1921 in Italy

[Kingdom of Italy]

• Monarch – Victor Emmanuel III
• Prime Minister –
• # Giovanni Giolitti
• # Ivanoe Bonomi
• Population – 39,943,528

  Events

January

• January 21 - The Communist Party of Italy is founded in Livorno, following a split in the Italian Socialist Party at their 17th congress.

  February

• February 28 - A fascist squad devastates the Camera del lavoro in Triest. Shortly afterwards the Milanese branch of the socialist newspaper Avanti! is burned down.

  April

• April 26 - A fascist squad devastates the Camera del lavoro in Turin.

  May

• May 15 - General election. The Liberal governing coalition of Giovanni Giolitti, strengthened by the joining of Fascist candidates in the National Blocs, came short of a majority. The Italian Socialist Party lost many votes and seats, weakened by the split of the Communist Party of Italy, while the Italian People's Party was steady around 20%, gaining some seats. Benito Mussolini is elected for the first time.

  June

• June 27 - Prime minister Giolitti resigns, due to the small but insufficient majority obtained at the confidence vote of June 26.

  July

• July 4 - A new conservative government is formed by Ivanoe Bonomi.
• July 6 - An anti-fascist militia, the Arditi del Popolo, is founded on the initiative of anarchist and republican groups, and rapidly spreads in Liguria, Emilia, Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio. The Arditi are not supported by the socialist parties.
• July 21 - In Sarzana Fascist squads occupy the station and are preparing to enter the city to impose the release of a dozen arrested fascists, but are attacked by the Carabinieri and the population resulting in eighteen dead and about thirty injured.

  August

• August 2 - Pact of Pacification between Benito Mussolini and his Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, and the Italian Socialist Party and the General Confederation of Labor. The agreement was short-lived since many of the fascist squadristi leaders denounced the pacification pact with the socialists, along with Mussolini’s leadership, arguing that the Duce “had not created the movement” and that they could “get along without him.”
• August 18 - In Il Popolo d'Italia Mussolini announces his resignation from the executive board of the Fascists because of the resistance to the pacification pact.
• August 26 - The Fascist National Council rejects Mussolini's resignation from the executive board. With regard to the pacification pact, the council does not impose a precise line and leaves the issue to be resolved autonomously by individual squads.

  November

• November 9 - The National Fascist Party is founded during the Third Fascist Congress in Rome on November 7–10, 1921.

  December

• December 28 - The Banca Italiana di Sconto goes bust. The bank is granted a moratorium of one year to resolve its financial problems.

  Births

• February 22 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress
• March 12 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian entrepreneur and principal shareholder of Fiat
• April 8 – Franco Corelli, Italian opera singer
• April 17 – Sergio Sollima, Italian director
• May 12 – Giovanni Benelli, Italian Cardinal who served as the Archbishop of Florence
• May 31 – Alida Valli, Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films
• August 25 – Cesare Terranova, Italian judge and politician from Sicily killed by the Mafia
• November 23 – Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor

  Deaths

• February 2 – Andrea Carlo Ferrari, Italian cardinal who served as the Archbishop of Milan
• March 16 – Olinto De Pretto, Italian industrialist and geologist
• August 2 – Enrico Caruso, Italian operatic tenor