secretary of the PNF (after a brief interregnum) was the more hardliner Starace, who together with known filonazi Farinacci orchestrated his demise.
In a different thread about a German-Italian split over Austria I thought an alliance system pitting German-allied National Socialist states in northern Europe against a southern alliance of more left-wing Fascist-Futurists after the Italians go back to their roots would be interesting but I regretfully haven't immersed myself in prewar Italian politics.
Augusto Turati was secretary of the PNF from 1926-1930. He was one of the representatives of the statist wing of the Fascist Party.
Turati would be a centrist, not a leftist; the success of the moderates, against the more Extreme wings. Despite staying a dictatorship and Mussolini being even more secure in his role (Turati was a moral man and a staunch loyalist), I think Italy would normalize a bit, with less emphasis on the promotion of ideological Fascism.
Italy still is a revisionist Power. If it's clear War is coming, an Alliance would be sought. And the most likely candidate is, indeed, Germany.
Deleted member 94680
From what I understand (mainly from the Origins of Fascism in Italy by Gaetano Salvemini) what the left in Italy needed was a leading figure that could place them in the public’s eye as a serious proposition for taking the country in a new direction. Mussolini could have been that figure, but he broke with the left and eventually “went right”.
Find a PoD that keeps Benny on the Left and you’ll probably get a leftist government. It doesn’t matter which cabinet figures he has, it’s his direction that counts.
Find a PoD that keeps Benny on the Left and you’ll probably get a leftist government. It doesn’t matter which cabinet figures he has, it’s his direction that counts.
I don't want to go too far from real history. Let's say that Mussolini keeps Turati as secretary of the PNF for a few more years.
Deleted member 94680
It’s not that far, Mussolini was originally a Leftist, he went right over the years
An alternative would be Mussolini being removed in a hardliner Fascist coup, as was threatened in 1924 after the assassination of Giacomo Matteotti. That would give the likes of Michele Bianchi and Roberto Farinacci the opportunity to implement a Strasserite form of Italian Fascism.
Ideological Fascism was most promoted by hardliners such as Farinacci and Starace, whom Turati despised (and was, in turn, despised by). Keep Turati at the helm, and the Party would avoid some of the extremes of OTL.
Do you know why Mussolini appointed Turati if the PNF was far-right and he was centrist?
Turati was appointed in 1926, when the regime had just pushed through the leggi fascistissime and needed to show the estabilishment they may have been a dictatorship, but one keen on working with the old order. Plus, it helped Mussolini strengthen his position against the more radical elements, some of which could have had serious ambitions.
Why did Mussolini remove Giurati as secretary of the PNF to appoint Starace?
Turati made a lot of enemies, who waged an aggressive campagn to get rid of him; he was a good man and resigned twice (the second time, Mussolini probably understood the man was really unwilling to actually fight back).
I mean Giovanni Giurati. He was secretary of the PNF from 1930 to 1931.