... found the Fascist Party, Mussolini cleverly manoeuvred himself into the position of "Duce" or leader. The nickname given to the fascists was the Blackshirts. The blackshirts were composed of ex-military thugs who had no real political views except the patriotism found in the army and an immense of anything socialist. The blackshirts were known for their outrageous violence, they were led by 'ras' and spent most of their time attacking trade unions, socialists, communists and farm cooperatives. The fact that such a disorganised and violent party could hold office shows something about the general political turmoil after the war. One of the problems was economic distress. Italy was a poor nation. She could only support her war effort by obtaining foreign loans. Immediately after the war, as Europe was exhausted by the war, the Italian tourist trade and export trade came to a standstill and there was large-scale unemployment ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now