What if,for some reason,fascism had failed to take the power,and Italy had remained a democracy,
and in WW-II Italian government (maybe democratic-christian) had decided to stay out to the war?
Does failing to take power for the Facists leave possible shades of facism within a democratic Italy. What if ...
1921. Mussolini elected to Chamber of Deputies.
October 1922. March on Rome. King V.E.III asks Mussolini to form a government.
November 1922. Mussolini forms a government out of a coalition of Fascists, nationalists, liberals, and the Popular Party.
1923. (POD) The Acerbo law to change the electoral system from proportional representation to single national constituency fails to pass as the oppostion parties organize their vote.
April 1924. Mussolini and the facists receive only 40% of the vote in the national election. The MVSN perform many acts of voter intimidation and violence leading up to the election. Regardless, King V.E.III again asks Mussolini to form a government.
May 1924. Giacomo Matteotti delivers several speeches in the Chamber of Deputies denouncing facism.
June 1924. An attempt is made to kidnap Giacomo Matteotti. He is injured, but escapes from the getaway car. The kidnappers are never found.
July - September 1924. Public unrest foments over the Matteotti crisis. MVSN forces take to the street to battle the protesters.
October 1924. King V.E.III calls Mussolini to his palace. The King issues Mussolini an ultimatum, denounce the MVSN or get recalled as Prime Minister.
November 1924. The Night of the Long Knifes. Mussolini, using powers as Dictator provided through the constitution, uses trustworthy elements of the army to purge the strongest elements of the MVSN.
1926. National elections. Mussolini, the Facists, and his coalition allies only receive 25% of the vote. King V.E.III asks Matteotti and the United Socialist Party to form the next government.